Chance for Congress to play reformer’s role

KS Chalam
Professor of Economics and Author

The appointment of a lower-caste person as the Chief Minister of Punjab, where almost one-third of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes and there is a nearly equal proportion of OBCs (other backward classes), is considered as a game-changer by political commentators.

Of the six chief ministers from the SC/BC community during post-Independence India, the Congress can boast of appointing the first CM from the community in Andhra Pradesh in 1960. However, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah was shifted to Delhi due to caste bickering within the party in the state. The same is the story of the others, except Mayawati, in a different context.

The late Rajni Kothari commented that “caste does resurface as a result of the democratic process but by its resurfacing, it gets transformed…” Casteism in politics is no more and no less than the politicisation of caste, “which in turn leads to a transformation of the caste system.”

Very few in the political class today understand the transformative capability of the democratic process in a vertically divided caste society. The Congress party, particularly the younger generation, seems to have not been informed of the core values of the party — democracy, secularism and socialism — and the political process of achieving them amid the din of economic reforms. There were no innovations in the Congress, except the Bhopal Declaration of 2002, in the post-reform era, making the party slowly lose its relevance.

Now, an opportunity has been created that can be creatively handled, given the socio-economic crisis in Punjab.

Punjab, one of the developed states of India, has been experiencing one crisis after another due to internal fragmentation, though it ostensibly appears to be a homogenous community due to Sikhism. The Sikhs constitute 57.69 per cent of the population of the state as per the 2011 Census and are internally subdivided on the basis of castes and sub-castes.

Scholars have written extensively on the issues, particularly on the phenomenon of deras and the myth of a casteless society in Punjab. There is speculation that the new Chief Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi, may not be an effective political bait as he belongs to one of the components of the community that is internally divided.

The demography of the state tells us that out of 32 per cent of the lower castes, 19.4 per cent are Sikhs and 12.4 per cent are Hindus. They are further divided into Mazhabis (30.7 per cent), Chamars (25.8 per cent), Ad-dharmis (15.9 per cent) and Balmikis (11.1 per cent) out of the 38 sub-castes.

The common thread among them is untouchability. Though the SGPC has adopted a resolution to end untouchability within the gurdwaras, it has not captured the imagination of the community and seems to have failed the social agenda of the Gurus to be prime movers of change in the region.

Now, the Congress party has an opportunity to bring social reform on its agenda vis-a-vis its opponents.

Social reform in India was initiated as a part of religious restoration from the time of Ramanujacharya down to Dayanand Saraswati. Sikhism was an antidote to the hegemony of a caste. Guru Nanak was against the prevailing dominant practices of ritual pollution and caste order. In fact, the caste system resurfaced during the medieval period. Historian Irfan Habib has noted, “In Sind, under the Brahmin dynasty established in the seventh century, humiliating disabilities were imposed on the pastoral community of the Jats, seemingly taken straight out of Manusmriti.”

The conversion of untouchables to Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism seems to have not yielded the much-desired self-respect and human dignity. As a result, today, the lower-class converts are asking for caste-based reservations. Interestingly, the dominant castes among the lower classes in Punjab are not united and political parties and deras, seemingly on the basis of sub-caste identities, have involuntarily further strengthened the division.

Sociologist Ronki Ram has noted: “In the absence of a strong Dalit movement and with the emergence of caste structures within the Sikh organisations, despite the clear Panthic strictures against it, Dalits were but helpless to seek refuge in those organisations and deras that promise them social equality and dignity.”

There are no adivasis in Punjab and the Muslim population is around 2 per cent. In other words, Punjab seems to have a plethora of opportunities for a party like the Congress to shed its past and experiment with social engineering as a permanent mission.

The nomination of Channi as Chief Minister sends enough signals to the community that has become as vocal and enthusiastic as in West Bengal to get into its fold those who were disillusioned due to the economic reforms that helped only a few dwija cronies.

However, Punjab is a very sensitive state, given the demographic structure and concentration of economic and political power in a few pockets that need to be studied and reflected upon.

Given the experience with radical moves and the damage encountered, the party is poised to get back to its basics of equality and social opportunity within the party. It is exactly here that the party may think of taking up the role of a reformer to unite all splinter groups that are divided on the basis of all kinds of collectives, including sub-castes, with a message that the social awakening is permanent and continuous.

Yes, it is arduous and risky. But the party has already experimented with economic reforms and lost the permanent clout of the lower strata, poor and dispossessed. They are now, it seems, experienced and wiser to take collective decisions, provided someone from outside empathises with them, not for political gains, but for a genuine reform of social inclusion.

The Congress or some other party has nothing to lose except a learning experience in the much-desired social reform.