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7/31/2019 Sept2011-Lite PDF Forward Press
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Victory of AarakshanAssaulting the Upper-Caste Heaven
The Pitfallsof Copying
PAGE 45
PAGE 20
PAGE 42
Muslim Quota:Keep it Simple, Silly!
S !
PAGE 37
PAGE 50
Cover & Graphics: Mitra T
WesternAutumn AfterArab Spring?
--
HINDISTANUUU
PAGE 31
Progress-Prone and Progress-Resistant Societies
11
11
U
Interview WithRajendra Yadav
OBC Literature:A Marxist Perspective
S
Goodnight.Sleep andproblems withsleep
U?
U,SU
PAGE 57
PAGE 48PAGE 6
U() U
We the (Bahujan) PeopleRespond
The Fall
of a Filmmaker
The SaasBahuDramas in OurLiving Rooms
PAGE 25
PAGE 17
PART I
I
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Vol. III
Dr Silvia FernandesChair, Aspire Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.
Prabhu GuptaraPatron and Chief Advisor
Sunil SardarPatron and Advisor
Satyaveer ChakrapaniDirector and Advisor
Ivan KostkaEditor-in-Chief
Ashish AlexanderEditor
Pramod RanjanEditor (Hindi)
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Prabhu Guptara (Europe)Dilip Mandal (New Delhi)Vishal Mangalwadi (USA)Gail Omvedt (New Delhi)Thom Wolf (New Delhi)
Mitra T.Chief Designer
Office:FORWARD Press
803 Deepali, 92 Nehru Place
New Delhi 110019
Tel. (011) 46538687 Fax: (011) 46538664
Email: [email protected]
Printed, published and owned by
Ivan Anthony Kostka and printed at
M.P. Printers, B-220, Phase-II,
Noida, UP - 201301 and published from
803 Deepali, 92 Nehru Place
New Delhi 110019
FORWARD Press logo designed by Etienne
Coutinho; assisted by Amogh Pant
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the
articles are those of the writers. The magazine will
not bear any responsibility for them.
SEPTEMBER 2011No. 9 Bilingual
India has recentlywitnessed demagoguery and
propaganda on a scale unprecedented since the Emergency
and Mrs Gandhis India is Indira and Indira is India
election campaigns. The difference is then you had the
elected leader of the majority Congress Party and the
machinery of the state marshalled to bring into submission
or beat into silence the print media, the government having
a monopoly of broadcast media at that time.
The irony is that today, with the mushrooming of
independent private media including the 24X7 news
channels TRiPing over one another to grab middle-class eyeballs and advertising megabucks, a
nave Gandhian demagogue with his Brahmanic Chanakyas have managed to co-opt almost all
the electronic and most of the print media to their cause. Social media was also extensively used
to bring out the mainly middle-class upper-caste supporters many sporting the Gandhi topi
and/or T-shirt claiming I am Anna making for thehazaroHazare effect.
Finally the real majority Bahujan came out in Delhi to save the Constitution and campaign
for a more representative Bahujan Lokpal Bill. To the credit of many Delhi English dailies this
Dalitbahujan rally made it to the front pages with a photograph or two, if only because traffic had
been halted in congested Connaught Place. We have an exclusive Photofeature byVidya Bhusan
Rawat if only to compensate for the expectedly poor coverage of this significant rally. Of course,
if you were to watch the news channels that night, you would have thought that Annas was the
only show in town, if not in the country and the world!
The good news is that media including social media contributed to the success of the
movement that resulted in the 18 August Supreme Court verdict which is the subject of our
Cover Story Victory of AARAKSHAN.Dilip Mandalhas masterfully analyzed the significance
of the historic though partial victory and the movement that led to this development. He uses it asa case study of how the silenced majority can effectively use RTI, minimal media and maximize
the more democratic social media. Prof. Hany Babu of Delhi Universitys Academic Forum for
Social Justice once again has contributed a lucid analysis of the Supreme Courts verdict.
Social media especially Blackberrys free encrypted texting service was abused by Englands
rioters even as earlier they contributed to the democratic organization of parts of the Arab
Spring.Vishal Mangalwadihas contributed a thought-provoking essay on both phenomena
and draws lessons for India.
Thom Wolflaunches a new series on progress-prone and progress-resistant societies putting
India and successful Indians under the scanner. Here again, by examining world trends and
historical examples he draws lessons for India to move forward on all fronts.And the debate on OBC Literature initiated byFORWARDPress recently continues. Hans Ed-
itorsRajendra Yadav andSanjeevare yet to be convinced of even its very existence.Prof. Lallan
Singhgives us a challenging Marxist perspective on OBC Literature.
P.S. If you are reading this issue before 1 Septemberplease come toDelhis Ramlila Maidan
from11 amonwards for a national mass rally on the subject of the Betrayal of Caste-based OBC
Census. Prominent national Dalitbahujan/Mulnivasi political leaders will address the rally. This is
your chance to show the Anna brigade who the majority we the people really are.
P.P.S. I am NOT Anna!
ORWARDT H I N K I N G F
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
6FORWARDPress
FEATURE
WE THE (BAHUJAN) PEOPLERESPOND
UU
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Save the Constitution rally in Delhi saw a largeparticipation from Dalitbahujans
The media monopoly of Anna and his hazaro at
Delhis Ramlila Maidan was finally broken on 24
August when thousands of Dalitbahujans led by Udit
Raj took a morcha through central New Delhi. These
were the first voices raised against Annas claim to rep-
resent the people who are over even Parliament.
Finally, we the (Bahujan) people, the silenced major-
ity spoke up and were heard at least by the English
print media. Udit Raj, national chairman of All India
Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, addressed the
rally and told the people why they were against the
Annas movement. "I am not against the cause, but the
method of their approaching it. The Anna-led move-
ment is a threat to democracy and undermines the
supremacy of the Constitution. (See Page 31)
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Protests against Annas agitation on thestreets of Delhi
Photos:Vidya Bhusan Rawat l
Udit Raj addressesfellow agitators
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
8FORWARDPress
FEATURE
Students at JNU celebrating theSupreme Court Verdict
l
ORGANIZE!
AGITATE!EDUCATE!
U! ! !The struggle for reservation in higher education has ultimatelyreached its victorious end. On August 18, the Supreme Court gave its
verdict sanctioning a 27% reservation for OBCs in higher studies.Many institutions participated in this long-standing agitation. Besidespamphlets, posters, sit-ins, social networking sites also played amajor role in this agitation. FORWARD Press extend heartiest con-gratulations to any and all intitutions and individuals who weredirectly, and indirectly, involved in this successful struggle.
v} S
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Protests and agitations atMHRD and Delhi University
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A need was being for a magazine for the Bahujan societyand FORWARD Press has fulfilled that need. In a recentissue (July 2011), Pramod Ranjans report on Forbesganjfiring was an eye opener. Conversation with famous thinkerand editor Rajendra Yadav and renowned short-story writerSanjeev on the occasion of 25th anniversary of Hans wasnotable. Columns by Prem Kumar Mani have been effectivelike always. There is an urgent need to discuss the ideas
found in Rajendra Prasad Singhs article on OBC litera-ture or to carry forward that discourse.
Pankaj Chowdhary, Meerut
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
10FORWARDPress
LETTERS
U, }x , ~w M , vv v~. Email |- [email protected] Press, 803 Deepali, 92 Nehru Place, New Delhi 110019.
