Are we really moving towards a caste-less society?

If groups which are supposed to benefit from caste reform prefer to be downtrodden, something is wrong

A telling comment by a Gurjjar youth reported in this paper yesterday should prove an eye-opener for our policy-makers. To quote, “I get along famously with them (the Meenas), but each time I am reminded of the differences between us, my blood boils. They are where they are, only because of the ST status they have managed to get.”

The concept of reservation was introduced with the noble objective of neutralising the stigma attached to being classed ‘lower caste or tribal’. All the subsidies and benefits provided to “Scheduled castes, tribes and now, the OBCs” were intended for the same purpose — to provide a helping hand and lift these vulnerable groups out of the prison of caste. What was the ultimate objective but to have a casteless society, where disparities are based on economic status alone and so remediable by economic measures? But what is happening today is very different. It has been quite evident so far that reservations and other measures which successive governments have put forth have only served to perpetuate caste distinctions. How else would you react to application forms for admissions, for jobs, for scholarships, for ration cards, specifying caste rather than class?

But this is only what has been happening till now. The new and even more inexplicable turn is the demand to be “recognised as scheduled as backward”. I am sure that Dr B.R. Ambedkar and others like him who spent their lives fighting social discrimination and trying to mainstream the lower castes would be aghast at this turn of events. If economic benefits alone are sufficient to make people opt for being ‘lower’ than others, then there is something very wrong. Look at it from another angle. If people of the deprived classes are prepared to remain ‘deprived’, then what are the current reservation policies aimed at? Why do we then refer to the caste system as something steeped in social norms, something degrading, an affront to human dignity that must be fought with full force?

For most educated people, the thought of caste remaining an unassailable barrier for some communities, is repugnant, and all measures aimed at addressing the issue deserving of full support, but if those very communities are pressing to be termed ‘downtrodden’, then surely policy makers should wake up to this reality. The question is, do Indians really want to pull down caste barriers? Only then can we frame policies towards a casteless society.

Security personnel patrol as the curfew imposed after the protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab)

After protests, the crackdown: 50 people picked up, Congress councillor booked in Leh

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