Verdict
2004:Triumph non-Brahmins
By Chandrabhan
Prasad
30 May, 2004
The Pioneer
Call
it political accident, or sheer coincidence, in Dr Manmohan Singh, a
Sikh as a ruler of India, the non-Brahmans have come of age. Barring
Defence, which should have otherwise gone to Shudras as it involves
lots of violence, a Brahman, Pranab Mukherjee is made in-charge, which
is a contradiction in terms. When have Brahmans excelled in warfare?
However, this irony is made up by the facts that the Home Minister,
Shivraj Patil, is a very accomplished Shudra and the External Affairs
Ministry has gone to Natwar Singh, a Jat by birth. So, it is clear that
the Jat has arrived. Who could have imagined this a decade back when
movers and shakers of the community from all parts of India assembled
for the first ever Jat "international conference" in Delhi?
Meanwhile, Jaipal Reddy, the Reddy, will head the Ministry of I&B
and Culture. Now, the Reddys have traditionally been against all kinds
of cultural refinements. P Chidambaram, a Shudra in Tamil classical
social hierarchy, will head Finance. By local Tamil standards, the Chettiyars,
a community identical to the northern Baniyas to which Chidambaram belongs,
is more famous for its skills in hiding money than allowing it to flow
into the market. Education has gone to Thakur Arjun Singh, a community
historically hostile to any form of knowledge. Tourism has gone to Renuka
Chaudhary, a Kamma. If one were to post a few Kamma officers at Indira
Gandhi International Airport, many European tourists may decide to catch
the first flight back home. With Railways now under the charge of Laloo
Prasad Yadav, a very insisting Shudra, rail travellers can consider
buying few more life insurance policies. His predecessor, Nitish Kumar,
has set a fine precedent in this respect. And, finally, the joke of
the first decade of the 21st Century: Communication and IT has gone
to Dayanidhi Maran, overwhelmingly Shudra. As the joke goes, a talented
and terribly imaginative Shudra architect designed a house for a Shudra
landlord-billed as the house of the 22nd Century-in which it was envisioned
to have a common dining room-cum-toilet. His argument in favour of the
unique design: Who could have conceptualised this two centuries earlier?
As widely predicted, the Agriculture Ministry has gone to Sharad Pawar,
a Maratha, who believes more in creating food scarcity for private gain
than boost production. But, then, there is the great silver lining:
All ministers have to derive their mandate from the Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, a leader with next to no organic links with this soil.
She has no natural caste interests, and has often been caste-neutral,
not only by birth, but also by her beliefs. To the Dalits and other
social proletariats, a person with minimum Indian connections should
be a better choice. Modern Indian history backs this proposition. It
was the British who fought with the Indians to open the doors to the
Dalits in education and brought every one equal before the law. More
so, the present cabinet will be more accountable to Soniaji, than Parliament
or the people. That is good for Dalits, as the Parliament is condemned
by the massive presence of Shudras, who primarily represent their own
caste groups.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, due to his excessive exposure to western
culture and system of governance, can be expected to be radically different
from rest of the Jat-Sikhs. And so are many Shudra ministers. Moreover,
Singh enjoys the confidence of Soniaji, and his loyalty to her is unquestionable.
The verdict of May 2004 is emphatic in one sense: It is a clear rejection
of the NDA and its pro-rich, anti-Dalit policies. Yet, the verdict was
fractured in the sense that it did not mandate any pre-poll alliance
to rule.
This is only a theoretical and moral problem. Post-poll realignment
of forces do happen in democracies, and, in that sense, the United Progressive
Alliance has all the legitimacy it needs to rule, notwithstanding the
fact that this mandate has been achieved by a re-negotiated settlement
among various interest groups. The Dalits, the non-Brahmans, and the
Congress party, all three have a historic opportunity. Almost all ideological
positions and political ideologies with Leftist-Progressive-Secular-Liberal-anti-Brahman-pro-Dalit
shades are constituents of the new government, whether inside or backing
it from outside. In that sense, this is a historic moment for the Dalits
in India's contemporary history. The Congress party too has the unique
opportunity of making up for its past indifference towards the Dalit
cause. Through five decades of rule, it squandered away the blind support
which the Dalits had extended to the party, which, amazingly, continues
to sustain in large parts of the country. The non-Brahman Shudras too
have the chance to wash away all the sins which they have been committing
on the Dalits since the abolition of zamindari after independence. If
the Brahmans could abolish zamindari, an act which ultimately led to
the decline of their own hegemony, why can't the Shudras too act in
similar fashion? Dalit Diary, in coming weeks, will explore this opportunity
with the new government.