I am very delighted that you have put up thought-
prone points in regards with the OBC Literature in
your editorial. I have also gone through The idea of
OBC Literature by Rajendra Prasad Singh. I likedthe article particularly because he has highlighted
OBC literature in Northern India and I expect that it
will promote the beginning of OBC literary move-
ment in Northern India. I am also expecting that
"Third All India OBC Literary Conference " can be
held in Delhi / UP/MP/Bihar.
Coming again to your editorial, I would like to
tell you that I am not agreed with one of the points"I
realized that in that largely Marathi gathering almost
no had a clue as to what OBC Literature - even in
Marathi - was, is and should be."According to me, the question raised by you is
not only serious but also far away from reality. I
feel very regret for this. In this context I would like
to tell you humbly that I am one of the founder
members of the Maharashtra OBC movement andAll India OBC Literary movement. I had written
two books which are published in these confer-
ences. But you have not gone through these books.
If you would be coming across these books , you
were not dared to say such vague statement in your
editorial.
The important question raised by Rajendra
Prasad Singh in his article is - why the literature of
majority number of OBC castes not overpowered the
literature of minority such as Brahmin and Dalit?
Answer is already given in my books.Prof. Shrawan Deore, Nashik
( wvv) L
///
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Victory of
Assaulting the Upper-CasteHeaven
SU
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STORY
DILIP MANDAL
O cloud in the sky, get out of the way
We come to plunder heaven
Ramdhari Singh DinkarIf we keep the Buddhist period aside, since the Vedic
period this is probably the first time in the written history
of India when Bahujans are going to enter the institutions
of higher learning in such large numbers. A Supreme
Court judgement of 18 August has paved the way for
this, which guarantees 27 per cent reservation for OBCs
in central universities.
This article focuses on Delhi University (DU) for
three reasons. First, this is the largest central university
in the country where the number of students admitted in
undergraduate courses is approximately equal to that ad-
mitted in all the other 24 universities combined. Second,
this university is one of the strongest fortresses of the up-
per-caste establishment. In fact, in 1990, this university
was the centre of the anti-Mandal Commission
campaign. And third, cracks are apparent in this fortress
in 2011 because for the first time, the path is cleared for
admission of the Bahujans (SC/ST/OBC) on half of the
total sanctioned seats.
It must be clarified that in this summer of 2011 we are
celebrating the implementation of that 5-year-old
legislation that was unanimously passed by the countrys
biggest panchayat, the Lok Sabha, in 2006. Not a single
opposing vote was cast. This was the Central Education-
al Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006,
under which OBC reservation was going to be
implemented in these institutions. The time and energy
that went into implementing this one piece of legislation
is enough to indicate how deep are the roots of caste in
India and how big a hurdle casteism is in the path of
Parliament and democracy. This is no easy battle. It is in
these centres of knowledge that the decisive battle
against the caste system will be fought.
HOW DID THE CASTEIST FORTRESS BEGINCRUMBLING?
It would be too soon to say that the fortress has been
brought down but this much is clear - deep fissures have
appeared on its walls. In 20102011, even if only on
paper, implementation of 27 per cent OBC quota was an-
nounced. As a matter of fact, to get them to implement
the OBC quota, the government told the institutions that
equal number of seats for general category would be
increased as those going to OBCs. In this way each insti-
tution was asked to increase their seats by 54 per cent.
The maximum time of three years was given to
implement this and obviously Delhi University took the
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13UU | 2011
longest to implement the 27 per cent quota. Year 200809 was the first
year of the OBC quota and from that year itself the problem of OBC
quota remaining unfilled emerged. To refrain from filling the quota, the
Supreme Court judgement in the Ashok Thakur case was made a basis
and the rule of 10 per cent cut-off from the general list wasinappropriately deployed. (Incidentally, the Supreme Court has now
declared it wrong and said that 10 per cent relaxation would be
implemented for the qualification to apply.) In 20102011, newspapers
reported this truth with elation that in DU 5,400 seats in the OBC quota
remained unfilled, which were then transferred to the general (upper-
caste) candidates.
This news alarmed a few and they mobilized against it at various
levels. In 2010 itself, All-India Backward Students Forum put up a
poster in JNU as to how Delhi University steals OBC seats and AIBSF
put them on sale for the upper-caste students. But by then the 201011
session had already commenced and it wasnt possible to do much. In
DU, the Academic Forum for Social Justice (AFSJ) made it clear
through letters and memorandums that this problem would now be
seriously considered.
Before admissions started for the 201112 session, AFSJ spent
months and a lot of hard work gathering last years admission-related
figures through RTI. This was an energy-sapping and difficult task
because these figures had to be gathered from different colleges, which
dilly-dallied a lot. Meanwhile through the painstaking efforts of the
president of the AFSJ Dr Kedar Mandal and the vice-president Dr
Hany Babu figures from 30 colleges were collected, which showed that
54 per cent of OBC seats have been transferred to the upper-caste
students.FORWARD Press published those figures prominently on its
June 2011 centrespread, which remained the key document till the end
of the campaign. It was photocopied, blown up into posters and
placards and pasted all over the campus of JNU and DU.
Actually, this campaign started with a few like-minded people but
later was carried out on various levels. Students and teachers
conducted repeated protests at the university and HRD ministry.
Repeated memorandums were given. Raj Narayan of Janhit Abhiyan
personally wrote letters to about 350 SC/ST/OBC MPs and apprised
them of the problem. Four MPs including Dharmender Yadav of Uttar
Pradesh raised the question on the floor of the House and the
government had to reply. The national president of the Justice Party Dr
Udit Raj not only participated in the movement but through pressconferences and writing in newspapers made it an issue for national de-
bate. Posters made by arts professor Dr Lal Ratnakar were extensively
used in this movement. JNU students, especially from the AIBSF,
UDSF and AISA remained united throughout with the movement.
From the Arjak Sangh to the Pasmanda Front, organizations of OBC
employees, Social Brainwash magazine and Shilpkar Times, all played
important roles in this movement. People from the Insight Foundation
also joined the protests.
Students of JNU, who once were bitterly opposed to caste-based
social justice, played a big role in the campaign. It is worth remembering
that it was on the same campus that Sharad Yadav was insulted for giving
a speech in favour of social justice. This campus now led the way in
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
14FORWARDPress
STORY
strategizing for the battle and taking to the streets. This
change was effected by the work done on the campus by a
year-old organization All-India Backward Students Forum
(AIBSF). On 7 August during this movement, the
organization celebrated its first anniversary at whichSharad Yadav, Ramvilas Paswan, Ram Awdhesh Singh and
others addressed a large student crowd. It must be noted
that because of this movement, with the support of All-
India Students Association (AISA), JNU has implemented
the 27 per cent reservation and now more OBC students
have been admitted in the university. According to one esti-
mate, this year because of full and fair implementation of
reservations the total strength of SCs, STs and OBCs has
gone over 50 per cent of JNU enrollment.
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
In India the middle class also carries a caste character.
Most of the people who have access to social media and
the Internet are from the upper castes. Despite that, this
movement used social networking to its fullest for the
cause. More than 100 people continued to post on
Facebook on this subject. A Facebook page was created
for each of the demonstrations and in this way an attempt
was made to reach out to hundreds and thousands of such
people who could not physically be part of the movement.
