Caste politics in India

Caste is one of the major factors in politics of India. Independent India has seen intense debates over reverse discrimination, caste-based quotas and reservations.

Before 1980s

Mahatma Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru had radically different approaches to caste esp. over constitutional politics and the status of "untouchables"cite web
title=Book review of Caste, Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age
author=Danny Yee
url=http://dannyreviews.com/h/Caste_India.html
accessdate=2006-12-11] . Till the mid-1970s, the politics of independent India was largely dominated by economic issues and questions of corruption. But since 1980s, caste has emerged as a major issuecite web
title=Caste Politics in India
author=Aditya Nigam
url=http://www.southasianmedia.net/Magazine/Journal/castepolitics_india.htm
accessdate=2006-12-11] .

Mandal Commission

The Mandal Commission was established in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward" Bhattacharya, Amit. cite web|url=http://www.theotherindia.org/caste/who-are-the-obcs.html|title="Who are the OBCs?"|accessdate=2006-04-19 "Times of India", April 8, 2006.] . The Commission was set up to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine "backwardness." In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known as Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes and Tribes) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%. L R Naik, the only Dalit member in the Mandal Commission refused to sign the Mandal recommendations [cite web
title=Mandal's True Inheritors
url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1486250.cms
publisher=The Times of India
date=2006-12-12
accessdate=2006-12-12] , as he feared that well-to-do OBCs would corner all the benefits of reservation.

A decade after the commission gave its report, V. P. Singh, the Prime Minister at the time, tried to implement its recommendations in 1989. The criticism was sharp and colleges across the country held massive protests against it. Many alleged that the politicians were trying to cash on caste-based reservations for purely pragmatic electoral purposes. Rajiv Goswami, student of Delhi University, threatened self-immolation in protest of the government's actions. His act further sparked a series of self-immolations by other college students and led to a formidable movement against job reservations for Backward Castes in India.

Votebank politics

Many political parties in India have openly indulged in caste-based votebank politics.

In 1990s, many parties Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal started claiming that they are representing the backward castes. Many such parties, relying primarily on Backward Classes' support, often in alliance with Dalits and Muslims, rose to power in Indian statescite web
title=Caste-Based Parties
url=http://countrystudies.us/india/116.htm
publisher= Country Studies US
accessdate=2006-12-12] . At the same time, many Dalit leaders and intellectuals started realizing that the main Dalit oppressors were so-called Other Backward Classes, and formed their own parties, such as the Indian Justice Party. The Congress (I) in Maharashtra long relied on OBCs' backing for its political success. Bharatiya Janata Party has also showcased its Dalit and OBC leaders to prove that it is not an upper-caste party. Bangaru Laxman, the former BJP president (2001-2002) was a former Dalit. Sanyasin Uma Bharati, former CM of Madhya Pradesh , who belongs to OBC caste, was a former BJP leader. In 2006 Arjun Singh cabinet minister for MHRD of the UPA government was accused of playing caste politics when he introduced reservations for OBCs in educational institutions all around.

In Tamil Nadu, the Anti Hindu [ [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/02/10/stories/2004021007080400.htm We'll oppose DMK's anti-Hindu stance: Munnani] ] DMK party rose to power under the canard of "Brahmin oppression", resulting in reverse discrimination against the upper caste Brahmins. Many Brahmins have alleged that Tamil Brahmins (Iyers, Iyengars etc.) have left the state, due to a "hostile atmosphere" prevalent against upper castes in the region [ [http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/23franc.htm Are Brahmins the Dalits of today?] ] [ [http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20050411&fname=Brahmins%20%28F%29&sid=2 'We Are Like The Jews: Politics apart, Brahmin-bashing is rampant in literary and cultural worlds too'] ] .

Andhra Pradesh

Two upper castes, reddy's and kamma's dominate politics in Andhra Pradesh. To be frank, congress implies reddy's and TDP implies kamma's. If Congress comes into power, all projects go to reddy's, and likewise if TDP comes into power, all projects go to kamma's. In recent times this is biggest deterrent in development of the state.

Criticism

Back in 1950s, B. R. Ambedkar had criticized the use of caste as a political plank [cite web
title=Caste, race, politics
author=Dipankar Gupta
url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/508/508%20dipankar%20gupta.htm
accessdate=2006-12-12] . He anticipated the limitations of using caste as a political resource and instead, emphasized on eliminating the concept of caste from the society.

It should be noted however that the term "caste" itself is a catch-all phrase that includes races similar to the tribes of Africa. For instance, people belonging to a specific race that settled in India soon began to identify themselves as a caste over a period of time Fact|date=July 2008 even due to geopolitics though they may not be addressed as such in their own religious scriptures. This phenomenon is found in non-Hindu religions of India too.

References

Further reading

* cite book
last=Kothari
first=Rajni
title=Caste in Indian Politics
year=2004
publisher=Orient Longman
isbn=8125006370
* cite book
last=Bayly
first=Susan
title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age
url=http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521264340
year=1999
month=July
publisher=Cambridge University Press
isbn=9780521264341
doi=10.2277/0521264340
* Bashiruddin Ahmed. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687(197011)10%3A11%3C979%3ACAEP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L Caste and Electoral Politics] ". Asian Survey, Vol. 10, No. 11, Elections and Party Politics in India: A Symposium (Nov., 1970), pp. 979-992