http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070014100#
Indian politics and caste conundrum Sandeep Bhushan Friday, June 1, 2007 (New Delhi) It could challenge the most sociological of imaginations. Caste temperatures peak in Eastern Rajasthan with Gujjars demanding Scheduled Tribe status and the powerful caste of Meenas that has reportedly got huge quota benefits, resisting it. There is yet another side to the story. Just a few days back close to a lakh Dalits dumped their Scheduled Tribe status only to embrace Buddhism. But such instances are few. Historians say caste as a category has been reviving across North India with every caste jostling to get quota benefits. Such is the clamour that there is no clarity. Recently when the Supreme Court asked the government to explain how they have arrived at the OBC quota figure of 28 per cent, the Home Minister told the Parliament that it was impossible to verify caste status definitively. ''Caste claims especially at the middle level are ambiguous and there are competing claims between different castes and these claims cannot be verified by the government,'' said Andre Beteille, Ex-member, Central Knowledge Commission. ''What will happen is that caste X will say I am more backward than caste Y, and the government will have to make this decisions,'' he added. Present resurgence The present resurgence in caste identities is clearly rooted in Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh's decision in 2006 to extend 28 per cent OBC quotas to central institutions the creamy layer included. Even as students in medical colleges, IITs and IIMs went on a nationwide protest the government remained unmoved. It announced another legislation imposing quotas in even unaided private institutes. However, the Supreme Court came in the way asking the government to identify the creamy layer, SCs and STs families who have been getting reservation benefits for the last five decades and who clearly do not require it. Things became more complex as the Sachar Committee indicated now Muslims needed reservations on the basis of caste. This at a time when Dalits, Christians and Muslims had moved Supreme Court demanding they be moved out of the OBC list and be included in the SC category, as they got no benefits. Recently the Ranganath Mishra Commission went step further and demanded 15 per cent quotas for Muslims and Christians. Competitive politics The clamour for OBC status goes back four decades to the point when the Congress' caste formula failed. And non-Congress governments were formed in 1967 led by the economically powerful Yadavs. In the 1990s there was another OBC resurgence the Mandal politics. As VP Singh's United Front tried to push through 28 per cent quotas in jobs and education, it pit the OBCs against the rest. In the Assembly elections that followed key OBC and Dalit leaders emerged like Lalu Prasad and his Janata Dal, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj. Political motivations have always fuelled new demands for reservation. To lure different caste and communities political parties have more often than not promised reserved status. However, interestingly in the 2007 UP elections marked a shift. Mayawati's high-pitched appeal to Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims to come together was driven on the economic logic. Her demand was for quotas on economic basis for the poor of all these communities that supported her. The result was an unprecedented win. Recurrent elections at various levels has meant a more visible competitive politics. ''Caste is the new category and they want a share of power. They have the resources,'' said Jagpal Singh, Reader, IGNOU. There has been a resurgence of caste identities propelled partly by competitive politics and partly by economic empowerment. But the key question is: Is quota the only answer?
