Dalits Media Watch

News Updates 31.03.14

 ‘Police not acting on domestic harassment complaints by Dalits’- The Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/police-not-acting-on-domestic-harassment-complaints-by-dalits/article5854217.ece

Four Arrested for Suspected Honour Killing- The New Indian Express

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Four-Arrested-for-Suspected-Honour-Killing/2014/03/31/article2140783.ece#.UzklAaiSyBs

Two minors held for gang-raping minor in city- Odisha Sun Times

http://odishasuntimes.com/42512/two-minors-held-gang-raping-minor-city/

dna edit: Stinker for the political class- DNA

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-stinker-for-the-political-class-1973708

75,000 SC/ST Posts Lying Vacant Says Dalit Leader- The New Indian Express

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/75000-SCST-Posts-Lying-Vacant-Says-Dalit-Leader/2014/03/31/article2141203.ece#.UzksXaiSyBs

Note: Please find attachment for HINDI DMW (PDF)

The Hindu

‘Police not acting on domestic harassment complaints by Dalits’

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/police-not-acting-on-domestic-harassment-complaints-by-dalits/article5854217.ece

Dalit activists complained of police laxity in handling cases of domestic harassment and violence at the monthly Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe grievance meet held at the City Police Commissioner’s office here on Sunday.

At least six cases of harassment of women, apart from two cases of violence against Dalits, were heard at the meet. Narrating an incident, Dalit leader S.P. Anand said a woman lodged a complaint on March 10 with the Mangalore South (Pandeshwar) police station that her husband Ganesh — allegedly an accused in a few murder cases — had been mentally and physically harassing her.

Mr. Anand and the woman alleged that the police only called him to the station, questioned him about it which he denied, and released him with no consequence. “The torture had increased after that. When we go to the police station, the police officials drive us out asking us not to irritate them,” said the woman, who had arrived with her two school-going children.

Admitting that the police had mishandled the situation, K.V. Jagadish, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said the husband would be booked under Section 498A – domestic harassment – and sent to judicial custody. Similarly, the activist pointed out that there was no action on the complaints by two women in Kaprigudde near Attavar who were being harassed by relatives over land; and, the inactivity of the Mangalore Rural Station in filing a case against a Gulbarga-native husband who harassed his wife and then absconded; or, the lack of action against a husband in Kadandale in Moodbidri who though has confessed to assaulting his wife, the police had not booked a case.

Mangalore City Commissioner R. Hitendra promised probe into the cases mentioned.

The New Indian Express

Four Arrested for Suspected Honour Killing

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Four-Arrested-for-Suspected-Honour-Killing/2014/03/31/article2140783.ece#.UzklAaiSyBs

Police have arrested four caste Hindus on Sunday for alleged honour killing. The four of a family had murdered a 23-year old woman and buried her in an isolated place near Vaigai riverbed. However, the incident came to light after her husband filed a habeas corpus petition  with the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.

According to the police, Vaidehi, daughter of Rajagopal from Ramanathapuram was pursing her post graduation in a private college in Madurai when she fell in love with Suresh Kumar (29) from Thiruppalai. The girl belonged to a caste Hindu and the boy to Dalit caste. Since both the families were aware of their relationship and opposed it, the couple decided to elope.

In March 2013, the couple tied the knot in Madurai and settled down in Kerala. Five months after the marriage, the girl conceived and informed her mother Venkateshwari about it, hoping her family would agree to their marriage. The mother pretended to be happy and convinced the girl to come to Theni for a temple festival on March 16, 2014.

Trusting her mother, Vaidehi came for the temple festival and was murdered in her house by the people arranged by her mother, younger brother and her uncles.

Suresh, who couldn’t reach his wife over the phone, filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court who directed the Kenikarai police to investigate into the case.

Investigations, made by inspector Krishnamoorthy, revealed that the girl was murdered to save the family’s honour and the police arrested four people including Venkateshwari, mother, Vimalraj (brother), Janakiraman and Bagyaraj (uncles of the girl).

Janakiraman and Vimalraj showed the police the place where the girl was buried and also admitted they had hired people from Valantharavai village to commit the crime.

