Arguments of Conveniences reflect the hypocrisy of political responses on SC categorization issue

 Chronology of sub quota movement in the Scheduled Caste categories 

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The Supreme Court Judgement on Sub Classification of Scheduled Caste Reservation has rightly been criticized for transgressing in venturing into areas which actually were not part of petition. Apart from it, the lectures of ‘morality’ and ‘ethics by various judges particularly speaking about ‘creamy layer’ only look hollow the way judges so vehemently defend their own system of selection process, named as collegium system, in judiciary.  Obviously, people ask when will we see a judiciary where a common person too can dream of becoming a judge in the Supreme Court of India. It is sad, the judges unnecessarily dragged Scheduled Tribe into the issue who were not part of the petition and the issues belonging to them are absolutely different. The main issue before the court was subclassification or cagetorisation which emerged because of a long court battle for the Madiga community in Andhra Telangana and Karnataka as well as the Balmikis and Majhabis in Punjab as various court orders got challenged and the issue before Supreme Court was of great importance for the future of reservation of Scheduled Castes.  In the year 2004, Supreme Court had actually ruled out the sub classification suggesting the Scheduled Castes are not heterogenous. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Scheduled Castes are heterogenous and states have power to make laws and create subclassification after collecting all empirical data. Let us look at the issue of demand for ‘quota with in quota’ in various states before we generalize the entire issue as a fight between different communities. It is not that simple to put blame on one individual community as this issue is neither sudden nor new.

Fight for Subclassification

The fight for subcategorization was part of struggle in many states particularly Andhra-Telangana, Karnataka as well as in Punjab. Silently, the smaller communities were venting their feelings in other states too but they were not organized. The most powerful and organized struggle for subcategorization happened in Andhra Telangana by Manda Krishna Madiga, leader of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti who led this battle for nearly 40 years. In fact, Prime minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally during hi election campaign for 2024 elections in Hyderabad by promising to bring subcategorization for Madiga community. The huge rally saw Manda Krishna Madiga sharing the podium with Narendra Modi[i]. Whatever be the outcome, Manda Krishna Madiga has been working singlehandedly on the issue with the massive support of his community. In an interview he said, ‘The decades-long agitation of Madiga people has come to a conclusion as we got what we desired. The movement, which started in 1994, has come to a conclusion after 30 long years. The judgment has brought us much happiness. Our sacrifices have not been in vain. A hundred generations of Madigas and other downtrodden castes will benefit from this judgment.’[ii]

The battle of the Madiga community had been big and well organized. I myself saw the huge gatherings in the early 2004 in Hyderabad but it began much before that. The community struggle started early 1980s but it was N Chandra Babu Naidu who started the process of categorization in Andhra Pradesh, in the year 1997 after a massive rally from ‘Naidu’s birthplace Naravaripalle in Chittoor district to Hyderabad, Naidu, then the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, agreed to divide the SCs into the A, B, C, and D categories. This is when E V Chinnaiah, Venkat Rao, and Mala Mahanadu founder P Vigneshwara Rao challenged the Naidu government’s order in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. A single-judge Bench of the court struck down the order but the Naidu government passed an Ordinance and then an Act in the Assembly and the High Court upheld the legislation. In 2001, the three activists approached the Supreme Court against the law, with Chinnaiah as the lead petitioner. A five-judge Constitution Bench ruled in November 2004 that micro-classification of SCs was unconstitutional.’ [iii]

The battle for classification did not stop because of various pending cases from other states as well as mobilization of the different communities both in OBCs as well as SCs. The issue of ST did not have these issues though in certain part people blame particular communities benefitting from the reservation but that has not turn into a crisis as it happened in Scheduled Caste Communities and OBCs. These contradictions or differences among the communities are actually used by different political parties for their own benefits and that is why a broader Dalit, OBC unity is always the game of the numerically powerful communities who need these marginalized sections just as tailenders. Actually, after the Mandalisation process in India beginning since 1990, various caste identities started seeking their space in power and administrative structure. Political parties too utilized this opportunity to mobilise various castes for their own political purposes. The anti-caste movement got aside and we saw a new assertion of different communities. Initially, it looked good that diverse communities are getting mobilised but later ambitious political leaders used this mobilization for bargaining with different political alliances. Today, these mobilizations are used by the powerful communities everywhere and hence the broader unity of the communities has got impacted. In every state there have been groups seeking separate quota for their communities. Frankly speaking, in the absence of a dialogue among them, the communities are made to fight against each other and blame their immediate ‘neighbor’ for the sorry state of their plight. Interestingly, none blame the state and authorities for loss of job, privatization of public sector, non-recruitment in vacancies in Central and state governments, paper leaks, Work on Contract etc. More and more caste-based organisations are being used and pushing things in the legal frame so that individuals filing cases in the courts become heroes of the community. Similarly, social media is full with distorted stories with Chamars blaming Balmikis and vice versa. Can’t there be a internal dialogue but leaders don’t care for it as they fear to lose their ‘constituency’.