For the first time the Bahujan voice thundered loudly on
Delhi Universitys Facebook page. Through this medium,
a huge number of write-ups, posters and document
reached a large number of people who could not have
been otherwise reached. This was a new experiment in
the cause for social justice in North India, which must be
promoted to the fullest. Its useless to expect the
mainstream media to give voice to these sections. Its eco-
nomic and social constitution is such that it will always
decisively support the economic and social elites. In such
a situation, Internet and social media can be instruments
that not only bring information to the Bahujans but also
become bridges for internal dialogue. Most importantly,
if what you are saying has ideological fire then social me-
dia can also become a medium to bring kindred spiritsamong social activists on the same platform. In
traditional media, electronic or print, this kind of
dialogue is just not possible. That is why this will score
over the old media. Bahujans must use it more and more.
Meanwhile, this victory for the OBC will have far-
reaching effects. Their increased presence at the centres of
knowledge will demolish many a myth in the coming
years and intellectual poverty in Indias academic
institutions will end. While this is not the end of the road
for social
justice in higher education, certainly for Bahujans and all
progressive people it is a milestone worth celebrating. n
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v} S 18 AUGUST: SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT ON OBC QUOTA
HANY BABU
he judgement by the Supreme Court on 18 August
2011 is indeed welcome, as it has cleared a very basic
misinterpretation of the way in which relaxation of
marks has to be calculated for the OBCs for admission
to central universities. The implementation of OBC
reservation was dogged by the pronouncement by the
Supreme Court that the maximum cut-off marks for
OBCs be 10 per cent below the cut-off marks of general
category candidates. Much has been written about how
the legislative intent of providing reservation for OBCs
was diluted by the judicial fiat of putting a ceiling on the
relaxation of marks and also by making room for diver-
sion of the vacant OBC seats to the general category.
OBCs seeking admission in central universities
found themselves shortchanged when the executive
authorities in some universities chose to interpret the term
cut off as the marks of the last admitted candidate.
Thus, in the undergraduate admission in the University of
Delhi if the general category admission stopped at 89 per
cent, then OBC admission stopped at 79 per cent and the
result was that a large number of OBC seats were diverted
to the General Category in the last three years. According
to our statistics, around 55 per cent of OBC seats (more
than 3,600 seats out of a total of 7,000 seats) were thus di-verted to the general category in around 23 Colleges of
the University of Delhi in 2010 alone.
The fight for justice in this matter has a three-year-
long history with a series of litigations in the Delhi High
Court and the Supreme Court. The September 2010
judgement of the Delhi High Court was a major
landmark in this struggle. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw
ruled that the relaxation of marks (i.e., the maximum of
10% that the Supreme Court had fixed) was to apply at
the eligibility criterion and that the marks of the OBCs
should not be compared with the marks of the
candidates admitted in the general category. The
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
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STORY
practice followed by many of the central universities was thus declared bad
in law.
However, the High Court judgement was soon challenged in the
Supreme Court by the supporters of Youth for Equality. The University of
Delhi showed its true anti-OBC position when they decided to challenge a
ruling by the High Court that they are also bound by the September 2010
judgement. The matter is now settled by the judgement of 18 August, 2011.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
While welcoming the judgement, we need to be also aware of certain
potential problems that it raises. Although Justice Bhandari (whose
pronouncement in 2008 had lead to the confusion) had very clearly said
not more than 10 marks out of 100 in the original judgement, the current
judgement exploits a mathematical ingenuity. When the difference in
marks of two candidates is 10 out of 100, mathematically the difference is
that of 10 percentage points. It is evident that Justice Bhandari was speak-
ing of percentage points. However, in common parlance, such difference is
often referred to as difference in 10 per cent. Since the judgement was not
pronounced by a mathematician, the term difference in percentage was
used to mean difference in percentage points. The current judgement
legitimizes this confusion, when it says that if the general category cut off is
50 per cent or 40 per cent, the cut off for OBCs can be only 45 per cent or 36
per cent respectively. But what is funny is that the very same judges exhibit
the same confusion. Thus in page 34 of the judgement, they refer to Justice
Bhandaris suggestion of relaxing 10 marks out of 100 and say that what he
meant was that the cut-off marks for OBCs should not be more than 10 per
cent below that of the general candidate. Again, in the very next page they
talk about the judgement in Dr Preeti Srivastava case; they say that it was
ruled that a difference of 10 per cent between the marks of the general and
the reserved category that is 45 per cent for general and 35 per cent forreserved category was found to be reasonable. Thus, while the judges
seem to be clear about the interpretation of difference in percentage while
giving the illustrations, they themselves use difference in percentage
points when discussing earlier cases.
The judgement also raises another alarm. Time and again, questions are
raised about the status of reserved-category candidates who qualify in the
general category. In the current matter too, it was argued extensively by the
counsels for the appellants that OBCs who come in general category should
be counted towards the 27 per cent reservation. Though the judges dismissed
the plea, they note that this contention has wide ramifications and it merits
serious consideration in an appropriate case. This almost sounds like an invi-
tation for litigation. Youth for Equality must be sharpening their knives. n
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Academic Forum for Social Justice, DU, welcomes the judgement of theSupreme Court on reservation but not fully. The organizations under-
standing is that this is a partial victory; not a total victory. The judge-ment is far better than what was said in the past and it will certainlyhelp OBC students but the criteria of 10 per cent has been misinterpret-ed and to some extent the judgement is silent on some issues. Theorganization thanks all organizations, individuals, lawyers, journalist,
media persons for being a part of the struggle and hopes the same in
future because we will have to fight for other social issues as well.DR KEDAR KUMAR MANDAL
President, Academic Forum For Social Justice, DUAssistant Professor, Dyal Singh College,
University of Delhi
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,
PREM KUMAR MANI
eople ask whats there in a name. But it was, in
fact, the name of the Prakash Jha film that sent
half of the country into a tizzy for about a month.
When the film finally released, it turned out to be a
damp squib. Film critics called it an average film.
This film by Prakash Jha, a champion of merit,could score only 50 out of 100 marks. But yes, the
film did great business. Within a week it more
than recovered its production cost. And only now
it has become clear that the sound and fury orches-
trated by Prakash Jha was part of a well-thought-
out propaganda. It may have been an average film,
but in terms of propaganda it was a sure winner. In
this film he used the politics he learnt after having
stepped right into electoral politics, contesting
two elections and making the filmRajneeti
(Politics). Prakash won, the people lost. He raked
in the moolah, people were ripped off. In this way,
17UU | 2011
P
The Fall of aFilmmaker
Q S
PRAKASH JHAS STATEMENTS ARE DIRECTLY ADDRESSED TO THE UPPER
CASTES, AS IF HE IS PREPARING HIS VOTE BANK FOR THE FUTURE
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STORY
a new dimension of Prakash Jhas personality emerged a
successful salesman of a defective product. This movie will be
considered Prakash Jhas contribution to the consumerist culture.
The wayAarakshan was promoted disturbed the supporters of
social justice. A clip of Amitabh Bachchan aired on TV asking ifwe wanted merit or reservation. Then for a few days, SMSes were
invited on this issue. Then the phrase,Kauva Moti Khayga
(Undeserving crows will be rewarded with pearls) was also
hummed along, as if Dalit crows were grabbing pearls of
merit from the upper-castes swans .
