By BRP Bhaskar
Gulf Today
A noisy debate is going on in India on whether or not to gather caste data during the census operations now in progress. The issue does not, however, figure in the public discourse in Kerala.
As soon as the census operations began national political parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which draw support from the backward classes of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively, demanded that caste data be collected. The Bharatiya Janata Party supported the demand but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh opposed it.
In Kerala, the Nair Service Society, which represents the forward Nair community, joined backward class organisations like the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam in endorsing the demand for caste census. As a result, a quiet consensus has emerged on this issue even though the state’s major political parties, the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, have not publicly taken a position.
The SNDP Yogam, which represents the Ezhava community, was the first to join the demand raised in Parliament by the SP and RJD. On caste-related issues, the Yogam and the NSS are generally in disagreement as the interests of Ezhavas and the Nairs, who together account for the bulk of the state’s Hindu population, differ.
Since 1872, when the subcontinent was under British rule, the government in New Delhi has been gathering population data every 10 years without fail.
In Britain, the census exercise usually steers clear of religion. On the few occasions when religious data was collected, the information was published separately, and not included in the census report.
Departing from the practice, the colonial administration gathered information on religious affiliation and made it part of the census report from the very beginning. The official explanation was that the government wanted detailed information about the governed.
The first census classified the people in four groups: I. Indo-Aryan; II. Iranian; III. Semitic; and IV. Primitive.
Among Indo-Aryans, three subgroups were recognised: A. Hindu, which was further divided into (a) Hindu Brahmanic, (b) Hindu Arya-Vedic theists and (c) Hindu Brahmo-Eclectic theists; B. Sikh; C. Jain; and Buddhist.
Parsis, who profess the Zorashtrian religion, were the only community in the Iranian category. The Semitic category covered three religious groups: A. Musalman; B. Christians; and C. Jews. The Primitive category was divided into two: A. Animistic; and B. Miscellaneous.
Scholars are of the view that the census reports promoted consolidation of the Hindus on a national scale. Over the years the government refined the classification but it continued to be fuzzy with the result that the reliability of the data relating to castes was in doubt. The administration did not have an equal interest in religion and caste.
The officer in charge of the 1931 Census wrote: “India is the most religious country in the world and (that) must be regarded as the justification for the importance attached to religion in the Census of India as compared, for example, with the US of Americas where culture is relatively independent of religion.”
In the early 1930s, Madras presidency in British India and princely states like Travancore and Mysore introduced reservation in government services for backward castes.
After the 1931 census report was published, the Hindu upper castes, who, though numerically small, dominated government and politics, mounted pressure to stop gathering caste data. Following this, caste enumeration was dropped. However, in 1941 the government gathered information about Maithili Brahmins of Bihar at the instance of their association for a small payment of Rs24,000.
The Travancore and Cochin regions of Kerala, which were under princely rule, were among the earliest “native states” to follow the British example and conduct census operations. Population data from these states formed part of the census reports published by the Indian government.
At election time, all parties of Kerala, including the Congress and the CPI-M, take into account the caste and religious composition of constituencies, as assessed by their leaders, while selecting candidates. Their silence on the issue of caste census is attributable to the lack of clarity at the national level.
With the Congress divided on the issue, the Union Cabinet recently constituted a committee of ministers to take a final view in the matter. The CPI-M’s position, as outlined by its leader in the Lok Sabha, is that the party considers caste a divisive factor but is not against collecting data in the context of the reservation available to backward classes.--Gulf Today, Sharjah, May 31, 2010.
Showing posts with label Caste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caste. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Dalit's fight against bias
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
Payyanur in Kannur district boasts of a rich and glorious heritage. The town's website says, "Payyanur is one of the ancient civilised places in Kerala." It has a place of pride in the history of the freedom struggle and the Communist movement. Lately, however, it is making news for the wrong reasons.
Last month, Paul Zacharia, noted writer and social critic, was roughed up by activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) affiliated Democratic Youth Federation of India, as he was leaving the town after making a speech which met with their disapproval.
Also last month, Chithralekha, a young Dalit woman making a living as an auto driver, came under renewed attack from a trade union which has been harassing her ever since she ventured into the male-dominated profession.
