A Development and Environment fortnightly 120 ` Price ou Y and hy p ra ssue 4-5, No. 142-143, 2020 142-143, No. 4-5, ssue I g Vol. 20, 20, Vol. Geo

the state of caste and class dynamics through diverse CAste perspectives &CLA SS In

INDIA Caste and Class Categories Musli ms of India Identity and Agrarian Change O n the Margins in God’s Own City Caste, Class and the Power of Water Inequalities in Academic Spaces and nutrition City and Sexuality

G’nY SINCE 2001 A Development and geographyandyou.com Geography and You Environment fortnightly Vol. 20  Issue 4 & 5 No. 142 & 143  2020

CastE and Class in India 10 Understanding Caste and Class: Categories 58 On the Margins in God’s Own City: The Geography and Measurement of the Scheduled Castes in Varanasi R B Bhagat Sarfaraz Alam The caste has been a unique social institution in India. This paper The negligible numerical strength of Scheduled Castes in the core of presents an assessment of class within caste categories based on data the historic city of Varanasi renders them almost irrelevant in its social, from nationally representative sample surveys. economic, and cultural life.

18 Social Diversity, Hierarchy and Cultural 66 Caste, Class and the Power of Water: The Heterogeneity among Muslims of India Socio-Political Ecology of Drinking Water Abdul Shaban in Rural India Muslims have been projected as socially ‘monolithic’ and with the same Sonali Bhatia ‘identity’ of ‘Muslimness’. Muslims in India, however, are as diverse The narrative of a village in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh finds that caste and as disparate as ‘Hindus’. and class hierarchies effectively influence the decision making on water allocation, use and control over drinking water. 24 Caste and Class in Indian Agriculture M S Jaglan 76 Inequalities in Access to Academic Spaces: The study reviews varying perspectives on the debate of caste and class Experiences of Students from the Socially in Indian agriculture by taking case studies of two villages of Haryana Excluded Groups in Higher Education and Rajasthan. in India Nidhi S Sabharwal 34 Identity and the Political Economy of Improved access to higher education has not resulted in access to Agrarian Change opportunities for disadvantaged groups because higher education Deepak K Mishra institutions are largely under-prepared to respond to diverse learners. In the rural, agrarian economy in India, the market transactions point to the various ways unequal opportunities shape the trajectories of rural 82 City and Sexuality: An Auto-Ethnographic transformation in contemporary India. Storytelling of Caste, Class and Queerness in Delhi 40 The Antiquity and Continuity of the Caste System in Dhiren Borisa India: A Dalit Perspective What makes a city liveable? Often we are situated at various margins Umakant of a city—social, spatial and sexual. This paper uses auto- In order to understand why the caste system survived in India for more ethnographic storytelling of social-sexual differences that produce our than millennia it one needs to revisit factors that have kept this system everyday geographies. alive and see how it is being nurtured even today.

46 The Middle Class as the Class of no Class Amir Ali An attempt to understand some of the ambiguities around what it means to be middle class in India and its influence on Indian politics has been made in this paper. IN CONVERSATION WITH Nandini Sundar Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, 52 Health & Nutrition in India: A Caste and Delhi University. Class Perspective 73 Tribes: Forgotten Again Rajeshwari The paper reveals that broadly at an all India level, there is an In Brief improvement in health and nutritional outcomes, yet there seems to be 2 Letters; 3 Editor’s Note; 4 Guest Editor’s Note; no change in caste, class and gender intersectionality. 88 Books & Website

Expert Panel Rasik Ravindra Sachidanand Sinha B Meenakumari Prithvish Nag Geologist and Professor, CSRD, Former Chairperson, Former Vice Chancellor, Secretary General, Jawaharlal Nehru National Biodiversity MG Kashi Vidyapeeth, 36 IGC, New Delhi. University, New Delhi. Authority, Chennai. Varanasi. Ajit Tyagi K J Ramesh Saraswati Raju B Sengupta Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Former Director Former Professor, CSRD, Former Member Secretary, Former DG, IMD, General, IMD, Jawaharlal Nehru Central Pollution Control New Delhi. New Delhi. University, New Delhi. Board, New Delhi. Vol. 20, Issue 3, No. 141, 2020 | My favourite articles in the Alternative Medicine issue were related to Homoeopathy, primarily because I did not have any knowledge beforehand and the articles were quite insightful and easy to understand. I felt the article on Ayurveda could Geography and You have used more scientific coverage. Siddha system was new to me, as they are not really included in the popular discourse. It would be Editor Sulagna Chattopadhyay interesting to see an issue about the rising popularity of right wing ideology globally and its geopolitical implications.—Narayan, Via Senior Advisors Consumer Feedback Ajit Tyagi Rasik Ravindra For more details log on to our website www.geographyandyou.com Saraswati Raju

Legal Advisor Krishnendu Datta I enjoyed reading the scientific basis behind The previous edition titled, issue titled, ‘Alternative Homeopathy.—Upasana Alternative Medicine was Cover PHOTO Medicines’ could not have Das, Via Consumer chock full of insightful, royalty and the commoner chittorgarh fort, rajasthan been more well-timed. Feedback excellent articles— by Anulekha While we are grappling ‘Homeopathy: A primer on with COVID-19, without a G’nY has been a constant its applicability’, ‘Quality Correspondence/ Editorial Office cure in sight, the articles companion for me over the of life: An Ayurvedic 504, bhikaji cama bhawan, highlight the importance years. I really appreciate Approach’, ‘Traditional Bhikaji Cama Place, of AYUSH—a gamut of the simple language and healing’ and ‘The Siddha new delhi - 110066 alternative health care the depth of the content system of medicine’—all Phone: +91-11-46014233; +91-11-26186350 options—in providing presented with every issue. of which are well written, For new subscriptions, preventive health care, I love to read and G’nY has concise and precise. renewals, enquiries especially to developing enriched my knowledge Both the interviews were please contact Circulation Manager countries such as India on a wide variety of informative. Excellent E-mail: info@geographyandyou. where health care facilities engaging topics questions were asked com are found wanting in —Aparna Singh, Via providing readers sufficient Please visit our site at www.geographyandyou.com many aspects. Alternative Consumer Feedback context and information. for further information. medicines promise to Point to be noted though is plug the gaps in health Wide variety of articles, that more scholarly papers ©geography and you care with their attributes interviews and opinions with criticisms should have All rights reserved throughout the world. of being inexpensive, on every topic has been been included to make Reproduction in any manner, having negligible side- the defining feature of the information provided part or whole, is prohibited. effects, being locally, G’nY. The recent issue on balanced. The paper Printed, published and naturally sourced and Alternative Medicine was ‘Criticisms of homeopathy’ owned by Dr Narmadeshwar most importantly, aiming no different. I was amazed could have had more Prasad. at fundamentally changing to learn about the Siddha empirical evidence, rather unhealthy lifestyles. system of medicine, it than citing journals it Printed at India Graphic Systems Pvt. Besides, some of these indeed was an enlightening could have added Ltd. F-23, Okhla Industrial alternative approaches read. I however have subtopics related to why Area, Phase-1, form an integral part of reservations about homeopathy is not New Delhi - 110020. India’s rich socio-cultural homeopathy and could not getting sufficient traction Published from heritage. I especially liked agree with the authors. I and reason why Learning in Geography, the article—‘Criticisms of would like to read about allopathy medicine Humanities, Technology and Science (LIGHTS) Homeopathy: Addressed the Covid-19 pandemic in overshadows homeopathic 504, bhikaji cama bhawan, through Scientific the coming days.—Anil medicine. Bhikaji Cama Place, Research’ which seeks to Goswami, Via Consumer —Isaac Thomas, Via new delhi - 110066. establish the much-needed Feedback Consumer Feedback

Geography and You does not take any responsibility for returning unsolicited publication material. Write Editorial Office: LIGHTS, 501 & 504, Bhikaji Cama Bhawan, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi - 110066. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. Include name, address and telephone. Phone 011-46014233, 26186350 E-mail [email protected] All disputes are subjected to the Facebook http://goo.gl/eIeaH, linkedin http://in.linkedin.com/pub/geography-and-you/5a/b32/b24 Website www.geographyandyou.com. exclusive jurisdiction of competent Subscriptions For institutional subscriptions of print copies you may write to [email protected] courts and forums in Delhi/New To contribute an article: Kindly send the abstract of your article in not more than 200 words to [email protected]. Delhi only. The abstract will be reviewed by our peers. Once selected we shall respond for the procurement of full article. The length of the final article may range from 1000 to 1500 words. Please visit our website for publication and peer review policy. The Editorial Advisor.

2 2020 . Geography and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Editor’s note

The unblurred lines of antiquity

My schooling amidst the dewy greenery of a convent in the east of India rarely allowed the ensconcement of caste identities. Class distinctions? Well one could never escape that. I easily Sulagna recognised the entitled ones—their Chattopadhyay pens, colour pencils, backpacks and Founder-Editor, pencil boxes being objects of intense Geography and You, New Delhi desire. At university, in the arid heat of editor@ north India, the tables however turned. geographyandyou.com I became the ‘entitled’, not because of my class, but my caste, an identity that had held no relevance for me until then. I am a rebel. Never conforming to the caste, class or gender hierarchies laid down centuries ago. But today I am near certain, that despite the best efforts of a handful of stereotype hackers, the majority are willing to fall back on a system enshrined in the Vedic idea of India. At least that is what the data says. Being an empirical, evidence based researcher, it would be difficult for me to turn my back on what myriad experts contributing to this special issue of G’nY are pointing out, as clear as daylight. The egalitarian changes are barely perceptible, they cite. The caste alignment overrides the class, they say. There are no geographies of alternative identities, they add. The monolithic placing of communities are actually more stratified than is perceived, they share. There is no hope it seems for the rebels of the system. Yet, I dream that one day caste will no longer matter—merit, hard work and equal opportunities is all that will count. ~ GUEST EDITOR’s Opinion

Sachidanand Sinha Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, SSS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. [email protected] Caste and Class in India P erspectives from the past and recent

olumes have been written on various dimensions of caste and its importance in understanding the system of socio-cultural and political organisation in India. Although many European and Asian travellers who visited India during the V15th century and later had described the uniqueness of caste system in India, a more systematic engagement began with the British anthropologists, ethnographers, administrators and institutions such as the Census of India and Anthropological Survey of India. After independence besides scholars from overseas such as FG Bailey, E Leach, Louis Dumont, David Mandelbaum to name a few, we also saw a robust growth of Indian scholarship on the subject e.g. MN Srinivas, Andre’ Beteille, Nirmal K Bose, Iravati Karve, Ramakrishna Mukherjee, GS Ghurye, AR Dasai and several others. Loaded with intensive field-based data from different parts of India, the Indian scholarship was not only successful in debunking certain myths about the caste system, but they also provided a new methodological and analytical framework to the study of caste. This tradition has been kept alive and also gathering strengths with works from Dipankar Gupta, Gopal Guru, Surinder Jodhka, Satish Deshpande, Anand Teltumbde, Deepak Lal, Sharmila Rege, Nandini Sunder, Ghanshyam Shah and SK Thorat. This list is not exhaustive enough to represent diverse perspectives and ideological positions. Among the predominant concerns in all these works has been to examine how caste (and tribe) as a primordial form of socio-economic relationships is likely to change under the overarching forces of industrialisation and urbanisation within the democratic political order. Would the process of social change in India see a fundamental shift from a caste society to a class society? Another major concern was to understand as to how the stranglehold of hierarchical caste structure would weaken in order to pave the way for a more equitable and just social order. This perhaps was the vision of the Independent India and barring a few who did not agree to the mechanism of affirmative action both at the intellectual and political levels there was a strong conviction to free India from the age-old and deep seated ‘idea of caste’ (Jodhka 2018). But what is this idea of caste? In the popular notion caste is generally understood as a composite of four-fold varna system that is traditionally given to the Hindus closely associated with karma and dharma—These ideas, as Jodhka writes: “…translated into hierarchical society, structured around the notion of purity and pollution…divided the Hindus into four mutually exclusive categories—the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras” (Jodhka 2012), with Achoots, formed of those who were referred to as the untouchables. The varna system provides an idea of the general model of the hierarchical framework, which in reality works in the form of numerous Jati that are endogamous social units. Jatis have a regional character and are functional configurations largely within

4 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 linguistic zones. Some scholars are of the view that caste originated from the racial mix between the Aryans and those human groups that had populated the subcontinent before the advent of the Aryans in the different ecological zones. Some others strongly feel that caste represents division of labour commensurate with the process of social evolution, and diversification of the economy. Ghurye identified six major traits of the Hindu caste system —segmented, hierarchical, restricted traditional occupation, restrictions on marriage, food and civil and religious privileges (Ghurye 1932). Hence, classically speaking, a persons’ social rank is defined by birth, which is reinforced through endogamous marriage, and occupation that is legitimately inherited. One’s possession of wealth is no good for social status, as a Brahmin who may not own land still holds the higher rank and an untouchable or a low caste such as the Chamar or Mahar who may prosper economically may not find it easy to purchase a parcel of land in order to secure a better future (Thorner 1969). Thus, the society continued to produce a handful of high ranked propertied and rent seeking castes against a large mass of deprived social groups who found it difficult to seek social and economic mobility, whereby all that came to be significant resources, opportunities and knowledge remained concentrated in the hands of the few socially dominant caste groups. If one were to take a look at the historical sources and data on two very important features of material standing—land ownership and labour (occupation) then one may observe a close relationship and correspondence with the Varna-based vertical social hierarchy. So the Brahmin at the top of the caste hierarchy owns no land and performs labour that is pure and clean; the Kshatriya controls and protects the land but performs no labour on land and lives on rent; the Vaishya has some access to land mostly as tenant cultivators and is directly engaged in agricultural production; and the Shudra at the bottom of the pyramidal hierarchy has no land but performs all the diverse labour. Deepak Lal makes a valiant effort to historically rationalise the efficacy of the caste system in his thesis of the ‘Hindu Equilibrium’ as primarily a mode of division of labour that took place under difficult circumstances of economic, ecological and political uncertainties (Lal 2005). According to him, the objective of the economic situation was not profit maximisation but utility maximisation under various conditions marked by pooling and sharing resources centered on land and its productive processes—thus creating a mutually interdependent social structure. Ranjit Sau provides a scathing critique of an earlier version of the so-called Hindu equilibrium and calls it ‘The Hindu Opprobrium” (Sau 1999). All that I have narrated above are matters of history and of cultural import that goes on to provide bases for what is known as the essential features that define discrete castes (Gupta 2000) - identities by themselves, and as such of little significance in the contemporary Indian situation, especially when land and agrarian issues are in deep crisis and also as the locale of economic production has moved far away from land and agriculture. Let me quote Jodhka from the preface of his short but celebrated introduction to Caste: “Why should we talk about caste? Does caste really matter today beyond one’s family and personal life? If yes, for whom does it matter and in what ways? … What has changed and what remains of it (caste) in contemporary India? What are the operational parameters of caste in the present day urban society and its economy? How do we understand its association with demographic politics and / or its politicisation? Do caste-based quotas and reservations strengthen divisions in society? How does the reality of caste play out in modern-day labour markets, in the informal sector and the corporate economy?” (Jodhka 2012). Right from the first quarter of the 20th century the political leadership knew that the task of social change and emancipation of the downtrodden in a caste-ridden hierarchical and structurally unequal society of India was no easy task. The relationship between caste

Geo graphy and You . 2020 5 The public presence of caste today is far more pronounced than it was even six decades ago when traditional social order was much stronger. Caste seems to have got a new lease of life and young India faces an unprecedented challenge ahead.

