THE RISE OF OBC IN THE HINDI BELT – CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT

Introduction

·         Rise of OBC development in the Hindi belt politics over last ten years

·         They are castes in the Indian social system situated above untouchable and below forward castes

·         The OBCs, whose professional activity is often as field workers or artisans- they have occupied a subaltern position in society

·         Over representation of elite groups in the political sphere has always more pronounced in the Hindi-speaking states than anywhere else

·         South and West; the upper caste lost ground early because they were smaller in number – Tamil Nadu Brahmin account only 3%, Uttar Pradesh 10%

·         But upper castes remained politically dominant in the Hindi-belt because of pattern of land ownership (Rajput) zamindars, jagirdars, or taluqdars

·         Fact was that they were the backbone of Congress Party’s network and decade social deficit of democracy in North India resulted from Clientelistic politics of this party

·         The congress party co-opted vote bank ‘owners’ who were often from upper caste landlords, and untouchable leaders whose rallying around the ruling party deprived their group of some important spokesmen.

·         Fewer lower caste leaders within the congress party, the lower castes being closer to the opposition parties like The Socialists, the Independents; they remained marginalized

·         1970s upper caste MPs represented more than 50 % of the North Indian MPs as against less than 5% for intermediate castes and maximum 10% for OBC

·         Historically in North India two kinds of approaches have prevailed

                                i.            Concentrated on their mobilization as peasants (Kisans) – initiated by members of cultivating castes like Chhotu Ram (jat) in Punjab  and Swami Sahajanand (Bhumihar) leading figure of Bihar Kisan Sabha 1930

                              ii.            Caste identities and articulated by socialist leaders like Rammanohar Lohia; ‘kisan school’, ‘kisan politics’ organized to mobilise “the peasants’’

·         These two strategies contributed to the rise of first middle caste peasants then OBCs in the North Indian politics

·         First change occurred 1960s in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh legislative assemblies- socialist parties and Charan Singh

Quota Politics and Kisan Politics

·         Few men and political parties in North India have tried to promote the cause of lower castes since independence

·         The congress party dominated at center by progressive leaders Nehru who didn’t regard caste as relevant category for state-sponsored social change

·         None of them interested in acknowledging OBCs though expression was originated by Nehru in his first speech, on his objective resolution on December 13, 1946, before the constituent assembly.

·         Nehru announced special measures to be taken in favor of ‘minorities, backward and tribal areas and depressed and other backward classes’ but didn’t elaborate further and senior congressmen K.M Munshi resisted any effort to clarify who these OBCs were.

·         Article 340 of the Indian constitution voted on January 26, 1950 stated, “the president can by decree nominate a commission formed by persons he considers to be competent to investigate, within the Indian territory, on the condition of classes suffering of backwardness as well in social as in educational terms, and on the problems they meet, the way of proposing measures which could be taken by the central or a state government in order to eliminate difficulties and improve their condition”.

·         The first backward classes commission was appointed on January 29, 1953 under the chairmanship of a former discipline of Gandhi, KaKa Kalelkar; Its report relied heavily on the concept of caste for defining the OBCs; commission list out 2,399 castes, representing 32% of Indian population; forming bulk of “socially and educationally backward classes” which needs affirmative action programs

·         Report was rejected by Nehru’s Government, G.B Pant, the home minister, objected “with the establishment of our society on the socialist pattern….social and other distinctions will disappear as we advance towards that goal”

·         He disapproved the use of caste as the prominent criterion for identifying the backward classes –

·         May 1961 Nehru government decided not to have all India list of the OBCs –consequently means no reservation policy at the center –even though they were responsible for article 340 of the constitution.

The Socialists and Affirmative Action for the Lower Castes

·         First to recognize the lower caste was probably Ram Manohar Lohia – he was from merchant caste- he was influenced by Marxism- he decided to fight for the cause of lower castes

·         Many socialists fail to comprehend economic inequality and caste inequality as twin demons – and Lohia become expert and support positive discrimination which he called “unequal opportunities” for both SCs and OBCs

·         According to Lohia, Marxist views revolution or Nehru’s Policy of nationalizing private properties amount to “vested-interest socialism” because nothing is going to change in Indian society.

·         Lohia feel shudra deserved special treatment in position of power and leadership; he didn’t recommend affirmative action in education system as desirable but emphasized on quotas in the administration and for the election candidates

·         1959, third national conference of the socialist party expressed the wish that at least 60% of the posts in the administration be reserved for OBCs

·         The program or election manifestos of Lohia’s party promoted the notion of “preferential opportunities” which was justified by the caste society

·         Later first conference of the Samyukta Socialist Party held in April 1966; recommended quota of 60% for the backward section of society- comprising of SCs, STs, OBCs and women – and extend to all sphere like administration, education and assemblies.

·         To show the way, SSP nominated large number of candidates from non-elite groups and socialists had a larger number of OBC members of legislative assemblies elected than other political parties in the states where they achieved their best scores, in UP and Bihar

·         Lohia’s strategy bore significant electoral fruits in Bihar and later the foundation of congress socialist party, Lohia’s Samyukta Socialist Party, Communists, Jana Sangh formed a majority coalition called the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD)

Charan Singh and the Mobilization of the Farmers

·         Socialist approach recognizing caste as a level of social domination and the corollary caste based mobilization and affirmative action

·         North India saw 1960s the shaping of an alternative strategy by Charan Singh which aimed at empowering the Peasantry.

