Pride and prejudice

Madhya Pradeshs minister for cooperatives,Gaurishanker Bisen,delivered a few truly astonishing and unpleasant rants recently on a trip to Chhindwara and Seoni. He let loose at revenue officials patwaris,at one point asserting that every single patwari was corrupt. When faced with one particular patwari in Seoni district who was said to be slacking on the job and allegedly did nothing without a bribe,a furious Bisen made him do several squats,as public humiliation and expiation.

But thats not all he also informed the patwari,in full public view,that he was being let off easy because he was a Gond,and that he would have killed him if he had been a Pawar. In other words,he voiced and validated the idea that a public officials caste should determine what sort of treatment he would get from higher authorities. This was an interaction between citizens,local revenue officials and Bisen,a BJP minister and five-time MLA. Not only was this sober event reduced to a feudal farce,where an enraged minister could order uthak-baithaksof a supposedly errant official,the message of differential treatment to different caste groups couldnt be more damaging.

Whatever Bisen might say in his defence,these cannot be dismissed as stray,thoughtless comments that came out of a frustrating field visit. He clearly believes his own dangerous rants for instance,on the same day,discussing with a few Congress legislators the topic of tribal land that might have been wrongfully acquired,he also made the observation that tribals can be taught to read and write at best,they cannot learn good sense and wisdom. Remarks and acts like these,in fact,only reinforce suspicions about a deeply internalised prejudice. They display the distilled bigotry of centuries,and they convey an entire world of casteist contempt and group stereotyping. How can a person with these thoughts be allowed to report at work as a minister? The chief minister must take complaints against Bisen seriously,and meet them with exemplary action.