6 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 and class became a major academic and political debate ever since the scholars used material deprivation particularly in the context of property relations, labour and production. Yogendra Singh in his 1968 paper raised the following questions: “…what is the nature and reality of caste and class in India today? In what ways are changes at the levels of these two categories interlinked, or generate processes significant to the transformation of the system of stratification? (Singh 1968) These questions are just as relevant even after four-decades as they were in the 1930s. Babasaheb Ambedkar was not a communist in his ideological persuasion but he had socialist dreams, and found Marxist methodology useful. Ambedkar wrote: “To say that individuals make up society is trivial; society is always composed of classes…existence of definite classes in a society is a fact” (Ambedkar 1979). He strongly felt that the struggle against caste could be organically unified with the class struggle (Teltumbde 2016). Referring to the 1928 strike of the workers led by the communists he said that the purpose of the strike was not to improve the economic condition of workers but to train them for revolution. The relationship between class and political power is therefore intertwined and crucial. Edmund Leach draws a distinction between caste and class: “…of the class-organised societies that rights of ownership are the prerogative of minority groups which form privileged elites. The capacity of the upper class minority to ‘exploit’ the services of the lower class majority is critically dependent upon the fact that the members of the under-privileged groups must compete among themselves for the favours of the elites. It is the specific nature of a caste society that this position is reversed. Economic roles are allocated by right to closed minority groups of low social status; members of the high-status ‘dominant caste’ to whom the lower status groups are bound, generally form a numerical majority and must compete among themselves for the services of individual members of the lower castes” (Singh 1968). The passage from Yogendra Singh brings clarity: “The structural features of caste and class… stem from the divergences in the segmentary character of these two social phenomena. Caste is a status group which forms a community of social relationships, based on a distinctive style of life associated with the appropriate honorific symbols or values; caste position is birth-ascribed and one segment of this group is bounded by functional interlinkages (at ritual, economic and occupational levels) with other segments which together form(s)... a ‘closed organic stratification’. Classes, in contradistinction, form ‘segmentary stratification’ where various strata or segments are motivated by a feeling of competition rather than cooperation as obtained in caste. ...(T)he caste system traditionally consisted of structural attributes of a status group wherein birth-ascription and cooperation went together with the ‘summation of roles’. A caste which was traditionally high in one scale of status, say in ritual matters, was also high economically and politically” (Singh 1968). The interface between caste and class is well presented by Ramakrishna Mukherjee: “The fact that in British India the landlords, big landowners, wholesale traders, moneylenders belonged essentially to the high castes was overlooked, as was the fact that the bulk of self- sufficient peasants, small-scale artisans, petty traders belonged to the middle castes in general. And, those at the lowest echelon of the growing colonial- capitalist class structure (such as, the marginal peasants and landless workers) belonged overwhelmingly to the lowest castes and the ‘tribes’. This is how the caste structure had invaginated itself into the class structure… Doubtless, all high caste people did not belong to the highest echelon of the growing class structure, just as all those belonging to the middle castes did not belong to the middle echelon of the class structure, and all those belonging to the lowly castes did not belong to the lowest echelon of the class structure. But an overview of Hindu society substantiated this correlation between the caste and the capitalist class structures.” (Mukherjee 1999). The trajectories of socio-economic changes since independence in general and particularly after

Geo graphy and You . 2020 7 the structural adjustment policy introduced in 1991 and the OBC reservations following the Mandal Commission Report a few years earlier, altered the discourse on caste and class in significant ways. The expansion of education, particularly increased representation of various hitherto excluded social groups in secondary and higher education, land reforms in whatever limited scale it happened in different parts of India, modernisation and development of market-oriented agriculture and downward percolation of various welfare schemes expanded the aspirations of all classes of population particularly the educated youth clamouring for jobs and upward social and economic mobility. Caste, as Vivek Dhareshwar’s insightful description of the pre-Mandal situation would argue, was not available as a category for critical reflection as it was seen to be a matter of the traditional past, the vestiges of which remained in rural areas that too were in the midst of change (Dhareshwar 1993). Echoing Dhareshwar, Ashwini Deshpande feels that ‘…Mandal became a watershed not because of the immediate issues like reservations, but because it precipitated the ‘return of the repressed’ (and) …re-implication of the upper caste (self) into the caste question.’ While sending a word of caution not to exaggerate the importance of the Mandal effect, Deshpande asks, ‘...if Mandal was not a beginning but a turning point, what are its continuities with the past?’ (Deshpande 2014). Perhaps, the continuities lay in transformation of caste as discrete identities of cultural import managing segmented life styles and rituals, marriage and kinships to acquiring and becoming political pressure groups Mahatma Gandhi and political conglomerates (such as the OBCs and the Forward National Rural Classes’ Citizens for Equality movement) in bargain with the state, on the one hand, and realigning itself into the structure of Employment Guarantee democratic electoral politics, on the other. By the sheer strength of their numbers the myriad backward castes and others joined ranks Act (MGNREGA) went on and went on to capture large numbers of state assembly seats to play a significant role in the 1960s onward. They brought in and with varying degrees of success became the beneficiaries of the land ceiling and the in alleviating poverty land-to-the-tiller acts. The absentee high caste landlords from the both among the SCs and rural scene that had long left a power vacuum in the rural power structure was readily filled up by the erstwhile tenant cultivating other poor households. castes, who gradually increased their economic and political power and ascended to the status of the new political elites, rivaling the A new alignment has high caste dominated power arena. This transition had already emerged in India. taken place in some of the states of south India, and in the 1980s it reached its zenith with the Mandal in the north. The samajwadi ideological platform of the OBCs that was seen as leveraging a strong political front along with the dalits (the movements of the latter that had begun to get socially and politically fragmented), remained short-lived. The relationships between the new landed OBC maliks and the landless agricultural labour-the traditional krishak- mazdoors deteriorated. OBC castes in several parts of India, particularly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were seen in armed conflicts with the dalit castes leading to murders and rape of the latter. Thus, in a quick turn of events, particularly since the first NDA government in the Centre at the turn of the new millennium, the high caste nationalist upsurge began, slowly from the edges of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid movements. A strong right-wing Hindu nationalism that gradually got converted into a formidable political force led by the erstwhile brahminical classes went on to discredit the credentials of the secular and socialist state, on the one hand, and rationalising the ethos of merit and caste order in their invocation of the

8 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 mythical ‘Ram Rajya’. The new reconfiguration of socio-political order stems predominantly from the rising claims and gradual accession of the hitherto deprived castes and the social and economically backward classes on the scene of political and economic power, which was significantly altering the traditional balance of social order. The crisis-ridden agricultural situation impacted the landed high castes and the OBCs significantly, as they were confronted with the high wage rates in the rural areas, particularly after the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) went on to play a significant role in alleviating poverty both among the SCs and other poor households. A new alignment has emerged in India. India is in the throes of new realignment of castes into classes or it is the caste ideology that has made an emphatic return? One cannot agree any less to what Jodhka has to say: ‘…the public presence of caste today is, in many ways, far more pronounced than it was five or six decades back when the stranglehold of traditional social order was much stronger’ (Jodhka 2018). Class within caste could be of some relevance but caste alone seems to have got a new lease of life. The collection presented in this issue brings diverse themes and issues based on strong empirical evidence and theoretical formulations. The authors have a long experience in the research themes they have chosen to reflect upon and are actively engaged in the contemporary debates on caste and class issues in India. G’nY editorial team and support staff express their gratitude for having had the opportunity to work with distinguished researchers and activists. As the guest editor to this special issue, I am immensely grateful to all authors, Professor Nandini Sunder for her interview on the tribes, who are also in the midst of some epochal changes or have always been so!

References Ambedkar B.R. 1979. Castes in India: Their mechanism, genesis and development, in Moon V. ed. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches (BAWS), Vol. 1, Bombay: Govt of Maharashtra. Deshpande S. 2014. The Problem of Caste, New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Limited. Dhareshwar V. 1993. Caste and the Secular Self, Journal of Arts and Ideas, 25(26): 115-26. Ghurye G.S. 1932. Caste and Race in India, London: Kegan Paul. Gupta D. 2000. Interrogating Caste, Delhi: Penguin Books. Jodhka S.S. 2018. Caste in Contemporary India, Oxon: Routledge. Jodhka S.S. 2012. Caste: Oxford India Short Introductions, Delhi: Oxford University Press. Lal D. 2005. The Hindu Equilibrium—India c.1500 B.C.—2000 A.D., London: Oxford University Press. Mukherjee R. 1999. Caste in Itself, Caste and Class, or Caste in Class, Economic and Political Weekly, 34 (27): 1759-1761. Available at: https://bit.ly/2wDIsnJ Sau R. 1999. The Hindu Opprobrium, Not Equilibrium Review of Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture and Politics on the Long-Run Economic Performance by Deepak Lal, Economic and Political Weekly, 34 (12): 676-680. Singh Y. 1968. Caste and Class: Some Aspects of Continuity and Change, Sociological Bulletin, 17(2): 165-186. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/ doi/10.1177/0038022919680205 Teltumbde A. 2016. Dichotomisation of Caste and Class, Economic and Political Weekly, 51(47). Available at: https://www.epw.in/journal/2016/47/caste-and-class/dichotomisation-caste- and-class.html Thorner D. 1969. Malik and Moneylenders - Their Role, in Desai A.R. (ed.) Rural Sociology in India, Bombay: Popular Prakashan.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 9 ~ Caste and Class in India

By R B Bhagat U n d e r s t a n d i n g Casteand CL Ass Categories and Measurement The caste has been a unique social institution in India. It has also emerged in a new form after the mandalisation of caste in the early 1990s resulting in the extension of reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and also in admissions to colleges and universities. The relative size of population of various caste groups particularly of the OBCs is also a matter of debate. Census does not provide population data on OBCs, however, it is possible to assess it from nationally representative sample surveys. Further, the correspondence between caste categories and class has been a matter of debate. This paper presents an assessment of class within caste categories based on data from nationally representative sample surveys.

The author is professor and head, Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. [email protected]. The article should be cited as Bhagat R.B., 2020. Understanding Caste and Class: Categories and Measurement, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 10-17

10 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Belonging to the other backward classes (OBC), the Baul community of Bengal are wandering minstrels. They are characterised by their unique clothing and handcrafted musical instruments. : o Phto Prasad

Geo graphy and You . 2020 11 t is possible to assess the population size times. However, if we combine the ritual and of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from functional status, not in hierarchical sense, a sources like National Family Health Survey scheme of classification, as presented in figure 1, (NFHS) and National Sample Survey Office could lend some meaningful insights. (NSSO), as the Census does not provide The above classification of caste categories such figures. Further, the correspondence between is neither followed for political and economic Icaste categories and class has been a matter of purposes nor is data available for these debate and this paper attempts to present an categories. In the past, various castes have been assessment of class within caste categories based regrouped and classified by the Indian state on nationally representative sample surveys. more or less based on the traditional varna system. For example, in 1881 census, the Census Caste Categories Commissioner, W C Plowden decided to There are numerous castes in India. G S Ghurye group the various castes into the five categories mentions that in “…each linguistic area there namely—Brahmans, Rajputs, Castes of Good was about two hundred groups called castes Social Position, Inferior Castes and Non-Hindus with distinct names, birth in one of which, or Aboriginal Castes (Cohn 1987). The 1921 usually, determined the status in society of a census attempted to identify the depressed classes. given individual, which were divided into about However, the term of depressed classes did not two thousand smaller units—generally known find favour in 1931 census, and was replaced as sub-castes fixing the limits of marriage and by a category called the exterior castes (Hutton effective social life and making for specific 1933). In any case, it is important to note that cultural tradition” (Ghurye 1992). Caste is thus an such categorisations in the census was followed endogamous group where status of an individual by the Scheduled Caste Order of 1936 that related to the group is determined by his or her officially recognised the listing of castes in every birth. The fourfold classification of varna namely province of India (Bandyopadhyay 1997). After Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishyas and Shudras Independence, with reference to the provisions provided the traditional way of grouping the of the Constitution two categories of scheduled castes in terms of hierarchy with Brahmins at castes and scheduled tribes were created followed the top and Shudras at the bottom. One may also by the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in order note that a large number of distinct castes may not to extend the state benefits to them. Most of the be neatly accommodated in the four-fold varna OBCs are believed to be located in the middle and scheme. Further, in the event of the mobility of lower hierarchy of the caste system. Thus, we have the castes having acquired economic and political the following categories of castes created through power makes the varna system irrelevant in the constitutional means: contemporary times (Srinivas 1992). K L Sharma • Scheduled Castes also believes that there is no unilinear hierarchy • Scheduled Tribes of caste; in fact, today, multiple hierarchies • Other Backward Classes characterise the Indian society (Sharma 2001). • Others (Forward Castes) Castes are ‘discrete categories’, because they are no more related to each other organically, nor are they A ssessing the Population Size of OBCs segmented entities. Although caste system may The Mandal Commission identified about 3743 have lost its relevance in the contemporary times castes under the OBC category. After preparing caste as an ethnic and identity group continues to the list, the population of Hindu OBCs was persist even today. estimated to be around 52 per cent based on the In this sense, developing a classificatory scheme 1931 census data. The OBCs was applicable to for castes is extremely problematic in the present non-Hindu population also ,hence the category is

12 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Fig. 1: Functional Classification of Caste

Functional caste Sub-group/ service

Service Ritual/Manual

Warrior

Trading Historic classification of castes based on their occupations and professions. This is how the segmentation of the Peasant society initially started.