It is important to understand that in the South there is a broader unity among political parties on the issue. As mentioned above, Chandra Babu Naidu, as chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh categorized SC quota in 1997 on demand of Madiga community movement. The Malas opposed it.

There is a 3% sub quota for Arundhatiyars (manual scavenging community) in Tamil Nadu, out of 18% quota fixed for schedule castes. Similar proportionality is maintained in quota for backward classes too resulting in total reservation of 69%. In Tamil Nadu most of the political parties including ruling DMK and its allies VCK have welcomed the Supreme Court Order, though later position of VCK seems to have changed. The opposition AIDMK, MDMK, PMK too have welcomed the decision of categorization.  The 69% quota in Tamil Nadu is 30% for backward classes which include 3.5% for Muslim Backward Communities. Then there is 20% quota for most backward classes which include 13% for Most Backward Communities and 7% for denotified communities. Scheduled Castes get 18% reservation which include 3% sub quota for Arundhatiyars i.e. Manual scavenging community. Scheduled Tribes have 1% quota in the state list.  The demand for a separate quota for Arundhatiyar community in Tamil Nadu actually started in 1984 by a group formed by the Community youths and ultimately it took 25 years for it to finally got in the statute book in Tamil Nadu as a separate quota. ‘In 2009, the State government, headed by the then DMK chief M Karunanidhi, introduced a special quota for the community, combining seven castes out of the 74 listed in the SC category. The sub-quota was introduced based on a report submitted by the Justice Janarthanam Commission, which stated that Arunthathiyars were highly under-represented in government departments and educational institutions’[iv].

Interestingly, all the major political parties in Tamil Nadu are hailing the sub quota for Arundhatiyars and claiming to have taken the initiative. Former Chief Minister E P Palaniswami said, “It was the govt led by me that set up a committee led by Adi-Dravidar and tribal welfare secretary in 2020 to protect interests of Arunthathiyars. Based on the recommendations of the committee, the senior advocates appointed by the state govt placed their arguments well before the Supreme Court,” the former CM said. On the basis of arguments, a five-member bench led by Justice Arun Mishra of the Supreme Court gave a favorable verdict on the internal quota to Arunthathiyars in 2020, Palaniswami said. The bench eventually referred the case to a seven-member constitution bench, which endorsed the constitutional validity of the state legislation.[v]”

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu welcomed the Supreme Court ruling and termed it as the victory of Dravidian Model. ‘Hailing the apex court verdict, he said it was heartening that the bench upheld the internal reservation granted to the Arunthathiyar community, as laid down in an Act passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Today's Supreme Court judgment is another recognition of our #DravidianModel journey to establish #SocialJustice for the social liberation of the oppressed people," Stalin said in a post on X.  A formal committee was established and, based on the data collected through it, late chief minister and DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi had set apart three per cent internal reservation for the Arunthathiyar community, he said. "I introduced a bill in the state assembly and it was passed," the CM, who is also the president of the DMK, said in the post.[vi]’

There are however differences in the political leadership of the Scheduled Castes. VCK chief Thirumavalam, who had earlier supported the Supreme Court judgement, has backtracked now. His colleague Ravi Kumar has criticized it and felt that even in that sub quota, the dominant group alone benefit. Ravi Kumar actually termed categorization worse than creamy layer. VCK is an alliance partner with DMK and Congress.

 

Andhra Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu as well as opposition leader Jagan Reddy have welcomed it. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharammaiya too have welcomed the decision while Reventh Reddy, the chief minister of Telangana has promised that his state would be the first one to implement it.  It is a well-known fact that battle for separate quota in the scheduled castes list actually was fought in the most powerful way by Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti led by Krishna Madiga and therefore it was natural for the political parties there to welcome the Supreme Court verdict.

Sadly, in the north India, the dominant debate against subclassification is led by Buddhist in Maharashtra and Chamars and Jatavs in north India particularly Uttar Pradesh who are blaming the Valmikis/Balmikis or manual scavenging community for supporting the Supreme Court Judgement and sabotaging the unity of different Dalit groups.  Actually, the intellectuals, political activists, politicians led by dominant Jatav-Chamar castes have blamed the Valmikis for playing into the hands of RSS and other political leaders. Unfortunately, in this entire debate people are ignoring some hard facts that there has been a constant struggle by various communities for their share not only in political sphere but also in administration and power structure. By persistently ignoring the issue and living in denial mode as if the only problem emerges from the Brahmanical elite (no doubt, they will always be more than eager to intervene and divide).

