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Age of OBC isolation By Chandrabhan Prasad It is not my desire seeking isolation of OBCs from India's political map. After a three week long sojourn in UP, I can make yet another risk-free prediction - OBCs are going to face a political isolation in the Hindi heartland. They will now no longer get any leadership role political system. Since they are numerically big, they will still be required by non-OBC social classes. In order to survive, the OBCs will become subservient to whichever social block presides over the political establishment. Strange as it may appear, the OBC claiming Mandal legacy or the legacy of social justice in particular are not at all wanted. Any party advocating the Mandal will face a sure marginalisation. The Congress had better watch this. Why is this happening? Post-Mandal, the larger majority of OBCs and Dalits were only too eager to be led by OBCs. A sizable section of the Dwija intelligentsia too mandated OBCs to rule India. But, within less than two decades, OBCs lost that social goodwill, and are now faced with a situation of political isolation. Who is to blame! None other than the representative OBCs themselves are to blame. Even MBCs are abandoning the representative OBCs. Let us consider the possible reasons: By political tradition, the OBCs are language nationalists, and despise English as a medium of instruction. But, they want quota in all fields. How will some one opposed to English fit into modern centers of knowledge? Ask Karunanidhi, Lalu, Mulayam Singh, Prof Yogendra Yadav, or any accomplished OBC of their stand on quota and English! "Yes to quota, but no to English" will be their standard answer. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? By political tradition, the OBCs seek Dalit like quota in jobs and education but without suffering the Dalit like social exclusion! Ask the OBC leadership, and they will insist that Dalits and OBCs have suffered similarly. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? By political tradition, OBCs have sought dismantling of the Brahmin hegemony, and place themselves as their substitute. Ask the OBC leadership as how does the politics of hegemony serve the cause of the social justice, and look into their eyes - they would swallow you almost alive. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? By political tradition, OBCs have argued for social justice, and narrate as how repressive the Dwijas have been. Ask the OBC leadership as why OBCs after being empowered tend to rely on violence as the fundamental tool in dealing with a situation of conflict and look into their eyes - you are virtually assassinated. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? By political tradition, the OBCs have argued against capitalism and urbanisation. Ask the OBC leadership as in what way a feudal India will be better than an urbanised and capitalistic India? There can emerge a situation of sure violence. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? I am listing just five critical areas of concern. If one were to make an index of a hundred negative issues of public life, in almost all, the OBCs will preside over negativity. Doesn't the larger society see this irrationality? The Dwijas has earned a hate space after over two thousand years of guile and social lumpiness. The OBCs needed less than two decades to earn the Dwija like distinction. The representative OBCs have mortified the Indian democracy, and made the impulse of social justice a foul-mouthed comic story. None, but the OBC alone are responsible for their present state. None but OBCs alone have to rethink of their social and political conduct. Worse still, because of the OBCs' social conduct, the very notion of social justice is loosing its moral high ground. Unsolicited though, my prescription to the representative OBCs is - unleash an intense reform movement within. Sell the slogan of democracy and non-violence among the larger OBC mass. Pull them out of the nightmare of agrarianism. Create culture elite from within. Ask them to increase spending on modern education. Or else, face political isolation.