Artisan

Others Entertainment, etc.

Source: Bhagat R.B. 2002. Towards Measurement of Rural Stratification and Agrarian Classes: Socio-economic and Demographic Variables, IASSI Quarterly, 21(2): 81-96. Available at: https://bit.ly/33iEe0y

Fig. 2: Share of Population by Caste Categories

16.2 16.6

35.6 32.1 SC 8.2 8.6 2001 ST Forward/Others 2011 Total : 1028.6 OBCs Total : 1210.5 (in million) (in million)

Although caste system may have lost its relevance in the 40.0 contemporary times caste as an ethnic and identity group 42.7 continues to persist even today.

Source: SC and ST population are taken from Census 2001 and 2011 respectively; Estimation of the size of OBCs is based on NFHS-3 2005-06 and NFHS-4 2015-16 respectively. Forward/Others are residually estimated

Geo graphy and You . 2020 13 India's poorest class is predominantly composed of the lower and more backward castes. Pictured here is a small village near Udaipur with caste based segregated mohallas (neighbourhoods).

14 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 referred to as classes and not castes (Maheshwari 1991). It is also interesting to note that caste and religious status is linked closely. Only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists are included as SCs, while STs and OBCs can belong to any religion. As per NFHS-3 the proportion of OBC population in 2005-06 was 40 per cent which increased to about 42 per cent in NFHS-4 in 2015-16 (Fig. 2).

Caste and Class While caste is a more easily identifiable group and its ranking in terms of ordinal scale is possible, the categorisation of classes is often problematic due to theoretical and conceptual orientations. The concept of class is very fundamental to Marxist theory. It is based on ownership of the means of production. The class, which owns the means of production, commands and controls the productive forces including labour. Workers do not own anything except their labour power, While caste is which enters into the production process and production relation with those owning the means a more easily of production. The concept of production relation is central to the identification of classes. It is a identifiable group process of controlling labour and the means of appropriating surplus value (Patnaik 1987). and its ranking in Class has also been a preoccupation of those who do not subscribe to Marxist theory. In the terms of ordinal non-Marxist perspective, class is an element of economic status measured in terms of income scale is possible, and wealth. It is also a market situation where the categorisation the level of income and possession of wealth determine one’s fortune (Weber 1992). As such, of classes is often in non-Marxist terms, class is an embodiment of exchange relation. The upper class, middle problematic due class and lower classes are some of examples thus identified based on exchange relations. to theoretical Alternatively, the level of economic status can also be utilised in order to categorise classes such as the and conceptual poorest, poorer, middle, rich and the richest. In India, according to Utsa Patnaik, there were orientations. three related indices in identifying the class status (Patnaik 1987). These are the extent of possession

Geo graphy and You . 2020 15 Table 1: Economic Status and Caste Categories Other Backward No Caste Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe Forward/Others Wealth Class reported Quintiles 2005-6 2015-16 2005-6 2015-16 2005-6 2015-16 2005-6 2015-16 2005-6 2015-16 Poorest 28.5 25.9 51.0 45.2 18.9 18.2 9.4 9.4 14.2 25.0

Poorer 24.8 24.2 23.1 25.5 21.7 19.6 12.8 15.4 27.8 21.5

Middle 21.2 21.9 12.9 14.9 22.9 21.1 16.9 18.4 27.4 22.0

Richer 16.0 16.7 7.8 9.1 20.7 22.3 23.8 22.8 21.3 18.6

Richest 9.5 11.3 5.3 5.4 15.8 18.8 37.2 34.0 9.1 12.9

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Source: i) Estimation based on NFHS-3 and 4; Forward Caste is other than those reported as SCs, STs and OBCs. i. Wealth Index is computed based housing conditions, consumer goods and household amenities. For details, see International Institute for Popula- tion Sciences (IIPS) and ICF. 2017. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16: India. Mumbai: IIPS.

of land and other means of production, whether 2001). This indicates some correspondence the household exploits the others by hiring labour between caste and classes in Indian society, but and taking rent and whether they are trapped in this is not the whole story. One of the most reputed usurious indebtedness. She found these classes sociologists of India remarked, “Today in India relevant for India and also developed an empirical caste in class depicts the reality and not caste per se framework of measuring these classes based on a or caste and class” (Mukherjee 2000). single criterion of family vs hired labour, named as It is worthwhile to mention that some of the the ‘labour exploitation criteria’. frameworks cited above for analysing class in Daniel Thorner also made an attempt to identify relation to caste could be applied in primary data agrarian classes in India based on ownership of based research. However, the NSSO also provides land and tenancy rights and the nature of family an opportunity to analyse caste categories and and hired labour employed (Thorner 1956). economic inequality among them. It is also He used Indian vernacular terms like malik possible to use NFHS data to assess the economic (proprietor), kisan (working peasant) and conditions of various caste groups on the basis of mazdoor (labourers) to portray the agrarian wealth index. classes in Indian tradition and further divided Table 1 presents the percentage of households these into several sub-categories. On the other in various caste/tribe groups by wealth quintiles. hand, D N Dhanagare opined that categories like It may be noted that the STs are the poorest landlords, rich peasants, middle peasants, poor social group with 45 per cent of the households peasants and landless labourers are more realistic falling under the poorest category (lowest wealth (Dhanagare 2008). quintile) compared to about 25 per cent among In sociological literature, relationship between the SCs, 18 per cent among OBCs and 9 per caste and class has been studied and debated cent among Forward Castes in 2015-16. Thus, for very long. The real question is to what extent compared to the Forward Castes, STs are five does the social stratification corresponds to the times more poor. The comparable figure for the economic stratification? Although the debate SCs is nearly three times while that for the OBCs it remains inconclusive, the general agreement is twice more. Such inequality persisted during the is that the lowest rung of caste hierarchy, 2005-06 to 2015-16. which mostly constitutes the scheduled castes, Similarly, about 34 per cent of households comprising a large section of the landless and among the Forward Castes are in the richest the agricultural labourers (Beteille 1974; Sharma category (highest wealth quintile) compared to

16 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 5 per cent among STs, 11 per cent among SCs nationally representative sample surveys shows and 18 per cent among OBCs in 2015-16. This a broader picture emerging at the national and shows that SCs, STs and OBCs are relevant social regional level about the relationship between caste categories from the point of view of economic and class in India. backwardness and the correspondence between the social inequality and economic inequality is R eferences found to be true. The picture above lends support Bandyopadhyay S. 1997. Caste, Protest and Identity to the fact that the fruits of development have been in Colonial India: The Namasudras of Bengal, 1872- distributed according to the caste hierarchy. On 1897, London: Routledge. the one hand, it provides some measure of the Beteille A. 1974. Studies in Agrarian Social Structure, stability of India’s social structure despite huge Delhi: Oxford University Press. economic progress and also that constitutional Cohn B.S. 1987. The Census, Social Structure and remedy of positive protective discrimination Objectification in South Asia, in Cohn B.S. (ed.) policies have rendered some amount of economic An Anthropologist Among the Historians and Other mobility among the traditional lower classes, Essays, Delhi: Oxford University Press. on the other. Paradoxically data also shows the Dhanagare D.N. 2008. The Class Character and existence of substantial economic inequality Politics of Farmers’ Movement in Maharashtra among each caste categories. It is also worth During the 1980s, Journal of Peasant Studies, 21(3- mentioning that within each caste/tribe group 4): 72-94. Available at: https://www.researchgate. there are hundreds of castes/tribes that may net/publication/234545233_Towards_ differ quite significantly for which we do not have Measuring_Rural_Stratification_and_Agrarian_ adequate information at the moment. And we are Classes_Socio-economic_and_Demographic_ not certain whether the Socio-Economic Caste Variables Census 2011 would lend any significant help in Ghurye G. S. 1992. Features of the Caste System, in this regard. This is because the government has Gupta D. (ed.) Social Stratification, New Delhi: refused to release the report that could help us Oxford University Press. understand the relationship between caste and Hutton, J. H. 1933. Census of India 1931, New Delhi: various economic and social indicators. Reprinted by Gyan Publishing House. Maheshwari S.R. 1991. The Mandal Commission and Way Forward Mandalisation: A Critique, New Delhi: Concept An attempt has been made in this paper to Publishing Company. categorise and to assess the possibility of Mukherjee R. 2000. Caste in Itself, Caste and measurement of caste groups and classes in Class or Caste in Class, Journal of World-Systems the Indian society. The available data indicates Research, 6(2): 332-339. Available at: http://jwsr. a fair correspondence between the two. It also pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/229 shows that the fruits of development have been Patnaik U. 1987. Peasant Class Differentiation: A Study distributed according to the caste hierarchy in Method with Reference to Haryana, New Delhi: reflecting a correspondence between caste and Oxford University Press. class in Indian society. Notwithstanding, several Sharma K. L. 2001. Reconceptualising Caste, Class and claims and counter claims in this regard, the Tribe, Jaipur: Rawat Publication. data also confirms that classes are also emerging Srinivas M. N. 1992. Varna and Caste, in Gupta among caste categories. However, the results are D. (ed.) Social Stratification, New Delhi: Oxford indicative and there is a limitation of data. All University Press. possible categorisation of castes and classes cannot Thorner D. 1956.Agrarian Prospects in India: Five be measured based on available data. However Lectures on Land Reform Delivered in 1955 at the Delhi researchers are free to collect relevant data School of Economics, Delhi: Delhi: University Press. and apply a methodology of conceptualisation Weber M. 1992. Class, Status and Party, in Gupta and measurement according to their choice. D. (ed.) Social Stratification, New Delhi: Oxford Notwithstanding, the available data from University Press.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 17 ~ Caste and Class in India

The Muslims from India were at one stage called ‘Hindavi’ Muslims, in Persian as well as Arabic and there are plenty of references in early British documents to ‘Hindoo Muslims’ and ‘Hindoo Christians’, to distinguish them respectively from Muslims and Christians from outside India.

18 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By Abdul Shaban Social Diversity, Hierarchy and Cultural Heterogeneity among Muslims o f I n d i a Though the media and other journalistic literature in recent years have projected Muslims as socially ‘monolithic’ and with the same ‘identity’ of ‘Muslimness’, Muslims in India, are as diverse and as disparate as ‘Hindus’. The religion as a thin veneer is spread over a block of diverse social practices and conceptions of sub-continental origin like caste, community, kinship, race, gender, language and food habits. This is why, Muslims in India have largely remained unaffected from social and political movements among Muslims elsewhere.

The author is a professor, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. shaban@tiss.

o edu. The article should be cited as Shaban A. 2020. Social Diversity, Hierarchy and Cultural Heterogeneity among t o h P Prasad : Muslims of India, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 18-23

Geo graphy and You . 2020 19 ocial, cultural, religious and racial word derives from the river Indus or ‘Sindu’ diversities have been the hallmark (the cradle of the Indus valley civilization of India. In India, there is no single which flourished from around 3000 BCE) identity that is able to adequately signify and the name of the river is also the source of individuals, families and groups as the word ‘India’ itself. The Persian and Greek several identities criss-cross them. More often saw India as the land around and beyond the thanS not, they have to use one or the other identity Indus and Hindus were the native people of to define and situate themselves in the cobweb of the land. Muslims from India were at one stage India's social formation. Followers of all the major called ‘Hindavi’ Muslims, in Persian as well religions of the world such as Christianity, Islam, as Arabic and there are plenty of references in Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, early British documents to ‘Hindoo Muslims’ Jainism, and Sikhism are found in India. In fact, and ‘Hindoo Christians’, to distinguish them two geographies, western Asia and south Asia respectively from Muslims and Christians have been the hearth of these religions. The former from outside India” (Sen 2005). three Abrahamic religions originated in the This is why Allama Iqbal wrote Hindi“ Hain, Middle East, while the latter four, in what is today, Ham Watan Hain” (we are Hindi, and belong India and Pakistan. As per the Census of India to the same country/home). He, in his famous 2011 (PIB 2015), the Hindus constitute 79.8 per composition, Bal-e-Jibril (Gabriel's Wing), cent while Muslims comprise 14.2 per cent of the addresses himself (in reference to Maulana total population of the country. Muslims are the Jalaluddin Rumi), as Mureed-e-Hindi (the Indian second major religious community of India. The disciple). However, the term ‘Hindu’ used in earlier share of other religious groups has been miniscule references has come to be differentiated from what though numerically significant. political Hinduism has become of late. The above discussion shows that regional The Geographic Identity of People of the identity, Hindi or Hindu (not in its current Indian Subcontinent ideological form) has been one of the major It is important to note that the collective identity defining features for the people of the Indian of the people living to the east of the Indus, sub-continent. Despite being divided in various irrespective of their religion and belief systems, sub-identities, people of this country are largely was that of the Hindus. Arabs, Greeks and Central the dwellers of the same geographic region, what Asians referred people living to the east of Indus as can be termed as the Indian nation. Within this Hindus. As such it is a geographic identity. In fact, geographic identity other identities appeared and what we have today as Hinduism is not a religion disappeared as a historical process. Some groups having a homogenous belief and practice system, changed their religions and adopted new ones, like other religions, but a collection of belief while others were relegated to the margins of the systems practiced by people living to the east of caste system or re-defined as upper castes. These the Indus. processes historically reconfigured Indian society Though the term ‘Hindu’ today is used for and are ongoing currently. Muslims of the country signifying the majority religious community have been one such religious community defined of India, because of the geographical reasons geographically as Hindi Muslims (Muslims of mentioned above, it has also been used for other India) or Hindaviat at the collective level but religious communities such as Muslims and divided downwards in many sects, segments, Christians. They were all referred to as Hindus, castes, linguistic and regional groups. Hindi, or Hindavi. As Amartya Sen writes: “In fact, seeing Hinduism as a unified religion S ocio-cultural Diversity among Muslims is a comparatively recent development. The Although Abrahamic religions do not differentiate term ‘Hindu’ was traditionally used mainly followers on the basis of their socio-cultural as a signifier of location and country, rather and ethnic belongings, Muslims, who are also than of any homogenous religious belief. The generally given a monolithic political identity in

