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.

“Facebook users could swing the results in 160 Lok Sabha constituencies”

The latent potential that is social networking, Facebook being one of the most major tools of the same.

One of the main advantages of social networking sites is that they allow people who would otherwise have never met or known each other, actually get acquainted. It helps to organize the powerless, it fosters solidarity, it favors unity. It also dispels misconceptions and myths, while only bolstering others.

But if used properly and democratically, social networking has enormous prospects to yield useful dividends.

Some excerpts from The Hindu article:

A study, a copy of which is with The Hindu, has, for the first time, shown how social media can affect the results of the next Lok Sabha elections. Conducted by the IRIS Knowledge Foundation and the Internet and Mobile Association of India, the research claims that results in over 150 constituencies could be decided by ‘Facebook users, making them the newest vote-bank with the power to shape Indian politics.’

Regarding the limitations, those conducting the study informed:

Admitting that the ‘approach may seem simple to the point of being simplistic,’ it lists out the caveats. It does not factor in whether the social media users in each constituency are active. It does not examine other factors like ‘anti-incumbency or political realignments.’ And while Facebook may be a common medium, those using it are a heterogeneous lot.

However, researchers say their limited objective is to assess the ‘clout of the social media … and if Facebook users will have an impact, if they so choose.’

Language Controversy in Civil Services Exam

Have they totally lost it?

Or at least that’s what it would seem from their inexplicably ridiculous actions. Why on earth would they take a decision like this in the first place – to actually make the marks of English part of the competitive agenda in civil services exams, and on top of that, actually make it harder for those who speak and write in their regional languages?

But however weird and absurd that may seem, that is exactly what our extraordinarily intelligent political leaders did. And now they have been pushed on the backfoot once again, because of the protests by different groups.

Though it is a very legitimate demand that such imposition of linguistic barriers is unfair and unjust, it is also true that there is no point depriving the students of all the means necessary for making themselves ready for employment. So if English is necessary to sell labor in the labor market (because that is what employment basically means!), then it is the duty of the educationists and those in charge of the education of the nation’s next generation of citizens to make sure that the needful is done.

Also, there are many kinds of groups with diverse interests and political ideologies behind the protests. While there are the left and progressives who oppose this move because of its inherently unethical discrimination and favoritism toward the lucky and privileged elite, there are also those on the right, who are conservatives and stress on “cultural heritage” and “tradition” with a truckload of provincialism and communalism. Then there are many who just oppose without getting the hang of it in proper terms.

Care must be taken to distinguish among these groups. Failing to do so, will inevitably lead to a total misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the political mess that has been created.

The above is a pic of ABVP students holding a poster that says the UPSC language diktat will only favor urban students as opposed to those from village. While there is certainly legitimacy to this claim, the way they make it solely a rural vs urban issue is what is indicative of their vote political tactics, which should be easily identifiable to any serious observer of Indian politics.