The police who dug up the body had brought the doctors from the government hospital to the spot to conduct an autopsy.

The police are on the lookout for the girl’s uncle Alagasami, Darma, Rabindran and an unidentified person who were hired to kill the girl.

Odisha Sun Times

Two minors held for gang-raping minor in city

http://odishasuntimes.com/42512/two-minors-held-gang-raping-minor-city/

Bhubaneswar, Mar 30:

Commissionerate Police on Sunday nabbed two minors for allegedly raping a minor Dalit girl at Dumduma under Khandagiri police limits here.

The matter came to light yesterday night after the girl’s parent lodged a complaint with the Mahila police station here.   Acting on the complaint, police nabbed the two minors – aged 14 and 17 years – and forwarded them to the Juvenile Justice Board in Khurda today.

In their complaint, the girl’s parent had alleged that the two boys of the same locality lured her with chocolates a week ago and took her to an isolated place where they gang-raped the girl and threatened her not to disclose the incident to anyone.

Family members of the girl, after coming to know about the incident, first filed a complaint with Khandagiri police station, which sat over the complaint for a few days before referring the case to the Mahila police station yesterday.

Mahila police, after conducting a medical test on the victim, nabbed the duo from Dumduma area and carried another medical test on the accused before sending them to the juvenile court.

DNA

dna edit: Stinker for the political class

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/editorial-dna-edit-stinker-for-the-political-class-1973708

The SC directive asking the Centre and states to end manual scavenging and offer compensation to the workers might finally restore dignity to three lakh Dalits

In spite of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, passed in September last year, the Supreme Court had to step in to put an end to the degrading vocation of manual scavenging. Its directives to the Centre and states to strictly implement the Act are scathing reminders of how little the rest of India cares about those who carry out the dirtiest of jobs at grave personal risk. Without them, our ‘civilised’ world would have crumbled long back.

According to government estimates, there are about three lakh Dalits, mostly women, engaged in the medieval practice of clearing excreta from dry latrines — declared illegal since 1993 — and cleaning drains.

The impact of the 1993 law can be gauged from the 2011 Census report which mentions the existence of 7,94,390 such toilets in the country.

Like most meaningful legislations, the 2013 Act too remains only on paper. The Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), which offers vocational training, cash subsidy and loan, is slow to deliver and prone to corruption, with middle men being the prime beneficiaries of the cash component of the scheme. The SC’s March 27 order for rehabilitation, which also includes providing education and residential plots or houses will make a significant difference in the lives of valmikis.

The other critical issue is the hazardous nature of the vocation. Asphyxiation is common even as the anti-manual scavenging act makes protective gear mandatory for a person entering the underground tunnels.

The death of 30 workers in Tamil Nadu since February 2012 points to grave laxity in safety measures. In such a milieu, the apex court’s decision to award Rs10 lakh compensation for each sewer death occurring due to lack of safety gear is only human. It will now make negligent waste management companies, employing people on a temporary basis, value human lives. The court order doesn’t spare the Railways, the biggest employer for such jobs, either, as the latter is now being forced to look for suitable alternatives for its workforce.

The failure to end manual scavenging points to an even bigger failure in tackling India’s toilet problems. For a country aspiring to be a world leader and an economic giant, its 640 million people defecate in the open, producing 73,000 tonnes of waste every day. The utter disregard for sanitation results in 768,000 deaths every year and a loss of US $54 billion due to various factors such as medical bills and missed work. After all these years, India’s toilet revolution is still a pipe dream.

However, at the root of it all is society’s criminal indifference to its own people. That a fellow human being, a Dalit, has to bear the waste of a privileged person for livelihood is a violation of the human spirit. It negates the cardinal principles of equality and the dignity of labour. Right from the days of Gandhi’s Harijan movement, scavenging has been publicly denounced — even Manmohan Singh has called it “one of the darkest blots on India’s development process”. Yet it has continued, right under our nose, and much to our relief, because it has spared us the ignominy of getting our own hands dirty. We have conveniently dumped the responsibility on the underprivileged who for generations have been subjected to such humiliation.