 

As mentioned earlier, the main battle for subcategorization was fought by Madiga community of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and its leader Manda Krishna Madiga which is not a small minority but has a substantial presence in Telangana, Andhra and Karnataka. Now, one can ask as who are Madigas ? Yes, they are mostly leather workers or Chamars but more interestingly, about 7 castes with in Madiga subclassification belong to manual scavenging community. So, socially and culturally, Andhra Telangana provide a beautiful picture of Valmiki-chamar under one caste category called Madigas and it is they who fought the biggest battle for sub categorization. All netas, experts and revolutionaries of north India should understand this battle was being fought for nearly forty years. Madigas are not a minority among Dalits in Telangana but nearly 50% of the total Dalit population. So blaming Balmikis for starting the subcategorization debate is wrong. Among the Ambedkarites, it was veteran Bhagwan Das, who had a deep understanding of different castes and communities in various states. Long back, in a conversation with me he explained about Madigas, ‘It is not a community itself. It is divided into 12-14 castes. But in South the division is not that bad. In Andhra Madigas who are basically Chamars but 7 castes among them work as scavengers hence the division is not that strict and harsh as in North India’.[vii]

 

Maharashtra question

 

It is important to first look at the rising demands of the different communities in Maharashtra. The dominant community among the scheduled castes is Mahars which embraced Buddhism with Baba Saheb Ambedkar and like to be termed as Buddhist community but a majority of other Dalit communities in Maharashtra remained in the Hindu fold including Charmkars, Matangs, Mangs etc and seeking separate quota with in scheduled castes. While Maharashtra has been in the news for Maratha to be put in the OBC list but within the scheduled castes, voices for separate reservation has been growing for years.

“We want A, B, C and D sub-categories in the SC category... Buddhist Dalits were employed by the British in roles like police patils and kotwals, giving them an early exposure to the government and administration. Thus, they were in a position to corner quota benefits earlier than the other 58 Hindu Dalit castes,” charged former minister Laxmanrao Dhobale, who has launched a protest under the banner of the ‘Akhil Bharatiya Matang Samaj.’

Dhobale sought sub-quotas for SCs on lines of those for vimukta jatis and nomadic tribes (VJNT). “To ensure equitable justice for all, based on their population, Buddhist Dalits can be included in the A category, the Matang community, which has the second-highest numbers, in B, Charmakars, Holars and Dhors in C, and other communities barring these can be categorised as SC-D,” he demanded. Former Shiv Sena MLA Baburao Mane of the Rashtriya Charmakar Sangh said they would launch a protest after Diwali demanding a bifurcation in the SC quota. “All castes in the SC category must be divided in sub-quotas... otherwise, a select few corner benefits,” he added, stating that such demands had been made in other states too.’ [viii]

It is important to understand that quota in Maharashtra too is subclassified particularly among the OBCs. “The 30 per cent reservation for the other backward classes (OBCs), for example, is split into 19 per cent for the OBC category proper and 11 per cent for the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes. The last, in turn, is split into 3 per cent for VJs or denotified tribes and 2.5 per cent for the nomadic tribes category B, 3.5 per cent for the category C (Dhangar community) and 2 per cent for category D (the Vanjari community).”[ix]   The quota for scheduled castes in Maharashtra is 13% for a total of about 59 castes and for scheduled tribes, it is 7% for about 47 communities.  

