From: ssankara@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Sornam Sankara)
Subject: India: the state and the hegemony of the upper castes
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 03:36:58 GMT




India: the state and the hegemony of the upper castes
=====================================================

     In the feudal Indian democracy, the ruling apparatus can be classified
into two parts, the 'government' and the 'state'.  The government is formed by
different  political parties at different times depending upon which party is
able to influence the gullible mass irrespective of the religion, ethnicity or
caste differences.  But the state, a permanent machinery which is responsible
in literally controlling the government by all means, is constituted by the
upper caste Hindus with the a small proportion of the rich urban  middle
castes.  The leftists call them as ruling class whereas the social reformers
like Periyar, Ambedkar and Phule viewed them as Brahmins and caste Hindus.
But the leftists and the social reformers agree that the ruling class is made
up of the upper castes, particularly Brahmins.  Frequently people ask how the
minority upper castes can be so hegemonistic in a democracy.   For that matter,
no hegemony does not depend on the arithmatics but derives from a complex
articulation of power and knowledge.

     Now I present a few examples for the upper caste hegemony controls the
Indian state (except parliament, the remaining three estates of our feudal
democracy viz. judiciary, executive and the media).  These examples were just
the observation of various human rights activists and civil liberties lawyers
from different states.

K. Balagopal from A.P.
----------------------

     " the gangsterism cong(I) goons led by a galaxy of party leaders exhibited
at Kurnool (during Nandyal bye-elections where the present PM was elected)
during the nomination week and PVNRao's silent endorsement of the criminiality
would have destroyed his political reputation, had the CRITICAL INSTINCTS OF
OUR LIBERAL INTELLIGENTIA BEEN TRUELY HONEST AND IMPARTIAL.  The situation
however, is not different from Meha and our vocal urban intelligentia is vocal
only about certain issues and certain people like Devilal - whatever his power
hunger and his lack of scruples - has stood for the interests of the rural
rich, which makes his unscrupulousness an easy target for THE URBAN
INTELLECTUALS' MORAL OUTRAGE.
..........................................
In any case, it is always possible to pretend the PVN, CULTURED AND REPORTEDLY
THE RATHER LEARNED BRAHMIN that he is, above such things and it is the UNCOUTH
REDDY GOONS of Royalaseema district who are responsible for the gangsterism".
       (From Economical and Political Weekly, XXVI (46), Nov 16, 1991, p.2609)

     He also lists out the large scale murder of the Dalits by caste Hindus in
AP and how the 'state' is either indifferent or supportive of the upper caste
violence (EPW XXVI (42), Oct 19, 1991, pp.2399 )


U.P. - Rajesh Sofat
-------------------

     "An independent three member team investigates the allegations that
patients were systematically killed  on communal lines by staff doctors of
Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospitals in Aligarh during the Dec.1990
communal riots in the city"

     EPW XXVI (19), May 11, 1991, p.1205


Madya Pradesh - Sanjay Sangvi and Alok Agrawal
----------------------------------------------
     (after the brutal massacre of the labour leader Shankar Guha Niyogi)

 State repression in M.P., terget : popular movements

     "The state has adopted number of devious means to negate the influence of
and suppress people's organisations.  These weapons range from indiscriminate
arrests, spreading terror and fear psychosis through the marches of mounted
police in villages, midnight knocks, defaming the movements and thier main
activists, to pitting one section of the people against the organisations
fighting for the rights of the deprived section of the people."

     [From EPW, XXVI (47), Nov 23, 1991, p.2665]


T.N. - V. Geetha and S.V.Rajadurai (Marxian intellectual and PUCL activist)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     (EPW XXVI (26), Jan 29 (1991), p.1591)

     "The persistence of Brahmin hegemony mediated through an arrogant,
unrepentent and avowedly casteist Brahmin intelligentia that makes its views
and opinions known through strategic use and abuse of media"

     As usual, it is from TN and hence more explicit)


Bihar - Krishna Chaitanya
-------------------------

     (From the first part of the report based on investigations carried out by
a team of Shoth Madhyam, an independent research-cum-media centre based at
Patna, EPW XXVII (15 & 16),  April 11-18 (1992), p.761)

     "The contrast in the response to the Mein_Barasimha carnage and Bara
massacre in Bihar clearly highlights the deep rooted caste bias of the
political establishment. Dalit labourers and poor peasants are viewed as being
destined to be beaten and butchered so that assaults on them are met with
indifference.  Bt when upper castes are the victims there is no end to the hue
and cry that is raised".

     We can go through all Indian states andexplain the state's upper caste
behaviour and it is needless to mention about Punjab, Assam and Kashmir.

     I wish to conclude this post by Narendra Singh's sentences in his article
published in EPW XXVII (3), Jan 18 (1992), p.84.

    " The changed political environment after independence and of modern times
has no doubt roused the aspiration of all suppressed and oppressed communities,
including the Dalits.  Thier age-old suppressed feelings against social and
economic persecution are exploding in a violent manner.  This is not
surprising, as it is only due to the dominat social values and ruling ideas.
The ruling ideas of Indian society are, now, cut-throat self aggrandising
competition, and communal and casteist prejudices, further fortified in the
pervasive atmosphere of present-day populist and opportunist Indian polity.
THE SOLUTIONS LIE ONLY IN COLLECTIVE EMANCIPATORY STRUGGLES OF ALL SUPPRESSED,
OPPRESSED AND EXPLOITED COMMUNITIES AND PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE DALITS."


S. Sankarapandi

ssankara@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu


PS: Those who do not know much about EPW, please, please don't conclude as
'anti-upper caste, or anti-Brahmin or racist magazine.  It is a reputed social
science journal from India and one of the very few journals of India cited in
Social Science Index.