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 For the underdogs
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Posted on 03-05-07 8:58 PM     Reply [Subscribe]
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For the underdogs: 'Periyar' E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker,
and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

Naturally, other castes, equally wealthy but not so well-read, resented this dominance. Even so, Brahmins may not have attracted so much opprobrium had they not carried their phobia of 'pollution' to extreme lengths. As notions of democracy and human equality spread, the inexcusable practice of untouchability towards the Dalits, the unwillingness to dine with other castes considered lowly, evoked an enormous backlash. Ambedkar led the battle for the Dalits; Periyar raised the banner of backward caste revolt in Tamil Nadu. "The castes which backed Periyar were hardly the wretched of the earth," said Gupta. "They were rich, powerful castes, unwilling to stomach Brahmin superiority."

The coming of Independence, and universal suffrage with it, irreversibly weakened the Brahmin's position. Suddenly this caste had to confront the fact that, for all its influence, its numbers were few: even in Uttar Pradesh, where Brahmins are most numerous, they constitute just 9 per cent. In Tamil Nadu they form less than 3 per cent. When the DMK, an offshoot of Periyar's Dravida Kazagham (DK), won power in 1967, the writing for Brahmins was on the wall. "Once the DMK took charge it embarked on a severe and systematic programme of reverse discrimination," said Sheth. "Reservation quotas were raised to such high levels that Brahmins were squeezed out of government-owned educational institutions and jobs."

Why did retribution take so much longer to reach north India? "In the south, caste battles were polarised between Brahmins and non-Brahmins," said Sheth. "In north India, not only were Brahmins more numerous, but there were also other upper castes with whom they could ally." Besides, added Gupta, the jajmani system of village economy lasted longer in the north than in the south. "As long as it existed, the power and influence of the landed Brahmin remained. But now that has collapsed in the north as well."

"The main reason Brahmins, especially in north India were able to preserve their position despite the coming of democracy," said Satish Deshpande of the Institute for Economic Growth, "was the peculiar naivetŽ and optimism of the Nehruvian era. At the time it was thought that as the country progressed, caste would just wither away. But in fact this approach only led to the perpetuation of inequality. A caste-blind polity also remained blind to the persistence of caste dominance!"

But not for ever. Thanks to reservations and reforms, there has been the rise of a substantial middle class among the scheduled castes and tribes; the Green Revolution of the sixties empowered sections of the backward castes; and finally, V.P. Singh's fateful decision led to the backward and Dalit assertion of the early 90s. As the frenzy of the anti-Mandal agitation showed, pure panic set in among the upper castes, especially Brahmins.

Yet the deluge never came. The Brahmins of north India have not been washed away. How did they stave off the backward class-Dalit threat? Politically, their sizeable numbers proved crucial. At 9 per cent, Brahmins are the largest caste in Uttar Pradesh after Jatavs (12 per cent). As castes like the Jats and the Yadavs have repeatedly proved, determined minorities can, in the electoral arena, aided by wealth, weapons and proper organisation, overcome the handicap of moderate numbers. Brahmins, too, have not shied away from using strong-arm methods to enforce their electoral will in the past, but defensive after the Mandal upheaval, they have lately restricted themselves, like the Muslims, to careful tactical voting.

"Across much of north India, Brahmins have joined forces with castes like Rajputs and Banias to form broadbased upper caste coalitions," said Sheth. "This is a recent development. In the past, before the backward classes became politically conscious, these upper castes, especially Brahmins and Thakurs, were the main rivals for state power." Such a coalition so augments their numbers that no political party can ignore them. But the upper castes have done more. "They have been very clever at exploiting the political and regional fragmentation of the backward castes to their advantage," observed Yogendra Yadav.

"Dalit intellectuals, mostly city-based, continue to rail against Brahmanvad," said Dalit intellectual Chandrabhan Prasad. "That is because they are in government service, or their Dalit friends are, and often suffer minor humiliations at the hands of upper caste officers, especially Brahmins. But the bulk of Dalits in the villages has realised that the main enemies of Dalits are not Brahmins. Their real oppressors are the intermediate and elite backward castes, who are the powerful landowners today." Agreed Sheth: "That is why an upper caste-Dalit coalition, though unstable, is at least possible, as we have seen in UP. It is proving more tenable than a backward-Dalit coalition."

Beyond politics, in the professional world, the Brahmin's main survival weapon has been their legacy of education. "Earlier Brahmins had status power," said Sheth. "Now that has gone. But the benefits they obtained on account of that status in the past-the education they received down several generations, in some cases vast amounts of land and money they came to possess-remain with them still."

From memorising mantras to memorising equations and formulae is, after all, not that large a leap. "Ingesting large amounts of data, doing well in exams, articulating a point of view cogently: these are all skills," said Deshpande. "Brahmins, through centuries of practice, possess these skills. The recently empowered castes are finding that such skills are not easy to acquire." A recent study on social mobility in the Economic and Political Review showed that "men from salaried backgrounds had far superior chances of reaching salaried destinations themselves than did men from any other background".

A good number of second generation employees do indeed owe their success to their hereditary academic ability; but not all. Like all other castes in India, Brahmins too network tirelessly to protect and promote their own. Brahmin bureaucrats denied it, insisting that the relationship between fellow Brahmins was usually one of rivalry rather than cooperation. But R.S. Khare's study of Kanakubja Brahmins of UP, The Changing Brahmins-which could well apply to all Brahmins-showed this is just not true. Khare cites a marvellous example of how a poor Kanakubja schoolteacher goes through five other Kanakubjas to finally approach the commissioner of his division, also a Kanakubja, and obtain a small-time job for his son.

What of the future? Brahmins may have held out so far, but they were far from optimistic. "It is still early years for the Mandal entrants," said a top BJP politician. "Ten years from now the upper castes will be finished in the north Indian bureaucracy as well." As soon as their confidence is won, upper caste bureaucrats embark on stories about the inefficiency and venality of backward caste and Dalit officers. "In coming years efficiency will plummet, the country will suffer terribly. I'm trying to send my children abroad," said a Brahmin joint secretary.

"Anti-reservation feeling is much stronger now among the upper castes than in the past," said Yogendra Yadav. "Some of the horror stories of poor performance may be true," admitted Dipankar Gupta. "But the other castes are also learning fast. The second generation of educated backwards and Dalits will be much more capable than the first."

Of course, there is always the private sector. As long as reservations remain confined to state-owned services, Brahmins can rejoice: for the private sector is expanding, while the state sector is shrinking. It may be mere coincidence, but the move away from increasing state control began in 1991, one year after the Mandal agitation. As second generation and third generation economic reforms follow, as more and more areas are privatised and more and more PSUs disinvested, Brahmin hegemony is likely to get a fresh lease of life. By the time the backwards and Dalits get to rule the state empire, they may find, like the later Mughal emperors, that there is little of the empire left to rule.


Caste figures
The last census in which caste figures as a category was conducted in 1931. It is, of course, hopelessly outdated. The map of the subcontinent has been drastically redrawn since then: one country has split into three; the princely states have disappeared; within each of the three countries boundaries of states have been repeatedly redrawn. Yet the figures relating to caste in this census still remain the only reliable figures available. In 1931, there were 1.5 crore Brahmins-4.32% of the total population.
 


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