20 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 day-to-day discourse in the country, are extremely Deoband school, have been stone-pelted by divided community on the basis of caste, sect Barelvis. Indian Shias are divided into three and regions, similar to the majority religious sub-sects—the Athna-Asharias, the Ismailyas, community, the Hindus. the Zaidyas. The Athna-Asharias are further From the regional and linguistic perspective, a divided in two sub sub-sects, Akhbari and south Indian Muslim, for example, in the north Usuli. The Ismailyas are further divided into India is as alien as a Hindu from the south of Bohras and Khojas. The Bohras and Khojas India to the north (Basant 2007). In fact, there are are further divided into many sub-sects like more regional commonalities among Muslim Dawoodi Bohras, Sulemani Bohras, Alvi and Hindus than differences emerging from Bohras, Atba-e-Malak, Insa Asali Khojas, etc. the respective religious beliefs. A Kannada, Besides these sects, Muslims are also Tamil, Marathi, and Malayali Muslim has more divided into various communities based on commonalities in dress, food, cultural practices, geographic regions. For Instance, the Mophilla aspirations and world view with their co-regional community of Kerala claims its descent from Hindu groups than those of the Muslims of north Arab merchants. Pathans consider their origin India, for example Kashmir, Bihar and Bengal. from Afghanistan. Then there are Shaikh and Same is the case for the Muslims from Uttar Sayyids claiming their descents from Arabian Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Assam. The regional tribes. As mentioned above, most of the Indian divisions of cultures and overlap of religious Muslims are descendants of 'untouchable' and practices and belief systems are common to all the 'low' caste Hindus, with only a small minority communities of India. ‘People of India Project’, a tracing their origins from ancestors from study by Anthropological Survey of India, shows, Arab, Iran, Turkey and other Central Asian “Amazing data on identity formation/religious countries (Sikand 2003). The lower caste behaviour and dual religious formation… Thus, convert Muslims, in order to achieve the social Hindus share 96.77 per cent traits with Muslims, and political status, claim their descent from 91.19 per cent with Buddhists, 88.99 per cent with supposed warrior and respectable communities Sikhs, and 77.46 per cent with Jains. Muslims (Momin 2004). Muslims who claim foreign share 91.18 per cent traits with Buddhists and descent assert a superior status for themselves 89.95 per cent with Sikhs” (Das 2006). as Ashraf. In fact, the ‘ashrafisation’ (the lower The ethnic features, religious and cultural caste Muslims claiming their descent from practices indicate that most of the Muslims of Arab tribes, Turko-Afghan groups or upper India (mainly converts from Hinduism) belonged caste Hindu converts and adopting the social to the lower castes and class of the Indian society behaviour and religious rituals as practiced and identify with those castes and class as is by these groups to claim higher social status) evident from their surnames and titles. The study in Indian Muslims has been historically and cited above also reveals that Muslims of India are socially operating in the same way as the segmented in 584 sub-communities (Das 2006). sanskritisation process among the Hindus. Besides caste and class, Muslims in India Given the Indian society has been extremely are also divided into two major sects, Sunni divided on the basis of descents, social and and Shia. Each sect has many different schools political powers have often been associated or sub-sects. Sunnis are divided in four sects with supposed descent of the communities. – the Hanafi, the Maliki, the Shafai and the Indian Muslims retain a large number of Hanbali. Sunni Muslims of India mainly belong cultural and social traditions and features to the Hanafi sect/school. Further, within the belonging to their pre-conversion days. For Hanafis, we find Barelvi and Deobandi sects. instance, Malkans, converts from Rajput Like between Shias and Sunnis, the occasional castes, visit Hindu temples for personal clashes between Deobandis and Barelvis do ceremonies and greet each other in a Hindu take place. There have also been occasions manner (Momin 2004). Some of the Churihars when Tablighi Jamaat members, followers of and Mirasis from north India worship

Geo graphy and You . 2020 21 Hindu deity ‘Kalka Mai’ and ‘Durgabhavani’, respectively. Similarly ‘Kali’ (Hindu Goddess) is worshipped by many Muslims from West Bengal. Rajput Muslims from Rajasthan still add their caste surname and so is the tradition of pundits (Brahmins) in Kashmir Valley. Rajput Muslims, until as late as the nineteenth century was not much different from Hindu Rajputs: they practiced female infanticide and married within the Rajput boundaries of their community and this practice of endogamy still continues. In other words, caste specific practices including conception of purity and pollution, occupational restrictions and specialisation, endogamy, status and hierarchy largely inherited from regional Hindu cultures are still prevalent among Indian Muslims. The impact of the Hindu caste system even on the few who migrated from Central Asia and Arab to India has been so powerful that they started locating themselves in the overall hierarchical structure of the caste system. The concepts of Shaikhs, Pathans, and Sayyids, etc among Indian Muslims (or sub- continental Muslims) are based on these caste derived hierarchical notions. The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1907) mentions divisions of Muslims into Ashraf (Sayyids, Shaikhs, Mughals, Pathans) and Ajlaf (artisan and service castes like weavers cobblers, butchers, Most of the Indian potters, bangle-sellers and scavengers etc). ‘Ajlaf’ category is a broad conglomerate of Muslims are middle (equivalent to Hindu OBCs) and lower castes (equivalent to Hindu Scheduled Castes) descendants of Muslims. The lower castes are also referred to as ‘Arzals’ and are sometimes separated from 'untouchable' and 'low' the ‘Ajlaf’ category. These Ajlafs (including caste Hindus, with Arzals) considered as converts from Hinduism have been at the margin of socio-economic only a small minority and political power and till date largely retain their pre-conversion occupations (like tracing their origins weaving, scavenging, etc). However, even these broad categories of from ancestors from Ashrafs and Ajlafs seem to be not adequately explaining the social system and hierarchies Arab, Iran, Turkey and within Indian Muslims. There are sub-castes marked with regional variations as also weak but other Central Asian perceptible processes of Ashrafisation of Ajlaf and countries. de-Ashrafisation of Ashraf at work. It is claimed that about 75 per cent of the Muslim population falls into the Ajlaf category. Based on their lower

22 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 caste origin, 'Dalit Muslims', the Arzals, for a are about how to organically link the parallel while have been demanding for positive protective lives of citizens so divided. In case of India, discrimination (reservation in employment, we find a significant attempt emerging both education and other state provisions) enshrined from minority and majority religious groups to in Article 341 of the Indian Constitution, which separate people—by disrupting their organic lives authorises the President of India to declare certain and forcing them to live parallel lives. Because of castes as Scheduled Castes for special benefits these, notwithstanding the regional, linguistic, (Diwan and Rajput 1979). caste and sect differences, all shades of Muslims Further, the section of OBC Muslims in India to a great extent face similar existential challenges comprises of two disparate categories, ‘Arzals’ when they are faced with right wing political and ‘Ajlafs’. Arzals are socially equivalent to and social formations from both the Hindu and Schedule Castes (SCs), and Ajlafs are middle the Muslim religious communities. The attempt caste converts and are socially equivalent to remains to depict Muslims as a monolithic OBCs among the Hindus. Unfortunately, community to enhance the political productivity this pooling of two categories in the OBC has of Muslim identity. emerged because of problematic conception of caste by the Constitutional (Scheduled R eferences Caste) Order, 1950, popularly known as Ahmad I. 1973. Caste and Social Stratification among Presidential Order, 1950, which restrict the SC the Muslims in India. New Delhi: Manohar status only to Hindu (later expanded to Sikhs Publications. and Ne-Buddhists) group having unclean Anwar A. 2001. Masawat ki Jung: Pasmanzar: Bihar occupation. As Sachar Committee Report ka Pasmanda Musalman, New Delhi: Vani (Government of India 2006) puts it: Prakashan. “...the OBCs among Muslims constitute Basant R. 2007. Diversity among India Muslims, two broad categories. The halalkhors, helas, india-seminar.com. Available at: https://www. lalbegis, or bhangis (scavengers), dhobi india-seminar.com/2007/569/569_rakesh_basant. (washermen), nais or hajjams (barbers), chiks htm (butchers), faqirs (beggars) etc belonging to the Das N.K. 2006. People of India and Indian ‘Arzals’ are the ‘untouchable converts’ to Islam Anthropology: K S Singh: A Tribute. Economic and that have found their way in the OBC list. The Political Weekly, 41(29): 3156-3158. Available at: Momins or Julahas (weavers), darzis or Idiris https://www.jstor.org/stable/4418461?seq=1 (tailors), rayeen or kunjaras (vegetable sellers) Diwan P. and P. Rajput. 1979. Constitution of India, are Ajlafs or converts from clean occupation New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. castes. Thus one can discern three groups Government of India. 2006. Social, Economic and among Muslims: (1) those without any social Educational Status of the Muslim Community disabilities, the Ashrafs; (2) Those equivalent of India: The Sachar Committee Report, 2006: to Hindu OBCs, the Ajlafs, and (3) those Government of India, New Delhi: India. Available equivalent to Hindu SCs, the Arzals. Those at: https://bit.ly/2UlBCw8 who are referred to as Muslim OBCs combine Momin A.R. 2004. The Indo Islamic Tradition, in (2) and (3)." Robinson R. (ed), Sociology of Religion in India, However, in recent decades, these religious New Delhi: Sage Publications. identities have become very productive for PIB (Press Information Bureau). 2015. RGI Releases political processes. Religious identity is being Census 2011 data on Population by Religious manipulated for award, reward, exclusion, Communities: Ministry of Home Affairs, punishment, lampooning, denationalisation, Government of India, New Delhi: India. stereotyping, violence and killing. This Indian Sen A. 2005. The Argumentative Indian: Writing on diversity needs to be contrasted with the rest of Indian History, Culture and Identity, London: the world and particularly western European Penguin Books. countries, USA and Canada, where diversity Sikand Y. 2003. The 'Dalit-Muslims' and the All India emerged with modern day immigration from Backward Muslim Morcha, Qalandar. Available at: rest of the world. The issues in these countries http://www.indianet.nl/dalmusl.html

Geo graphy and You . 2020 23 ~ Caste and Class in India

The division of agrarian classes and inequality in distribution of land are sharp in Haryana but blurred in Rajasthan. Seen in the visual is an aged farmer, juxtaposed against a more affluent neighbour in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.

24 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By M S Jaglan Cae st a n d C l a s s i n Indn ia Agriculture

The study reviews varying perspectives on the debate of caste and class in Indian Agriculture. It evaluates the emergence of caste and class differentials from the colonial to post independence period. It brings out that class differentiation in Indian agriculture has become vivid since the initiation of Green Revolution. Taking case studies of two villages from agriculturally developed and backward states of Haryana and Rajasthan respectively it concludes that caste and class are not exclusive social categories in rural India. In both cases the middle castes have emerged as dominant castes and unlike eastern India, agrarian societies have dispersed inequality. But division of agrarian classes and inequality in distribution of land are very sharp in Haryana but quite blurred in Rajasthan. d a s The author is Professor at Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. mahabirsj@ r

o rediffmail.com. The article should be cited as Jaglan M. S. 2020. Caste and Class in Indian Agriculture, t o h P a P : Geography and You, 20(4-5): 24-33

Geo graphy and You . 2020 25 aste represents a distinct social and crisscross each other. Rural economy of the identity and economic entity in country is organically connected to both caste most societies in India though the and class. However, its relation with caste is quite magnitude of its domain varies transparent and clearly defined. Caste relations across regions. It is a common with the economy are socially legitimised and phenomenon in Hindu society but other sanctioned. The upper caste status allows people Creligious communities are not unfamiliar to to refrain from physical work and empowers caste based stratification. It is a category that them to exploit the lower castes in both economic acquires a permanent status within a well defined and the social sphere. The class concerns social hierarchy, characterised by hereditary ownership, control and use of land resources. status and representing an extreme form of It broadly classifies the agrarian society as closed social system. Caste is an endogamous landowners and the landless. The latter category group sharing a common hereditary lineage and is further classified as tenants and agricultural imposing on its members certain restrictions labourers. There is a direct correspondence in social interaction. The caste system has also between caste and class in the eastern region been instrumental in defining the contours of of India as upper castes mostly own land, rural economy as occupation and functional middle castes have been traditionally tenants relationship of the people have been tied to castes on their lands and lower castes are providers under the Jajmani (patron-client relationship) of agricultural labour. Andre Beteille calls this system. It has also for long defined hereditary correspondence between caste and class as rights of communities on land and other cumulative inequality and distinguishes it from properties in the rural areas. dispersed inequality where upper castes no more Contrary to caste, class is an abstract social represent upper class (Beteille 1974). category having no clear boundary or criteria There are broadly two formulations on relation for identification. It is not an organised and between caste and class. First, is that stranglehold precisely defined closed social group. There are of caste in the society is breaking down and it is two approaches in identification of social classes- being replaced by class. The second formulation Marxist and Non-Marxist or Weberian. In the postulates that caste and class are not exclusive Marxist approach, stratification of the society social categories. Rather different classes such is identified in terms of mode and relations as rich and poor coexist under the domain of of production. So, in the agrarian societies it same caste. Andre Beteille was a protagonist is the mode of production in agriculture that of the first view (Beteille 1974). It has been validates its classification. Most of the Marxists supported by Pauline Kolenda through her work studies have identified classes in rural societies in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu and through the based on land ownership, types of peasants separate works of Jan Bremen and A M Shah in (landowners, tenants, landless etc.), types different parts of Gujarat (Kolenda 1981; Bremen of agricultural technology, labour class and 1974; Shah 1982). The genesis of the second the amount of surplus produced. Weberian formulation is linked to the dominant caste approach classifies the society on the basis of concept of M N Srinivas who has defined it in three parameters—wealth (capability to produce terms of ownership/control of land and numerical or inherit property), power (control over others) concentration of a caste in a region (Srinivas prestige (lifestyle, honour). The identification of 1962). The dominant castes are often placed at the class through this approach is done based on a top or middle level in local social hierarchy. Gail combination of these parameters. Omvedt also pointed out that caste and class are no more correlated and economic differentiations O verlapping Domains of Caste and Class exist in every case (Omvedt 1981). Ramkrishna in Agrarian Society Mukherjee opined that class structure cuts Andre Beteille says that the agrarian economy across the caste hierarchy forming new alliances of India cannot be understood without and antagonism (Mukherjee 2000). The classes understanding its social framework (Beteille exist across the castes but large and medium 1974). Caste and class in rural India intertwine size farmers mostly belong to dominant castes

