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Economic and Political Weekly September 8, 20013422

Commentary

SUMANTA BANERJEE

The Indian governments nefarious

plan to keep away the issue of caste

discrimination from the agenda of

the UN Conference on Racism and Intol-

erance has provided academics with the

opportunity to engage in hair-splitting ar-

guments over the semantic distinction be-

tween race and caste. This debate is

surely important for anthropological and

sociological research. But it is of purely

academic interest at the moment, in the

present Indian context. Whether they

describe the dalits and the adivasis as

belonging to a race, or to a caste, it makes

no difference to their daily trials and tribu-

lations when they face the brunt of dis-

crimination and intolerance, both from the

upper caste people, and the government

officials. What is of utmost importance

now therefore is to face squarely this issue

of caste-induced oppression which in

terms of both physical and mental suffer-

ing is as agonising for a large mass of

Indians as racial violence was for the

victims of apartheid in South Africa.It is praiseworthy that different

organisations from India (including even

the National Human Rights Commis-

sion),like dalit groups and NGOs, have

opposed the governments stand and are

taking up the issue of caste discrimination

and oppression at the Durban conference.

But it is about time that concerned

organisations and individuals peep into a

different nook of the hierarchical caste

system in India. This is the cobwebbed

hideout of discrimination and intolerance,

loss of power in the villages, the yadavs

under Jayanandans leadership stepped in

to fill the power vacuum. Jayanandan left

the PWG, sought the political patronage

of a Bihar minister from his caste, andformed a gang to cleanse his area of all

PWG influence, obviously in a bid to turn

it into a pocket borough for his new found

political patron. Since most of the follow-

ers of the PWG were dalits, Jayanandans

campaign took on the form of a casteist

cleansing. He was reported to have vowed

to kill all dalits within three km radius of

his area of operation. True to his vow, on

August 22, his gang swooped down upon

a dalit village in search of PWG activists,

but unable to find them killed three dalit

women and three children. Sometime ago,his gang had invaded another dalit village

and carried out a similar operation.

Traditional differences between middle

caste people (who are accepted as subor-

dinates in the Hindu caste hierarchy) and

the dalits (who are considered outcastes)

are resurfacing and exploding into con-

flicts in situations where a newly emerg-

ing socially dominant group is seeking

power at the expense of a traditionally

socially downtrodden group. Laloo Yadav

is the best representative of this trend.

Coming from the middle segment of the

Hindu hierarchical caste system, he re-

tains his links with it, and yet puts on the

robes of a messiah of the dalit outcastes

an unscrupulous adoption of a rather

unsophisticated and rustic type of

Gandhian tactics in the local politics of

Bihar. While Gandhi appealed to the

masses through the cultivation of a popu-

lar idiom, Laloo also tries to woo his

voters by his rustic jokes. Like Gandhi,

he is cunning enough not to call for an

end to the Hindu caste system. But he isruthless when it comes to power. If the

dalits agree to accept his hypocrisy, he is

all too sweet to offer them compensation

for their relatives who have been killed

by gangs led by his caste men. But if they

dare to call Laloo Yadavs bluff, they will

have to face the consequences the warn-

ing delivered by Jayanandan Yadavs latest

operation.

Similar messiahs have emerged among

the dalits and the adivasis, who are taking

them for a ride. Characters like Mayavati

Wheels within Wheels,

Castes within Castes

differences and conflicts among the op-

pressed and backward castes, which is thebreeding ground of their disreputable

leaders. It is rather risky for an outsider,

even if a diehard opponent of the

brahminical caste system, to raise this

question, since he/she might be immedi-

ately accused of sowing divisions within

communities. But however much one may

protest against caste oppression at inter-

national conferences, unless the oppressed

and backward castes in India themselves

overcome their own differences, put an

end to intolerance within their own com-

munities and throw up ideologically com-

mitted leaders from their own ranks to

fight the discrimination, they will remain

politically ineffectual, and continue to

suffer under the brahminical caste system

and the Indian state that acquiesces in its

perpetuation.

It is an undeniable fact that certain

sections of the OBCs today have replaced

the earlier upper castes as oppressors of

the dalits. In places like Bihar, some from

among the yadavs who till the other day

were victims of discrimination and intol-erance at the hands of the rajput and

bhumihar landlords, and were allies of the

dalits in their fight against these feudal

forces, have now become oppressors of

the same dalits. A tell-tale instance is the

emergence of Jayanandan Yadav in the

Jehanabad-Masaurhi region of Bihar.

Some years ago, Jayanandan along with

other members of his caste had joined the

Naxalite Peoples War Group (PWG) to

fight the upper caste bhumihar landlords.

With the retreat of the bhumihars and their

Whatever be the manner in which dalits and adivasis are classified as belonging to a race or a caste it is a fact that caste-inducedoppression has been as agonising to a large mass of Indians as hasbeen racial violence in South Africa. However, it is also time theintolerance, discrimination and divisions existing among theoppressed castes that have bred a great deal of violence and havethrown up unscrupulous leaders is confronted and acknowledged.

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