Skip to main content

Top Hindutva theorist declares against caste-based reservation, "it leads to votebank politics"

 A well-known US-based Hindutva theorist and businessman, Rajiv Malhotra, hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “glorifying our priceless heritage”, has declared that there should not be any caste-based reservation in India.
In a video he has posted on Facebook, Malhotra is heard telling an interviewer that reservation should be given “on individual, merit basis, on individual economic basis”, adding, he “does not like” the idea that people in groups, caste, religion, or whatever, are “clubbed” and are considered “victims”, and are given “special quota.”
Last year, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat came in for criticism for his suggestion for to “review” the reservation policy. Coming ahead of Bihar elections, Bhagwat had to retract his statement, saying, reservation is needed as long as social discrimination exists, with BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, too, strongly coming out in defence of reservation.
Suggesting that caste based reservation “would encourage conflicts” with “irresponsible politicians” utilizing it for “votebank", Malhotra who has been one of the most prominent propagators seeking to provide intellectual basis to Hindutva, says, “There is absolutely no reason that a Dalit millionaire is given privileges”.
Introducing his video on his twitter account @RajivMessage, Malhotra says, it talks of “caste reservations as a vote bank/lobby group.” On a query by Counterview, whether it means the “top Modi follower is anti-reservation” and is “following RSS chief”, he immediately clarified, “Please do not misquote me. I am FOR reservations based on INDIVIDUAL factors, not collective identities/politics.”
When queried whether he thought untouchability should be the basis of reservation, Malhotra evaded reply, with some of his supporters seeking the "definition" of untouchability in the “current context of India”, wondering if it could be “evaluated objectively” (@vakibs).
Malhotra’s supporters on Facebook said that for the first time a “renowned writer and speaker" spoke about reservation."Reservation should be covered individually on the ground of economic social status rather than club approach. It’s really appreciable debate”, it was suggested.
However, an opponent of Hindutva, in his critical remark to Malhotra’s on Twitter, said, “So the cat is out of the Hindutva bag? Reservations should promote market economics and not community?” (@BHPanimalwatch).
On Facebook, one Sarath Prasannakumar was more explicit: “Whatever you say we don’t accept this. Because the economic and social disparity in this nation is based on caste. It’s an after effect of centuries old caste system. So to bring the Dalits and tribals as equals reservation will continue to stay till the Dalits and tribals reach equality, socially and economically. Once they reach it take this reservations away and then put it for open competition.”
Malhotra received much media attention spring this year after he declared the need to “protect” Indian culture from western “takeover” through an online petition. He wanted the ouster top Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock as chief editor of the Murty Classical Library of India, a private project floated by IT giant and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murty and his son Rohan Murty in order to "create" an intellectual heritage of ancient India.
Earlier, Malhotra was involved in a controversy when his book “Indra’s Net” was charged with plagiarism by Indologist Andrew J Nicholson, author of “Unifying Hinduism”. Nicholson went so far as to blame Malhotra that he "does not know Sanskrit, so he has to rely on others who do in order to amass the raw materials he needs for his books” Malhotra denied plagiarism charges.

Comments

TRENDING

Trump’s research cuts 'may mean' advantage China: But will India leverage global brain drain to its advantage?

When I heard from a couple of NRI professionals—currently on work visas and engaged in research projects at American universities—that one of President Donald Trump's major policy thrusts was to cut federal funding to the country's top educational institutions, I was instantly reminded of what Prof. Kaushik Basu had said while delivering a lecture in Ahmedabad.

How to turn India's e-waste problem, third largest, into opportunity? Simple: Offer industry incentives!

How should one interpret a major problem that may be bogging down a private consultant while preparing an industry-friendly report on a situation that adversely impacts society—especially when the consultant sees little possibility of progress in the supposed desired direction?

How the middle classes are returning to the BJP fold, be it Delhi or Gujarat: Mahakumbh, Sitharaman's budget

Whatever reasons may be offered for the Aam Aadmi Party's defeat in Delhi—whether it was the BJP's promises of more freebies than AAP, the shedding of ultra-nationalist slogans, or the successful demolition of Arvind Kejriwal's "Mr. Clean" image—my recent interaction with a group of middle-class individuals highlighted a notable trend. Those who had just begun to sit on the fence were now once again returning to the BJP fold.

Mystical, mysterious, nature's marvel? Truth behind Gujarat’s so-called disappearing temple

I was a little surprised to read a story in Business Today, a publication that should have nothing to do with religion or spirituality, let alone superstition. Carried as one of the choices by Google News, whose algorithm decides which stories to feature, the story attempts to describe a natural phenomenon using terms such as "mysterious," "mystical," "marvel of nature," and "intriguing."

Google powered AI refuses to correct grammar of a 'balanced' piece on Trump sending chained immigrants to India!

This is a continuation of my blog on how, while the start-up-developed AI app DeepSeek is being criticized for consistently rejecting content related to China or Maoism, there appears to be no mention in Western media about why another app, developed by the powerful Google, Gemini, remains silent on Indian political issues.  

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.  I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation  site   "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them."  Surely, this didn't intere...

5% poor in India? Union govt claim debunked, '26.4% of population below poverty line'

A recent paper, referring to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 of the Government of India (GoI), has debunked the official claim that poverty has substantially declined. Titled "Poverty in India: The Rangarajan Method and the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey", the paper —authored by scholars CA Sethu, LT Abhinav Surya, and CA Ruthu—states that "more than a quarter of India’s population falls below the poverty line."

World Hijab Day? Ex-Muslim women observe Feb 1 as No Hijab Day, insist: 'Put it on a Man'

I didn't know that there could ever be a thing as World Hijab Day until I received an email alert from Maryam Namazie of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), stating that several ex-Muslim women's groups had observed the same day—February 1—as No Hijab Day! According to Namazie, the day "was created on February 1 as a direct response to World Hijab Day" to "illuminate the coercive and oppressive realities of the hijab as a pillar of sex apartheid and a war on women."

Why burn Manusmriti? Why not preserve it to demonstrate, display historicity of casteism?

In a significant Facebook post, Rana Singh, former associate professor of English at Patna University, has revealed something that few seem to know. Titled "The Shudras in Manusmriti", Singh says,  because Manusmriti is discussed so often, he thought of reading it himself. “This book likely dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE, and the presence of contradictory statements suggests that it is not the work of a single author,” he says in his Facebook post in Hindi, written in 2022 and recently reshared.