The recent caste based riot in the Indian state of Maharashtra is nothing new nor surprising. No doubt, it is politically motivated. And no doubt the GOP (Grand Old Party) of India Congress's hidden hand is palpably visible here, so that in the next election people will give it a hand by voting for its Hand symbol.
Casteism is a big bane in India. It is there more or less everywhere, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Delhi to Dimapur. 50% of students in my alma mater NIT, Rourleka came from the outside Odisha. A few of my Bihari classmates, great guys nevertheless, occasionally whispered in my ears - ISKA JAAT KAA HAI (what's his caste), curious to know about the caste of us Odias and then trying to connect it to their counter part in Bihar. (For example, they linked our KARANA caste to KAYAST in Bihar. The caste Brahmin was self explanatory, though they struggled a lot, whether to align our KHANDAYAT caste to Rajputs or Bhumihars).
As the teenager in me who had hardly travelled beyond coastal Odisha, it felt rather weird. Soon I noticed, a few of the upper caste folks from Bihar would avoid sitting on the Mess Dining Table with certain guys, whom they perceived as from lower caste or strata of the society. Odias might have tons of shortcomings, but such rampant, naked casteism is not one of them. The thought of not sharing a meal with someone never came to my mind.
Casteism inside the Congress party can be traced to a meeting of its law makers in 1970s. Once during a Cabinet meeting Indira Gandhi walked towards Kamalapati Tripathy, a Brahmin and Railway minister from UP and asked him "Tripathy JEE. BABU JAGJIVAN RAM (a minister from Scheduled Caste in her cabinet) KEHTE HAIN KI AAP UNKE SAATH NAHI KHAATE (Mr. Tripathy, Jagjivan Ram complains, you don't eat with him)".
Kamalapati replied - MADAM, MEIN AAP KE SAATH BHI NAHI KHAATA, WOH TO CHAMAAR HAI (Madam, I don't even eat with you, he is from a low caste of shoe makers). Indira, though born a Brahmin, lost her caste after her marriage to Feroz Gandhi and was never allowed inside Lord Jaganntah Temple post marriage.
And no party other than Congress has a longer history of using caste polarization to its favor. Hindus constitute 85% of India's population but are divided along the lines of multiple castes and sub castes. Its rival party at the national level BJP's strength is its ability to consolide the Hindu votes to electoral advantage. The more it unites them, the better it performs. Congress's strength is minority votes, especially in states where they form a credible opposition to BJP. The more it can pull chunks of castes from the Hindu vote bank by creating fissures amongst them, the better is the result.
I sense Congress is playing its usual dirty politics once again. Ahmed Patel practised it in Gujarat and reaped some success. Bolstered by it, I smell a rat of Congress hand here - may be with tacit support of Siv Sena which is currently peeved with BJP. Watch for more such incidents until April, 2019 when the Parliament elections are held.
Casteism is a big bane in India. It is there more or less everywhere, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Delhi to Dimapur. 50% of students in my alma mater NIT, Rourleka came from the outside Odisha. A few of my Bihari classmates, great guys nevertheless, occasionally whispered in my ears - ISKA JAAT KAA HAI (what's his caste), curious to know about the caste of us Odias and then trying to connect it to their counter part in Bihar. (For example, they linked our KARANA caste to KAYAST in Bihar. The caste Brahmin was self explanatory, though they struggled a lot, whether to align our KHANDAYAT caste to Rajputs or Bhumihars).
As the teenager in me who had hardly travelled beyond coastal Odisha, it felt rather weird. Soon I noticed, a few of the upper caste folks from Bihar would avoid sitting on the Mess Dining Table with certain guys, whom they perceived as from lower caste or strata of the society. Odias might have tons of shortcomings, but such rampant, naked casteism is not one of them. The thought of not sharing a meal with someone never came to my mind.
Casteism inside the Congress party can be traced to a meeting of its law makers in 1970s. Once during a Cabinet meeting Indira Gandhi walked towards Kamalapati Tripathy, a Brahmin and Railway minister from UP and asked him "Tripathy JEE. BABU JAGJIVAN RAM (a minister from Scheduled Caste in her cabinet) KEHTE HAIN KI AAP UNKE SAATH NAHI KHAATE (Mr. Tripathy, Jagjivan Ram complains, you don't eat with him)".
Kamalapati replied - MADAM, MEIN AAP KE SAATH BHI NAHI KHAATA, WOH TO CHAMAAR HAI (Madam, I don't even eat with you, he is from a low caste of shoe makers). Indira, though born a Brahmin, lost her caste after her marriage to Feroz Gandhi and was never allowed inside Lord Jaganntah Temple post marriage.
And no party other than Congress has a longer history of using caste polarization to its favor. Hindus constitute 85% of India's population but are divided along the lines of multiple castes and sub castes. Its rival party at the national level BJP's strength is its ability to consolide the Hindu votes to electoral advantage. The more it unites them, the better it performs. Congress's strength is minority votes, especially in states where they form a credible opposition to BJP. The more it can pull chunks of castes from the Hindu vote bank by creating fissures amongst them, the better is the result.
I sense Congress is playing its usual dirty politics once again. Ahmed Patel practised it in Gujarat and reaped some success. Bolstered by it, I smell a rat of Congress hand here - may be with tacit support of Siv Sena which is currently peeved with BJP. Watch for more such incidents until April, 2019 when the Parliament elections are held.
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