Prakash Jha also tweeted a joke:
2020 Exam Pattern
1. General Merit Ans all Qs
2. OBC Write any one
3. SC Only need to read
4. ST Thanks for coming to exam
Such methods of publicity were meant to provoke widespread
reactions, and they did. All over North India, the same kind of
atmosphere was building up as during the Mandal agitation. In
1990, the world of Internet was not common; in 2011, the middle-
class population has a new instrument. The Internet has become a
battle ground. A few state governments banned its release. There
were rounds of demonstrations, processions and discussions.
Through TV channels and newspapers, media too played its role
to the fullest. And, also showed their true colours.
As a film,Aarakshan may have been just an entertainment or
at the most a cultural intervention but, in reality, this film emerged
as a political phenomenon. If in the meantime Annas campaign
had not come up, the film would still have been the centre of
debates. Though the issue now would not have been political but
about the movie being of an average quality.
But the first thing that has emerged in this entire phenomenon
is that the number of people who support social justice and their
ability to argue has gone up a few notches. In 1990, when the
Mandal agitation was on, it remained a partial movement. The
media was also partial. There were very few journalists like
Surendra Pratap (SP) Singh who had sympathy for OBCs. The
upper-caste consciousness of Hindi newspapers arose in such away that they appeared as tools of opposition to Mandal. Before
the release of the film, the newspapers and TV channels were
more or less like in the 1990s but the Internet had placed a weapon
in the hands of the Dalitbahujans; and they used it effectively.
This also raises the hope that in the coming days democracy will
spread thorough this parallel medium the Internet. Then the
bullying by newspapers will go down.
The second thing that was evident was that, even today the
majority of the people do not want to understand the issues of
social justice or reservations. The producer Prakash Jha is
himself confused. When other people including Amitabh
Bachchan presented their views, their ideological poverty was
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evident. I would certainly praise Manoj Bajpayee who
played Mithilesh Singh in the film, an upper-caste
educational mafia man. He emphasized the fact that he
supports the rise of the backward classes. Reservations
have helped them rise in life and he cannot criticize thepractice. But Prakash Jhas statements are directly
addressed to the upper castes, as if he is preparing his
vote bank for the future.
Prakash Jha, who once made better films likeHip
Hip HurrayandDamul,and who had the image of a
peoples filmmaker, has fallen in such a state of ideolog-
ical decline that his films, one after the other, continue
to give much peace to the upper castes of the Hindi belt.
Targeting Lalu Prasads politics he made films like
GangajalandApaharan, in which he showed a Yadav
and a Muslim respectively as villains, and made a fool
of the audiences. And then inRajneetihe made Suraj (a
Dalit), the Karna of his new Mahabharat and presented
him as a villain. Then by makingAarakshan he tried to
reopen the Mandal wound of 1990, which the upper
castes had now nearly forgotten. Seen this way, almost
all his films of the last decade were made with an upper-
caste view point and with upper castes in mind.
We must identify the reasons for the fall of a peoples
and successful filmmaker. This will give an idea of
not only Prakash Jhas but the whole mindset of the
upper castes in North India. The progressive section of
the upper castes that once played a meaningful role in the
building up of society is so frustrated today that
compared to the traditional upper caste it appears much
more regressive and handicapped. Prakash Jha who in
the filmRajneeti, shows Arjun (Samar) to be a sensitive
youth and shows Karna (Suraj) to be naturally violent
and cruel instead of someone forced to be cruel must
also re-read the epics. Why did he not begin a new
politics by making Eklavya and not Arjun the hero of
this film? He would have found more modern and
progressive life values. He may have been able to touch
upon some more sensitive chords. And his film story
would have made him more important. But no, he isinterested in contesting elections while sitting in the laps
of Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan and to build malls
and make money while sitting on Nitishs shoulders.
After all, what kind of films can we expect from a man
who is himself caught in the vicious cycle of politics?
We, in fact, will wait for Prakash to make a better,
introspective film on his personal transformation. He
could take inspiration from Franz Kafkas famous story
Metamorphosis the transformation of a travelling
salesman into a monstrous insect-like creature.
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Prem Kumar Mani, a leading Hindi writer and a founder-memberof the JD (U), is a member of the Bihar legislative council. () S S S
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INTERVIEW
There is no such thing as OBC
Literature: Rajendra YadavThere must be discussionabout it: Sanjeev
M U U
PART
2
VANKOSTKA (IK): When I returned to India in 2007,
within six months I was invited to attend the second
All-India OBC Sahitya Sammelan in Nasik. The
first had been held in 2006 in Pune, started with burn-
ing the Manu Smriti.It was called All-India but
was almost 99 per cent pure Marathi. Even my talk on
Mahatma Phule and his literature had to be
translated by my friend Sunil Sardar into Marathi. He
was the only person who though a Marathi person
based in Delhi, spoke in Hindi at the sammelan. There
was almost no talk about literature. I am just giving
you the actual situation. If you are seriously calling it
sahitya sammelan then where is the sahitya,
where is the focus? There was no focus. So my
question from 2008 till now is this: like there is Dalit
Literature, which definitely found its voice and helped
shape Dalit consciousness and identity this is myanalysis is there such a thing, especially post-
Mandal, as OBC Literature particularly in Hindi?
RAJENDRAYADAV (RY):There is no such thing a
OBC Literature!
SANJEEV (S):Yes, an issue like that came up. Recent-
ly we received a letter from the media and they asked
if they could come?. Could there be OBC literature?
We said, where did you read it? They said, in your
Hans. I was amused. We said, you throw up an issue
on your own accord. Theres no such thing. Nothing
like that exists. Yes, there is Dalit literature...
PRAMODRANJAN (PR):Rajendra ji, from Ivan
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Kostkas query another questions arises. Presently we look at Hindi
literature in two ways there is Dalit literature and there is mainstream
literature; there is no third literature. From this viewpoint, we also classify
older works under Dalit literature, for example, works of Hira Dom. We say
this particular literature is Dalit and this is not. So, Rajendra ji, does it seem
that on one hand there is Dalit literature and on the other brahmanical liter-
ature?
RY: Its all brahmanical literature.
PR:Then what is Maila Anchal?
RY:What! Its not a matter of Brahmanism being clearly visible. But it is
in that frame work.
PR:My question is about the Shudra, Bahujan, OBC literature. If on the
one hand we have Dalit literature and on the other, brahmanical
literature, then where can we place works like Maila Anchal?
RY:Listen Listen Dalit literature is new, is of a different identity,
whereas brahmanical literature kept coming as asansakar, a value. We
can also point it out separately. But when we look at the caste system that
one is a Pandit, a Brahmin, etc., then that literature is brahmanical
literature. And when we look at male domination, whos the boss at home,
we conduct ourselves accordingly. That means theres nothing like
brahmanical, it is but a symptom like we have in male domination. The
construct of the family is what really exists. And in India, no one can livewithout caste. He or she will have a caste; and those who do not have
caste, we try to know it by various means and then place him or her
mentally. This caste that has pervaded our minds is what really is
Brahmanism.
S:The way Rajendra ji has defined causes some confusion for me
because during the Bhakti period, except for Sagun Panthis, most Nirgun
Panthis were either OBCs or Dalits. Before that a few people were from
the Siddha sect. It was all intermingled and it had contempt for Brahmins,
orthodoxy and rituals. But we never called it OBC literature. It comprised
barbers, potters, dyers and others. This was because those people wanted
to establish their power. The only way they could rise up was the way in
which they were suppressed. It was destined to end the way it did.