26 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 whereas the lower castes (Dalits) have been mostly liberalisation phase has also favoured big, agricultural labourers. educated and innovative farmers leaving behind a trail of agricultural crisis particularly for the Widening Gap within Castes and Classes marginal and small farmers. The advancement of India having a long agricultural history and agricultural technology for the farm operations differential agro-ecological conditions has from sowing to harvesting and winnowing experienced both caste and class differentiation has led to displacement of agricultural labour, according to historical experience and diverse underemployment and reduction in wage rates. geo-ecological conditions. Britishers introduced In due course of time all these processes have the Zamindari System in the paddy growing contributed to the widening gap between rural areas of eastern India whereby the revenue was rich and poor. collected by the government directly from big landowners. It facilitated the emergence of social Case Studies classes—big landlords, tenants and agricultural The case studies selected here pertain to two labourers which more or less corresponded different villages Bibipur and Roodkali, in to the upper, middle and lower castes. But in Haryana and Rajasthan respectively. These northwestern and western semi-arid regions villages belong to two different agro-ecological of India having diversified cropping patterns zones and have had different historical witnessed the introduction of Ryotwari and experiences. Bibipur located in the fertile central Mahalwari systems. Most of the landowners in part of Haryana is an irrigated and agriculturally these regions were self-cultivators or cultivated developed village. It is inhabited by the dominant their land with the help of hired labour. But caste—Jat and a sizeable population of lower in these areas also the land titles were given to castes and other upper castes. The mean annual middle level castes many of whom emerged as rainfall in the village is about 55 cm but adequate dominant castes in due course of time. Jats, Patels means of irrigation and loamy soils facilitate and Marathas are examples of such castes. two crop cultivation mainly wheat and rice. During post Independence period diffusion Historically the farmers of this region have been of new agricultural technology particularly under the domain of Mahalwari settlement through the introduction of Green Revolution during the British rule. In the present context in 1960s brought about class differentiation in Bibipur represents commercial agricultural agrarian castes as large farmers had easy access economy being practiced in Haryana. On to new biochemical inputs and farm machinery the other hand, historically the land revenue and the advantage of economy of scale than system in Roodkali village in Jodhpur district marginal and small farmers. This also furthered has been more exploitative as the Maharaja of the economic gap between dominant castes and Jodhpur collected revenue from the Khalsa lower castes who mostly worked as agricultural lands. Roodkali is located in the Thar Desert near labourers. With the destruction of artisanship Jodhpur, with the mean annual rainfall of 35 cm. in the wake of onslaught of new farm technology With very limited means of irrigation and scanty many artisan workers belonging to socially rain, mixed cropping in the village on most backward castes underwent an occupational cultivable lands is done during the Kharif season shift and a large proportion of them joined the only. The agriculture in Roodkali has very low ranks of agricultural labour (Jangra and Jaglan commercial intensity. Both the case studies are 2017). The expansion of groundwater irrigation based on field survey based census data collected and the advent of submersible tube-wells in the in 2012 and 2017 respectively. 1980s widened the differences among farmers Table 1 shows that about one-third households in terms of accessibility of irrigation resulting in Bibipur are landless and as expected highest in widening economic gap between large and proportion of landless is found among the small farmers. Rise of entrepreneurship in the scheduled castes (four out of five) followed by wake of commercialisation and diversification the backward artisan castes (three out of five). of agriculture in the favour of remunerative Jats are placed at middle level in social hierarchy agricultural commodities during the post and about 96 per cent of them are landowners.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 27 They also wield political power in the region to attain the status of dominant caste. Though majority of Jats are marginal and small farmers, a good number of them are medium and large farmers too. Most of the landowners belonging to scheduled castes and backward artisan castes are marginal farmers. The upper castes constitute only one-tenth of total households in the village. About four-fifth households belonging to these castes are landowners and almost all of them are marginal and small farmers. An overwhelming proportion belonging to the middle castes practice agriculture as their main occupation (Table 2). Though their occupation is quite diversified, about three-fifths upper castes are also engaged in agriculture. Contrary to this, about three-fourth scheduled caste persons find casual labour as their main occupation. A majority of backward artisan caste persons are also mainly engaged in casual labour to earn their livelihood. It is evident that a big proportion of middle and upper castes are farmers while a similarly big proportion of lower castes are casual farm labourers. Table 3 reveals occupational patterns of different agrarian classes. A large proportion of landless persons in Bibipur, about two-third, work as casual labour. The majority of marginal farmers (about 56 per cent) have agriculture as their The advancement main occupation. But the small landholdings of agricultural they own are insufficient for their economic sustenance. Consequently they have the most technology for the diversified occupational pattern and about one- fifth of them are engaged in casual labour. But an farm operations overwhelming proportion of large and medium size farmers derive their livings from agriculture. from sowing to About three-fifth small farmers also mainly depend on agriculture for livelihood. harvesting and In Roodkali village near Jodhpur nearly four out of five households are land owners. Table 4 reveals winnowing has led that scheduled castes have the highest proportion of to displacement of landless but three out of five households belonging to these lower castes are also landowners. Similarly agricultural labour, about three-fourth backward artisan caste households are also landowners. But most of the underemployment households belonging to these two categories of lower castes are marginal and small farmers. On the and reduction in other hand, more than one-third (about 36 per cent) upper and middle caste households are large and wage rates. very large farmers. In fact, about two-third farmers belonging to these castes fall in the category of

28 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Table 1: Distribution of households by size of landholdings and caste groups in Bibipur village, Jind, Haryana (2012) Marginal farmers Small farmers Medium farmers Large farmers Caste Group Landless Total (Below 1 ha) (1-2 ha) (2-4 ha) (Above 4 ha)

Upper castes 21 48 16 9 2 96 (21.88) (50.00) (16.67) (9.38) (2.08) (100.00)

Middle castes 19 154 142 106 48 469 (4.05) (32.83) (30.28) (22.60) (10.23) (100.00)

Artisan (backward) 83 40 5 2 1 131 castes (63.36) (30.53) (3.81) (1.52) (0.76) (100.00)

Scheduled castes 162 32 1 1 1 197 (82.23) (16.24) (0.51) (0.51) (0.51) (100.00)

All households 285 274 164 118 52 893 (31.91) (30.68) (18.37) (13.21) (5.82) (100.00)

About one-third households in Bibipur are landless and as expected the highest proportion of landless is found among the scheduled castes (four out of five) followed by the backward artisan castes (three out of five).

Table 2: Distribution of main occupation of people by caste groups in Bibipur village, Jind, Haryana (2012)

Caste group Agriculture Casual labour Service Business Others Total

Upper castes 130 (59.9) 23 (10.6) 36 (16.6) 18 (8.3) 10 (4.6) 217 (9.8)

Middle castes 977 (78.5) 40 (3.2) 129 (10.3) 52 (4.2) 46 (3.7) 1244 (100.00)

Artisan (backward) castes 36 (12.8) 151 (53.9) 38 (13.5) 37 (13.2) 18 (6.4) 280 (100.00)

Scheduled castes 48 (10.1) 348 (72.9) 42 (8.8) 13 (2.7) 26(5.4) 477 (100.00)

All persons 1191 (53.7) 562 (25.3) 245 (11.1) 120 (5.4) 100 (4.5) 2218 (100.0)

An overwhelming proportion belonging to the middle castes practice agriculture as their main occupation.

Table 3: Distribution of main occupation of people by size of landholdings in Bibipur village, Jind, Haryana (2012)

Landholding size Agriculture Casual labour Service Business Other Total

Landless 47 (7.7) 409 (67.7) 56 (9.2) 50 (8.2) 42 (6.9) 604 (100.00)

Marginal farmers 359 (55.8) 135 (21.0) 95 (14.7) 30 (4.6) 24 (3.7) 643 (100.00)

Small farmers 343 (76.9) 8 (1.7) 56 (12.5) 21 (4.7) 18 (4.0) 446 (100.00)

Medium farmers 286 (83.1) 6 (1.7) 29 (8.4) 9 (2.6) 14 (4.1) 344 (100.00)

Large farmers 156 (86.1) 4 (2.2) 9 (4.9) 10 (5.5) 2 (1.1) 181 (100.00)

All farmers 1191 (53.7) 562 (25.3) 245 (11.0) 120 (5.4) 100 (4.5) 2218 (100.0)

A large proportion of landless persons in Bibipur, about two-third, work as casual labour. The majority of marginal farmers (about 56 per cent) have agriculture as their main occupation. *Figures in parentheses are percentages of total.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 29 30 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 e r a w a G

i Haryana is well-irrigated and agriculturally h s k developed. The dominant caste group, ta a the Jats are placed at the middle level in sy: s sy: e

t social hierarchy and a majority of them are r landowners. They also wield considerable o t o political power in the region. h P Cou

Geo graphy and You . 2020 31 Table 4: Distribution of households by size of landholdings and caste groups in Roodkali village, Jodhpur, Rajasthan (2017) Very large Marginal farmers Small farmers Medium farmers Large farmers Categories Landless farmers Total (Below 1 ha) (1-2 ha) (2-4 ha) (4-8 ha) (Above 8 ha) Upper and middle 3 (2.78) 12 (11.11) 20 (18.52) 34 (31.48) 25 (23.15) 14 108 castes (12.96) (100.00) Artisan (backward) 12 (23.52) 21 (41.18) 3 7 (13.73) 7 (13.73) 1 51 castes (5.88) (1.96) (100.00)

Scheduled castes 38 (40.86) 31 (33.33) 19 (20.43) 4 (4.30) 1 0 93 (1.08) (0.00) (100.00)

All Households 53 (21.03) 64 (25.40) 42 (16.17) 45 (17.86) 33 (13.10) 15 (5.94) 252 (100.00) Scheduled castes have the highest proportion of landless but three out of five households belonging to these lower castes are also landowners.

Table 5: Distribution of main occupation of people by caste groups in Roodali village, Jodhpur, Rajasthan (2017)

Caste group Agriculture Animal husbandry Casual labour Service Business Other Total Upper and middle 121 34 17 32 15 17 236 castes (51.3) (14.4) (7.2) (13.6) (6.4) (7.2) (100.00) Artisan (backward 48 5 30 7 16 19 126 castes) (38.1) (3.9) (23.8) (5.6) (12.7) (15.8) (100.00) Schedule castes 70 5 94 2 2 20 193 (36.3) (2.6) (48.7) (1.03) (1.03) (10.4) (100.00) Total 239 44 141 41 33 57 555 (43.1) (7.9) (25.4) (7.4) (5.9) (10.3) (100.0) About half of the scheduled caste households perform casual labour as their main economic engagement. But their occupation is quite diversified and about 36 per cent of them are engaged in agriculture.

Table 6: Distribution of main occupation of people by size of landholdings in Roodkali village, Jodhpur, Rajasthan (2017) Landholding size Agriculture Casual labour Service Business Animal husbandry Others Total Landless 9 75 5 3 4 20 116 (7.7) (64.7) (4.1) (2.6) (3.4) (17.2) (100.00)

Marginal farmers 42 32 1 9 2 13 99 (42.4) (32.3) (1.0) (9.1) (2.0) (13.1) (100.00)

Small farmers 58 11 9 3 15 2 98 (59.2) (11.2) (9.2) (3.1) (15.3) (2.0) (100.00)

Medium farmers 56 8 11 8 7 5 95 (58.9) (8.4) (11.6) (8.4) (7.3) (5.2) (100.00)

Large farmers 55 14 6 8 12 10 105 (52.4) (13.3) (5.7) (7.6) (11.4) (9.5) (100.00)

Very large farmers 19 1 9 2 4 7 42 (45.2) (2.4) (21.4) (4.8) (9.5) (16.7) (100.00)

All farmers 239 141 41 33 44 57 555 (43.1) (25.4) (7.4) (5.9) (7.9) (10.3) (100.0) The landless agrarian class has great dependence on casual labour as about two-third of landless earn their living from this occupation. *Figures in parentheses are percentage of total.

