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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 9:59:04 pm

Contemptible Farce

In a political climate increasingly dominated by the imperatives of algorithmic engagement, the boundary between substantive democratic dissent and performative exhibitionism has grown perilously thin. The latest instance of this was evinced at the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, where Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the pressure group (CJP), transformed a routine administrative inconvenience into a grand narrative of authoritarian overreach on part of the Modi government. Dipke and...

Contemptible Farce

In a political climate increasingly dominated by the imperatives of algorithmic engagement, the boundary between substantive democratic dissent and performative exhibitionism has grown perilously thin. The latest instance of this was evinced at the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, where Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the pressure group (CJP), transformed a routine administrative inconvenience into a grand narrative of authoritarian overreach on part of the Modi government. Dipke and fellow organizers were placed under preventative detention by Delhi Police upon landing from Mumbai. Simultaneously, the group’s high-profile tag-along, the political influencer and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, was detained at his residence in Gurugram. The authorities moved swiftly to prevent an unpermitted mass demonstration planned at Jantar Mantar, which aimed to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral roll updates. From the confines of an aircraft aisle, Dipke broadcasted a video appeal claiming that the state’s action in picking up thirty-year-olds off a plane was a measure something even Indira Gandhi didn’t do during the Emergency. The CJP’s top leadership were later released under the simple condition that they maintain public peace for one year. Dipke’s grotesque anachronism belies an alarming historical amnesia of one of modern India’s darkest chapters, which saw the systematic dismantling of Indian constitutional democracy between 1975 and 1977. When Indira Gandhi imposed the National Emergency in June 1975, the state suspended fundamental rights indefinitely. The political opposition of that era, including stalwarts such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Lal Krishna Advani, were arrested in midnight sweeps and held in prolonged isolation under the unchecked statutory authority of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). More egregiously, the comparison minimises the horrific violence visited upon the youth and student activists of the 1970s. During the Emergency, dissenters faced severe custodial torture, and in cases like that of Calicut engineering student P. Rajan, total erasure by the state machinery. For activists like Dipke to conflate the real horrors of an autocracy with a brief detention reveals the strategic shallowness of today’s boutique activism. The CJP, which emerged earlier this year following rhetorical provocations from the judiciary regarding exam leaks and youth unemployment, operates as a high-concept digital campaign. Its tactics belong firmly to the modern attention economy, where structural grievances are repackaged into emotive content designed for viral distribution. Democratic systems require vigorous accountability, and the administrative processes of the Election Commission are entirely legitimate subjects of civic scrutiny. However, when activists weaponize historical trauma to inflate minor procedural constraints into an existential struggle against an imaginary dictatorship, they demonstrate a cynical calculation. The Dipke-Rathee cohort are not the vanguard of a new freedom struggle for the youth but merely the mercenary content creators of an imaginary oppression designed to satisfy both their digital metrics and their political benefactors.

Caste-based Census Sparks Nationwide Debate

Writer: Darshan Solanki
Darshan Solanki
Oct 2, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Caste-based Census

Caste-based identities continue to dominate rural India, directly or indirectly shaping electoral outcomes. Many major elections are influenced by specific caste groups. After the Bihar government released the first phase of its caste-based socio-economic survey, the caste census became a hot topic. The results, backed by evidence, showed improvements in the living standards and social status of marginalised communities, both in cities and villages. With parties like the JDU and NCP backing a caste census, there is growing momentum for the government to conduct one. However, every story has two sides—joy and sorrow. Even Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, raised concerns about the caste census.

Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of being “anti-Bahujan.” The clear meaning is that his father and forefather refused to execute a caste-based census, which might have far-reaching effects and even permanently fracture India’s social fabric. This may be negative for caste-based beneficiaries. The last caste census in India was conducted in 1931 by the British government. Those times were different from the present scenario. The data was made public and became the basis for the Mandal Commission Reports and reservation policies for Other Backward Classes. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has clarified that the caste-based population count data will not be used for core politics. But the agenda for politics is always twisted and expanded.

The Central Government also joined the legal debate by filing an affidavit with the Supreme Court, leaving the matter unresolved. India’s partition, rooted in the divide-and-rule strategy, is frequently cited as a cautionary tale. Including caste in official census data could further deepen social divides. This issue has become a political pressure point, with various states pushing the Centre for action. Although the Constitution uses the term “class” instead of “caste,” the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that caste is a relevant, and at times, sole or dominant criterion for defining a backward class.

After the release of caste-based census data in Bihar, discussions around conducting similar censuses have gained momentum in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Karnataka, which has already conducted its own caste census, may release its data soon as well.

Notably, all these states are governed by anti-BJP parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also announced that Congress-ruled states have committed to carrying out caste censuses. Meanwhile, the BJP has remained silent on the matter, creating a significant roadblock.

Caste-based censuses focus on proportional representation in areas like jobs and education, with the argument that this will aid in targeted planning for the disadvantaged. However, the situation remains unclear, much like a foggy winter morning. The BJP’s stance on caste-based censuses and reservations seems different, as they fear the caste-based calculations could fragment their traditional Hindu voter base—an underlying concern for the party.

Professor Sanjay Kumar from The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, says, “Let alone the BJP; no party can openly oppose it; it is not free from danger. BJP gets a large number of votes from the OBC community, their population across the country would be around 52%. Another downside is that the caste-based censuses could disrupt the balance of socio-economic zones. Data theft is a common issue in government systems, and people may feel disconnected from their actual rights.

The moot question is that if the financial status of an ST/SC/OBC or Dalit citizen moves up by a few notches, will his social status change automatically? The lifestyle of any class will only change when the income of a particular class is changed. The actual source of income is employment. The reality is that only metro cities have enough place and space for workers. Aside from the GIDC and IT sectors, less than 30% of industries have their own designated vacancy periods. After a decade, the Jamnagar and Rajkot Corporations have opened their doors to newcomers alongside experienced staff. However, age and caste bias often operate behind the scenes. It’s important to recognise that poverty is also widespread among many upper-caste individuals, and their needs cannot be overlooked. In the overall interests of the nation, terms like SC/ST/OBC, Dalits, etc. must be deleted from the nation’s vocabulary. Every citizen should have only one classification, that of being an ‘Indian’, in the spirit of the constitution.

Last year, when the Bihar government decided to conduct a caste survey in the state, the BJP was also Nitish Kumar’s partner in the state government, and it supported it. Political expert and former professor of Tata Institute of Social Science, Pushpendra Kumar, says, “It is not that the BJP does not talk about caste. It tries to reveal the caste of the Prime Minister as well. For caste politics, the BJP also tried hard to raise the issue of Pasmanda Muslims.”

(The writer is a management professional based in Ahmedabad. Views personal.)

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