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Rajendra Yadav and Sanjeev (front) in conversation withFORWARD
Press Hindi editor, Pramod Ranjan ()
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INTERVIEW
RY:No, see we have two more here, Saint literature and Bhakti lit-
erature, in which all are devotees; these were associated with large
monasteries and temples, with different monasteries and schools. And
this Saint literature was generally a common literature. There is a big
reason for this. The reason is that they were not allowed to enter thetemples and hence they were forced towards the Nirgun literature.
They were not familiar with Sagun literature or did not have a
framework for that.
S:Their God did not have a caste but the God of the others had a caste.
RY:That is why the worship of their God is more nirgun (without
attributes). There is less idolatry. Meera has an idol but there the dedica-
tion to the idol is more important then the idol itself. She remembers the
name of Krishna but her own feelings dominate. So a tenacity is
evident. And the thought of the Saint literature can also be seen in com-
mon people. There are Muslims, dyers, potters, etc. They did literature
along with their labour. Now and then they would be weaving and also
doing literature; this is one big difference that is seen between the two.
PR:I am a little unclear about what Sanjeev ji has said. He said that
we didnt refer to the middle ages as Shudra literature, it was
mainstream literature. Whenever there was a movement in literature
it became a mainstream movement. For example, look at your
Progressive movement, Nai Kahani movement or any other
movement. But Dalit literature is a movement of the margin. The
supporters of Dalit literature admit that on one hand there is
mainstream literature and on the other Dalit literature. Does it not
seem that there is some weakness somewhere?
RY:No, its not a weakness. Whose literature would there be? Those
who have the power or those who are under that power? Sixty per cent
belong to power, to politics. Another thing about Dalits is that they
dont have any other experience of life, they know nothing else but
their own things or their masters. These people worked in fields. They
are their servants working in their homes. One, they lived outside the
house, relationships with them are rather functional, thats why they
are part of systemic process of this India. They are a part of the system
but they are not a part of the system, they are outsiders. So their experi-
ences are very simple. These people looked at their masters as God. So
when such people got freedom, the first blueprint of freedom they got
was what they saw in their masters. All their decisions were made by
the master. So what we say is that it is now that their history has begun.
They did not have a history. Whatever history there is, is of theirmasters She who lived her entire life for us, sacrificed her children,
left her home, that woman burnt for us, either as a Sati or forcefully.
But now they have started writing their new history, because only
those have history who can take their own decisions of life. So they
started writing and the most authoritative thing they could write is
their autobiographies. Thats why 60 per cent of Dalit literature is
autobiography. Our autobiography is everywhere in India, it has all
the things. There are often obsessions in their autobiographies and
they have this struggle to be free. So, we say that Brahminical literary
aphorism is Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and the dictum of Dalit litera-
ture is Torment, Struggle, Liberty. This is the vision of the future
because those belonging to the Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram formula
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U
just do not have a future. They have their own present they have a vi-
sion and their literature is future literature. Its true that aesthetically we
should oppose some of these things but then I question myself that all
beliefs, all strategies of literature are our own. Its when we take a judge-
mental position that we say, your stuff is wrong. Well, this is what theyare fighting against you are not a judge of what is ours, our lives, our
writing. This means that we want to stop them at the gate, search them
and allow them entry if they are found clean. Else, not allowed! This is
inappropriate power, rejecting of half of the humanity. They dont have
aesthetics; they do not have the way of saying things. Then I question
myself, if this egotism to judge things, to pass a judgement is not
what we have inherited as a part of our sanskaras, our belief system. We
are part of that power that determines things, and thats why we say they
are not aesthetic. Its possible that their art is different from ours or they
may reject their own. At the moment we are rejecting it, arent we? We
are telling them how to write, how not to write. In future, perhaps they
may have their own way of thinking and creativity.
IK:But you are still talking about Dalit literature and writers. You must
have read something at least in translation by Mahatma Phule and may
have read something by Savitri Bai Phule. She was a great poet as you
may know and they were very clear about their Shudra identity. Phule in
fact always addressed himself to Stree-Atishudra-Shudra, in that order.
Now his identity was very clear, in his writing also he had a certain style
some of it was polemical, for argument,Gulamgiri(Slavery) being the
primary example. But he has written several works including ballads,
satire, and one play as you may know. So definitely at least 150 years ago,
well before Dalit literature was even conceived, there was, in
Maharashtra at least, clearly a literary voice that identified itself as
Shudra. This literature had a sense of taking up the causes and making
common identity with women first of all as the most oppressed,
starting with Brahmin women. In fact, Phules first social work was on
their behalf which became a scandal in Pune, which in those Peshwa
days was about 40 per cent Brahman. His wife also did a lot of work in
Marathi literature, especially poetry. So we know that 150 years ago a
couple was actually practicing Shudra literature very consciously. Those
days there were no school of Dalit literature, but as we now look back and
analyze can we not say the Phules body of work would fit into a frame we
can call Shudra Literature? And so I ask once again, is there not any
other literature written that we can say it is by and about Shudras/OBCs?
RY:They are a part of our system, they are a part of our society; theycannot be isolated they always had an interaction with us. So things
didnt happen on their own for us. Let them interact with us. It has
come, now whether we take it positively or negatively depends on our
point of view. Whether they take it positively or negatively is up to them
but they cannot escape our influence. We
IK:Who is we?
RY:We are all those who are not Dalit
IK:But we are not talking about Dalits but Shudras.
RY: Shudras were never segregated like the blacks in America
IK:But Phule identified Shudras with them when he titled his book
Slavery and dedicated it to those Americans who helped liberate the
blacks from slavery.
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INTERVIEW
S: Its very hard in our country. ShudraAtishudra is all
intermingled. We have said many times that it not very clear where
the definition of Dalit ends. Then later somebody told us that those
among Shudras who are untouchables would be Atishudras and
those who are touchables would be Shudras. We posed this questionto Shudras as well. Gradation is there in the entire Hindu society.
What is thejati of a Brahman? It is present in thejatis within
castes.Thats the fundamental thing that does not allow the caste
system to be eliminated from India and because of that there does
not emerge a clear path. But about this Shudra thing, we all are Shu-
dras. All non-Brahmins are Shudras. In any case, there hasnt been a
clear discourse on this. But a discussion and discourse like this must
happen.
IK:But should there be such a discussion about OBC Literature?
S:Definitely there should be If not now then when?
PR:Sanjeev ji, perhaps, agrees that time for OBC literature to come
into existence has arrived.
S:No, no, we have not said that. We said, there hasnt been a classifica-
tion like that till now. We said, that if it could be defined then Siddh liter-
ature and Saint literature is that poetics. A discussion on that should
begin, this is what we believe.
(At this moment, few guests arrived in the Hans office and the
conversation deflected to other topics, during which a reference was
made to Chandrabhan Prasads love of English language. Following
section emanates from that context. EDITORS)
IK: See, they (Chandrabhan Prasad) are quoting Savitribai Phule
She wrote poems which say Give us English. English is like mothers
milk, English will liberate us. So whether they know what is the source
of this or not, they are quoting her. Now we had the discussion at a 2007
January writers conference in Goa. Some people came from North
India and said this sort of thing again and again. My response then was it
is truth in any language that liberates but if you insist on it in English you
can get the truth in English as well. After all Mahatma Phule himself said
that and he got it from his guru Baliraja who he considered to be Jesus
Christ. Now Dalits may demand truth in another language, English. You
just said that Dalits have had unique experiences. So you have to grant
that the Indian languages have been used to keep them in bondage. They
see that the so-called forward castes still have a monopoly of the English
language in this country. And they naturally want a piece of the action
for themselves.RY:Yes
PR:If you make a distinction between mainstream literature and
literature of the Atishudras then Shudras just dont have a literature
RY:Pramod Ranjan ji, youve made up your mind that you will take
our lives!