The categorisation practically started from Punjab

There are a lot of claims related to present petition and the involvement of Balmikis in the cases in Supreme Court. The fact is there always are different petitions of individuals, organisations and governments and they are clubbed together but the main petition remains with Government of Punjab as litigant. So let us understand as what happened in Punjab. Punjab has the highest number of Scheduled Caste Population in India. “It is about 32% as per 2011 census. The main communities among Scheduled castes are Mazhabis, Valmikis, Ravidasis, Ramdasis, Adidharmi along with 30 other castes. Mazhabis are 31.5% and Valmikis 11% belong to sanitation and cleaning work, Ravidasis, Ramdasia are 26.2%, Ad-dharmis are 15%.”[x] It is categorical that Mazhabis-Valmikis are the biggest among the scheduled castes in Punjab constituting about 42.5%.  The quota for the scheduled caste is 25% which should be increased as per its population but the government divided this to 12.5% each for two categories. The Mazhabis-Valmikis alone are 12% of Punjab population and yet underrepresented in the services saw numerous movements for a separate quota with in it hence the then Chief Minister Giani Zail Singh issued an order fixing up 12.5% quota for Mazhabis and rest for the other communities.  On July 25^th,  2006, this order got struck down by Punjab and Haryana High Court in the aftermath of the Supreme Court Order in 2004 on E V Chinnaiah verses State of Andhra Pradesh in which a five-judge bench declared subclassification as invalid and unconstitutional.  Chief Minister Amarinder Singh realized the gravity of the situation and got the Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Reservation in Services Act 2006 passed in the Punjab Assembly and got it notified on 5th October 2006. "However, Section 4(5) of the Act, which provided fifty percent reservations to Valmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs, was struck down by a Division Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 29^th, 2010.’[xi]  In fact, Amarinder Singh said in an interview The Punjab government had challenged this in the Supreme Court finally on a five judge bench led by Justice Arun Mishra in August 20^th, 2020 disagreed with Chinnaiah judgement and categorically mentioned that states can provide reservation to most marginalized communities separately. ‘Taking up the plea of the Punjab government, a five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra (since retired), on August 27, 2020, differed with the Chinnaiah judgement and referred it for adjudication by a larger bench of seven judges or more for an authoritative pronouncement. We endorse the opinion of a bench of three judges that EV Chinnaiah is required to be revisited by a larger bench; more so, in view of further development and the amendment of the Constitution, which have taken place’.[xii]

The judgement emphatically says, ‘There are unequals within SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes. Reports indicate that SCs/STs do not constitute a homogenous group. The aspiration of equal treatment of the lowest strata, to whom the fruits of the reservation have not effectively reached, remains a dream. At the same time, various castes by and large remain where they were, and they remain unequals. Are they destined to carry their backwardness till eternity?’[xiii]

Is it merely a judicial overreaction or failure of Dalit Bahujan political leadership to carry all along with them

Frankly speaking, Supreme Court verdict is related to these specific cases of Andhra Pradesh and Punjab about categorization. All this has not happened because the court wanted to intervene deliberately. These issues emerge because there are movements for that. It might be aggravated by the rival parties and politicians but then it should have been countered with maturity and a sense of fraternity. It is also unfortunate that it took so long for the court to deliver the verdict and then create another form of confusion. We are at such a critical phase of time when individuals use these moments as individual success whether for or against certain verdict. However, the real issue is whether this entire verdict delivered by Justice Chandrachud along with six other judges happened all of a sudden. From the history that I provided the Punjab case started since 1975 which means it is 49 years and Andhra-Telangana case started in 1997 which means it was over 27 years. Was there no need for a conversation with leadership of the warring communities on the issue? Secondly, the entire issue is being converted as if this is only the issue of Uttar Pradesh where we have not heard much from the leadership of these marginalized among the scheduled castes. The reason for it is that their numbers are far below but in state like Bihar, the leaders such as Jitan Ram Manjhi has spoken openly against the position taken by Chirag Paswan. Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister, now a Central Minister who belong to one of the most marginalized Mushahar community in Bihar welcomed the verdict, "We welcome and support the Supreme Court verdict. It is good," the Union MSME  minister told reporters here, after attending the HAM (S) executive committee meeting.  He further said, "If you analyse the Scheduled Caste literacy percentage, four castes in it have 30 to 40 per cent literacy rate, while 22 castes have a literacy rate ranging from 3 per cent to 15 per cent. Even B R Ambedkar had emphasised a review of the reservations every 10 years, but no such exercise has taken place so far."[xiv]

Manjhi was critical of his own ministerial colleagues and others criticizing Supreme Court judgement. He said, “How many IAS, IPS, chief engineers, Class I officers are from these backward Dalit castes? Only four dominant Dalit castes have benefited from the reservation policy and they are opposing the latest court’s judgement”, he said.[xv]

Manjhi’s statement might look rhetorical but it reflects a dark reality of hard positions among the communities in the Scheduled Castes list. In the absence of an effort to bring all together and that is only possible with promise of participation things will only worsen. We need to understand the issue of identities and representation in the post Mandal era in the 1990s. There is no doubt that the biggest fight for implementation of Mandal Commission report actually emerged from Ambedkarites who stood up solidly with the backward communities but slowly the caste identities started emerging in with different ‘jaati Sammellans’ in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other parts of the country. Baba Saheb’s annihiliation of castes actually disappeared and it was ‘felt’ that caste identity is biggest asset politically. Manywar Kanshiram Saheb actually brought different castes together, gave space to those communities in the party, at lower level, who had never got that opportunity. He was a man of many ideas, real social scientist but slowly even the other parties started this different jaati sammellans. It looked as if all are coming together. Even BAMSCEF put photographs of so many different ‘icons’ of Dalit Bahujans purely to suggest ‘diversity of communities’ in the movement.