32 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 medium, large and very large farmers. Numerically, sharp in the Haryana village. A big majority of it is a middle caste, Bishnoi which is the dominant lower castes (scheduled and backward castes) caste in the village with a small proportion of upper are landless and derive their livelihood from caste—Rajputs. casual labour in this village. But majority of About half of the scheduled caste households lower castes are landowners (mostly marginal perform casual labour as their main economic and small holdings) in the Rajasthan village and engagement (Table 5). But their occupation is apart from casual labour agriculture is also a quite diversified and about 36 per cent of them significant source of livelihood to them. Large are engaged in agriculture. The backward artisan and medium farmers have an overwhelming castes have the most diversified economic base as economic dependence on agriculture in the about two-fifth of them are engaged in agriculture, Haryana village but they have a diversified about one-fourth in casual labour and the rest economic base in the Rajasthan village, which (about one-third) in non-agricultural activities. seems to be necessitated due to perpetual Even the dominant landowning castes have quite agricultural backwardness in the region. diversified occupational pattern with about half of Acknowledgement: The author is thankful to the households engaged in agriculture and one in Professor Omvir Singh and MSc students of 2011-13 seven households deriving their livelihood from and 2016-18 batches of Department of Geography, animal husbandry. Kurukshetra University for sharing their field survey The landless agrarian class has great dependence reports data. on casual labour as about two-third of landless earn their living from this occupation (Table R eferences 6). Agriculture gives livelihood to only 42 per Beteille A. 1974. Studies in Agrarian Social Structure, cent marginal farmers, about one-third of them New Delhi: Oxford University Press. are also engaged in casual labour. Interestingly, Breman J. 1974. Patronage and Exploitation: agriculture is not the main occupation of the Changing Agrarian Relations in majority of very large farmers as well. About South Gujarat India, Berkeley: University of one-fifth of them have service as their main California Press. occupation. Agriculture is the main occupation Jangra, M and M.S. Jaglan. 2017. Intergenerational for the majority of other agrarian classes but Occupational Mobility among Artisan/Service they also have quite a diversified occupational Castes in Rural Haryana, Population Geography, pattern. The perpetual agricultural backwardness 38(1&2): 29-44. Available at: http://www. of the village seems to push the marginal and apgichd.com/folder/Abstracts2019.pdf small farmers towards casual labour and animal Kolenda P. 1981. Caste, Cult and Hierarchy: Essays husbandry and large and medium farmers on the culture of India, Meerut: Folklore towards service and other occupations. Institute. Mukherjee R. 2000. Caste in Itself, Caste and Class, Way Forward or Caste in Class, Journal of World-Systems The case studies pertain to two different agro- Research, 6(2):332-39. Available at: http://jwsr. climatic zones, historical backgrounds and pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/229 levels of agricultural development in Haryana Omvedt G. 1981. Capitalist Agriculture and Rural and Rajasthan respectively. But both these Classes in India, Economic and Political Weekly, studies bring out that caste and class are not 16(52): 140-159. Available at: https://www. exclusive social categories. In both the cases epw.in/journal/1981/52/review-agriculture- middle castes are found to be main landowning uncategorised/capitalist-agriculture-and-rural- and dominant castes and not the upper castes. classes-india.html. So both these villages experience what is termed Shah A.M. 1982. Division and Hierarchy: An an agrarian structure with dispersed inequality. Overview of Caste in Gujarat, Contributions But the division of peasantry into agrarian to Indian Sociology (NS), 16(1): 1-21. classes is very sharp in the agriculturally Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/ developed Haryana village and a bit blurred in doi/10.1177/006996678201600101 the agriculturally backward Rajasthan village. Srinivas M.N. 1962. Caste in Modern India and The inequality in distribution of land is very Other Essays, New York: Asia Publishing House.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 33 ~ Caste and Class in India

Upper caste groups own a disproportionately higher share of land while Dalits and marginalised Adivasi groups face larger encroachments in their resource rich regions. A visual of an Adivasi (Santhal) household, processing boiled rice from paddy in 24 Pargana, West Bengal.

34 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By Deepak K Mishra Ident D ity AN the Pol itical Economy OF Agra ari n Change Despite significant changes in the agrarian structure and affirmative action in various spheres, caste-based exclusion and discrimination continue to be widely prevalent. In the rural, agrarian economy in India, both social exclusion and adverse inclusion—in terms of assets and access to markets and institutions, act as the basis of caste-based discrimination. As a result of historical biases in ownership of and access to resources, including information and institutions, both structural discrimination in asset-ownership and wealth and its manifestations in the market transactions point to the various ways unequal opportunities shape the trajectories of rural transformation in contemporary India.

The author is Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. [email protected] The article should be cited as Mishra K. D. 2020.

Photo: PrasadPhoto: Identity and the Political Economy of Agrarian Change, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 34-39

Geo graphy and You . 2020 35 A grarian Crisis specific regions. A differentiated understanding Rural India is in flux. While the changing of the unfolding opportunities and constraints for consumption patterns of rural people, increasing different categories of households also opens up tele-density and the corresponding exposure to the ways through which identities in rural India is media and the closer connections of the rural being reconfigured under neoliberal globalisation. youth with aspirations of the urban dwellers are routinely highlighted to argue that the I dentities and the Rural Economy dichotomous rural-urban distinctions may be In the dominant theorisation of the economy inadequate to understand the changing face in general and that of agrarian markets in of rural India. The stories of rural distress and particular, identities of the individuals are widening rural-urban disparities have also usually ignored or, at best, are treated as emerged as persistent features of the economic exogenous. Research on labour markets in diverse transformation. The prolonged agrarian crisis, contexts, however, points to the way identities the decline in the share and number of cultivators of individuals influence the market outcomes in the rural population, and the out-migration (Harriss-White 2010). Identities of individuals of labour from rural areas to the urban informal based on gender, race, colour, religion, language economy—are all diverse manifestations of the and ethnicity are considered to be essential crisis of survival of a large section of small and aspects of the way markets work, both in the marginal farmers. The neoliberal economic developing and the developed world. Usually, policies in a globalising economy, far from the influence of identities is considered to be creating opportunities, have created a crisis of significant in the traditional, rural societies. survival for a large section of the peasantry Modernisation processes were expected to reduce, (Das 2013). if not completely obliterate, the stranglehold of On the one hand, following the withdrawal of traditions, customs, and the primordial identities subsidies and state support to agriculture, the of the people. In the case of India, caste, along with prices of inputs have gone up manifold while other markers of identities is considered to be an on the other, the increasing instability of output important determinant of social status and despite prices has made agriculture a risky enterprise, claims that the rigidities of caste structure is particularly for the small and marginal peasants. gradually dissolving, there is increasing evidence The inadequate credit support to farmers through that point to the continuation of caste-based banks and the formal sources has also led to discrimination (Attewell and Madheswaran 2007; dependence on the high-interest loans from Thorat and Newman 2012). the informal sector. The agrarian crisis is not merely limited to the crisis of productivity and Caste and the Agrarian Economy profitability in certain crops; more importantly, it The question of the relative primacy of caste is a structural crisis in the countryside. However, and class in understanding social and economic the crisis does not affect all regions, classes and change has been among the issues that had social groups in a similar manner. Marginalised attracted a lot of scholarly attention in the sections of the rural society are likely to be early post-independence decades. On the one disproportionately affected by the crisis of hand, emphasis on the ritualistic aspects of livelihoods than others. It is in this sense that caste distinctions led to a relative neglect of the the agrarian crisis needs to be understood from dimensions of power, dominance and economic the standpoint of its impacts on marginalised exploitation that was very much a part of caste social groups such as Dalits, adivasis, women, exploitation (Singh 2014), on the other, there and children. It is important to note that the was a belief that changes in the economic crisis also creates new opportunities for some structure brought about through modernisation classes and groups. From those involved in would gradually reduce the stranglehold of the speculative investment in land to those who have caste system (Jodhka 2012; Mohanty 2012). tied farmers in buy-back arrangements involving Such debates have gradually given way to a interlinked transactions in seeds, pesticides, and more empirically grounded articulation of the output markets—some classes have been able multiple forms of vulnerabilities that affect to accumulate and expand their operations in the poor and the marginalised social groups.

36 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Capabilities, as Martha Nussbaum has argued, studies note a correspondence between caste and are an 'interlocked set' and impediments to one land-holding status, in the sense that upper castes impede others (Nussbaum 2000). Sociologists as a group own disproportionately higher share have noted the changes in the caste system as well of land, while Dalits have very low ownership of its reconfiguration with respect to the spread of land. While this is broadly true for much of the education, occupational diversification as well as country, there are important regional variations political mobilisation. A recent study on the extent and also, when we move to further disaggregation of occupational diversification among different of the caste groups, the picture gets complicated, social groups concludes that ‘over the period particularly in the middle. It is not just that 1983–2009, there has been a significant movement Scheduled Caste (SC) households have relatively of SC households from agricultural labour to other lower share in total land owned, according to the occupations’, suggesting ‘a significant weakening NSS 70th round data, it is also the case that the of the historically given relationship between caste average value of land per hectare is much less for and occupation in rural India’ (Gang et al. 2017). the ST and SC households (4.5 and 7.7 lakhs per State interventions, as well as grassroots political acre) than that of the ‘others’ category (14.3 lakhs mobilisation have brought about significant per ha)—a disadvantage that also extends to the changes on the ground, yet the ‘legacy of caste value of farm machinery and implements as well is hard to erase for those coming from the lower as the value of buildings and other constructions end of the traditional hierarchy’ (Jodhka 2012). (Rao 2018). Structural discrimination, however, In fact, new studies suggest a continuation of the may be the result of historical biases in ownership relevance of caste as 'a source of deprivation, denial of and access to resources, including information and discrimination' (Jodhka 2012) even in the and institutions, and might not be limited to its urban, non-agricultural labour markets (Attewell manifestations in the market transactions. At and Madheswaran 2007; Newman and Thorat a deeper level, the discriminations that result 2007). Thus, despite changes at multiple levels, from structural inequality, may not only affect ‘caste is being selectively reworked. While caste the outcomes of market transactions but also the endogamy remains intact—and quite in harmony self-perception of individuals, including aspects of with modern capitalism- endogamy ensures material well being that they value. that the resources and social networks of family But caste-based exclusion is not limited to businesses are not available to dalits’ (Harriss- ownership of land alone. Andre Beteille had White et al. 2014). There is a gradual realisation postulated two kinds of relationship between caste that multiple marginalities interact and reinforce and agrarian structure: (i) ‘a surface relationship the disadvantages of marginalised groups in a which is revealed by the fact that landowners complex and uneven manner. Caste as a system belong predominantly to the upper castes and of 'graded inequalities' affects fundamental the landless to the lower castes’ and (ii) ‘a deeper capabilities and usually has a long-term impact relationship in which the hierarchical values through an inter-generational transfer of of caste sustained and legitimised the unequal deprivations and denial of opportunities. relations among landowners, tenants and Among others, two processes that are useful to agricultural labourers’ (Beteille 1972). Markets understand the implications of caste in the rural, as ‘sites of relationships of control over people' get agrarian economy in India are social exclusion intertwined with social identities under conditions and adverse or unfavourable inclusion—both 'where activity is constrained by ascriptive social in terms of assets and access to markets and norms’ and identities such as ‘[e]thnicity, caste, institutions. Land, which is a primary productive age and gender commonly circumscribe entry, if asset, as well as a marker of wealth and social not into markets per se, then more certainly into status in rural India, was mediated through the positions from which economic power can be institution of caste. The Dalits were often denied exercised’ (Harriss-White 1999). There is evidence the right to own land, and such an exclusion that suggests that labourers and farmers belonging was legitimised through the use of ideology in to the SCs and STs face unfavourable terms of the form of religious scriptures- the legacies of exchange in transactions in labour, credit, input such denials of rights over essential resources and product markets (Mishra 2008). According to continue to affect the agrarian structure. Several the All India Debt and Investment Survey released

Geo graphy and You . 2020 37 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO 2015), nearly all rural credit markets are dominated by the informal sources of credit— both in terms of proportion of agricultural households who got loans and proportion of total loans received from the formal sources, such as Scheduled Commercial Banks and Cooperatives, the shares of the SC and ST households were lower than that of the ‘others’ category that includes the upper castes (Rao 2018). Not only that agricultural households belonging to the SC and ST categories borrow disproportionately from the professional money-lenders, but they also pay relatively higher interest rates even in the informal credit markets (Sarap 1991; Mishra 2008; Rao 2018). A number of crucial tangible and non-tangible assets, such as water, credit, machines and information are often premised on one’s hierarchy in the rural economy and society, much of which depends upon the caste status. Even social capital that has been identified as a critical source of information and hence reducing transaction costs remains fragmented and anchored to caste identities. As a mechanism that creates barriers to entry and regulates the circulation of information, capital and reciprocity, caste-specific social capital, while creating opportunities and reducing costs for members of the group, creates barriers and increases costs for non-members. When Identities of agricultural labourers bargain for higher wages or small farmers try to negotiate for cheaper inputs, individuals based their caste status also plays a role in defining access as well as the terms of access to the inputs. on gender, race, Studies, for example, point to the systematic biases against Dalits and other marginalised groups in colour, religion, terms of lower access to formal credit. Often Dalits and Adivasi labourers find themselves tied to language and debt-cycles. A study notes that that ‘farm yields are ethnicity are systematically and substantially higher for low- caste households residing in villages dominated by considered to be lower castes compared to higher castes’, suggesting the linkages between caste dominance and the essential aspects functioning of the groundwater markets, which of the way markets crucially affects productivity (Anderson 2011). Way Forward work, both in the Despite the partial de-agrarianisation of the rural economy and increasing out-migration of developing and the cultivators and landless labourers to the urban developed world. informal economy and years of affirmative action in favour of the SCs and STs, the gains for the marginalised groups have not been substantial

38 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 enough to overcome the legacies of exclusion Harriss-White B. (ed.) Agricultural Markets from and discrimination. Instead, caste has been Theory to Practice: Field Experience in Developing reworked as a ‘civil social institution of capitalist Countries, London: Palgrave Macmillan. accumulation. It operates as an ideology, as an Harriss-White B. 2010. Work and Wellbeing in institutional structure and as a set of political- Informal Economies: The Regulative Roles economic relationships which blur the distinctions of Institutions of Identity and the State, World between economy and society’ (Harriss-White Development, 38(2): 170–183. Available at: https:// 2014). A realisation that the ‘diversity in the form bit.ly/2Qm5wxX of gender, race, national status and other forms is Harriss-White B., E. Basile, A. Dixit, P. Joddar and structurally central to global capitalism,’ has led A. Prakash. 2014. Dalits and Adivasis in India’s scholars to argue that ‘conjugated oppression—the Business Economy: Three Essays and an Atlas, co-constitution of class-based relations and Gurgaon: Three Essays Collective. oppression along the lines of race, ethnicity, Jodhka S.S. 2012. Caste: Oxford India Short Introductions, gender and, in India, caste and tribe’ is central to New Delhi: Oxford University Press. understanding contemporary agrarian change Lerche J. and A. Shah. 2018. Conjugated Oppression (Lerche and Shah 2018). In the Indian context, the Under Contemporary Capitalism: Class incorporation of Dalits and Adivasis at the bottom Relations, Social Oppression and Agrarian of capitalism is facilitated through the interrelated Change in India, Journal of Peasant Studies, 45(5– processes such as the ‘inherited inequalities of 6): 927–949. Available at: https://bit.ly/2U8VKjY power’; the ‘super-exploitation of casual migrant Mishra D.K. 2008. Structural Inequalities and labour’ and ‘conjugated oppression of class Interlinked Transactions in Agrarian Markets: relations and multiple oppressions based on caste, Results of a Field Survey, In S. K. Bhaumik (ed.) tribe, gender and region’ (Lerche and Shah 2018). Reforming Indian Agriculture: Towards Employment In this sense, understanding the role of multiple Generation and Poverty Reduction, New Delhi: marginalities under contemporary capitalism SAGE Publications. not only generates a richer characterisation of Mohanty B.B. 2012. Introduction: Agrarian Studies in capitalism but also contributes to the development Indian Sociology. in Mohanty B.B. (ed.) Agrarian of foundations for wide-ranging solidarity for an Change and Mobilisation in Indian Sociology, New alternative, more humane path of development. Delhi: Sage Publications India. National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). 2015. R eferences Household Ownership and Operational Holdings in Anderson S. 2011. Caste as An Impediment to Trade, India: NSS 70th Round: Ministry of Statistics and American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1): Programme Implementation Government of 239–263. Available at: https://bit.ly/2WhtKgt India, New Delhi: India. Available at: https://bit. Attewell P. and S. Madheswaran. 2007. Caste ly/38XG2NQ Discrimination in The Indian Urban Labour Newman K.S. and S. Thorat. 2007. Caste and Market: Evidence from The National Sample Economic Discrimination: Causes, Consequences Survey, Economic and Political Weekly, 42(41): and Remedies, Economic and Political Weekly, 42(41): 4146–4153. Available at: https://bit.ly/2Ua4YMD 4121–4124. Available at: https://bit.ly/2Ua5iuP Beteille A. 1972. Agrarian Relations in Tanjore Nussbaum M.C. 2000. Women and Human development: District, South India, Sociological Bulletin, 21(2): The Capabilities Approach (The Seeley Lectures), 122–151. Available at: https://bit.ly/2Qm2U30 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Das R.J. 2013. Agrarian Crisis as The Crisis of Small Rao C.S. 2018. Class-Caste Differences in Access to Property Ownership in Globalizing Capitalism, Agricultural Credit in India, Economic and Political Monthly Review. Available at: https://mronline. Weekly, 53(1): 15-17. org/2013/10/01/das011013-html/ Sarap K. 1991. Interlinked Agrarian Markets in Rural Gang I., K. Sen and M.S. Yun. 2017. Is Caste Destiny? India, New Delhi: Sage Publications India. Occupational Diversification Among Dalits in Singh H. 2014. Recasting Caste: From the Sacred to The Rural India, The European Journal of Development Profane, New Delhi: Sage Publications India. Research, 29(2): 476–492. Available at: http://ftp. Thorat S. and K.S. Newman. 2012.Blocked by Caste: iza.org/dp6295.pdf Economic Discrimination in Modern India, New Harriss-White B. 1999. Power in Peasant Markets, in Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 39 ~ Caste and Class in India