(All laugh)
IK:Maybe that is whole other subject we can take up another time
when you have the time
RY:Gham raha jab tak ki dam mein dam raha, dil ke jane ka
As long as life endures, there will be heartbreak...
[a couplet by Mir Taqi Mir]
(Concluded)
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LALLAN PRASAD SINGH
s soon as wepropose a literary discourse, we
inadvertently take into account the social
composition and its constantly changing
contours. There doesnt seem to exist any
literature separated from its society. In the pres-
ent globalized world, the mere thought of a
society-neutral literature would be ridiculous.
Then why should we not carry a continuous dia-
logue between literary debates and socialanalysis. It must be said that a developed mind-
set and scientific thought demand this very
thing. It is now amply clear to everyone that
various classes emerged in society with the
appearance of private property. In the previous
eras in history, we find a complex structure of a
society divided into various social classes in
different forms and gradations.
In ancient Rome we find a patrician (belong-
ing to the governing high class), a knight (a man
with a high rank who was trained to fight while
riding a horse), a plebian (a commoner from the
A
OBC Literature:A Marxist Perspective U
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BUDDHISM CHAMPIONS SOCIAL EQUALITY, WHEREAS MARXISM
SCIENTIFICALLY SUPPORTS, BESIDES SOCIAL EQUALITY, ECONOMIC
SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
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lower social class) and slaves. In the Middle Ages, there were feu-
dal lords, serving landlords, guild-masters, workmen and
labourers. Almost all these classes then had minor gradations
within them. In modern bourgeois society, which emerged out of
the remains of the feudal society, class differences have not been
eliminated. It has merely replaced old classes, old forms of
oppression and old forms of struggles with their newer forms.
The chronological division of Indian society can also be done
in the same way ancient, medieval and modern. Ancient society
was divided into the so-called Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and
Shudra castes. Similarly, a patrician was considered a priest
(Brahmin), the knights were Kshatriyas, plebians were Vaishyas
and slaves were seen as a Shudras. Today, constitutionally Indian
society is structured according to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes, Backward Castes and upper castes (general category).
Lets consider figures from Bihar and Jharkhand alone.
Backward Classes have 109 castes. Dalits have 32 and upper
casts merely four. Across India OBCs constitute over 50 per cent
of the population. In the ancient and middle ages, some castes
among OBCs such as Yadav, Kushwaha, Kurmi, etc., were also
original Kshatriyas, royal and feudal lords.
The Brahmin class has admitted: I created new Kshatriyas to
confront old ones. On Mount Abu I carried out aMahayajna
(great sacrificial fire), purified the newly arrived Huns, Gurjars,
Abhirs, Sakas, etc., and declared them Kshatriyas. New
Kshatriya clans were called Agni Kul (fire clan). The old native
Kshatriyas were not ready to accept these new Kshatriyas. For
that reason too confrontation between them was inevitable.
(Bhagwat Sharan Upadhyay,Khoon Ke Chheentey Itihas ke Pan-non Par, p. 40). Romila Thapar also believes the same: After the
Gupta Age, the process of feudalism that began through land
grants in 11th12th century, picked unprecedented pace
(Bhartiya Sahitya ka Samekit Itihas, Ed. Nagendra, p. 163).
Under the British dispensation too, land was forcibly taken away
from the farmers and new landlords were formed. Along with that
domestic industry and businesses were destroyed. This is how the
process of OBC-fication or proletariatization was carried out in
our history. Thats the reason the present OBC section has faced
more exploitation, suppression and oppression. It has also revolt-
ed and has recorded its intervention in history.
In Sanskrit there are has been a division between spiritual
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The writer of Abhijnana Shakuntlam, Raghuvansham,Meghdoot, etc., Kalidas was a shepherd by caste. Whenhe grew weary of the royal court, he came back to thefolk life. The author of the world-renowned epicMahabharata Maharishi Vyas was a son of a Nishad
woman (fisherwoman)
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From left: Kalidasa,Mulk Raj Anand inhis younger days;Right: Vyasa
, , S
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LITERATURE
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(Vedic) and worldly or secular (Laukik) literature. Vedic litera-
ture is primarily of the Brahmins but Laukik literature belongs
to OBCs. The writer ofAbhijnana Shakuntlam,
Raghuvansham, Meghdoot, etc., Kalidas was a shepherd by
caste. When he grew weary of the royal court, he came back tothe folk life. But his disappearance remains a mystery.
Lets leaveRamayanaout because its author Valmiki, a mighty
scholar and great poet, is a Shudra. Nowadays, Valmiki, as a rule,
is called a Dom, a Scheduled Caste. But the author of the world-
renowned epicMahabharata Maharishi Vyas was a son of a
Nishad woman (fisherwoman). It needs no saying as to where do
Nishads belong these days. The mainstream of Sanskrit literature
is constituted by Kalidas and Vyas. OBC and Dalit complement
each other because socially and educationally both the classes
belong to the lowered section.
Nath and Siddh literatures are primarily OBC literatures. The
pioneer of saintly poetry Kabir was a weaver. In one of his couplets
he has called himself a Kori (see Professor Rajendra Prasad
Singhs bookHindi Sahitya ka Subaltern Itihas).
We can also look at the Indian English literature in this context.
Mulk Raj Anand scores over others among the trio of Indian novelists
in English. Raja Rao exhausted all his talent in weaving a net of
Shankar-ism, i.e., Brahmanism. R. K. Narayan disguises a well-to-do
rake (guide) as a hypocritical sage. M. K. Naik has correctly
observed that among the three, in terms of standard of writing, the se-
niormost Mulk Raj Anand was ahead of the other two. (seeA History
of Indian English Literature, p. 160). Dalits, the deprived, farmers
and lowered-caste servants are at the centre of his novels. Perhaps he
could do that because he himself was from the coppersmith (OBC)caste. It can be said that the mainstream of the English novel also
springs from the OBCs. We should not forget that national literature
also begins with Maithili Sharan GuptsBharat Bharati. Siya Sharan
Gupt is also a link in the same chain. The pioneer of Chhayavad poet-
ry is Jai Shankar Prasad and hisKamayaniis the best work, in which
one finds an echo of class struggle and equality-based order. This is
all an influence of Marxism. All these three come from the social
group known as the OBC.
If seen historically, in ancient and medieval times, those
coming from among the OBCs made Buddhist philosophy the
ideological basis of their literature. Even in contemporary
times they consider Siddhartha and Marx their philosophers.
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THE MAINSTREAM OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL ALSO SPRINGS FROM THE
OBCS; NATIONAL LITERATURE TOO BEGINS WITH MAITHILI SHARAN
GUPTS BHARAT BHARATI
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LITERATURE
Buddhism champions social equality, whereas Marxism
scientifically supports, besides social equality, economic socialism
and communism. That is why OBC writers are primarily inspired
by these. Other oppressed but aware people also accept them.