The New Indian Express

75,000 SC/ST Posts Lying Vacant Says Dalit Leader

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/75000-SCST-Posts-Lying-Vacant-Says-Dalit-Leader/2014/03/31/article2141203.ece#.UzksXaiSyBs

Around 75,000 posts allotted for SCs and STs are not filled up and if priority is given to filling up the posts, the situation of the Dalits will improve. Apart from that a lot of people lose their lives falling victim to numerous diseases a and a health scheme better than Aarogyasri is needed, State Dalit Sena president demanded JB Raju has said.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Future of Dalits in Telangana’ organised by Telangana State Ambedkar Yuvajana Sangham here on Sunday, he said old methods of governance may be adopted by the new chief minister which would not benefit Dalits.

“To avoid the situation, we should protest democratically to reclaim our rights,” he said.

Avula Balnadham, founder-president of State Malasanghala Ikyavedika, said that the quota for Dalits should increase. “Many Dalits do not even have half an acre of land. Five acres of fertile land should be allotted to them,” he demanded.

Recalling the promise made by TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao that he would choose a Dalit as the first chief minister of telangana, Balnadham said, “We were filled with joy and encouragement after listening to this and I request him to keep his word.”

Kalvakuntla Kavitha, president of Telangana Jagruthi, promised to strive for filling of the 75,000 vacant posts reserved for SCs and STs. Responding to the other demands, she said, “The TRS’ poll manifesto, which  might be released on Monday, will provide clarity on various issues. We will try to include the demands in the manifesto and, if necessary, we will delay its release.”

News Monitor by Girish Pant

.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of “Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC”)

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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and  intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.

The Crimean Crisis and US Hypocrisy. “War of Words” to Justify Outright Aggression

By Kourosh Ziabari

Global Research, March 31, 2014

Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-crimean-crisis-and-us-hypocrisy-war-of-words-to-justify-outright-aggressions/5375928

