anti-caste

TRIBE SEEKS LOWER STATUS TO QUALIFY FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Low-caste tribe riots in Delhi for right to be 'untouchable' (Independent (UK))

"According to Indian law, the Gujjars – many of whom live in the nearby desert state of Rajasthan – are classified as belonging to the country's second-lowest group, known as Other Backward Classes (OBC).

"In the complex, divisive system this category is one step up from the lowest level known as Scheduled Tribes and Castes (STC) otherwise known as Dalits, or 'Untouchables'.

"The Gujjars say they have been discriminated against in terms of jobs, health care and education – particularly in Rajasthan – but say that by being reclassified as STC they will be eligible for government positions and university places that are reserved for that group."

See also:

Why the Gujjars are so aggrieved (BBC News, May 31, 2007)

Fighting their way to the bottom in India (International Herald Tribune, June 1, 2007)

UNTOUCHABLES GET NO BENEFITS BECAUSE PLANTATIONS LOST RECORDS

Tamil plantation workers denied caste certificates (Indian Express)

"Hundreds of Tamil families, descendants of those who had sought refuge in the tea and rubber plantations in the Aryankavu-Thenmala belt on the western fringe of Kollam district during the pre-Independence era, are being denied caste certificate for the last two years and are, thus, shut out of education, jobs and land and housing schemes for the poor.

"To get a certificate, they are now being asked to produce documents to show that their ancestors had settled in the state before 1950. But the plantations, the only places where such records could be found, have lost them."

See also:

'No degree if caste certificate is fake' (Times of India, April 9, 2008):

"Coming down heavily on those who secure admission to professional courses through forged SC/ST certificates, the Supreme Court has warned that the erring student is liable to be stripped of the degree."

MUSLIM UNTOUCHABLES SEEK AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Supreme Court: Are there castes among Muslims? (Times of India)

"The petitioner said though Hindu Khatiks (those who slaughter animals) were included in the SC category, the Muslim Khatiks were not, despite being in the same social strata and facing similar discrimination. Muslim Khatiks are generally considered as 'Ajlaf' (the base strata of society), it said."

See anti-caste article: Muslims and caste

RESERVATIONS CONTROVERSY

Letter from India: Addressing inequality in a land ruled by caste (International Herald Tribune)

"For a snapshot of the social importance of caste in modern India, you just need to turn to the matrimonials section of any daily paper. A small minority of the advertisements declare CASTE NO BAR, but most are arranged according to caste groupings, and go along the lines of: 'Engineer with multinational corp. seeks beautiful girl from decent Brahmin family.' Sociologists estimate that more than 90 percent of people marry within their caste."

UPPER-CASTE BABY-KILLERS DEFEND "MERIT"

Violence feared in Indian caste row (The Guardian (UK))

"The protests have disrupted hospital services across northern India, with the student shutdown supported by doctors. In Delhi television crews filmed babies being refused medical treatment because of a lack of staff."

See below:

anti-caste: RESERVATIONS (AFFIRMATIVE ACTION) BILL PROPOSED (April 20, 2006)

RESERVATIONS (AFFIRMATIVE ACTION) BILL PROPOSED

A minister in the Indian government has proposed a bill that would more than double the reservation quota (number of seats reserved for students oppressed by caste) in elite higher educational institutions run by the central government. He wants to add a reservation for the Other Backward Castes (castes considered low but not untouchable) to the existing one for untouchables and tribals. What is the 49.5% quota all about? (rediff.com, April 12, 2006) explains the plan in some detail.

The anti-reservations slogan "Save Merit" really means "Save Caste Privilege." Praful Bidwai in In Defence of OBC Reservations (The Nahvind Times, April 20, 2006) punctures the hypocrisy of those who take it up:

"Those who oppose affirmative action radically, in principle, on the ground that it’s anti-merit, are comprehensively wrong in assuming that our society and government run on the basis of merit, as distinct from social status, clan loyalties, wealth, sifarish, political influence, overt bribery, etc. Even the best of our competition examinations don’t accurately assess merit. Take the case of the IITs, where admissions are dominated by candidates from privileged families who can afford to send them to the coaching centres of Kota in Rajasthan for long months at the expense of lakhs of rupees."

In What Mandal Really Wanted (Outlook India, April 14, 2006) S.S. Gill, the secretary of the Mandal Commission, defends that commission's 1980 report. When its recommendation that reservations be extended to Other Backward Castes was finally put into practice in 1989, it provoked a vicious casteist reaction nationwide. In response to what is now being proposed, Gill asks, "Why do we still require the crutch of reservations to enable students from the deprived sections to stand on their feet even 60 years after Independence? What has happened to the tall claims of affirmative action aimed at raising the educational and economic standards of the SCs, STs and OBCs, so that their children are able to compete on their own merit?"

But even the minimal reforms he says are necessary are utopian in a capitalist India dominated by imperialism. And, while it's important to defend any gains for the oppressed including reservations, why shouldn't everyone be able to get a decent education and a good job?

See also:

How Sharad Got A Life: "As did Amit, Risha, Parag and many like them. Quotas empowered them to take on challenges. Here's their side of the story." (Outlook India, April 24, 2006)

Say Yes to Affirmative Action by Praful Bidwai (August 9, 2004)

on the history of reservations policy in India:

Logical step by P.S. Krishnan (Frontline, April 22-May 5, 2006)

and see anti-caste: UPPER-CASTE BABY-KILLERS DEFEND "MERIT"

photo: young doctors protest the extension of reservations with signs "Youth for Equality" and "Arjun Singh Wants Another Rajeev Goswami" (a brahmin university student who tried to immolate himself as part of a similar campaign in 1990)—via creativepraveen's photostream