A few upper-caste intellectuals say the concept of OBC was notthere in ancient or medieval times. It was established in the
Constitution of India and OBC came in the form of a collection of
hundreds of castes. It began to be used in both the forms backward
castes and backward classes. It aided immensely the creation of na-
tional unity, social cohesiveness, harmony and density.
PROLETARIAN LITERATURE
Gorky talked about creating proletarian literature. Literature is
named after caste, class, language, geography, time and ideology.
English literature is named after the Germanic Angle tribe, which
came and settled in Britain around the 5th century AD. In our coun-
try we find a mention of Brahmin literature. OBC is far away from
narrowness as it is a class of more than a 100 jatis that include farm-
ers, craftsmen, weavers, ironsmiths, carpenters, fishermen, Bania-
traders, cattle-rearers, etc. From a social sciences point of view one
can say that the mainstream is of the OBCs. Central power is in the
hands of upper-caste forces, which are financed by the capita list
class. The former is the latter s political representative. It is clear
that representation of the Bahujans is negligible in media organiza-
tions as well as government and educational institutions. The
upper-caste section remains fearful of the OBCs. Using the state
power it keeps the OBCs suppressed.
Is this question really meaningless: if OBC politics can be done
constitutionally, then why can an OBC literary discourse not begin? If
there could be an OBC commission, then departments of OBC
literature must also be established at the universities. Through the
syllabus upper-caste literature is forced upon the OBC and other
students. Take this, read only our literature! This is social, educational
injustice. Now that they are branded, then OBC literature is a forceful
spokesperson of the OBC identity, its self-respect, its dignity and social
justice. Since the upper-caste section is parasitical and non-productive,
it does not want social change. If few good people from its ranks try
and mingle with the folk, they are insulted. Rahul Sankrityayan was
referred to as one who brought dishonour to his clan and family and
Muktibodh a poet of a distorted mindset. OBC literature has emergedout of confrontation with that caste system that Marx referred to as the
greatest hindrance in the path of Indias progress and growth of its
power (Preface,A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy).
In reflecting the struggles, determination and forward-looking dreams
of Indias equality-aspiring masses, this literature does not lean on
mere verbosity.
The struggle for justice is the destiny of OBCs. The creative and
critical expression of that same struggling cultural consciousness is
seen in OBC literature. Its aesthetics are based on Marxism.
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Hindi criticLallan Prasad Singhis Chairperson, Department of Hindi, Anjabit SinghCollege of the Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara, Bihar. His major publications include
Muktibodh aur Unka Sahitya, Ram Vilas Sharma aur Hindi Samalochna andPragativadiAlochana ki Aitihasik Naveenta
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29U| 2011
PREM KUMAR MANI
y the second fortnight of August 2011, the campaign Anna
Hazare is leading with regard to the Lokpal Bill seems to have
gathered much momentum. At the time of writing this, Annasfast continues in Delhis Ramlila Grounds. The middle class
widely in North India and in somewhat limited manner in
almost the entire country is participating in this movement,
and it will be undoubtedly said that having been publicized by
the media, they are getting widespread support.
Recently, many cases, including the 2G Spectrum scam,
had made corruption the core issue of society and in such a
situation, who would not want to oppose corruption. The
language Kapil Sibal and Manish Tiwari used to oppose Anna
also vexed the common people. And because of these various
reasons it became a big movement. But at this juncture, an
interpretation of this movement becomes necessary. On the
surface level this movement may seem very moral and
innocent, but it is not so. Gradually, it is taking an anti-
Parliament form. A few nave people say that people are above
Parliament. No doubt they are. But if a crowd of a hundred or
two hundred thousand people stands up and says they are the
law or they are above Parliament then shall we accept that? In
Bihar, when Lalu Prasad was on his way to jail in the fodder-
scam case, thousands of people were following him. And
when he had to appear in the Ranchi court, the road from Patna
to Ranchi was jam packed with crowds of people. So what
should be done in such cases? In Deorala, when the Roop Kan-
war sati case occurred, about a million and a half people
gathered in support of the sati system. In 1992, it was a huge
crowd that brought down the Babri Mosque. How should wesee all these different faces of the masses? Like a temple or a
mosque, Parliament is a symbol. Through a process, i.e.,
elections, it becomes a representative body. To dismiss or
disparage Parliament is like dismissing or disparaging the
entire parliamentary process, i.e., democracy itself. That is
why people must evaluate this movement. One more thing has
emerged out of this movement, and that is civil society.
What on earth is this civil society? Is this the creamy layer of
the Indian middle class? What is the background of its mental
make-up? One wonders if this civil society wants to constitute
another parliament parallel to the one we already have.
This is exactly what I suspect. Till the time the
Dalitbahujans did not go to school, we only had one kind of
school. When Dalitbahujans started going to school, then the
big people started parallel schools. The look of their schools,
their syllabi, language, everything was different. As time went
by, parallel hospitals came up. So now, is a parallel Parliament
being set up? Will we in India also have divisions like House
of Lords and House of Commons la the British Parliament?
Annas movement seems to be heading in that direction.
I would like to warn people of this innocent-looking
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Preparing for a Parallel Parliament? ?
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SEPTEMBER 2011 |
30FORWARDPress
ALTERNATIVE
movement. Just 90 years ago, Mussolini in Italy had siezed the
parliament with his Blackshirts, which again was an innocent
organization like the civil society, and laid the foundation of
fascism. One must ponder over Annas statement before he
went on the fast in which he had said that if he could not meethis goals through Gandhism, then he is also well-versed in the
ways of the Chhatrapati (Shivaji).
I would like to request Anna to reflect on the question of cor-
ruption. I am not very excited about his Lokpal campaign. I feel
that like the anti-defection law, eventually this law too would
weaken democracy. We must refrain from placing anyone over
and above Parliament. It is for all to see how the institution
meant to eliminate corruption and establish justice, the
judiciary, itself has become corrupt. Chinese philosopher
Confucius has said, With more laws, there will be more crimes
PROFESSOR RAM SHARAN SHARMA
Renowned historian Ram Sharan Sharma passed away. Born in
1919 in a common family (with five bighas of arable land) in
Bihar, Professor Sharma was a living legend. He wrote a total
of 115 books. In 1950s, with his guide Professor A. L. Basham,
he worked on the history of the Shudras and became well
known. Since then his writings continued to pour in. He discov-
ered elements of feudalism in Indian society and wrote a book
called Indian Feudalism. It is from this book that we learn that it
was because of continuous land grants to the Brahmins by the
kings that Brahmins gained control over the means of
production. Before that they were under Shudra control. It was
after they came into this position that Brahmins imposed the
caste system on the entire society. This implies that, first the
Shudras were deprived of economic rights and afterwards of
social rights.
Through his historical writings, Professor Sharma time and
again rattled the reactionary segment of the society. In 1977 the
Janata Party government of Morarji Desai pulled out his book
Ancient India from the syllabus. There was much furore
because of this. In support of this book, Professor Sharma
wrote another bookIn Defence of Ancient India. Among the
civil society of that time this book was more popular than the
Jan Lokpal Bill.Professor Sharma was a vivacious intellectual and was
interested in the rise of Dalitbahujans. In terms of ideas, a keen
Marxist but not a conformist. We witnessed the scenes of the
Red Flag coming down in the former USSRs Kremlin on TV
together with him at his residence. With a pale smile he
said, no matter how good an ideology is, it cannot go on
for eternity.