The war of words between Russia and the United States is soaring these days over the sovereignty of the Crimean peninsula, and the White House officials are constantly directing accusations and excruciating verbal attacks against Kremlin in what seems to be the most serious dispute between Moscow and the West in the recent years.
The United States has pulled out all the stops to defeat and isolate Russia diplomatically, and has even gone so far as to impose economic sanctions against the Russian individuals and companies, and excluding Russia from the G8 group of the industrialized nations. The 40^th G8 summit was slated to be held in Sochi, Russia on June 4-5, but following the suspension of Russia’s membership in the G8, the summit relocated to Brussels, Belgium, and it would be the first time that a G8 leaders’ convention is going to take place in a non-member state country. Some of the Western media outlets have even started to refer to G8 as G7, implying that Russia does not have any position in this influential group of the affluent, developed nations.
But as always, when it comes to flexing the muscles and showing political prowess, the United States and its partners are behaving in an intolerant, duplicitous and hypocritical manner. In a statement, the newly-termed G7 leaders reaffirmed that Russia’s “occupation of the Crimea” was against the principles of the G7 and contravened the United Nations Charter.
It’s interesting that the innumerable violations of the international law, the UN Charter and Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in time of War by the United States in the recent years have never caught the attention of the G8 leaders and never compelled them to at least consider warning the United States to behave more responsibly and respect the internationally recognized conventions and regulations or refraining from destroying and annihilating other nations through its “humanitarian” missions!
If Russia should be punished for sending troops to Crimea, while it’s legally entitled to do so, and if its military intervention in Crimea represents a violation of the UN Charter in the eyes of the Western leaders, then it will be taken for granted that all violations of the international law and the United Nations Charter should be reprimanded and responded appropriately and the wrongdoers should be penalized in a fair manner. If Russia has occupied a sovereign entity – which is of course not the case, and should bear the burden of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, it’s ok, but why shouldn’t the United States be castigated and prosecuted for the same reason? What makes the military intervention of Russia different from the wars the U.S. offhandedly wages across the world?
For those of us who willfully ignore the historical facts, it’s noteworthy that the Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet signed between Russia and Ukraine on May 28, 1997, permits Russia to lawfully maintain up to 25,000 troops, 24 artillery systems, 132 armored vehicles and 22 military planes on the Crimean peninsula. This agreement will be effective until 2017, and so it can be the most convincing logical justification for Russia’s military action in Crimea.
So, what has happened is not an “occupation” as the U.S. leaders claim, but that Russia has exercised its legal right for sending troops to a geographical area where the majority of inhabitants are ethnic Russians and don’t want to remain under the Ukraine autonomy and are overwhelmingly inclined to join Russia.
What every neutral and unbiased observer of the international political developments can easily note is that it’s the United States which is renowned for its hegemonic policies and its imperialistic modus operandi, not Russia. Russia’s intervention in Crimea took place after it felt that its national interests are being seriously endangered on its borders, where 58% of the population is consisted of indigenous Russians who prefer to be reunited with Russia, rather than being seen as an asset and prize for the United States under the leadership of a new government in Ukraine which has neo-fascist backgrounds.
The prominent American syndicated columnist and journalist Ted Rall has recently written on his website that there are traces of neo-fascism and neo-Nazism in the government of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who has just come to power: “There’s no doubt that a Ukrainian nationalist strain runs deep in the new regime. It has been estimated that roughly 1/3 or more of the supporters of the new government come out of xenophobic, anti-Semitic, neo-fascist movements that draw much of their ideological heritage from the Nazi puppet regime that governed Ukraine under German occupation during World War II.”
So, on March 16, the Crimean parliament and the local government of Sevastopol held a public referendum in Crimea to give the citizens two choices for the future of their territory; either to remain associated with Ukraine or reunite with Russia. With a high turnout of 83.1% of the eligible voters, 96.77% of the participants in the plebiscite voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation. The United States and its allies didn’t hesitate to call the referendum as rigged and invalid, as they usually does with the elections in countries with which they are at odds. Washington even drafted a resolution in the United Nations Security Council to call the referendum null and void, but Russia used its veto power, while China abstained, and the United States simply pushed the General Assembly member states to pass a non-binding resolution, declaring the referendum invalid, which doesn’t seem to have any certain impact on the future of Crimea.
The policy of de-Russanization was long underway in the Crimean peninsula, and many other former Soviet Union republics, as Ted Rall elaborately details. Perhaps the fact that the Ukrainian Parliament Verkhovna Rada voted on February 23 to repeal the 2012 language law that had declared Russian an official language in Ukraine and allowed it to be used in the schools, media and official correspondence, was a driving force for the Crimean people to rise up and call for independence from Ukraine that they believed didn’t respect their cultural and lingual background.
The future of Crimea and the prospects of the marred relations between Russia and the West remain blurred and unknown, but the United States’ accusations that Russia is “occupying” Crimea and exerting military aggression and so should be punished with economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation sound gravely outrageous and entirely hypocritical. The United States has the biggest war machinery in the world, has been directly or indirectly involved in more than 50 wars and military strikes on other countries without the approval of the UN Security Council, and has incontestably perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As the prominent American lawyer and legal expert Marjorie Cohn has noted in a recent article, the United States is the largest user of unconventional and forbidden chemical weapons in the illegal wars it has waged across the globe. “The U.S. militarily occupied over 75% of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques for 60 years, during which time the Navy routinely practiced with, and used, Agent Orange, depleted uranium, napalm and other toxic chemicals and metals such as TNT and mercury. This occurred within a couple of miles of a civilian population that included thousands of U.S. citizens,” wrote Prof. Cohn.
“The use of any type of chemical weapon by any party would constitute a war crime. Chemical weapons that kill and maim people are illegal and their use violates the laws of war,” she added.
She also goes on to explain the use of chemical weapons by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria and also underlines that the majority of wars in which the United States has taken part were not ever approved by the Security Council. Aren’t these crimes a contravention of the UN Charter? Why don’t the G7 leaders and European Council and European Commission officials ever react to these violations? Does the United States have the prerogative to attack other countries and maim their people without any legal or moral justification and then get away with its crimes?
The United States is imparting a clear message by adopting this insincere and hypocritical approach toward Russia, which is also a message to other countries: We can invade your countries, we can kill your citizens, we can rule you tyrannically, we can behave in any way we desire, but if you do something which doesn’t please us, we will impose sanctions on you, we will banish you from international organizations, and we will come down on you like a ton of bricks. This is how the American hypocrisy works...

