It’s almost certain that the union government will bring a bill to amend the constitution to restore the much needed “quota in promotion” for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SCs and STs) that had been blocked by a recent Supreme Court judgement. Compared to the Lok Pal bill; which targets an equally critical issue of corruption, on which the parties and the governments have been dragging their feet for decades; this piece of legislation is politically expedient for the UPA as well as others. It’s therefore not surprising that there is near unanimity of opinion on the issue. It’s delightful to watch that the Congress, the BJP and the Left parties are in it together. [caption id=“attachment_426303” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A group in Hyderabad protests caste discrimination. Reuters.[/caption] However, the OBCs or the parties dominated by them are unlikely to agree unconditionally. They are the champions of affirmative action, but when it comes to the SCs/STs, they have a logic that sounds like the age-old anti-reservationist argument of the upper castes. The Samajwadi Party (SP) of Uttar Pradesh is completely against it while the DMK, another OBC reservation champion is fine with the idea, but would want another bill for the backward castes. Incidentally, both the states have an SC population that is roughly 20% and have a history of violence against Dalits perpetrated mostly by the backward castes. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, UP accounts for the highest share of the crime against Dalits in the country. Times of India reported that at the all party meeting convened by the Prime Minister on the issue on Tuesday “Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and brother Ramgopal Yadav were vocal in opposing the move, arguing it led to social heartburn and vitiated social harmony". “They argued that all top positions in “work departments” in Uttar Pradesh were occupied by SCs, with OBCs and general candidates unable to move beyond the rank of superintending engineer," TOI reported. Sounds similar, isn’t it? The Mandal messiahs sound upper casteist when it comes to Dalits. In this argument, they even find common cause with the upper castes (general candidates) in blocking the upward mobility of Dalits. The riders such as a separate bill for the OBCs by the JD(U) and DMK for their support stem from the same supremacist mindset. The same logic was heard last when the country pushed for 30% reservation for women. No wonder, India’s affirmative action story is that of the rise of the backward or middle castes and the continued oppression of Dalits and violence against them by “caste hindus”. Reservation is a contentious issue and the debate has mostly been between the OBCs and the upper castes. In simple terms, as was witnessed during the Mandal agitation, the upper castes are forever peeved that their opportunities are taken away by “less meritorious” people because they belong to backward castes. Instead of appearing to be anti-OBC, they argue for respect for merit as well a quota for economic backwardness, overlooking the fundamental logic behind affirmative action - empowerment of socially backward sections of society. Mulayam’s argument of discontentment is no different from the upper castes getting peeved by the glass ceiling created by the OBCs. Backward castes also figure prominently as the perpetrators of violence against Dalits, especially in Tamil Nadu, UP and Bihar where the OBC dominated parties control electoral politics. The anti Dalit violence of the 1990s in Tamil Nadu and that in UP in the 1980s and 90s, for instance, are commensurate with the political rise of the intermediate castes and oppression of Dalits. The role of backwards castes, who ironically fought for their rights against the oppression of the upper castes, in such incidents of violence has been extensively reported. As academic Zoya Hassan noted, the rise of middle and backward classes in a number of districts in UP has intensified the conflicts between them and the landless agricultural labourers. The dominant role sought by the middle castes also is reflected in the famous Mandal Report, which notes that “for some reasons, the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes and other minor artisan castes like the potters, the weavers, the carpenters, etc. feel threatened by the intermediate castes also having a stake in land like the upper castes.” It also said: “There are many states in India where the weaker landless minority artisan castes and the scheduled castes look to the upper castes and not to the intermediate castes for protection.” In the end, it is nothing but the fight for supremacy by the intermediate castes and their political parties. They try to conflate their demands for reservation with that of the severely oppressed Dalits and are at the vanguard of this willful conflict. That is precisely why the union government should go ahead with the proposed Bill and ensure that it is legally sustainable.
The OBCs or the parties dominated by them are unlikely to agree unconditionally to a ‘quota in promotion’ bill. When it comes to the SCs/STs, they have a logic that sounds like the age-old anti-reservationist argument of the upper castes.
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