By Umakant The Antiquity and Continuity of the Caste System in India aDalit P e r s p e c t i v e Why has the caste system survived in India for more than millennia is a question that baffles many. In order to understand it one may have to look into its past and how it was transferred generation after generation. People in denial at most profess to believe that it plays a role only in marriages. Is endogamy not the single most factor for the maintenance of the caste system? There is therefore a need to revisit factors that have kept this system alive and how it is being nurtured even today. Manifestations of the caste system and the inequality and violence it entails are quite broad.

The author is an independent scholar. [email protected]. The article should be cited as Umakant, 2020. The Antiquity and Continuity of the Caste System in India: A Dalit Perspective, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 40-44

40 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 According to Manu, ‘there were originally four varnas and four they must remain’. He also decreed that the untouchables ‘must remain separate and segregated without being a part of the Hindu society’. A still from a Dalit tola located on the peripheries of an upper caste village in Mysore, Karnataka. Photo: PrasadPhoto:

Geo graphy and You . 2020 41 he caste system as it was introduced justification of them among the privileged, adds in the distant past is certainly a the author. unique social construct that has For any society to march on the path of not only survived for thousands of progress it is necessary that socio, economic, years but is alive and kicking even cultural and political systems are arranged in today in several forms. This bears testimony such a manner that they become the foundation toT the fact that the brahmanical social order for creating an egalitarian society and state. with its hierarchical nature of dividing people But the fact remains that society based on into different status groups—low and high Brahmanical social order prevents social and has survived the onslaughts from different other kinds of cohesive arrangements which are progressive and egalitarian influences coming in prerequisites for any egalitarian society. Jack the form of materialist philosophy of Charvaka, Donnelly feels that ‘the idea that one is entitled Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity. to equal concern and respect and a wide range of As a matter of fact, the religions which posed inalienable personal rights simply because one a challenge to the overarching influence of is a human being is utterly foreign to traditional Hinduism and the caste system itself got affected societies. In fact in traditional societies, in by the same kind of formal and informal caste India as elsewhere, social structures and the system within the ranks of their followers over a underlying social visions of human dignity, rest long period of time in the Indian subcontinent. not on human rights but rather on social duties The social stratification has a big role to play in and status hierarchies’ (Donnelly 1990). deciding the location, fate and even the rights and B R Ambedkar held the view that the basic duties that different groups in society could enjoy conception of social organisation which prevails or perform respectively. The hierarchical system among the Hindus starts with the rise of four of grading people creates multiple situations groups or Varnas into which Hindu society is wherein the groups of lowly ranked people are believed to have become divided (Ambedkar made to suffer on one or the other pretext for 1987a). These four classes were—Brahmins, being different from the rest of society. Pointing the priestly and the educated class; Kshatriyas, out the demerits of such hierarchical rankings the military class; Vaishyas, the trading class; Gerald D Berreman has opined that, ‘rankings and, Shudras, the servant class. For a time these of social groups and categories in the hierarchies were merely groups. After a time what were only of the Indian caste system and American race/ groups (Varnas) became Castes (Jatis) and the ethnic relations, are generally regarded as four castes multiplied into several sub-castes. In cultural matters; heavily value laden, endorsed by this way the modern caste system was only the tradition, even by religion’ (Berreman 2009). The evolution of the ancient Varna System. author goes on to say that these hierarchies are According to Manu, the ancient Hindu law regarded by their privileged strata as consensual giver and author of the Manusmriti, (2nd social bonds essential to social cohesion for the Century BCE), ‘there were originally four varnas society. On the other hand, he adds that a deeper and four they must remain’ (Ambedkar 1989). analysis of the dynamics within these societies The untouchables who were supposed to be reveal a fundamentally lacking social cohesion, outside the four fold division of the caste system with the rankings generating social friction and were not admitted. That the untouchables were conflict instead. There is a stark disagreement to remain out of the Hindu social structure is between the low and high, the disadvantaged clear from the name, which he describes the and the privileged in each of these societies—all untouchables by. Manu speaks of them as Varna- pervasive hostility, often covert resistance Bahyas (those outside the varna system). ‘They among the disadvantaged; smug assumption of must remain separate and segregated without presumed entitlements and fierce defence and being a part of the Hindu society. And if they are

42 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 a part they are a part but not of the whole’, on the restrictions on food habits such as the he decreed . consumption of non-vegetarian food leading Ambedkar argued for a broad definition of to the untimely and forced exit of the tenant liberty, equality and fraternity and acknowledged from the accommodation and the concomitant its significance by saying that ‘equity signifies high negative psychological costs of the rental equality’ (Ambedkar 1987b). He observed that experience for the tenant (Banerjee et al. 2015). rules and regulations, rights and righteousness Soutik Biswas writing for the BBC news are concerned with equality in value. If all men channel mentioned that housing societies are equal—all men are of the same essence and based on religion and caste have proliferated the common essence entitled them to the same in Ahmedabad. This has resulted in creation fundamental rights and to equal liberty, he of areas which could rightly be called ghettos argued. In short justice is simply another name (Biswas 2014). Even Mumbai has reported for liberty, equality and fraternity, he surmised. several areas where builders and even buyers have specific choices for living in a neighborhood Caste Based Discrimination, Exclusion with people from the same social religion and and Violence caste/status (Hegde 2013). This kind of housing India has a long history of segregated housing segregation has also been reported from several based on caste and religion. It is not only the other cities in the country. rural areas where houses/human settlements Wealth inequality is traditionally rooted in are divided on the basis of caste and religion the way the caste system has been practiced but urban regions too follow the same pattern in the country. Possession of wealth by lower although less prominent. Even in the mixed caste people is treated as an anathema which is neighborhoods the low caste settlements are religiously sanctioned by different shastras of found to be quite distinct. The influence of the Hindu religion. Though the situation has liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation changed to a certain extent but the major chunk has not reduced the influence of caste norms of Dalit population still face several kinds of and customs. Sriharsha Devulapalli has given discrimination and exclusion as far as acquiring an account of residential segregation in India's wealth is concerned. In a working paper Nitin biggest cities with charts prepared on the basis of Kumar Bharti has made an observation that Census 2011 (Devulapalli 2019). land distribution in the past was entirely based Anuradha Banerjee (Banerjee et al. 2015) in on caste where the upper-castes of society their study in the National Capital Region (NCR) possessed almost all of the land and lower castes observed that the refusal of accommodation predominantly formed the working class. Bharti based on caste and religion, as in case of the further adds that the colonial period concretised Dalits and the Muslims is an unending story the possessions of land by distributing land full of painful experiences, compromises with titles and land ownership. Although, post undesirable outcomes for the communities independence India attempted for land reforms concerned. This led to more time being spent aiming for equitable distribution of land in searching for homes, leading to high search ownership in order to empower the lower castes, costs. The study further pointed out that governmental reports reveal that this measure individuals belonging to such communities were met with partial success and the distribution did forced to rent substandard accommodation, not go well beyond certain ranks of castes. The at a higher value than the prevailing market, author adds that the data shows that despite the with exorbitantly high hikes in the annual situation of every caste improving over time, rent. Also, long-distance accommodation there is no convergence between the upper and entailed high transportation costs to and from lower castes. He also adds, that the rate of growth the workplace. The authors also remarked of forward/upper castes in terms of acquiring

Geo graphy and You . 2020 43 wealth or consumption is higher than the lower R eferences castes. This hints, he says, towards the harsh Ambedkar B.R. 1987a. Symbols of Hinduism, in reality of ongoing caste-based discrimination in Government of Maharashtra (ed.) Dr. Babasaheb the society (Bharti 2018). Ambedkar Writings and Speeches Vol. 3, What emerges from the day to day lived Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. experience of the dignity being violated as a Ambedkar B.R. 1987b. Philosophy of Hinduism, result of caste based discrimination, exclusion in Government of Maharashtra (ed.) Dr. and violence, is the fact that subjugation of the Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches Vol. lesser human untouchables by the dominant 3, Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. upper caste Hindus is a fact that is very much Ambedkar B.R. 1989. The House Hindus Have alive even today. Built, in Government of Maharashtra (ed.) Dr. The ‘Crime in India’, an Annual Report Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches Vol. prepared by the National Crime Record Bureau 5, Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. reports 43,203 cases registered at the end of year Banerjee A., F. Rizvi, S. Thorat and V.K. Mishra. 2017, cases involving untouchability, atrocities 2015. Caste and Religion Matters in Access and other crimes committed against Scheduled Urban Rental Housing Market, Economic Castes. In the year 2016 the registered cases were and Political Weekly, 50(26-27). Available 40,801. In the year 2015, a total of 38,670 cases of at: https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/26-27/ crime and in the year 2014 a total of 47,064 cases housing-discrimination/urban-rental-housing- of crime against Dalits were registered in police market. stations across the country. The large number Berreman G.D. 2009. Caste and Race: Reservations of cases thus being registered with the police and Affirmations, in Natrajan B. and P. bears testimony to the fact that untouchability, Greenough (ed.), Against Stigma: Studies in atrocities and other kinds of crimes are still being Caste, Race and Justice Since Durban, New Delhi: committed against Dalits despite stringent laws Orient Blackswan. in place. Bharti N.K. 2018. Wealth Inequality, Class and Caste in India, 1961-2012, World Inequality Database Way Forward Working Paper. Available at: https://wid.world/ The above mentioned accounts of document/n-k-bharti-wealth-inequality-class- discrimination, exclusion, untouchability and and-caste-in-india-1961-2012/ atrocities clearly establish the crude reality that Biswas S. 2014. Why Segregated Housing is Thriving afflicts our Indian society, economy and polity. in India?, BBC, December 10. Available at: The scale at which discrimination, exclusion https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia- and violence happens due to the continuing india-30204806 practice of the caste system is high. This kind of Devulapalli S. 2019. Geography of Caste in systemic discrimination and structural violence Urban India. livemint, September 29. leads to a situation wherein Dalits have neither Available at: https://www.livemint.com/news/ the freedom, nor the equality or fraternity that india/the-geography-of-caste-in-urban- India hoped for at the time of its independence. india-1569564507580.html It goes without saying that caste based Donnelly J. 1990. Traditional Values and Universal discrimination, exclusion and violence could end Human Rights: Caste in India, in Welch Jr only with the complete annihilation of the caste C.E. and V.A. Leary (ed.), Asian Perspective on system. Whether that is possible or not would Human Rights, Boulder: West View Press. certainly determine whether the egalitarian Hedge S. 2013. Separate but equal ghettos, India principles of liberty, equality and fraternity as Today, November 12. Available at: https://www. enshrined in the Constitution of India would indiatoday.in/opinion/story/muslims-hindu- be realised in totality or would merely remain colonies-ghettoisation-dalits-castes-religion-disc unimplementable pious words. rimination-217151-2013-11-12

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By Amir Ali The Middle Class As the clasS Of no class

46 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 The new upwardly mobile middle class' aspirations manifests itself by their consumption patterns like 'affordable luxury' holidays to vacation hotpots within the country like Goa.