Though he was a nationally renowned man, the city
life of Patna will continue to seem incomplete without
him for a long time. I pay him humble tribute.
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Prem Kumar Mani, a leading Hindi writer and a founder-member of the JD(U), is a member of the Bihar legislative council.
() S S S
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SEPTEMBER | 2011 |
BREAKINGNEWS31UU
NEW DELHI, 24 AUGUST 2011
AAs the electronic media continued to focus on their TRP
ratings and the hyped up hazaro mesmerized by
Annas Ramlila primetime drama, thousands of the real
majority we the people led by Dalit leader Udit Raj
made their way through central Delhi to save the Constitution
and propose a representative Bahujan Lokpal Bill.
The next days English newspapers reported on the large rally,partly because it stalled traffic at India Gate and Connaught Place,
because it was the first anti-Anna demonstration. Of course there is
rampant corruption and price rise. But the fight against it should not
undermine the Constitution drafted by B R Ambedkar, Udit Raj said.
Citing his differences with Hazares agitation, he said: There are
difference of opinions between what their ( Team Annas) and our
Bill seeks. We are afraid that in future, people like Anna Hazare can
ask the government to do away with reservation under the threat
to commit suicide or fast-unto-death. This is unacceptable.
The rally which started from the Amar Jawan Jyoti made its way
through the busy commercial Connaught Place (CP) to India Gate
and from there to Jantar Mantar near Parliament, demanding that
the Prime Minister meet with a delegation of Bahujans OBCs,
SCs, STs, and religious minorities. Between India Gate and JantarMantar a dozen Anna supporters on motorcycles tried to disrupt
the Bahujan rally. The police sent them packing and the rally was
able to continue on to Jantar Mantar.
We will draft the Bahujan Lokpal Bill within two to three days
and submit it to the Parliamentary standing committee, Udit Raj,
chairman of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations,
said. We want our representative in the lokpal committee as and
when it is formed.
We neither support Team Annas draft nor the governments
draft of the Lokpal Bill, he said. While the former will make the
lokpal authoritarian, the government draft is very weak.
Confederation member Indira Athawale said, This civil society(Team Anna) comprises people opposing reservation. Moreover, they
want to create a lokpal that would be over and above the Constitution.
Indian Justice Party chief Udit Raj said: Dr Ambedkar said in
the Parliament on 29 November 1949 that fasts and satyagrahas
were dangerous for democracy, which is now proving to be
correct. The way the Jan Lokpal Bill is worded it will destroy the
delicate balance of Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. A Lokpal
who is not elected by the people is more likely to be whimsical,
corrupt, casteist and partial.
(See Pages 6 & 7)
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Finally, We
the (Bahujan)People Respond
UU, (U) UU
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SEPTEMBER | 2011 |
RTI32 FORWARDPress
Faculty Positions: Another Casteist Fort!
: U !Teaching staff strength indicating number of positions filled up againstOBC/SC/ST Quota in CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES El ,
IIT (Kanpur) Reservation in faculty positions
()
These shocking statistics say a lot. In the
central universities the combined
strength of SCs/STs/OBCs is merely 1.5
per cent. On all the other faculty
positions including reader, senior lecturer, lecturer,
their numbers add to only 12.2 per cent. Look at
these figures closely. The number of professors
appointed is more than the sanctioned posts. Why?
In fact, it is only for the posts of lecturers thatreservation is provided for the exploited sections.
That is why, an upper-caste is appointed to the post
of a professor. There is no reservation for the post of
professor, reader and senior lecturer. The
comparatively high number of people from
deprived sections on the senior lecturer (SL) post is
perhaps because of promotion of the lecturers.
These figures have been collected by All-India
Backward Students Forum (AIBSF) via RTI.
El , , S
1.5 , B, B 12.2 S Q Z ? , B m Q ,
B B () ( 9) B
S ()
Sanctioned Posts
Existing Strength
SC
ST
OBC
PH
Upper castes
SC+ST+OBC
(RTI No- 6-4/2009, Central Universities, UGC, Dated- 7th Jan, 2011)
RTI No. Estt./PIO/69-2011/IITK267; Jun 29, 2011
( 6-4/2009, , , -7 2011)
( . - S.-//69-2011/ 267, 29 , 2
S
U
--
% Strength ofSC+ST+OBC
--
PROFESSOR
UUREADER
,SL/SG
BUULECTURER
OTHER
TOTA
1943
2563
25
11
4
6
2523
40
Total sanctioned strength of faculty
Total existing strength of faculty
Total number of SC faculty
Total number of ST faculty
Total number of OBC faculty
Total number of Upper Caste faculty
Professor
Total
SC
ST
OBC
Gen
Associate Prof.
Assistant Prof.S S
406
348
02
00
00
346
3744
2931
79
29
4
7
2819
112
451
30
10
1
0
410
41
7078
2327
422
211
233
30
1461
866
749
580
12
7
3
2
558
22
13514
8852
568
268
245
45
7771
108
1.5%
% of SC+ST+OBC faculty
-- 0.5%
3.8% 3.7% 3.7% 12.2%9%
Indian Institute of Mass Communication De
S ,
6
0
6
0
1
6 6 0
00 0 1
0 0 0
Fully bilingual monthly magazine. To subscribe call (011) 4653-8687 or
Email: [email protected]
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SEPTEMBER | 2011 | 33
UUUU
UPROFESSOR
UUREADER
BUULECTURER
TOTAL
Teaching staff strength indicating number of
positions filled up against OBC/SC/ST Quota El ,
Banaras Hindu University (BHU)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
El ()
M El ()
SanctionedPosts
ExistingStrength
SC
ST
OBC
Upper castes
SC+ST+OBC
% Strength ofSC+ST+OBC
S
--
--
347
635
0
0
0
635
0
0%
680
555
0
0
0
555
0
0%
1368
300
83
21
0
196
104
34%
2395
1490
83
21
0
1386
104
6.9%
Delhi University El
Sanctioned Posts
Existing Strength
SC
ST
OBC
Upper castes
SC+ST+OBC
S
U
--
% Strength ofSC+ST+OBC
--
UPROFESSOR
UUREADER
BUULECTURER
,SL/SG
OTHER
TOTAL
165
223
6
3
2
212
11
287
195
8
4
0
183
12
271
67
13
7
0
47
20
4
0
0
0
4
5
5
0
0
0
5
0
728
490
31
14
2
343(?)
47
Sanctioned Posts
Existing Strength
SC
ST
OBC
PH
Upper castes
SC+ST+OBC
S
U
--
% Strength ofSC+ST+OBC
--
UPROFESSOR
UUREADER
BUULECTURER
OTHER
TOTAL
307
124
0
0
0
1
124
0
654
296
0
0
0
1
296
0
691
349
43
15
10
7
271
68
50
23
0
0
0
0
23
0
1702
792
43
15
10
9
724
68
0%
4.9% 6.1% 29% 100% 0% 9.5%
University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), Delhi
Z (),
UPROFESSOR
UUREADER
BUULECTURER
OTHER
TOTAL
29
64
0
0
0
64
0
40
35
1
0
0
34
1
115
52
8
1
2
41
11
112
70
5
3
5
57
13
296
221
14
4
7
196
25
0% 2.8% 21% 18% 11%
0% 19% 0% 8%
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