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Capitalism better By Chandrabhan Prasad Thirty years have passed since I was elected president of my college students union in 1977. I was then a 19-year-old BA first year student and had got in touch with the Communist movement in my area. By giving my example, the point I am trying to make is that I was trained to aspire for a classless society. So engaged I was in that hunt of claiming a classless society that I eventually joined the CPI(ML). However, I am not the only one. There are many Dalits who face similar dilemma. A sizeable number of Dalits is Communist by implication although, they all claim to be pursuing an Ambedkarian agenda. While I dreamt of a classless society, in reality, I faced caste-based problems. I didn't want to enter politics. However, a Dalit student contesting for president, was being forced to not stand for elections. The issue became a challenge. I decided to contest and I won. In those days, elected office-bearers had to take oath in the presence of students, teachers and the staff. There were threats that the ceremony would be disrupted. Over 100 Dalits, well armed, were in position, and the goons ran for cover. Despite having faced caste-based problems, my belief in a classless society was strong. I kept fooling myself that caste is a super structure and once the base changes, it will wither away. It was much later that I realised that the base itself stood on the pillars of the caste order. Two years ago, I was invited as chief guest for a function on Dr Ambedkar's birth anniversary in Shahjahanpur. An elderly Dalit spoke eloquently about the agony Indian capitalism has wrought on Dalits - giving graphic details of how Ambedkar 'fought' against capitalism all his life. Being the organiser of the function, he spoke last and I sat listening to his rubbish. It will be in order here to state that that gentleman is my great admirer and while praising me he told the audience how I, too, was fighting capitalism in Delhi. An accomplished Dalit scholar told me during the Durban conference in 2001 that "America lives on our (India's) surpluses". When the wheel of globalisation came to India in 1991, most sub-currents within the Dalit movements decided to fight it with the belief that globalisation could be stopped. A decade-and-a-half has passed and globalisation has taken roots in India. In the then collective Dalit imagery, globalisation was to be the community's bane. As we now see, because of globalisation the caste order is becoming an embarrassment to traditional beneficiaries. In a more interconnected world, the Dalit issue is getting more global attention than ever before. Dalit movements have supporters in most parts of Europe and America. Whenever affirmative action in private sector becomes a reality, half of the credit will go to globalisation. The logic of globalisation is hitting at taboo associated with occupational purity - the backbone of caste order. Globalisation powered capitalism, on the other hand, is making class divides more visible. To that extent, caste divisions are blurring. As the wheels of capitalism role over India's agrarianism, urbanisation and industrialisation will only expand. A highly industrialised and urbanised India will be a better place for Dalits to live in. The goal of Dalit movements, thus, could be two-fold - accelerating the process of capitalistic expansion, industrialisa-tion and urbanisation; and seeking a share in the same. But, as said, expanded capitalism will make class divides more visible than ever before. Dalits, thus, have a choice to make - between a casteless India and an India made of different economic classes. The idea of a classless society may only perpetuate the caste order as all societies live with some divisions or the other. A capitalism-powered class society is the clear choice.
