Capitalism Vs Caste? Are you frigging kidding me?

Capitalism vs. caste. Something is amiss. Since when did capitalism start caring about abolition of caste? Why is it that we find communal disharmony and casteism flourishing in the so called financial capital of our country, Mumbai, where the hardcore right wing Shiv Sena had rallied against the “outsiders” from Bihar and Jharkhand? The same is the case with the “Shining Gujarat”, which is touted by capitalists far and wide as the model of development.

India is a de facto capitalist country, with its headquarters in Delhi, no matter what color of jersey those in positions of power are wearing – they have been following neo liberal policies since the early 90′s. From giving outrageous tax cuts to handing over natural resources almost free of cost [unless you count the enormous social cost of environmental degradation and unfair distribution, causing harm to habitats and communities etc] to amending labor and environmental laws so as to benefit the capitalists, almost everything in India is the “baap ka sampatti” of the capitalists. And yet, has casteism truly worn away? And is capitalism as a system trying to fight it? A little investigation will reveal the truth.

Let’s take the case of the educational institutes like AIIMS and IITs which produce the most promising servants of capitalism. One of the country’s biggest anti reservation movements often originate with great vigor and passion from these “centers of excellence”. There is even a group named “Youth for Equality” emanating from these centers, which are anything but egalitarian, as those who ask for the same rules for people standing at different lengths from the starting line are not asking for a level platform.

Before you start feeling sorry, these aren’t activists fighting for a just cause: these are medical students of “Youth for Equality” movement.

The following picture actually explains it quite well. The so called lower castes have been exploited for many years, and though reservation or quotas may not be a solution, to be opposed to the same will be even more detrimental and cause hindrance to them getting mainstream induction.

Farcical Equality

We see Gurukuls or highly patriarchal schools which promote Brahminism and hence casteism getting more and more popular. As an example, ITC [the major corporate house] has one, what capitalists call “Corporate Social Responsibility” project, Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. There, the guru-shishya parampara, or the highly feudal, brahmanist culture of education is promoted. So where the heck is capitalism fighting casteism exactly? Sanskritization and Hinduization is being attempted in more ways than one. They call India Bharat Mata but the underlying concept is that the woman of the house should be eternally condemned to domestic slavery.

Crappy Guru Shishya Parampara tradition – brahmanist, casteist, patriarchal, hierarchical, repressive, feudal

Take the case of any firm. Who does all the menial work? Take the municipality or other casual laborers in general in the society, which runs under a capitalist economy. Still today, untouchability has not been abolished. Manual scavenging is still rampant. It only helps capitalists that casteism and patriarchy flourishes in India. This is because they get to exploit differentially [read more] using this age old tradition or rather monstrosity.

In Bihar, UP, Jharkhand or Chattisgarh, how are the so called lower castes and adivasis treated? How much value are their lives given? Don’t the authorities know that the Ranvir Senas and Bajrang Dals are raping the women and burning the houses of the “underprivileged” castes? Where is the justice to all these victims of casteism?

Following the death of Ranvir Sena Leader Brahmeshwar Singh Mukhia, the group behind massacres of Dalits like Bathani Tola carnage, riots were instigated by the right wing extremists

And as for the dalits who serve capitalism, the likes of A. Raja. Since when did he help fight casteism? What capitalist trashy mainstream media deliberately convolutes is they will present some “charity” as fighting social evils. Just like CSR can’t remove poverty, charity can’t help remove casteism.

Caught in the CrossFire

‘We die when we take sides and we die even when we decide to stay neutral’.

These are the exact words of a villager of Sindhesur village in Gadchiroli.

A massive police encounter followed by a Maoist counter attack had claimed the lives of two villagers apart from 4 Maoists and 1 cop. Not too long ago, a Maoist ambush had left several cops dead when a hidden IED or improvised explosive device had gone off. In that case, several villagers had complained that the cops were using them as shields. These aren’t isolated cases at all, as such allegations have been made about both Maoists and cops earlier as well, whether by villagers, cops or by’ neutral observers’. The security forces as well as Maoists exchange blames and the ordinary villagers, often from the lowest rungs of the social order, find themselves getting caught in the cross fire, quite literally.

So what is the solution? Who is really to blame?

 The answer to this question is not to be found in some superficial who did what sort of fact finding. Of course it is possible that in some cases the Maoists used some villagers as shields, although they have denied this allegation. It is quite possible that the rebels execute villagers too often merely on suspicion of being police informers. On the other hand, living in constant fear, not to mention abject poverty can really drive the poor villagers to sometimes take the sides of the cops. But none of this leads us to a satisfactory explanation of the situation.

 The reason is pretty straight forward , so far the analysis has only been skin deep. We haven’t yet brought into consideration socio economic and political reasons that led to the growth of the so called left wing extrimism in the first place. Take the case of what Neutral observations like Samarendra Das’sarticle and this blog, Moonchasing or even Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country: Sudeep Chakravarti. They are not overtly Maoist sympathizers, but they also acknowledge how the state machinery exploits using the police and paramilitary. If you look at the geographic distribution of naxalite infestation (that’s the way mainstream media puts it anyway) you will find they are in the poorest of eastern states in the country. Not only that, the rulers are more than willing to hand over the natural resources to big corporate houses even if it is at the cost of environmental damage and loss of natural habitat for the thousands of villagers, most of them adivasis.

 The adivasi and dalit struggle has been a long one, in the states of bihar, orissa, chattisgarh. If the state wouldn’t have pushed the inhabitants of the land to big companies like Vedanta and Tata, much to the detriment of the adivasis, with their sub machine gun armed goons terrorizing the villagers, then perhaps such “Extremism” would not have thrived!

 What happened in Chattisgarh in the name of countering the Maoist violence is well known. The SPOs or Special Police officers formed what is (in)famously known as Salwa Judum, which went so out of hand that human rights organizations like PUCL started to raise a hue and cry over it, and quite legitimately so. Women found themselves caught between the SPOs and Maoists in the worst ways possible, since rape was used as a tool of intimidation often.

Nandigram, Singur, Kudankulam, Jangalmahal, Kalinganagar, Niyamgiri Hills, Dantewada, Posco site all stand testimony among others to the monstrosity that the state machinery can unleash in the face of slightest opposition to their regressive decisions of forceful land acquisitions and harmful projects.

What we as citizens must realize is that for a genuine solution, the answer lies in not just finding faults with the rebels but actually understanding their predicament and working towards establishing a more just state of affairs.

Anand Patwardhan – Latest Documentary, Jai Bhim, Comrade

Several cultural activists are arrested with impunity in India, never to see the light of day again. Jiten Maranda, one such cultural activist dedicated to the welfare of his own people through cultural awakening, had suffered the same fate for many days before he was finally released, being acquitted of charges which were never proven with due process.

Here is Anand Patwardhan’s latest documentary which features the lives of the marginalized and those struggling for their rights from among and outside their communities. Also how the inhuman and repressive state machinery bears down upon them. This documentary was screened at Jadavpur University, Kolkata  on 8th of April.

Here, a woman activist of the forum for cultural activists, Kabir Kala Manch.