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Ranjona Banerji: Cast(e)ing a shadow on the nation

Updated on: 27 July,2016 07:55 AM IST  | 
Ranjona Banerji |

It is ridiculous for the upper caste, with all its privileges, to play the victim and turn a blind eye to the real victims of discrimination

Ranjona Banerji: Cast(e)ing a shadow on the nation

The last time I wrote about Dr Ambedkar and our abominable treatment of Dalits and lower castes in India, I was called a “deracinated nitwit” by an academic and columnist, appropriately from an upper caste, of course. So be it. I would rather be deracinated — which perhaps I would prefer to be since so many of the labels are derogatory or discriminatory — and if being against discrimination is to be a ‘nitwit’, then count me in!


The demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai led to the biggest uprising of Dalits here in recent times — more than one lakh people apparently gathered to protest on July 19. Pic/Shadab Khan
The demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai led to the biggest uprising of Dalits here in recent times — more than one lakh people apparently gathered to protest on July 19. Pic/Shadab Khan


The last few years have seen a rise in upper-caste claims of ‘victimisation’ and deflection of blame for any wrongdoing. The excuses for the caste system range from the historical absurdity that Islam introduced caste to India to the semantic stupidity that the word ‘caste’ itself has its origins in the Portuguese ‘casta’ and therefore presumably did not exist until Vasco de Gama sailed to our shores.


There is a strange dichotomy of thought here. For one, we have all our ‘True Nationalists’ trying to prove that India or Indians invented everything first. The word ‘shudra’ for instance can be found in the Rig Veda, which also, in the Purusa Sukta or the ‘Hymn of Man’, tell us how in the sacrifice of the first man, the Brahmin came from his mouth, the Warriors from his arms, the people from his thighs and the shudras from his feet.

The Rig Veda certainly predates Islam and the Portuguese advent in India, as does the Manu Smriti. But somehow, True Patriots cannot accept the fact that Indians are not anything but perfect. Thus we observe this perverse need to concoct reasons why Indians could not have invented the caste system in the first place. The other excuse is that the caste system was perfectly reasonable and fair until Islam, the Portuguese and the British arrived in India. Some people were, according to this miserably prejudiced theory, very happy being the feet which could never dream of reaching as high as the ‘mouth born’. This is a typical, nastily foolish, upper-caste/class way of thinking — that the underprivileged and put-down-upon are very happy to be treated badly.

Even this newfound love of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for Dr Ambedkar, in the hope of winning the UP elections, is suspect because he not only rejected Hinduism, he also had some scathing things to say about Hindu texts and India’s religious traditions. Then there is the fact that caste is illegal in India — thanks to our Constitution, in which Ambedkar’s role is paramount, no matter how rightwing ideologues try to discredit that. And yet, the discrimination does not end. The fact that we still have reservations in government jobs and some educational institutions for the lower castes is a massive sticking point for our upper castes and is used as a reason for further caste discrimination.

And now the love has fallen apart. The unsavoury comments made by a BJP leader against Bahujan Samaj Party leader and Dalit icon, Mayawati, have opened the floodgates of a Dalit anger simmering since the suicide of the student Rohith Vemula in January. The brutal thrashing of Dalits in Gujarat — as a result of this callous and ill-thought-out ‘save the cow’ campaign launched by ultra-Hindutva organisations since Narendra Modi came to power — has been another trigger. The demolition of Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai led to the biggest uprising of Dalits in that city in recent times — more than one lakh people apparently gathered to protest.

You would imagine that by the 21st century, we would have made some serious dents in the institutionalised prejudice that is contained within the caste system. Instead, we seem to have perceived victimhood of the supposed ‘upper castes’ gaining traction, with reservations and merit being used as the stick with which to beat the truly victimised.

On the one side is the cynicism of caste politics in India. On the other, caste bigots who will argue that Dalit politics has driven Brahmins out of Tamil Nadu or how students of ‘merit’ are denied education because of Dalit politics without even once opening their eyes to the grim reality of life for the underprivileged and dehumanised in India.

I’ll happily embrace being a nitwit any day if it means that I can stand up and say that caste discrimination is an abomination. The uprising is upon us and about time.

Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist. You can follow her on twitter @ranjona

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