Copyright © 2014 Global Research

A letter by Arvind Kejriwal to Election Commission, resulted in deferring of UPA's decision to double the price of Natural Gas, till the end of elections.

Aam Aadmi Party

A letter by Arvind Kejriwal to Election Commission, resulted in deferring of UPA's decision to double the price of Natural Gas, till the end of elections.

Modi's Government had written a letter to Centre to make the prices almost 4 times of what they are now, followed by a number of reminder letters to push for this.

Why are both Congress & BJP completely silent on this issue? 

Here is a compiled report of all documents exposing the truth about gas pricing issue: http://aamaadmiparty.org/gas-pricing-the-complete-truth-exposed-by-aap

Arvind Kejriwal will be addressing a Jansabha at Dwarka today at 6: 30 PM, where he will be talking about the nexus between Ambani & Congress/Modi and how it will result in steep price rise for basic commodities. Live telecast will be available soon atwww.youtube.com/LiveAAP

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Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar - Parliamentary Democracy, notwithstanding the paraphernalia of a popular government, is in reality a government of a hereditary subject class by a hereditary ruling class.

Reyazul Haque

Parliamentary Democracy has never been a government of the people or by the people, and that is why it has never been a government for the people. Parliamentary Democracy, notwithstanding the paraphernalia of a popular government, is in reality a government of a hereditary subject class by a hereditary ruling class. It is this vicious organization of political life which has made Parliamentary Democracy such a dismal failure. It is because of this Parliamentary Democracy has not fulfilled the hope it held out the common man of ensuring to him liberty, property and pursuit of happiness.

-Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

Unlike ·  · about an hour ago · 

• You, Meena Kandasamy and 4 others like this.
• 

  Jooneed Jeeroburkhan It's also called "representative democracy", and it is the sine qua non political arm of capitalism and imperialism - and is now called by its real name, Corporatocracy, which in India today, unfortunately, englobes ALL electoralist parties, Left, Right and Centre!

  10 minutes ago · Like
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  Palash Biswas Thanks Riaz for this quote

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Country needs today Alternative Policies, Not merely alternative of Parties and Personalities- Akhilendra

• Lucknow, 31 March-Country needs today alternative policies, not merely alternative of Parties and personalities. Because, there is complete consensus among Congress, BJP and SP, BSP like regional parties on the anti-people policies that have pushed the nation into acute economic crisis, megascams, spiraling price-rise, unemployment and insecurity. So, All India peoples Front (AIPF) appeals to the people to convert the General election into a referendum on peoples issues and policies and elect  such candidates who stand for them so that the voice of resistance against these disastrous policies, that have engulfed the country into serious crisis and made the life hell for the common people, could be raised in the Parliament. AIPF will support all such progressive, democratic forces and candidates.

Declaring it here in a Press Conference, Akhilendra Pratap Singh, National Convener, AIPF said that AIPF conducted a referendum on this issue in two selected seats of Robertsganj and Kaiserganj. We selected these seats because Robertsganj ,despite being rich in natural resources, is the most backward region of the state and Kaiserganj, despite being rich sugarcane belt, is made to languish among the most backward regions of the country, converting it into a laboratory of communal politics since long. On the basis of massive support we received in the referendum conducted among nearly 25 thousand voters in each constituency, AIPF has decided to field Prof. Nehaluddin Ahmad, a well known personality of democratic movements and champion of minority rights from Kaiserganj and SR Darapuri, Ex. IG and leader of democratic movements and champion of dalit-tribal right. CPI(M), Muslim organization and other democratic forces are supporting our candidates.

 Prof. Nehaluddin Ahmad, present in the Press Conference, said that since there is no rule of law, the way central as well as state governments are treating the Muslim youth in the name of combating terrorism, who have somehow received education, despite great hardships and are professionals, is against the basic democratic spirit of the Constitution. Many youth who were arrested in terror charges were later released by courts but many precious years of their lives passed in jails. Even, there is no arrangement for their rehabilitation. After Godhra and Muzaffarnagar riots, hapless victims were forced to stay in relief camps. Even the Supreme Court took its cognizance.

