Yes, caste is race. Caste injustice cries for affirmative action. But is Mandal theanswer? Experience says no. This truth will soon emerge. The Uttar Pradesh polls willbring it out.
Political pundits reckon the bjp will lose India's largest state. The nda allieswill then dump Vajpayee. That will bring realignment and a new government. Therefore bjpleaders play the caste card. Will it win tricks? Possibly. Will it mean the beginning ofthe end of caste politics? Probably.
Lohia conceived caste reservations. He identified caste with class. Those days ruralIndia was static. Now village migrants swarm the cities. They go abroad. This altersthings. Also, Lohia and Karpoori Thakur were judicious. They distinguished betweenland-owning and landless backward castes. Sometimes, Lohia himself had doubts aboutreservations. Once after a backward caste claimant for a party nomination departed, Lohialamented, "They line up for tickets, never for going to jail!" Before elections,Charan Singh hastily announced caste reservations. Until then, he had focused on therural-urban divide. After the polls, he wanted to retrace steps. Madhu Limaye dissuadedhim.
Caste reservation has helped the Establishment. Instead of uniting the exploited, ithas divided them. More backward leaders have emerged. But empowerment of the backward isconfined to politicians. Common people don't benefit. The new backward leadersreinforce an exploitative system. A tribal culture prevails. Chamars hog reservation amongDalits, Yadavs among the backward. There is smouldering resentment against both. There isno reservation for "creamy" backwards. There is reservation for deprivedforwards. Yadavs and Banias are backward in Bihar, forward in Delhi. Then why caste, whynot socio-economic criteria?
The BJP has decided to create reservation for the Most Backward Castes (mbc) andExtreme Backward Castes (ebc). Backward castes welcome it. Of the total 79 backwardcastes, 73 seek mbc status. Of the total 66 sc-st castes, 52 want it.
Only Mulayam Singh and Mayawati, Yadav and Chamar respectively, bitterly oppose it.When backward castes themselves oppose caste reservation, can it survive?
Reservation gains are illusory. Almost 120 million backwards competing for 30,000government jobs is pathetic. But if from 403 candidates, the bjp fields 150 representingall mbcs, could it create a wave?
Mulayam Singh and Mayawati should worry. The bjp may look doomed. The UP polls appearas its nemesis. But be warned. Sometimes political compulsions create miracles.
If from a hat
He pulls a bunny,
Would you call that
Magic, sonny?