She was trained as an auto driver under the officially sponsored people's planning programme in 2004. She then obtained a loan under the Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (employment scheme) and bought an auto-rickshaw. The pro-CPI-M auto drivers union was not ready to admit her into the fold.
As Chithralekha persevered, the union had to give in. However, male colleagues at the auto stand made things difficult for her. They abused her with caste appellations and cast aspersions on her character. But she refused to be cowed down.
One of her colleagues then broke the windscreen of her auto-rickshaw and tore its hood. When she remonstrated, she was beaten up. Since the union did not act on her complaint against the man who damaged her vehicle she lodged a complaint with the police.
This infuriated the union leaders, who filed a counter complaint accusing her of drinking and using drugs and insinuating that she was a sex worker. The man who had damaged her vehicle later attempted to run over her with his auto-rickshaw. She filed yet another complaint against him, and the police arrested him.
The union then launched a vicious poster campaign against her in the town. A few days later, her auto was set on fire. But the union could not destroy her never-say-die spirit. Forced to leave Payyanur, she and her husband, Shreeshkanth, who is also a trained auto driver, worked as wage labourers.
Carmel Christy and Jenny Rowena, two researchers who studied l'affaire Chithralekha at that stage concluded that it was not merely a case of conflict between a woman and a trade union. The union, they pointed out, was dominated by the backward Thiyya community and its hostility towards Chithralekha was based on untouchability and gender.
They viewed the union's campaign against Chithralekha as part of an attempt to maintain caste hegemony. The union, which did not approve of the marriage between Chithralekha, Dalit, and Shreeshkanth, a Thiyya, had become an instrument for maintaining caste and gender boundaries in the Malabar region, they said.
In June 2008 a Kannur-based action committee presented Chithralekha with a new auto-rickshaw bought with public contributions. Following this, she resumed life as an auto driver in Payyanur and the union resumed harassment.
On January 20, she lodged a complaint with the police alleging she was assaulted at the auto stand. Union activists lodged a counter complaint alleging she was drunk. The police wanted to take her for an alcohol test but she refused. She said later that the police had assaulted her too.
A fact-finding team consisting of Professor Gail Omvedt of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Professor Nivedita Menon of Delhi University and two local activists, V Geetha and KK Preetha, visited Payyanur and gathered evidence from her, the auto union, the police and some other witnesses. It found inconsistencies in the versions of the union and the police.
The team, in its preliminary report, said, "The January 20 incident is not an isolated one. Other Dalit women auto drivers in this region have faced intense intimidation, sexual harassment, caste-related abuse, accusations of promiscuity and immorality and damage to their autos."
It noted that the union's statement regarding Chithralekha's behaviour used metaphors that insultingly linked her caste status, gender and sexual immorality. It also sought to cast doubts on her marital status.
It observed that the union leaders' unease with Chithralekha and characterisation of her as a woman 'living outside the track' revealed their inability to tolerate this Dalit woman's assertiveness, stubborn courage and confidence despite her caste and gender. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, February 15, 2010
Gulf Today
Payyanur in Kannur district boasts of a rich and glorious heritage. The town's website says, "Payyanur is one of the ancient civilised places in Kerala." It has a place of pride in the history of the freedom struggle and the Communist movement. Lately, however, it is making news for the wrong reasons.
Last month, Paul Zacharia, noted writer and social critic, was roughed up by activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) affiliated Democratic Youth Federation of India, as he was leaving the town after making a speech which met with their disapproval.
Also last month, Chithralekha, a young Dalit woman making a living as an auto driver, came under renewed attack from a trade union which has been harassing her ever since she ventured into the male-dominated profession.
She was trained as an auto driver under the officially sponsored people's planning programme in 2004. She then obtained a loan under the Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (employment scheme) and bought an auto-rickshaw. The pro-CPI-M auto drivers union was not ready to admit her into the fold.
As Chithralekha persevered, the union had to give in. However, male colleagues at the auto stand made things difficult for her. They abused her with caste appellations and cast aspersions on her character. But she refused to be cowed down.
One of her colleagues then broke the windscreen of her auto-rickshaw and tore its hood. When she remonstrated, she was beaten up. Since the union did not act on her complaint against the man who damaged her vehicle she lodged a complaint with the police.