We firmly believe that fast track courts must be constituted for the speedy trial of terror cases. Whatever changes are required in the legal procedure for this purpose must be made promptly so that the innocents could be released and their life could be saved. Officials responsible for falsely fabricating cases must be punished so that peoples faith Is restored in the democratic process of the country. In our opinion, Muslims are being targeted basically with an eye on the land and agriculture of the farmers who would be ruined. It is part of the implementation of the same policies which were witnessed in 1920s and 30s in Europe. He said that even the Action Taken Report on Nimesh Commission has not been presented by Akhilesh government. He also asserted that there should be no discrimination in providing reservation on the basis of religion. So under Article 341,dalit Muslims and dalit Christians should also be granted Scheduled Caste status and ensured reservation facilities.

On the peoples issues and alternative policies which we are making our agenda in the election, Akhilendra Pratap Singh, National Convener, AIPF went on fast for 10 days, first in front of Vidhan Bhavan in Lucknow in June, 2013 and then recently at Jantar-Mantar in February 2014 during the last session of the Parliament. It was widely supported by the democratic forces. We are committed to carry forward this battle inside and outside the Parliament. We present this Agenda before the people. It is attached here with the press release.

Lal Bahadur Singh, Member, National Executive AIPF and Salahuddin Khan, State Spokesperson AIPF were also present in the press conference.

In 2014, Hindutva versus caste

VARGHESE K. GEORGE

The question in this general election is whether Hindutva will triumph over caste. There are at least three factors clearly nudging politics towards Hindu consolidation

Of the numerous public appearances by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi over the last year or so, two have been strikingly inconceivable. Both happened in Kerala, often projected as a politically progressive State. In February 2014, Mr. Modi addressed a meeting of Pulayas, a Dalit community that has been for years a bedrock of support for the Communist parties. In April 2013, Mr. Modi was chief guest at the Sivagiri Mutt, founded by Kerala’s legendary social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru who led the backward Ezhava community to social awakening. The Ezhavas too have been largely supporters of the Left. At both the platforms — events separated by more than a year — Mr. Modi made a similar pitch. “Social untouchability may have ended, but political untouchability continues,” he said, referring to the continuing isolation that he faces from various quarters.

“The next decade will belong to the Dalits and the backwards,” he said, emphasising his own lower caste origins, at a rally in Muzaffarpur in Bihar on March 3. That event too was significant as he was sharing the stage with Lok Jansakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, who returned to the saffron fold 12 years after he quit it over the Gujarat riots. And there is more to it. Dalit leader Udit Raj, who has been fashioning himself as the new age Ambedkar, joined the BJP. So did Mr. Ramkripal Yadav, who has for years been a shadow of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, a champion of backward class politics in Bihar.

The BJP’s efforts to overcome caste barriers in its project to create an overarching Hindu identity are showing signs of success, though it is still far from being a pan-Indian phenomenon. “Mr. Modi has broken the stranglehold of caste. The affinity of these Dalits and backward leaders for the BJP is a clear indication of his acceptance among them,” says Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP general secretary.

The issue of caste identity

Among the several factors that slowed down Hindutva politics in India, caste identity has been prominent. Politically empowered sections of the backwards and Dalits viewed the Sangh project of a unified Hindu society with suspicion, as its insistence on traditions implied sustenance of the hierarchical social structure that disadvantaged them. One of the most pronounced examples of this was Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who concluded that Dalit emancipation would not be possible while they remained within the Hindu social order. In turn, Baba Saheb — portrayed with considerable fulmination in Arun Shourie’s book, Worshipping False Gods — has been a villain in the Sangh discourse. But in 2013, an article in the Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), portrayed the Dalit icon as someone who contributed to Hindu unity.

The Hindutva project tried a combination of aggressive integration, sometimes accommodating Sanskritising demands from below and constantly working on the fear of an “Other.” But until they hit upon the idea of replacing a mosque in Ayodhya with a temple, all of this could not gather enough strength for the BJP to win a majority in any region of India. But coinciding with the Ayodhya movement was also a great upsurge of backwards, triggered by the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. Subsequently, caste and religion alternated as the prime moving force of politics, depending on the particularities of the time and place, in parts of northern and western India. The BJP gained power in several States. But except in Gujarat, the debate has not been settled conclusively in favour of Hindutva.

