India since Independence, it will be clear that the major offenders
were the rich and landed members of the OBC community.
It is, however, not just the Dalits who are being sidelined by the OBC
'creamy layer'. The poor Kurmis, Koeris and Yadavs lead lives no
different from the poor Scheduled Castes on a number of fronts. They
cannot dream of getting into IITs or IIMs as the OBC 'creamy layer'
aspires to. For these poorer villagers getting to school is akin to
mission impossible.."
(by Prof Dipankar)
Thanks to the growth of internet, we have bold articles such as the
one given here by Prof Dipankar of School of Social Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
which no member of the print media would be ready to publish.
Such is the ominous grip of self-seeking political powers
who are out to rewrite the past to suit their whims.
The upper castes (read Brahmins) were never in the picture of
oppression of OBCs and dalits.
The quota regime that is brought in to remedy the so-called oppression
by upper castes
which saw a new leaf added to it the recent judgment clearing the deck
for reservation in IITs and IIMs did not and will not result in OBCs
withdrawing the two tumbler system for the dalits in the remote
villages nor in allowing them to participate in temple festivals which
are under their domination. The upper castes had never been in the
picture of any such oppression.
jayasree.
*************
Dipankar notes: "From the start, Mandal's endeavour was designed to
protect what later came to known as the creamy layer. He managed this
by disproportionately allotting greater weight to social backwardness
and the least to economic backwardness. This is hard to believe, but
the manipulation was that blatant."
And, the Hon'ble SC has fallen into the trap of choosing between
economic and social backwardness. Forcing this choice is the game of
'casteist' politicking. It is unfortunate that the justice system has
failed to take note of this political game. This game strikes at the
very foundations of the polity and the rule of law enshrining equality
of treatment while striving for abhyudayam (read: economic
upliftment).
What is the problem in simply adopting economic backwardness as the
criterion? Shall we play jaalra in tune with the braying of the law
which is an ass?
I don't know if the creamy layer has turned sour with the recent SC
pronouncements, muddying the political cream.
Dr Kalyanaraman.
**********************
The skimming of the creamy layer
Dipankar Gupta | April 14, 2008 | 15:23 IST
Now that the Supreme Court has skimmed the Other Backward Classes off
its 'creamy layer', it has made it difficult for Mandal-fattened
politicians to lick their chops.
No matter how brave a front OBC caste activists may affect, they have
little option but retreat to their chaupals where they can safely let
their worry lines show. The truth is that every time one thinks of a
community as 'backward', the first thing that comes to mind is the
economic criterion. When this is almost always accompanied by
educational backwardness, then the reservation formula for the upward
mobility of a named category of the population gets its justification.
If one were to take away, or undermine, the economic factor, then
'backwardness' would have little meaning but a term of faint abuse.
But a majority of politicians are now claiming with a straight face
that social backwardness is the most important criterion for
determining OBC status. When asked to define social backwardness, they
come up with criteria that are as easy to grip as a fish in water.
This is best exemplified in Mandal's recommendations. From the start,
Mandal's endeavour was designed to protect what later came to known as
the creamy layer. He managed this by disproportionately allotting
greater weight to social backwardness and the least to economic
backwardness. This is hard to believe, but the manipulation was that
blatant
In the strict Mandal scheme of things, if one scored high on the
social backwardness criteria, then there was no need to go any further
and bring in economic and educational considerations. Mandal had set
aside 12 points for social backwardness whereas only 11 were needed to
make the grade. On the other hand, if one were poorer than a church
mouse, one could only score four points in all for economic
backwardness. That is how absurd the Mandal system for determining
backwardness is and it is precisely this recipe that OBC activists
want to retain.
Social backwardness, Mandal-style, included features such as what
other castes think of a particular caste. It is common knowledge that
no true caste patriot would ever think well of any other caste. This
trait, incidentally, goes down the so-called caste hierarchy without
exception. Mandal also gave three full points if a caste said it
performed manual labour. Now every proud Jat, Gujar and Yadav,
regardless of how much land their family might own, would gladly say
that they work with their big hands and are proud of it.
Interestingly, included in the same bunch of criteria for social
backwardness Mandal also gives a full three points if a certain
percentage of boys and girls of a particular caste get married before
they have attained the legal age to do so. Full marks here for
actually breaking the law!
OBC leaders, and their supporters in practically every party, would
like to retain Mandal's favouring of social backwardness in order to
downgrade the significance of economic factors. If roles were
reversed, and economic backwardness grabbed 12 points and social
backwardness only four, then much of the motivations behind
championing OBC reservations would be lost. This is why, the Supreme
Court judgment of the day should not be seen as a closed chapter.
There is a lot of constitutional wrangling waiting to happen so that
the creamy layer can somehow be admitted into the OBC category.
Unfortunately, many left-leaning, city-bred academics and
intellectuals have aligned with the creamy layer and are against the
Supreme Court's ruling on this matter. It is possible that they have a
guilt complex that leads them to incline in this fashion. This may
also be seen as a species of over-compensation as their own ideology
has failed to make a difference thus
Additionally, most of these intellectuals also want to over-compensate
for their ignorance of live village affairs and take the easy option
of standing behind the loudest rural voice. They know little of the
hardships that poor Dalits, and other economically depressed classes,
face at the hands of the OBC 'creamy layer'.
There are two major factors that must be taken on board before we
insist on stirring in the 'creamy layer' into the OBC pot. First, the
greatest oppressors of the Scheduled Castes in the villages are
members of the OBC 'creamy layer'.
This aspect has been documented time and again from the mouths and
pens of Dalits. If one were to look back at caste atrocities that have
taken place in India since Independence, it will be clear that the
major offenders were the rich and landed members of the OBC community.
It is, however, not just the Dalits who are being sidelined by the OBC
'creamy layer'. The poor Kurmis, Koeris and Yadavs lead lives no
different from the poor Scheduled Castes on a number of fronts. They
cannot dream of getting into IITs or IIMs as the OBC 'creamy layer'
aspires to. For these poorer villagers getting to school is akin to
mission impossible, so their sights are set much lower than those of
their so-called representatives. It is interesting to notice that OBC
leaders who are most upset about the 'creamy layer' restriction, have
done little to improve the educational or economic standards of their
own caste people, let alone those of Scheduled Castes. Quite clearly,
they are a class apart and don't want mud from the village to be flung
at their urban aspirations.
This is the reason why the founding figures of the Constitution made
it clear that any enabling legislation that gives a leg-up to socially
and economically 'backward classes' cannot proceed on the basis of
caste alone. They would be horrified at the way leading politicians of
the day have sneaked in "caste" as a major determinant of OBC status.
Therefore, now one has the term 'Backward Castes' which nobody dare
interrogate as it is so widely employed and has become part of our
political vocabulary. This, however, does not make it constitutionally
acceptable and the latest Supreme Court judgment reiterates this
point. Adoption papers may well be in political circulation to
legitimise the term 'Backward Castes' but its parentage will always be
in question.
Dipankar Gupta is professor, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.
