The debate regarding caste-based discrimination and reservation has dominated the political life our nation for long. Though everyone seems to agree that caste discrimination is undesirable, there has been a lot of opposition to the idea of caste-based reservation. This opposition became more vocal among the urban upper/middle class after Mandal Commission extended reservation to the OBC along with SC and ST.
Caste blindness is in vogue among the educated elite of modern India. The “My Caste is Indian” tag seems to be the in thing. It is the progressive step which every patriotic Indian who wishes the nation to be a more developed country is expected to take. Though caste blindness, as an idea, seems to be very noble, its implications could be negative.
Caste blindness leads us to say- all Indians are equal, should be treated equally. Why reservations? Why special treatment?- Constitution guarantees equality- caste based reservations violate equality. All this is said by the new educated Indian who does not realize that his views are contrary to that of the Constitution of India, in letter and in spirit.
The idea of equality, at least according to Indian Constitutional thought, means that equals must be treated equally and unequals, unequally. Our is nation that has practiced and propagated inequality, with religious sanction, for centuries. Lets not forget that India is the only state with a full-fledged caste system. We have shamelessly practiced a system where the social status is unchangeable and is purely determined by birth.
It is ironic, that the people from the upper-caste/class now allege that the government is practicing caste based reservation against them. But who are the people who have been denied positions due to their caste for centuries? Who are the people who have suffered due to the lack of opportunity, due to the absence of access to the resources? The question is never answered.
However hard we try to deny it, the fact remains that caste discrimination has always existed and continues to exist and almost always, it is the lower castes who constitute the lower classes. Pointing out a few exceptions where there is no convergence of caste and class will not make caste irrelevant.
It is due to these exceptions, the "creamy layer" principle exists- to make sure that the socially and economically advanced people among the lower castes are excluded from the quota. The caste based census by collecting the caste data from these groups can give solid evidence to the fact that we simply try to ignore- that caste and class converge.
If we takes a casual look at the surnames of all the "successful" people- deans, CEOs, doctors, lawyers, it would reveal how skewed our social system is. It has been the same upper-class/class section of the society that has continued to hold and control the social system. In fact a lot of what we are today are because we were born where we were.
With a self christened title of middle class Indians, the upper-class/caste Indians display their aversion to caste and all other identities that “divide India”. In this process, the existence of caste based discrimination is also denied. Though it looks ironic, its natural that the very people who have created and benefited out of this caste system oppose any caste based actions. After all the status-quo will always be better for the oppressor.
But caste based discrimination is now seen at an individualistic level which leads one to think that his/her "meritorious" rights have been denied. Caste is hence seen merely as a tool the politician adopts to exploit this patriotic middle class Indian. How much more myopic can one get. The caste of a person is hence considerd only when one is denied a seat in a government institution.
No one bothers to of what caste the domestic workers, the manual scavengers, the street sweepers or the beggars belong to. Caste is only observed when it affects a person at an individual level. Otherwise we are blind. How convenient. Unless one gets out of this urban, upper-caste, upper-class mindset, we will never be able to fathom the historic truths and social realities of India.
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