The historic wrongs with OBCs and rise of caste identities in the Post Mandal Era

One important factor is that Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe reservation issue has never been questioned and is a settled issue as far as overall quota is concerned. The major fault lies with the issue of OBCs in the constitution despite the fact that there was provision for it in the Madras State as the entire movement and formation of Justice Party that began in the 1920s started on the premise of representation of the backward classes in the power structure. In 1953 government formed a commission under Kaka Kalelkar who submitted his report in March 1955 but it could never see the light of the day. Over the years, the issue got delayed in the cumbersome world of formation of Commissions and the submission of their reports. The first non-Congress government led by Morarji Desai formed the Mandal Commission who submitted his report to the then President Giani Zail Singh on December 31^st, 1980.  It took nearly 10 years and again a non-Congress government led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh to accept its recommendations and decision to implement it.

On August 7^th, 1990 when prime minister V P Singh made the historic announcement in the Parliament for acceptance of Mandal Commission Report. But Mandal report has sent heart burn in India’s caste Hindus who never forgave VP for the ‘sin’ he committed. It is because of this, various ways and means were ‘developed’ to curtail the reservation, denigrate them, use them under the pretext of Economically Weaker Sections and so on. Mandal report might have been for the backward communities but it ignited SC-ST-OBCs and they started coming together.  The biggest impact of the coming together of diverse groups politically was the big defeat of BJP in the elections held in the aftermath of Babari demolition. Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party had joined hand and defeated BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 1993 . This gave a huge boost to non Brahmanical forces all over the country particularly SC-ST-OBCs who started organizing themselves not only politically but also culturally. The leaders felt that there can’t be different forces vying for same space in UP and Bihar hence SP-BSP fought against Janta Dal due to the same ‘constituency’ of people. BJP had realized that it would hardly be possible to counter Mandal merely with Jai Shree Ram alone and hence they promoted leaders like Kalyan Singh, Vinay Katiyar and Uma Bharati, all hailing from backward communities. That apart, the Sangh Parivar started working among diverse sections of SC-ST-OBCs. Particular focus was made on non-Yadav non Chamar-non-Jatav communities as ambitions and personal rivalry broke the SP BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh. It broke the movement and then we found different kind of political ‘experiments’ in Uttar Pradesh. Some time it was Dalit Brahmin alliance (basically Chamar-Brahmin alliance) named as Sarvjan or Mulayam Singh Yadav’s so called OBC Brahmin (Yadav Brahmin alliance along with Rajputs as Amar Singh was arranging everything. The Brahmin dominated ‘intellectual’ and media had convinced every one including the leadership these parties that there are 11-12% brahmins in Uttar Pradesh and they are essential for any combination to gain power in the state. This farcical data was enough for both BSP and SP to flirt with them. Ofcourse, the Brahmins have a disproportionate presence in media, bureaucracy, judiciary and civil society of Uttar Pradesh and their influence is much more powerful than the strength of their community. The biggest tragedy in this entire exercise was the attitude of the leaders of Samajwadi Party and BSP. Frankly both Yadavas and Chamars and Jatavs could not come together for the simple reason that one has to play the second fiddle. Samajwadi Party under Akhilesh during his tenure as Chief Minister targeted Scheduled Caste reservation and changed the names of the districts which Ms Mayawati had done during her tenure as Chief Minister. Akhilesh and Mulayam were deliberately provocative when they targeted Ambedkar Park and built Lohia Park in Lucknow. Samajwadi Party leader in Lok Sabha protested the bill for reservation in Promotion for the scheduled castes and snatched it from the hand of Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha. Akhilesh Yadav too encouraged karmcharis in Uttar Pradesh to stand up against reservation in promotion. Political compulsion for survival brought both the parties together in 2019 elections but they got defeated together. The very next day, Ms Mayawati broke the alliance with Akhilesh Yadav and again an attempted coming together got derailed. Now, Congress and Samajwadi Party are together and both used the issue of Constitution and Baba Saheb Ambedkar during the elections and got phenomenal response. This election has also given another leader to Ambedkarite movement in the form of Chandra Shekhar Azad who has so far been impressive in Parliament. So, Uttar Pradesh’s politics for getting the ‘Dalit’ vote is the root of the entire exercise. The fact is that both Congress and Samajwadi Party got a huge chunk of Jatav-Chamar votes too and they are the ones who are speaking up loudly against the Subclassification for long. Their position against this is very old particularly in Uttar Pradesh. Parties know it well who votes where. Samajwadi Party gets a huge chunk of Pasi votes which are influential right from Gorakhpur till Barabanki, Sitapur etc. BJP’s outreach targets the Balmikis and Dhobis but numerically the Chamars themselves constitute more than 54% of the total scheduled caste population in Uttar Pradesh. While SP and BSP were happy to have solid backing of their main ‘constituencies’ i.e. Yadavs and Chamars unrealistically giving Brahmins much bigger pie than they deserved. With BJP’s open Manuwadi agenda, Brahmins-Bania-Rajputs realized that it was the best suited party serving their interest. Not be left aside, Jats, Gujjars, Lodhs too became the favorite of BJP. The most marginalized among Dalits and OBCs were completely left in Uttar Pradesh. Many of them did not have a single MLA or even the village Sarpanch. The silent network of the Sangh Parivar worked over time among these communities. Narratives were built and each community was given a ‘mythological’ hero. BJP can’t ignore Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar yet it created numerous other icons from all these different communities. It helped. Most of these communities too felt strongly for the Ram Mandir Movement rather than questioning the Brahmanical caste system that kept them away as well as turning them against Muslims by creating fictitious narrative of their fight against Muslims or Islam. Under revolutionary Kanshiram, BSP attracted a large number of such communities on the margins who could never even imagine to send a leader in state assembly. Unfortunately, today with more interest of the party in the Brahmins, the other Dalit communities started drifting from it. The rival parties started building up the narrative in the villages that Chamars have eaten of their ‘Haq’ i.e. rights. So, for all the problems of Doms, Mushahars, Valmikis, Kols the narrative was that Chamars have acquired everything. The problem was that it was not merely a political master game in Uttar Pradesh. It was used by all communities Yadav, Kushwahas, Kurmis, Rajputs, Brahmins, Bhumihar, Jats, Gujjars etc whoever was powerful in their domain. The result was that in many reserved constituencies, these powerful castes defeated well organised Chamar candidates in Panchayats if the seat got reserved and got dummy candidates from other communities win the elections. The political success of one community whether Chamars, Yadavs, Jats forced the rival communities such as Pasis, Valmikis, Mushahrs, Rajbhars Nishads, Kurmis and Gujjars to look for other options. Unfortunately, parties working in the name of Bahujans or Dalits were unable to take these communities together and the result is that a majority of them went to other political parties. The result is the rise of Om Prakash Rajbhar, Jitan Ram Manjhi and mavericks’ who have become bigger than their movements. Most of them have no hatred towards the caste Hindus but purely target either Chamars or Yadavs suggesting these communities have gained due to reservation.

