Caste in Indian politics

• Intro-
• It is said “ Indians don’t cast their vote, they vote their caste.
• C.Jaffrelot says “caste forms the mosaic of Indian politics.”
• Political sociology approach of comparative politics studies interface of politics with societal factors like ethnicity,caste,religion,etc
• Caste and caste identity are not new factors but the traction they have now received not just in political calculations but in more routine social relations and personal identifications is a new factor in shaping the public sphere.

• Reasons for role of caste in India-
• India being a prismatic society( hence interplay of traditionalism and modernity)
• 
  MN Srinivas Said caste is present in subconsciousness of Indians
• 
  Kanchan Chandra says political patronage is based on caste lines
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  Andre beteille- Indian Constitution only abolishes untouchability but does not abolish caste. It rather makes caste a basis for public policy (ex socio-economic caste census)

• Those who say caste has strengthened Indian politics-

1. Rajni Kothari;
   
1. 
2. Y Yadav: democratic upsurges due to rise of OBCs and dalits in Indian politics
   
3. C Jaffrelot -book- India's silent revolution-
1. lower caste becoming conscious of their rights through democratic means.
2. Says linguistic reorg,green revolution and implementation of Mandal Commission has increased the role of caste in Indian politics.

• Who say it has degraded politics

1. C P Bhambhri- creates a vicious cycle of caste and politics.
   
2. Andre Beteille
   
3. Ashutosh Varshney- book- battle's half won- Says democratic upsurge or silent revolution has not done well below elections. no trickle down effect. Like rise of Mayawati and Kanshiram did not amount to rise of dalits as a whole.
   

4- Arvind Pangariya- Factors like caste, religion and ethnicity have lost their predictive power long back.

• Should we have a caste census?
• Yes-
• the data that we have is from 1931. A lot of change has taken place in the mosaic of Indian society.
• Data and statistics help in taking better and effective decisions
• We would also know which castes could be included/excluded in the reservation scheme.
• Justice G Rohini commission report says 97% of central jobs have accrued to 25% of OBC castes and 37% castes have zero representation at the centre. At the state and local level, the situation may be worse
• No-
• This exercise may lead to social tensions and violence as it assets caste identity
• Also it stops social mobility. Because once you register yourself as so and so caste it is fixed
• Also the distribution of resources cannot be done only on the basis of numbers—>the lesser should get less and more should get more. That perpetuates inequality. Because then the MBCs and other castes who are less in numbers would always be weaker than dominant backward classes
• It may also lead to mobilisation around demand for caste census and developmental issues like health and education may take a back seat
• Give ex of capability appraoch of Amartya Sen. Developing capability through health, education and skill. Else we will see dropouts as happens in IITs.
• And increasing enabling environment for private sector to thrive so as to generate more jobs and relieve pressure on public sector for reservation demand
• 
• 

• Dalit politics- dalit word was first coined by Jyotiba Phule. It is a Marathi term that means broken.
• 
  humiliation is what defines the social relation b/w dalits and other section of society.
• BR Ambedkar- not economic relations but caste relations form the basic structure of society.
• Three trends in dalit politics
1. Co-option with upper caste parties like Udit Raj, RV Paswn
2. Radicalsim- inspired by marxism , dalit Panthers in MH
3. Autonomous mov- by kanshiram
• PB Mehta-article-new dalit challenge
1. Says dalit politics is undergoing profound changes.
2. No more satisfied with winning constitutional recognition 
3. Rejection of managerial appraoch saying it is an attempt by upper castes for co-opting dalits and breakig their caste solidarity.
4. They are building counter hegemony
5. Pressure of new dalit imagination is colliding against the upper caste strategy of containment.
• 
  
  
  Indian politician, Sanjay Paswan in article " to restore dignity" writes Outdated outreach methods like codining and co-bathing will not be accepted. The new Dalit seeks a permanent place at the table.
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  Ajay Gudavarthy of JNU writes  Dalit­ Bahujan politics has unfortunately become all about ‘merely’ de­manding more representation to short circuit the humongous gap between dominant castes and them.

• Obc politics in India-
• Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are a social category comprising various jatis at different levels of social and economic development.
• A recent International Monetary Fund report cited OBCs as enjoying the fastest inter-generational mobility compared to even the higher castes. They became tenants and landowners, unlike the Dalits. They experienced movement into the formal economy, higher education and job opportunities owing to the implementation of the Mandal Commission in 1990.
• OBC mobilisation was often referred to as the ‘second democratic upsurge( by Y. Yadav), it was typified as representing ‘secular upsurge’ as both Hindus and Muslims were included in the OBC list. Rudolph and Rudolph referred to them as ‘bullock capitalists’ who owned land but were socially backward, which allowed them to play an important role in strengthening the centrist character of the Indian polity where they negated the possibility of Left-based class politics since they owned land. Further, they denied majoritarian confessional politics of the Right since they were relatively low in the caste order.
• today the OBCs are the backbone of the BJP. The strategy of the saffron party is geared towards consolidating the OBCs and their aspirations. 
• they want to move away from agricultural-based activities owing to sustained agrarian crisis. Even social welfare policies such as the MGNREGA create problems for the landed, making it difficult to find cheap labour that was provided mostly by the Dalits.
• the congress party never mobilised OBCs. It focussed on building caste coalition based on upper castes+dalits+muslims. OBCs were for the first time mobilised by the regional parties and now by the BJP. 
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• Satish Deshpande- article- The obc primer on Indian politics-
1. says obc politics forms heart of Indian politics due to 42% population.they are strategically unavoidable — every  alliance-building must necessarily include them in some fashion. 
2. They are internally divided hence yields very complex politics.
3. They will determine the good, the bad and the ugly of the Indian politics.
• In south due to anti brahminicial movements, the Obc could come to power earlier than north
• In north, OBCs became the dominant castes after green revolution- leaders like sir Chottu ram, Chaudhary Charan Singh emerged
• After JP movement obc leaders like Mulyam singh yadav, lalu and Sharad Yadav
• After Mandal Commission, OBCs got a new lease of life and upliftment due to reservation . Infact Mandal cCommission transformed caste into an asset that may be used as a basis for securing political and economic gains
• OBC politics has moved from Mandal(social justice) to “Mandal plus” politics (social plus economic justice)
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• Reservation

1. Define reservation—>concept of historical injustice.
2. its link with Rawls’ TOJ
3. principle of Affirmative action based on his difference principle.
4. write Article 16,15 and DPSP Art 46 that guide state to take affirmative action.
   
   Y Yadav: the reservation policy in India has reached a dead end .
5. Then write about need for reform in the reservation policy:
1. cite SC judgement M Nagraj case,2006
2. Need for creamy layer in SC/ST.
3. recent SC judgement in which SC held that Art 15 and 16 are “mere enabling provisions and do not guarantee right to reservation as a FR.” It depends on the state whether it wants to provide reservation or not.
6. Suhas P
7. alshikar- reservation has become a right of groups to a proportional share, rather than an enabling provision to make way for equal opportunity
8. 
   Write views of Dworkin who says compensation can be made only once.
9. 
   Amartya Sen who says reservation policy is a necessary but not a sufficient measure. In his Theory of justice, he talks about Capability approach.
10. 
    Write views of Neoliberal scholars like Nozick who do not believe in the concept of historical injustice.
11. 
    Conclusion: Piketty in his book capital and ideology says the raito of income of dalits to upper casts is more than that of black Americans to white Americans , thus praising India's reservation policy.