This infuriated the union leaders, who filed a counter complaint accusing her of drinking and using drugs and insinuating that she was a sex worker. The man who had damaged her vehicle later attempted to run over her with his auto-rickshaw. She filed yet another complaint against him, and the police arrested him.
The union then launched a vicious poster campaign against her in the town. A few days later, her auto was set on fire. But the union could not destroy her never-say-die spirit. Forced to leave Payyanur, she and her husband, Shreeshkanth, who is also a trained auto driver, worked as wage labourers.
Carmel Christy and Jenny Rowena, two researchers who studied l'affaire Chithralekha at that stage concluded that it was not merely a case of conflict between a woman and a trade union. The union, they pointed out, was dominated by the backward Thiyya community and its hostility towards Chithralekha was based on untouchability and gender.
They viewed the union's campaign against Chithralekha as part of an attempt to maintain caste hegemony. The union, which did not approve of the marriage between Chithralekha, Dalit, and Shreeshkanth, a Thiyya, had become an instrument for maintaining caste and gender boundaries in the Malabar region, they said.
In June 2008 a Kannur-based action committee presented Chithralekha with a new auto-rickshaw bought with public contributions. Following this, she resumed life as an auto driver in Payyanur and the union resumed harassment.
On January 20, she lodged a complaint with the police alleging she was assaulted at the auto stand. Union activists lodged a counter complaint alleging she was drunk. The police wanted to take her for an alcohol test but she refused. She said later that the police had assaulted her too.
A fact-finding team consisting of Professor Gail Omvedt of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, Professor Nivedita Menon of Delhi University and two local activists, V Geetha and KK Preetha, visited Payyanur and gathered evidence from her, the auto union, the police and some other witnesses. It found inconsistencies in the versions of the union and the police.
The team, in its preliminary report, said, "The January 20 incident is not an isolated one. Other Dalit women auto drivers in this region have faced intense intimidation, sexual harassment, caste-related abuse, accusations of promiscuity and immorality and damage to their autos."
It noted that the union's statement regarding Chithralekha's behaviour used metaphors that insultingly linked her caste status, gender and sexual immorality. It also sought to cast doubts on her marital status.
It observed that the union leaders' unease with Chithralekha and characterisation of her as a woman 'living outside the track' revealed their inability to tolerate this Dalit woman's assertiveness, stubborn courage and confidence despite her caste and gender. -- Gulf Today, Sharjah, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Caste and gender in Urban Kerala
The report of a study on caste and gender in urban Kerala, undertaken in the context of the experience of Chithra Lekha, a women who sought to make a living as an auto driver, is now available.
The study was conducted by two Hyderabad-based feminist researchers, P. Jenny Rowena and Carmel Christy, under a 2007 Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellowship Project.
Sarai: the New Media Initiative and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies are based at 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054.
Rowena and Christy write: “We have been trained in working with texts, to produce newtexts. However, our caste/gender locations always placed us outside and beyond the scope of most given academic texts. Therefore the need to create new tools, new questions and new theory has been very much part of our research lives.
“We knew that going to the field and gathering data about facts and facets that does not enter theuniversity discourse would prove important for us. This project has helped us a great deal in moving in this direction. We had started with three important theoretical questions. One about sexualharassment, one the Left organization in North Kerala and about the OBC Dalit relationship,
“This project has helped us gain enough data, insight and material for working further on all these levels. Most probably in our coming works we would be building on the knowledge we have gained from this and move on to newer areas."
Those interested may see Chithra Lekha.doc
The study was conducted by two Hyderabad-based feminist researchers, P. Jenny Rowena and Carmel Christy, under a 2007 Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellowship Project.
Sarai: the New Media Initiative and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies are based at 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054.
Rowena and Christy write: “We have been trained in working with texts, to produce newtexts. However, our caste/gender locations always placed us outside and beyond the scope of most given academic texts. Therefore the need to create new tools, new questions and new theory has been very much part of our research lives.
“We knew that going to the field and gathering data about facts and facets that does not enter theuniversity discourse would prove important for us. This project has helped us a great deal in moving in this direction. We had started with three important theoretical questions. One about sexualharassment, one the Left organization in North Kerala and about the OBC Dalit relationship,
“This project has helped us gain enough data, insight and material for working further on all these levels. Most probably in our coming works we would be building on the knowledge we have gained from this and move on to newer areas."