The question, therefore, in this election is whether Hindutva will triumph over caste. There are at least three factors clearly nudging politics towards Hindu consolidation.

Debate on Muslim reservation

Hindutva politics in Gujarat rode on violent anti-reservation agitations spearheaded by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the 1980s. Though the agitation was against the reservation for backwards, the targets were Dalits. Almost immediately after the agitation, Hinduvta politics struck roots, co-opting vast sections of the lower castes into its fold, even as a rising portrayal of Muslims as the “other” unified them. But the trajectory in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that together elect 120 members of Parliament has been different, as strong backward politics suspected the RSS on the question of reservation and found Muslims as allies. Ironic as it is, quota politics is dividing them now. The lower castes see the demand for Muslim quotas as detrimental to their interests. The case for affirmative action for Muslims is strong, no doubt, but the politics over it has played out much to the advantage of the Hindutva project. A social coalition that has been a bulwark against Hindutva in U.P. and Bihar for the last two decades is showing signs of unravelling.

The Dalit participation in the Muzaffarnagar riots in U.P., and the numerous Yadav versus Muslim skirmishes in Bihar over the last two years have strained the solidarity among the poor and the disadvantaged. Lower caste movements that challenged caste structures have also had a streak of Sanskritising aspirations that seek a better place within the Hindu hierarchy. When the image of the “other” is clearer, this streak becomes prominent.

Willingness to concede leadership

The lower caste sympathy towards the Hindutva project has been matched by a willingness among the upper castes to be content under the leadership of the lower. The turning point was the 2005 Assembly election in Bihar, when the BJP-JD(U) alliance sought a mandate, with Mr. Nitish Kumar being declared as the chief ministerial candidate. Only six months prior to that, when the alliance vacillated over projecting him — because the upper caste segments were not comfortable with the idea of a backward caste CM — it could not win and there was no clear majority for any formation. In 2007, the upper castes voted for Dalit leader Ms. Mayawati in U.P. who won a clear majority, the first for any since the Ayodhya movement. In 2010, the rainbow caste coalition voted for Mr. Nitish Kumar again; in 2012, another variant of the coalition voted for backward caste leader Mr. Akhilesh Yadav in U.P.

This change in the upper caste attitude can dramatically turn round the fortunes of the BJP. The BJP has been responsive to the leadership ambitions of the backwards and Dalits, but the upper caste support to leaders such as Mr. Kalyan Singh and Ms. Uma Bharti has been tentative. “We have the so-called backwards and lower castes standing up and wanting to be counted as Hindus. Sangh has empowered them. Even the communist movements could not accommodate these sections of the society in their leadership,” says Mr. Ram Madhav, senior RSS leader. “In 1998, the BJP had 58 MPs who were SCs and STs, possibly the highest for any party ever as a proportion of its strength,” he says. With Mr. Modi at the helm and the change in upper caste attitudes, the Sangh’s efforts have got a major fillip.

Media-propelled popularity

A third factor that has developed over the last decade is the dramatic popularity achieved by several lower caste gurus, aided by the visual media. To cite two examples, both Swami Ramdev, who was born a Yadav in Haryana and Mata Amritanandamayi, born in a fisherman’s community in Kerala, have attained such a huge following that their caste origins have been eclipsed. TV evangelism, as opposed to scriptural Hinduism controlled by priests, has enrolled a large section of poorer and lower caste people into thinking as Hindus. This may be a rerun of how TV serial “Ramayan” contributed to the Ayodhya movement; and lower caste Hindu gurus are not unprecedented. What makes it all extremely potent is the context of a certain level of economic prosperity among the lower castes, media penetration and the Sangh propaganda.

The terms of engagement between the state and the poor, between the upper and the lower castes, and between Hindus and Muslims could change further in the emerging scenario. “Lalu and Mulayam had managed to command backward castes support with a the promise of share in power. Mr. Modi’s politics for backwards and Dalits is not based on doles and welfare schemes, but overall development,” says Mr. Pradhan.

varghese.g@thehindu.co.in