BSP could have played a bigger role since it was the party of Ambedkarite movement. It should have worked more among the MBCs and Ati Dalits to assure them that party would do everything to ensure their interest and they would not be isolated but sadly the representation of such community leaders in power structure of the party is nowhere. Rather than blaming Valmikis for trying to destroy them Dalit movement, the party should have understood that the biggest impact of the privatization process in the sanitation work is the Valmiki community. Their youths are not getting jobs even in the municipalities. Initially, they were blamed for not looking beyond ‘jhadu’ or ‘sanitation’ work but now they find it unwelcomed when the youths are looking beyond their ‘traditional occupation’. Is it not our duty to welcome these communities and provide them representation even if that was symbolic in nature but these parties are not even ready for that, The result is a huge trust deficit among various communities among the Scheduled Castes.

Often in the Bahujan parlance activists speak of proportional representation but that does not exists in the parties. Most of the parties, to look, more secular, have Brahmin spokespersons. I don’t need to speak about powerful Brahmin leaders in BSP, SP, RJD, LJP etc. You can watch them on TV but one can not provide a single Balmiki, Dom, Mushahar politician at senior level in these parties.

Dravidian Model provide hope

It is interesting that RJD was the first one to have come out openly against the Supreme Court Judgement. Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav actually supported the Supreme Court decision but after many days Akhilesh Yadav tweeted speaking about ‘constitution’ and ‘discrimination’. The tweet itself played a ‘tightrope walk’ meaning nothing. Congress is still weighing its option though it is a well-known fact that the Punjab categorization happened during its government as well as Telangana and Karnataka have openly come out in support of Supreme Court Judgement. BJP is expert in playing multiple game and will take its own time but one must laud the DMK in Tamilnadu for being most vocal and absolutely unrepenting on the issue. We need to appreciate it. No party come near to the firefighting work that Dravidian parties particularly DMK did on the issue of reservation in India. You may disagree with them on many issues but you cant really question them on their commitment on reservation issue. All parties joined hand and compelled prime minister Narsimharao to put 69% reservation in the Schedule IX.  The Tamil Nadu SC-ST-BC bill was passed in the assembly in 1993 which took the quota to 69%. This quota was developed almost on proportionate basis: Backward Classes 26.5 per cent, Most Backward Classes/Denotified Communities 20 per cent, BC Muslims 3.5 per cent, Scheduled Castes 18 per cent and Scheduled Tribes (1 percent). The political leadership knew well that it would be difficult to protect itself from various litigations in the court as Supreme Court had put the 49% limit to reservation and it was impossible to satisfy different communities given the nature of their backwardness hence all political parties joined hand, passed resolution in the Assembly, came together on this issue with unanimity and forced the Union government to put Tamil Nadu’s 69% reservation bill in the Schedule IX making it beyond the reach of litigation and judicial review processes.  Can we think of such a unanimity in Uttar Pradesh where since 1989 till 2017, we had only two parties belonging to Bahujan Samaj. Unfortunately, the track record of both SP-BSP is not that shining when the issue of reservation came. They are speaking today purely with their political interest and unable to look beyond their own community interests rather than taking all the Dalit Bahujan communities along with them.

