Communal Politics & Caste Politics, Its Impact on the voter?
Politics in contemporary India is marked by the 'resurgence' of 'caste and communal politics '. The past two decades have seen a dramatic collapse of the old political formations and parties which had dominated the politics of the Nehruvian era. Even the movements of that period, right up to the mid-1970s, were largely movements on economic issues and questions of corruption, black-marketing, hoarding and food shortages. Through the decade of the 1980s, there was a gradual erosion of the Nehruvian secular-nationalist imagination, and one of the factors responsible for it was the 're-emergence' of caste and religion in public discourse. In 1990s, many parties Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal started claiming that they are representing the backward castes. Many such parties, relying primarily on Backward Classes' support, often in alliance with Dalits and Muslims, rose to power in Indian states. At the same time, many Dalit leaders and intellectuals started realizing that the main Dalit oppressors were so-called Other Backward Classes, and formed their own parties, such as the Indian Justice Party. The Congress (I) in Maharashtra long relied on OBCs' backing for its political success. Bharatiya Janata Party has also showcased its Dalit and OBC leaders to prove that it is not an upper-caste party. Bangaru Laxman, the former BJP president (2001-2002) was a former Dalit. Sanyasin Uma Bharati, former CM of Madhya Pradesh, who belongs to OBC caste, was a former BJP leader. In 2006 Arjun Singh cabinet minister for MHRD of the UPA government was accused of playing caste politics when he introduced reservations for OBCs in educational institutions all around. In Tamil Nadu, the Anti Hindu DMK party rose to power under the canard of "Brahmin oppression", resulting in reverse discrimination against the upper caste Brahmins. Many Brahmins have alleged that Tamil Brahmins (Iyers, Iyengars etc.) have left the state, due to a "hostile atmosphere" prevalent against upper castes in the region.
The late eighties saw communal politics at its height in India. The BJP which had adopted sober programme in 1980 (of secularism and Gandhian socialism) lost 1984 elections very badly and could get as less as two seats in Parliament. Then the BJP began to create a hysteria among the Hindu masses (especially the OBCs and Dalits) on the issue of Ram temple. The slogan "mandir wahin banaenge" (we will construct Ram temple there only i.e. at the site of Babri Masjid) successfully created mass hysteria along the Hindus and a sense of great insecurity among Muslims. The BJP began to touch new heights, especially in the Hindi heartland in 1990 when L.K.Advani took out Rath Yatra for arousing mass hysteria among the Hindus. There have been many other events which has proved the political parties interest in acquiring votes like the Amarnath issue recently, the Godhra riots, Gujjar agitation etc. In all these and similar events, the governments (both at the Center and at State levels) have played identical politics. e.g. of Shah Bano's case, a Muslim widow, maintenance being rejected according to Muslim Personal Law and of Mandal Commission report, securing more privileges to other backward classes besides dalits and tribals – staunch opposition from middle and upper-middle class Hindus. Religion and caste play vital roles in Indian society
In this way voters are influenced to vote for the parties not basing on national issues like the financial crisis, the nuclear deal or the failure of the central government to combat terrorism but on baseless issues. The enemy of people is foxy to divide people tactically and on non-issues. People are victim of the enemy knowingly or unknowingly to promote his desired task. In case the voters opt for like NDA or UPA means no change in system of arbitrary rule which means a dictatorship of criminals and again society has to face a rule of anarchy and unchecked corruption in absence of genuine balancing force i.e. third front. It all depends upon the way the voter is being educated to cast his vote.
Now question is as to how to escape from the enemies of progressive democracy based on genuine balancing force i.e. the value based force of peace and justice? It is main hurdle at this stage as the entire electoral system of India is nothing but only an agency network in real sense. It is also a main obstacle to create 'public opinion'. The electoral Process of India is defective and can be known as 'Electoral Terrorism' i.e. the worst type of largest hidden dictatorship of the World. It's a pity that fifty years of electoral politics have not yielded a decent choice of parties. They all have the same programme—power. All depend on caste and sub-caste to achieve that end. Some add an extra touch here and there—like dynastic glamour and communal emotion.
In a country as diverse as India, it might require something dramatic (war, emergency etc.) to get voters to think in sync, to vote on the basis of limited set of issues. When we think of the past few general elections and ask ourselves what the issues were. Its always something vague, anti-incumbent rhetoric, secular/communal issue or its about personalities. Its not about specific economic policies or foreign policy and even a larger vision for the country. Its unfortunate but true - for a young democracy with a large illiterate socially, economically disempowered electorate in a land that is still trying define its identity as a nation, it might be decades before such a thing as caste ceases to matter in elections. Let us not forget that caste has been around much longer than India did, it ain't going away any soon.
A general awareness of such a reality, its identification and development of a consciousness of its potential harm to the social system, coupled with a persistent endeavour to develop a genuine concern for the suffering humanity, are some of the essential prerequisites for the ameliorative and corrective measures. This is however, not an easy task, though it remains an unavoidable necessity, and inadequate attention to the problem must be a cause for despair.
Bhadra Bharadwaj