·         “the chaudhuri” a title held by Jat leaders, became influential in the late 1960s –explained economic growth which benefited middle class farmers of North India

·         This growth resulted from two cumulative phenomena

                                i.            Land reform

                              ii.            Green revolution – revolution stemmed from the introduction of high yielding seeds, irrigation and chemical fertilizers  b/w 1965 and 1966

·         Charan Singh always identified himself with the interests of the peasants- 1939- in UP assembly where he had elected first time in 1937, he proposed 50% quota in public administration in favor of the sons of farmers- he frame the project as “urban India versus rural India”

·         The all India Jat Mahasabha supported his proposal but Charan Singh didn’t value caste affiliations; for him it was the subsume caste identity into a feeling of class or one of a peasant movement; it is to be for his own caste group benefit.

·         In 1959 he opposed the project of agricultural co-operatives announced by the prime minister in the Nagpur session of the congress and immediately published book called ‘joint farming x-rayed: the problem and its solution’ in which he proposed strategy of global development opposing to Nehru

·         Questioning the need for rapid and state-sponsored industrialization of Nehru and he proposed agriculture and developing small farmer holdings is only the way to generate surplus industrial investment

·         Charan Singh spell out the romantic view of Kisan to collaborate and work for peasant class and landless class for wages and so on to represent as spokesmen for village India

·         Charan was able to coalition of cultivating caste as kisan politics; coalition came to be known as AJGAR= Ahir, Jat, Gujar and Rajput

The Janata Party at the Confluence of Quota and Kisan Politics

·         Fact both strategies, Quota Politic and Kisan Politics persisted during ‘JP movement’ and Janata is evident from the discourse

·         Madhu Limaye emphasized the empowerment dimension of affirmative action schemes as his mentor Lohia

·         Charan Singh regarded that Janata Party should maintain “its live links with the villages, with agriculture, with cottage and village industries and generally with the uplift of our Kisans” as many decades congress ruled essentially elite and urban oriented.

·         Two major components of the Janata, i) the former congress of prime minister Morarji Desai ii) Hindu nationalist Jana Sangh

The Janata Dal and the Empowerment of the Lower Castes

·         The Janata Dal was officially founded on 11 October 1988

·         The party’s discourse on social justice remained heavily loaded with socialist references and  its affirmative action program drew inspiration from Lohia

·         The Janata Dal  adopted promised “keeping in view special needs of the socially and educationally backward classes, the party implement forthwith the recommendation of the mandal commission”

·         And party had promised to allot 60% tickets in the general election to “the weaker sections of society” and V.P Singh reserved  and it couldn’t implemented

·         Even JD also promised Kisan Politics as well

·         Finally V.P Singh decided to ask Minister of Social Welfare Ram Vilas Paswan, a Dalit leader to do the job

Caste Polarization around Mandal

·         V.P Singh was to make a broad range of castes coalesce under the OBCs label as per the mandal commission report

·         Many ‘Shudras’ and OBC crystallized for which upper caste militantly resisted against reservation in the administration

·         Soon after announcement by V.P Singh through Mandal Commission  report recommendation; upper caste students formed organization such Arakshan Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti and Mandal Ayog Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti in UP resist all kinds  reservation quota; they had the fear of deprived of posts in the administration

·         Lower caste people came to know their interest and decided not vote for upper caste candidates and there was an increased in the OBCs Hindi belt

·         In south and west India due to silent revolution

·         In the states of the Hindi belt- UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, Haryana, HP, Delhi and Chandigarh politic was monopolized by the upper castes until the 1980s

Are the OBCs a Community?

·         1996, one member of the UP OBC commission observed that “political change is now leading to social change. The OBC which was a constitutional category has now become a social category”

Grass root Mobilization or Yadav Manipulation?

·         The rise of OBCs is first of all the rise of the Yadavs and the Kurmis- as they share MPs testifies

·         15% of North Indian MPs in the 1990s

·         New castes joined the political arena in the 1980s and 1990s like Lodhis, Koeris, Gujars, Malis – Jaiswals, Telis, and Kacchis – each one of these castes represents about 1/3 of the OBC MPs of North India since 1989

·         Even though Kurmis organized themselves as early as the Yadavs through caste association, the Yadavs have been forefront of the OBC Mobilisation since the beginning

·         Creamy Layer

Yadav Politics in Bihar and UP

The BJP’s Reluctant Mandalization

Conclusion

·         Traditionally, political mobilization against the urban, upper caste establishment has followed two routes in North India

                                i.            The Quota Politics –came from Lohia, who attributed most of social inequality to caste and favored affirmative action program

                              ii.            Kisan Politic – came from Charan Singh, who promoted Peasants’ solidarity against urban India

·         Though there was former strategy in the political arena but when Janata Dal followed these two strategy; it double the effective in politics

                                i.            It emancipated the OBCs from the hegemonic strategy of the proponents of kisan politics- mainly Jats

                              ii.            It contributed to getting an OBC vote bank after the implementation of the recommendation of the mandal commission report, the important decision ever made in the framework of the “Quota Politics”

·         People started to vote to their own leader in the vote bank

·         1991 upper caste denied and resistance on reservation solidarities decline due to liberal turn opened for them to move to better opportunities in private sector than bureaucracy

·         The policies of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav fragmentation of the so called OBC votes and bear testimony of the cleavages b/w the castes classified as OBCs

·         The rise of the OBCs has met another adversary in Hindu Nationalism in which upper caste dominated and whose OBC politicians has less affinities with values system of the lower caste movements

·         The rise of the lower castes in North Indian Politics, though substantial, will have a more transformative effect if two conditions can be fulfilled in the future

                                i.            If OBC leaders of the BJP take over the party apparatus on behalf of more egalitarian values

                              ii.            If the most backward castes MBCs unite and gain their share of power against the domination of OBCs