The best Ive read on Dalit Politics! ..The Dalit politics until now has been dominated by few numerically powerful castes or the “vanguard caste” and whole Dalit discourse was viewed from their vantage point. However, the gains made in the previous decades have uplifted and politicised other Dalit castes as well. There are 66 Dalit castes in U.P who form 21% of state’s population. According to the 2001 Census, Jatavs constitute 56% of the Dalit population. Pasis constitute 16% while the third rung (another 15%) is made of Dhobis, Koris and Balmikis. The last chunk, comprising Gonds, Dhanuks, and Khatiks constitute about 5%. Mayawati belongs to the Jatav caste but now leaders of other castes are challenging the status quo of Dalit politics and demanding their share of the pie. It is leading to fragmentation of the Dalit politics as more and more castes are moving out of the umbrella of “Dalit Politics” and searching for alternatives. They have been striking deals with other parties but this time from a position of strength, demanding better deal than what Dalit parties (notably BSP) give them. Many prominent Dalit castes like Pasis shifted en masse even to SP (normally seen as an anti-Dalit OBC party) in the 2012 assembly elections. Of late, BJP has been a major beneficiary of this trend as prominent Dalit leaders like Udit Raj have been joining it. The record of accomplishment of governance in various BJP ruled states like Gujarat has increased the attractiveness of BJP for Dalit middle class. In addition, increasing Islamic aggression on the ground is pushing rural and lower-middle class Dalits towards BJP as its they who are on the receiving end of the Islamic violence. And whenever there is a clash between Dalits and Muslims, secular and leftist forces automatically join the Muslims under the twisted ‘secularism’ of India. Then suddenly, Dalits become part of ‘majoritarian Hindu fascism’ and this assertion is by the same people who otherwise spend their day and night arguing that Dalits are not part of the Hindu society and Dharma!
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 00:31:36 +0000
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