Ignoring the voices of dissent

While Supreme Court Judgement on the issue has definitely transgressed many things particularly unnecessarily picking up the issue of Creamy layer which was not really needed. Courts were never there for social justice but to divert attention. Government and political parties use the court to subvert or divert an issue but the Dalit leadership which is feeling betrayed must ponder over whether they ever tried to outreach the communities feeling left out in the Dalit discourse. It is sad that most of the voices against this judgement is coming either from the Brahmanical revolutionaries or those champions of Dalit Rights who rarely have time to share the pains of the most marginalized Dalit communities. The fact is, the gap and chasm between different Dalit and OBC communities has grown up because of the nature of opportunistic leadership. The unity of Dalis and OBCs will not happen with anti-Brahmanical rhetoric. It will need a comprehensive positive programme where each community feel equal partner and none can bulldoze other just on the basis of their numbers. Accept communities as equal partners and not make them feel unwanted or incapable which is purely a brahmanical practice. Whatever be the issues in Tamilnadu, may be people can make studies on the reservation policy of that state which has been proportional and provide space to all.

It need to be understood that Dalit communities as diverse culturally as well as linguistically as any other community in India. Baba Saheb was categorical on this and that is why he always used the term Scheduled Castes which indicated diversity of communities in the group. Baba Saheb also called it graded inequality which means he knew that there is also a graded discrimination with in the scheduled castes too. Many people suggest that the other Dalit communities do not have ‘capable’ candidates and it would be easier for government to point ‘Not Found Suitable’ candidate and then fil it with Brahmin Bania candidate. It is important therefor to ensure that a scheduled caste seat will only be replaced by a scheduled caste candidate and 17% reservation provided for scheduled Castes cannot be diluted. The same formula can be put in the roaster. I mean, issues will come up and we will have to prepare for new challenges. It can not happen that we harp on what happened 75 years back because we will have to face these new challenges and provide a solution. To ignore, hide or run away from any issue is not a solution but create more problems.

Therefore, popular debate on this issue must have the courage to involve those communities among the scheduled castes who are complaining. Rather than blaming them for all the wrongs, it is important to listen to them. Important to speak to Balmiki family, a Dom, a Mushahar, a Pasi, a Majahabi, Arundhatiyar, Mangs, Matangs, Madigas and ask for their opinion too on the matter.

Unfortunately, internal dialogue is missing and the result is those demanding things are simply going to other parties or Supreme Court. Ofcourse, everyone knows well, that the courts and government is more than happy to 'intervene'. But the entire issue also suggest time for serious introspection.

 

 

Creamy lawyer theory bogus unless EWS is applicable for the SC-ST-OBCs and General is not exclusive for caste Hindus

 

Supreme Court unnecessarily poked into creamy layer issue among the SCs. It is important for the Court to rectify its old judgements particularly on the issue of EWS and define it categorically. A majority of SC-ST-OBCs can easily cover under EWS but Court has made exclusive for Brahmin Banias by excluding SC-ST-OBCs. Various Courts rulings including apex court as well as clever circumvention of court order by the Brahmanical bureaucracy has converted unreserved seat into so called savarna quota termed as general seats. Let the Supreme Court make it clear that so-called general or unreserved seats are for every one including SC-ST-OBCs and perhaps then their talk about creamy layer can be justified. Without undoing the historical wrongs all talk about creamy layer is bogus and farce. Remember General does not mean Savarna but unreserved. SC-ST-OBC have every right to get selected in the General category which is being denied these days.

 

Frankly speaking, India is asking for proportional representation at all level. Hindu, Dalit, Bahujan, Muslims are bigger identities while people are rallying around their particular jaati identity. Even talk of so-called upper caste is bogus and farce. We need to speak about which jaati has what representation. Banias, Brahmins, Rajputs, Kayasthas, all must be enumerated separately and reflected in the official records. Similarly, we need to know the data related to Doms, Balmikis, Mushaars, Matang, Mang, Arundhatiyars and other communities on the margins.

