In one of his campaign speeches in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath targeted his predecessor thus: “Akhilesh Yadav is here only due to the Constitution, otherwise he would be shepherding some landlord’s buffaloes back in Safai.”
Not long ago, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s mouthpiece in Kerala carried a cartoon to use a casteist slur on Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by asking him to quit politics and start his ancestral profession of fetching toddy from palm trees.
Before that, a ‘poet’ and so-called politician said from the stage of Anna Hazare’s ‘anti-corruption’ movement, “Those who should have been rearing cattle got the control of a state.” Clearly, his jibe was aimed at former Bihar chief minister and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.
When late Karpoori Thakur had implemented the reservation quota for Other Backward Class (OBC) in Bihar, the so-called upper caste groups had at the time raised a defamatory slogan which went like this: “Kar Karpoori kam pura, gaddi chhod utha ustara”, asking the former Bihar chief minister to quit from his post and take up the job of a barber.
The defamatory nature of comments faced by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawati after her ascension to the CM’s post in UP is all too commonly known.
There will be a long list of such poisonous statements. Besides these, common folks from Dalit and deprived communities are routinely subjected to various kinds of abuses and taunts in their daily life.
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In an era when India’s ruling establishment is hyping its “astronomical successes”, the prominent and popular leaders from Dalit-backward groups are still being constantly subjected to such defamatory and low-level attacks. It is not difficult to understand then that even today, India’s ruling upper castes is still full of people with a feudal mindset deeply embedded into their thinking.
Why is it that the caste-based professions are cited to defame and downgrade politicians from Dalit or other oppressed communities when they come to power? Has any Brahmin politician or a chief minister ever been told that ‘someone who should be collecting alms, conducting rituals is now ruling the state’?
No one has probably ever said this. The reason being that in India, the Savarna and Brahmins are considered as natural inheritor of all kinds of powers, be it social, economic, political or religious. So being an MLA, MP, CM or PM is seen as a common political conduct of people coming from these upper caste groups. So, the question now is: what is the motive behind linking Dalit-backward leaders with their traditional professions, and instructing them in different tones and tenors to keep themselves within the limits of their traditional professions?
The truth is that our society has bracketed some jobs and professions with certain castes in such a way that now even these works are seen through the prism of caste and categorised as “high” and “low”. This division of perspective towards work is not merely an external thing but has a deeper psychological impact. People engaged in a job which, with regards to its utility, is extremely important for the entire society, are often considered less of a being and are looked at with disdain.
But the bigger question: who created this ‘perspective’ towards work in the society?
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Why does a society look differently at two groups involved in the same act of collecting alms? Do people hold the same regard for a person earning money after a hard day’s work that they hold for someone who asks for “dakshina” for a half-an-hour religious recital? What explains the pity and disrespect for a poor person with little or torn clothes on his body and the respect and desire to seek blessings in return for doles from another person wearing a ‘janeu’ (a thread worn by Brahmins) but in a similar position as the former? Both Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule have written extensively about caste- and work-based division.
Similarly, the Hindu society has determined “better” and “worse” perspective towards different castes and their traditional professions. But it has to be noted that if an upper caste person indulges in a trade earmarked for the lower caste, after due consideration of market realities of 21st century and profits associated with the profession, the social attitude towards that person remains unchanged.
Apparently, the ‘society’ does not determine its perspective towards people of upper caste on the basis of their work or profession. For example, none of the high-end salons, hair parlours and spa in any of the metro cities are owned or operated by “naai or hazaam”. But the elite upper caster owners, be it a Brahmin or a Bhumihar, of these outlets are free from the low-level social classification for the same work done by “naais or hazaams”. Similarly, the social perspective towards upper caste persons engaged in professions such as shoe making, leather goods manufacturing, flower trading and even beef exports, will never be seen from the “low classification” angle.
It is quite clear that such perspective or feelings is not related to characteristic of any job or professions, instead it is directly attached to caste of personnel that are doing the job. Every work that is traditionally done by a lower caste is automatically downgraded as “low level” job.
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According to the hierarchy of social classification and caste, this attitude of addressing language and the inherent intention to defame or downgrade through it, is actually a kind of psychological weapon. It is often used to break the morale of a specific person or any specific community. It appears that Brahminism – despite being an extremely backward, rude and inhuman system in its hypothetic format – conducts its operations with the help of minute psychological formula.
The main pillars of its modus operandi are based on: keeping the whole society entrapped in a web of paranormal myths and beliefs; using these elements to turn the society in a low-on-confidence and superstitious community and then forwarding a selected group of people and castes for dealing with this superstition. The strategy of developing a derogative language for social addressing runs parallel to all this.
But now this strategy is being challenged. Such languages are easily spotted and thoroughly debated. People speaking such languages are castigated and a clear-cut message is delivered that this kind of derogatory behaviour will no longer be tolerated. This is worrisome for the proponents of Brahminism. And so, a system has been devised in which several decisions at social, political and policy making levels are being taken to create hindrance in the process of rapidly spreading social awakening among the Dalit and deprived castes and communities.
Only, there is no return path in this journey of social awakening.
The author is a senior political analyst. Views are personal.
This article has been translated from Hindi. The original can be read here.
While I understand the essence of your article, there are certain factual inaccuracies within. A notable one is “Akhilesh Yadav is here only due to the Constitution, otherwise he would be shepherding some landlord’s buffaloes back in Safai” as the context is not appropriately stated as the UP CM was referring to remarks allegedly made by Fmr. UP CM Mayawati on Akhilesh Yadav. Look at this for proof: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/akhileshs-priest-jibe-response-to-yogis-shepherd-730044.html . I think it would have been more appropriate to provide CM benefit of doubt since he claims to be quoting Mayawati.