CASTE vs OUTCAST: WHO IS LEFT OUT IN POLITICS OF RIGHTS?

Caste, no longer the sole marker of deprivation, continues to fragment Indians. Those who want to move beyond are stuck. A way out must be provided by government and politicians

- MAKARAND R PARANJAPE

NEARLY a hundred years after Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s famous treatise, The Annihilation of Caste, who would have thought that India would turn a full circle, or should I say turn turtle? For today, Indian society, by and large, wants to leave caste behind. It wants to move on. But it cannot. Because the government of the day will not let it.

Yes, ordinary Indians cannot ever forget or move beyond their caste. The Indian State and the political classes that run it will never let us. It is they who have reinforced, again and again, how casteist we are.

As Neha Das, a self-proclaimed general caste rights activist, posted on her X account: “Beauty of Reservation Republic of India: If you demand caste-based reservation, caste-based fees, caste-based hostels, caste-based scholarships, caste-based A to Z things, you are called ‘anti-caste’! And if you oppose such caste-based policies, you are called ‘casteist’!”

In other words, today, those who want the annihilation of caste are casteist, while those who want everything on the basis of caste are anti-caste.

Here’s another bon mot from X: “Free coaching / SC ST OBC higher age limit / SC ST OBC cheapest forms / SC ST OBC reservation in results / SC ST OBC departmental promotions. Govt signs MoU with PhysicsWallah for free coaching to SC, ST, OBCs. For the general category, there is no quota, no scheme, no policy, no help from the government—only tax.” (sic)