Those interested may see Chithra Lekha.doc
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Kerala society is trapped between feudalism and capitalism
True Marxists have proclaimed that this is the age of capitalism all over India, including West Bengal and Kerala. E. M. S. Namboodiripad, who analyzed the feudal system, which was in vogue in Kerala earlier, had found that it consisted of princely rule, landlordism and caste supremacy. Neither he nor any other theoretician is known to have made a similar analysis of Kerala capitalism.
Under the Congress, princely rule ended. The Communists abolished landlordism. Thus two elements of feudalism disappeared. All that remained of the feudal system was caste supremacy. We still have with us caste and religious supremacy. It can make even non-believers to trek to the mountain shrine and queue up for temple prasad. It can even lead them to a karayogam office for a courtesy call or to the bishop’s palace to kiss his hand. Religion has prospered under both feudalism and capitalism in all parts of the world. Capitalism does not appear to be a problem even for the caste system, which is an exclusive product of Indian feudalism. Note how Indian capitalism, which considers the United States as the model in all other matters, opposes the extension of reservation to the private sector. Leading US companies, while inviting applications for jobs, generally state that they are equal opportunity employers.
When we try to identify the other elements of Kerala capitalism, we find that things are not working out here the way Marx anticipated. He saw ownership and control of the means of production as the source of strength of capitalism. There is little point in asking who controls the means of production in a society where there is hardly any production. In Kerala, often, it is not the capitalist but the political party that controls the means of production. When a party said “no” to computers and tractors, they could not come. When the party gave the nod, they could come. Who then has the decisive role?
Marx and Engels envisaged Communism as the post-capitalist phase. But the Communist movement has not succeeded so far in any country with developed capitalism. It was only in countries which were in the initial phase of industrialization, or had not yet begun the process, that Communist parties could seize power. After the party gained power, the industrialization process was carried forward by the government. That was why critics said that there was state capitalism in the Communist countries.
Kerala came under Communist influence as it was moving from feudalism to capitalism. The leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which took to electoral politics and became a part of the power structure, did not recognize its historical mission. It may be said that they were like students who did not know anything more than what they had committed to heart from the textbook. Their actions obstructed the movement towards capitalism. Kerala society got frozen between dying feudalism and unborn capitalism.
The state of the society is reflected in reports that appear in the newspapers daily. Here are some examples from the last few days’ newspapers:
There was tension as traders of Ambalamukku (in Thiruvananthapuram) obstructed authorities’ efforts to demolish shops on land that the government had acquired for widening of the road.
Popular resentment over the proposed Nagampadam-Kodimatha flyover (in Kottayam).
It has not been possible to remove garbage from the beach or hotels at Kovalam (near Thiruvananthapuram) for four days because there is no place to dump the waste.
A special scheme to find a solution to the complex problem of traffic jams in Kochi has been approved in principle at the Central level.
No ideological issue is involved in these news reports. But they contain a message. Kerala cannot go forward carrying the corpse of feudalism.
Steps to widen the State’s roads must have been taken two or three decades ago. Not that no efforts were made. The CPI (M) was with those who attempted to defeat those steps. The party had opposed the schemes, raising issues like the interests of hawkers and small traders. Now it has changed its approach. In the process, it has invited the charge that it is upholding the interests of big traders and ignoring those of small traders.
One has only to study recent road widening activity in Thiruvananthapuram to understand how not to undertake developmental schemes. When the road between Pattom and Kesavadasapuram was widened, the small shops disappeared. In their place, big stores and showrooms appeared. The customers of the old shops were people who lived near by. They came on foot or on bicycles. The customers of the new shops come in automobiles. The absence of parking facilities creates chaos. The authorities do not seem to have learnt a lesson from this experience. The same kind of road widening is now going on elsewhere in the city.
The state and the people often approach problems in a feudal way. This results in delays in acquisition of land. As project gets delayed, cost escalates. Many of the obstacles will disappear if the government takes the people who are likely to be affected adversely and try to find solutions to their legitimate grievances.
