Small is powerful in Bihar

HANISHWAR NATH RENU, the eminent novelist who used to write on the social-political churning in Bihar, made two important observations on the society and development politics in Bihar in his most famous work, Maila Anchal (The Soiled Linen).

- BADRI NARAYAN

Firstly, he observed that "in one society, multiple societies coexist". He mapped how caste-based societies work and function under the umbrella of one society in Bihar. He documented how people belonging to the same caste described themselves as "baradari" or "samaj". Secondly, he underlined how this caste "bhav" (feeling) of the society in Bihar and other parts of India hamper development.

These observations that he made in the first decades of independent India continue to be relevant. If one converses with people in Bihar to understand electoral politics there, it isn't unusual to hear them say that "this candidate belongs to my samaj". The word here doesn't denote a macro-society ("sarv samaj") that is usually the case but in the micro sense—that is a society composed of the same caste.

In the upcoming Assembly elections, one can find the prevalence of caste in development and Bihari identity-based discourses, like threads in the structure of political mobilisation. The relevance of Renu's second observation is also evident in the election-based democracy that is committed to making a modern society while confronting caste in our everyday life. It is true that in some cases, caste may help marginal communities to become upwardly mobile. However, in most cases, it weakens the democratic fervour of society.