 

Finally, all the marginalized must understand too that they will only prosper and progress if there is an internal dialogue among them. Baba Saheb took every one along with them. Manywar Kansiram did it and the result was unprecedented unity among different sections of Scheduled castes as well as backward communities. Remember, unity cannot be built by blaming those who are seeking their representation and participation. Do your homework. Start speaking and bring a political solution. Denying existence of a demand is simply dishonesty which will only damage the movement so laboriously built by Baba Saeb Ambedkar and carried forward by Manywar Kansiram ji. A political solution to this issue is possible if political leaders of all Dalit communities join hand and assure the most marginalized among them a fair share in not only jobs etc. but also in their respective political parties only then things will move otherwise the 'revolutionary' 'intellectuals' will intervene and damage the movement. Nearly 19 years back, I witnessed the huge Madiga protest movement in Hyderabad demanding separate quota for them. They were blamed but continued with their demand. I wrote a piece that time, ' Dalit Movement at the Cross Roads'. I think, today, it is time for the movement to build up fraternity among them, have courage to accept that there is a crisis and resentment among different communities on the margin, negotiate and win over them, seek their representation at all level. Baba Saheb’s movement was accepted by all and the Jatavs of Agra stood with him and spread the movement in the North. Punjab had a huge Ambedkarite presence. Baba Saheb’s volumes were first edited by legendry Bhagwan Das ji who was one of his most dynamic followers. Similarly, don’t ignore Deena Bhana ji contribution to build Bahujan movement with Manywar Kanshiram Saheb. Therefore, it is time to sit and introspect. Don’t give the crooked brahmanical elite to divide Dalit communities but in the absence of an honest attempt to bring them together the Hindutva-liberal elite will happily intervene and exploit the contradictions for their political gains.

 References : 

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[i] https://www.thehindu.com/elections/telangana-assembly/pms-announcement-on-madiga-categorisation-in-telangana-too-late-for-assembly-but-could-yield-result-in-2024/article67532103.ece

 

[ii] Dalit leader who fought for SC sub-classification: ‘Verdict will benefit a hundred generations of Madigas, other downtrodden castes’ by Nikhila Henry, Indian Express, August 3, 2024

https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/sc-sub-classification-manda-krishna-madiga-interview-9491255/

 

[iii] https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/e-v-chinnaiah-lead-petitioner-supreme-court-sc-sub-classification-case-9489550/

 

 

[iv] https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2020/Aug/28/3-per-cent-sub-quota-for-arunthathiyars-to-continue-2189296.html

 

 

[v] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/aiadmk-claims-credit-for-supreme-court-verdict-on-arunthathiyar-quota/articleshow/112255080.cms

 

[vi] https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/parties-term-supreme-court-verdict-on-allowing-states-to-sub-classify-scs-as-historic-101722535708540.html

 

[vii] In Conversation with Bhagwan Das, by Vidya Bhushan Rawat, countercurrents.org, October 2, 2007 https://www.countercurrents.org/rawat021007.htm

 

[viii] Dhaval Kulkarni, DNA India, November 8, 2018

https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-maharashtra-non-buddhist-dalits-seek-bifurcation-in-scheduled-caste-quota-2683766

 

[ix] https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/up-front/story/20230313-the-a-b-c-d-of-the-dalit-quota-in-maharashtra-2342190-2023-03-03

 

[x] Understanding the Dalit demography of Punjab, caste by caste, February 18, 2022, India Today

https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/punjab-assembly-polls-2022/story/understanding-dalit-demography-of-punjab-scheduled-caste-channi-ravidasias-ad-dharmis-valmikis-1914965-2022-02-18

 

[xi]

Punjab : Amarinder Singh demands reservation for Valmikis-Mazhabi Sikhs in government jobs, Times of India, November 16, 2021

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/punjab-amarinder-singh-demands-reservation-for-valmikis-mazhabi-sikhs-in-govt-jobs/articleshow/87743648.cms

 

[xii] Court to Reassess SC-ST Category Verdict, Deccan Chronicle
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/legalnews/apex-court-to-reassess-scst-category-verdict-881330

 

[xiii] Supreme court allows sub-classification of SC/STs for quota, Deccan Herald, August 27, 2020

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/sts-for-quota-878722.html

[xiv] The Week, https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2024/08/04/cal17-jh-manjhi-court-verdict.html

[xv] https://www.newsclick.in/bihar-ruling-nda-divided-over-apex-courts-verdict-scst-sub-categorisation