Based on “Nerkkazhcha” column appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated January 17, 2008
Under the Congress, princely rule ended. The Communists abolished landlordism. Thus two elements of feudalism disappeared. All that remained of the feudal system was caste supremacy. We still have with us caste and religious supremacy. It can make even non-believers to trek to the mountain shrine and queue up for temple prasad. It can even lead them to a karayogam office for a courtesy call or to the bishop’s palace to kiss his hand. Religion has prospered under both feudalism and capitalism in all parts of the world. Capitalism does not appear to be a problem even for the caste system, which is an exclusive product of Indian feudalism. Note how Indian capitalism, which considers the United States as the model in all other matters, opposes the extension of reservation to the private sector. Leading US companies, while inviting applications for jobs, generally state that they are equal opportunity employers.
When we try to identify the other elements of Kerala capitalism, we find that things are not working out here the way Marx anticipated. He saw ownership and control of the means of production as the source of strength of capitalism. There is little point in asking who controls the means of production in a society where there is hardly any production. In Kerala, often, it is not the capitalist but the political party that controls the means of production. When a party said “no” to computers and tractors, they could not come. When the party gave the nod, they could come. Who then has the decisive role?
Marx and Engels envisaged Communism as the post-capitalist phase. But the Communist movement has not succeeded so far in any country with developed capitalism. It was only in countries which were in the initial phase of industrialization, or had not yet begun the process, that Communist parties could seize power. After the party gained power, the industrialization process was carried forward by the government. That was why critics said that there was state capitalism in the Communist countries.
Kerala came under Communist influence as it was moving from feudalism to capitalism. The leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which took to electoral politics and became a part of the power structure, did not recognize its historical mission. It may be said that they were like students who did not know anything more than what they had committed to heart from the textbook. Their actions obstructed the movement towards capitalism. Kerala society got frozen between dying feudalism and unborn capitalism.
The state of the society is reflected in reports that appear in the newspapers daily. Here are some examples from the last few days’ newspapers:
There was tension as traders of Ambalamukku (in Thiruvananthapuram) obstructed authorities’ efforts to demolish shops on land that the government had acquired for widening of the road.
Popular resentment over the proposed Nagampadam-Kodimatha flyover (in Kottayam).
It has not been possible to remove garbage from the beach or hotels at Kovalam (near Thiruvananthapuram) for four days because there is no place to dump the waste.
A special scheme to find a solution to the complex problem of traffic jams in Kochi has been approved in principle at the Central level.
No ideological issue is involved in these news reports. But they contain a message. Kerala cannot go forward carrying the corpse of feudalism.
Steps to widen the State’s roads must have been taken two or three decades ago. Not that no efforts were made. The CPI (M) was with those who attempted to defeat those steps. The party had opposed the schemes, raising issues like the interests of hawkers and small traders. Now it has changed its approach. In the process, it has invited the charge that it is upholding the interests of big traders and ignoring those of small traders.
One has only to study recent road widening activity in Thiruvananthapuram to understand how not to undertake developmental schemes. When the road between Pattom and Kesavadasapuram was widened, the small shops disappeared. In their place, big stores and showrooms appeared. The customers of the old shops were people who lived near by. They came on foot or on bicycles. The customers of the new shops come in automobiles. The absence of parking facilities creates chaos. The authorities do not seem to have learnt a lesson from this experience. The same kind of road widening is now going on elsewhere in the city.
The state and the people often approach problems in a feudal way. This results in delays in acquisition of land. As project gets delayed, cost escalates. Many of the obstacles will disappear if the government takes the people who are likely to be affected adversely and try to find solutions to their legitimate grievances.
Based on “Nerkkazhcha” column appearing in Kerala Kaumudi dated January 17, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Invisibility of Race and Caste
The victory of Barack Obama in the Democratic caucus in one of the whitest states has been hailed as a sign that the United States is moving beyond the old rhetoric around race. But race may just be becoming invisible, now identified by symbols such as “illegal immigrant,” the cornerstone of the campaign of Iowa’s other winner, Republican Mike Huckabee, says Roberto Lovato in a report distributed by New American Media.
See "Iowa Results: Race Invisibility or Invisible Race?"
The parallel with the role of caste in elections in Kerala and elsewhere in India can hardly be ignored.
See "Iowa Results: Race Invisibility or Invisible Race?"
The parallel with the role of caste in elections in Kerala and elsewhere in India can hardly be ignored.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)