An attempt to understand some of the ambiguities around what it means to be middle class in India has been made in this paper. It also discusses the influence that the middle class supposedly has on Indian politics despite these uncertainties. d a s a : o The author is professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. [email protected]. t o

Ph Pr The article should be cited as Ali A.,2020. The Middle Class as the Class of no Class, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 46-51

Geo graphy and You . 2020 47 f there is one thing that characterises the is nevertheless sizable, has been characterised question of class in India, it is the desire more recently as an ‘aspirational’ middle class. to be labeled and included in the middle The term ‘aspirational’ captures rather neatly class. This makes the category of middle the tantalising ‘not-there-yet’ gap that was class a rather all-expansive one and a bit just mentioned. It has also had momentous of a mixed bag. As a result of this bulging and consequences for the political direction that the Idistended middle class there is a tendency for it to country has taken, especially in the Modi years obscure and overshadow a not very clearly defined since 2014. and demarcated lower or working class below In India there has been a particular focus on and detracts attention away from the privileged understanding the nature and characteristics of creamy upper class above. The confusing nature the middle class. One can immediately, off the top of the class question in India in terms of its of one’s head, think of two landmark books that ambiguity is further compounded by its being have come to almost define our understanding shot through and intersected with that other of the middle class. There is B B Misra’sThe notorious forms of stratification in India, which is Indian Middle Classes: Their Growth in Modern of course caste. Times published in 1961 and Leela Fernandes’s One of the most significant aspects of the middle influential and comparatively more recent work, class that has been seized upon is its sheer size, The New Indian Middle Class: Democratic Politics with estimates for middle class numbers varying in an era of Economic Reform appearing in 2007. considerably not just for India but for the whole The interesting thing that one can note in the world. In February 2009 The Economist suggested roughly four and a half decades that divide these that 50 per cent of the world’s population had two works is the way in which the middle class entered the middle class, mainly on account of has changed its character in India. It has been growth in emerging markets. Compared to this transformed from its initial origins and creation there have been more conservative estimates through government employment or ‘service’ as coming from the Organisation for Economic the word for employment and more specifically Cooperation and Development (OECD) which any form of government employment is referred has suggested that a mere 1.8 billion in the world to in India, to now being characterised by the made it to the middle class in 2010. Credit Suisse’s attainment of consumption levels in the era Global Wealth Report 2014 (Credit Suisse 2014) inaugurated by liberalisation. This movement or suggested a lower 1 billion with wealth anywhere transition in the character of India’s middle class between 10,000 to 100, 000 USD. Between 1990 is hugely significant, not just for its own sake but and 2015, the middle class grew from 15 per cent also in terms of the implications this has had for to 62 per cent of the population in China. In politics and the shifts that have happened therein. India, according to Abhijit Roy, 50 per cent of the One can also note that as the Indian middle population reached middle class status in 2015 class as a whole has expanded, there has been a (Roy 2018). kind of slower and more differential rate at which As an immediate caveat to much of what has a middle class has emerged among India’s more been said about the middle class in India, it needs oppressed and marginalised groups, especially to be stressed that it has perhaps been exaggerated the more prominent of these groups such as Dalits on two counts. One, in terms of its sheer numbers, and Muslims. This is not to deny middle class with almost everyone trying to claim middle class formation amongst Dalits and Muslims, just to status, even when income levels may rule them suggest that the rate of this middle class formation out of that supposedly hallowed status. Two, in may actually be slower than the manner in which terms of the actual consumption levels, with only a the class as a whole itself has ballooned and very small sliver of the middle class at the very top burgeoned across the country. experiencing patterns of consumption that would The change in the very character of the middle rival or equal those in more advanced capitalist class has meant a significant change in societal countries. This ‘not-there-yet’ middle class, which attitudes. The change in lifestyles for the new

48 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Indian middle class has been significant across system of reservations in government employment a mere generation. It has manifested itself most and educational institutions. Perhaps, a little obviously in terms of high paying private sector self-righteously, the invocation of ‘merit’ is done in employment, consumer choices, international a manner that almost monopolises merit as being travel, consumer packaged holidays and political the sole preserve of the middle class. This may attitudes. In terms of political attitudes, the middle come to actually reveal the predominantly upper- class in India has become more thoroughly and caste character of the middle class itself. decidedly pro-market and wary of the state, in particular dirigisme or intervention in the The Middle Class andU rbanisation economy that may hinder the free play of market The new middle class in India finds its theatre of forces. This is a curious political development existence and operation largely in the urban areas as the middle class in India is itself a creation for the simple reason that liberalisation policies of the state through the public employment have resulted in a particular kind of urbanisation. opportunities that it created. There is also in the This has meant the mushrooming of those new middle class an attitude of hostility towards accoutrements and aspects of the urbanscape that the Indian state’s affirmative action policies and are most associated with the new middle class. a complaint about the crushing of ‘merit’ by the These are the mostly high-rise group housing

Housing societies in areas around the national capital region such as Noida and Gurgaon reveal names such as Beverly Hills, West End Heights and Hamilton Court. Such names are broadly reflective of the overall aspirations and imagination of the middle class. s a l l i V m a v t a T u o o t o Phc rtesy:

Geo graphy and You . 2020 49 societies and the often hideously glitzy shopping malls. Interestingly, even a quick and very random survey of the names of group housing societies in areas around the national capital region such as Noida and Gurgaon reveal names such as Beverly Hills, West End Heights and Hamilton Court. Such names are broadly reflective of the overall aspirations and imagination of the middle class. There is furthermore a manner in which the middle class has wielded and exercised political power in the urban setting. It has often bypassed conventional forms of political mobilisation and wielded influence in urban governance through powerful Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs). This is in sharp contrast to the political mobilisation in less privileged, working class localities where political parties resort to cash handouts and supplies of liquor to gain votes of residents of these areas, where the turnout is also likely to be higher. The suspicion of the middle class towards state dirigisme has already been mentioned. One further aspect of the middle class and its attitude towards politics is to disdain political processes and the institutions in which these processes operate. There is a lack of trust in the bureaucracy, in educational institutions, parliament and the The failure on police. However, great trust is likely to be reposed in politicians like the Prime Minister Narendra the part of a CEO Modi, who take recourse to a kind of political speak heavily inflected by the corporate sector and politician, to get radiate a sense of energy in terms of getting things things done, is then done. The failure on the part of a CEO politician, to get things done, is then explained away in explained away exasperation at the obstacles that are already in existence, thereby almost absolving the CEO in exasperation politician of much of the blame. at the obstacles A Visual Understanding of Class One of the best ways to understand the that are already in phenomenon of class is what can be termed a visual understanding. This visual manner of existence, thereby understanding class is best explained by George almost absolving Orwell in his book The Road to Wigan Pier, where he refers to class divisions as having the the CEO politician simultaneous transparency and barrier like quality of the plate-glass of an aquarium (Orwell of much of the 2009). What makes the class system so galling then is the fact that while it prevents mobility blame. across classes, it also affords a view of what life is like on other sides of the class divide. People

50 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 lower down the pecking order can desire the more us over the last four decades. The rise of the new comfortable lives of those more prosperous, while middle class under neoliberalism has given a those higher up can sneer at the degenerate and notion of politics understood as an activity of miserable lives down below. isolated monadic individuals who rationally Continuing on this visual aspect of class there pursue their narrow self-interest. Concomitantly it is also a vanishing act that class has performed in has given rise to a citizenship that is characterised a kind of ‘now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t’ sort of by its retraction into the shell of civic privatism way that neo-liberalism seems to have effected. and absence from a wider engagement in the This does not mean a complete elimination of public. Further it has become associated with class, but certainly the illusion that the working the obliteration of public goods such as health, class and every other class have disappeared and housing and education and the belief in the that the only class to exist now is the middle class. superiority of the privatised and commoditised The economic historian Philip Mirowski in his version of these goods. This notion is the complete provocatively titled book Never Let a Serious Crisis obverse of politics understood as a collective Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the enterprise that involves ideas of solidarity. As the Financial Meltdown, which is an excellent analysis 21st century unfolds, there are likely to be many of the 2007 financial crisis, pithily captures the challenges posed to this narrow self-interest point: ‘The only class in which one can safely seeking, self-serving view of middle class politics profess membership is the “middle class”, or the that has been mentioned. Perhaps that might also class of no class’ (Mirowski 2013). The title of this signify a change in what it means to be the article as may be obvious is taken from these middle class. very lines. R eferences The R elational Aspect of Class Credit Suisse. 2014. Research Institute Thought The above visual point about the middle class leadership from Credit Suisse Research and the remaining the only class brings out the further world’s foremost experts - Global Wealth Report aspect of the relational approach. This suggests 2014:Credit Suisse, Zurich: Switzerland. Available that class as a concept can only be understood at: https://economics.uwo.ca/people/davies_docs/ in relation to and by juxtaposing it most often in credit-suisse-global-wealth-report-2014.pdf an antagonistic fashion to another class. For the Fernandes L. 2007. India’s New Middle Class: middle class to make any sense at all it has to stand Democratic Politics in an era of Economic Reform, in a relationship of being in between an upper New Delhi: Oxford University Press. and a lower at two extremities. The neoliberal Mirowski P. 2013. Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to invisibilisation of other classes to leave only the Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial middle class standing is a bit like the myth of the Meltdown, New York: Verso. invisible hand of the free market, it is neither Misra B.B. 1961. The Indian Middle Classes: Their here nor there. Growth in Modern Times, New York: Oxford University Press. Way Forward Orwell G. 2009. The Road to Wigan Pier, London: Whither the middle class? Finally the question Penguin Modern Classics. to be addressed is what will happen to the middle Roy A. 2018. ‘The Middle Class in India: From 1947 to class? The former Greek finance minister Yanis the Present and Beyond, Education About Asia, 23 Varoufakis, also a distinguished economist has (1): 32-37. Available at: https://bit.ly/38RFTvm suggested that the middle class in advanced The Economist. 2009. Burgeoning Bourgeoisie A capitalist societies is like ‘the dinosaur in the room Special Report On The New Middle Classes in set for extinction’ (Varoufakis 2018). Obviously Emerging Markets. February 14. Available at: it would be absurd to talk about the burgeoning https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/ middle class in countries like China and India special-reports-pdfs/13092764.pdf disappearing or becoming extinct. What however Varoufakis Y. 2018. Marx Predicted our Present Crisis- will become irrelevant is the distinct politics that and Points the Way Out, The Guardian, April 20. an exclusive focus on the middle class has given Available at: https://bit.ly/3b3opNY

Geo graphy and You . 2020 51 ~ Caste and Class in India

Women health status measured in terms of body mass index (BMI less than 18.5) reveals that thinning is more common among socially disadvantaged sub groups compared to forward castes. Pictured here is a woman from a disadvantaged group living in the buffer zone of the Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary.

52 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By Rajeshwari H e a l t h & N utrition in INDIa a Caste and Class Perspective

The intersectionality of caste, class and gender shapes multiple dimensions of social life in India. The interplay of these factors has a major effect on the health and nutrition status of children and women of marginalised sections. Moreover, women are exploited by the trilogy of caste, class and patriarchy. This feature underscores that women and children of disadvantaged groups continue to be denied the fruits of general improvement in health indicators brought about by the increase in the country’s economic growth.

The author is professor, Kurukshetra University, Haryana. [email protected]. The article should be

o cited as Rajeshwari. 2020. Health & Nutrition in India: A Caste and Class Perspective, t

Pho Prasad : Geography and You. 20(4-5): 52-57

Geo graphy and You . 2020 53 n rural India, caste and income are that in the course of time, castes have mingled important elements, which determine into classes. The overlapping of various social the position of individuals in society, and identities, experienced by individuals and groups, act as an active political force. In case of suggests that the intersectionality contributes to health outcomes, though these two exist the specific type of systematic discrimination. separately but their intersectionality is clearly Caste, invariably is an important component Ivisible. Population at the bottom of the social of individual and collective identity in any ladder substantially lacks in nutrition and other region of India and discrimination on the basis health outcomes as compared to forward castes. of caste has deep roots in our society. Social The existence of social gradient in mortality, hierarchical relations are governed by culturally nutrition and well-being reveals that there are sanctioned social norms. Several studies point out differences not only in risk between different different health outcomes and disproportionate social environments but these are also linked concentration of malnourished populations to households’ economic opportunities and among marginalised social groups, particularly resources. Class has an inbuilt mechanism within scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) caste and its linkages have been shown by food vis a-vis non-SCs and forward caste groups. The consumption patterns and health outcomes. social gradient with four health outcomes--risk Indian economy has had an impressive and of premature death, poor health status, treatment accelerated GDP growth during the last two and during ailment and care (pre-natal and post-natal) a half decades. This is also accompanied by an has been studied at all-India level (Borooah 2010). increase in life expectancy, decrease in infant and The studies conclude that people at the bottom of child mortality, growth in literacy and levels of the social ladder lack substantially in all these four education, better living standards and well-being health outcomes as compared to forward caste of the population. It is, however, disheartening Hindus. There are more empirical evidences of to find that many of these indices of well-being group discrimination faced by SCs which result in particularly health and nutrition of children and unequal health outcome. women reveal sharp socio-economic inequalities The large scale primary data collected by across regions/states. Socio-economic inequalities NFHS-4 (relating to the year 2015-16) for 6.1 here mean that indices of well-being vary across lakh households reveals that at all India levels, caste groups as well as income groups. Caste and infant mortality rate (IMR) is 45.2 per thousand income separately and together shape the multiple live births among SCs while it is 32.1 among the dimensions of social life in India, and lead to the non-SC-non-OBCs social groups. Similarly, formation of status groups which determine the under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) is 56 among the position of an individual in society and act as an marginalised social groups, while it is 38 among active political force in the Indian rural setting. the non-SC-non-OBC social groups. The existence Invariably the dominant castes—the ones who of social gradient in mortality reveals that there own the majority of land resources—in Indian are differences in risk between different social villages are the forward castes. It is true that environments. It suggests that social and cultural there is caste interdependence, but castes also segregation which occurs along caste lines and compete with each other in acquiring political and within which people lead their lives has a role in economic clout. It may, however, be noted that susceptibility to disease and consequently the in the caste system, status of caste is determined right to a long life. Undernutrition of children (6 to not only by the economic and political privileges 59 months) measured in terms of anthropometric but also by ritualistic legitimation of authority. measures of stunting, wasting and underweight For instance, even though Brahmins may not also reinforces caste-based disparity. The have economic and political power, they are same source of data (NFHS-4) shows that the placed at the top in caste hierarchy. But in a class proportion of stunted children (low height for system, ritual norms and the concept of purity age) among marginalised social group (SCs) and pollution, have no importance at all and the is 43 per cent, while it is 31.2 per cent among power and wealth alone determine one’s status. children of socially privileged caste group. It may However, several Marxist writers have made be noted that stunting, or low height-for-age, castes synonymous with classes. Studies reveal is a sign of chronic undernutrition that reflects

54 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 failure to receive adequate nutrition over a long linked to household’s economic opportunities and period. Since it is a cumulative indicator, its resources. evaluation indicates inequalities in nutritional Indian society continues to have an inseparable levels over the course of the child’s development. mix of class and caste. Class has been an inbuilt In another measure of undernutrition—wasting mechanism within caste. The pattern of food (low weight-for-height, which represents acute consumption (NFHS 2017) among women, at all undernutrition the failure to receive adequate India level, shows that weekly consumption of milk/ nutrition in the period immediately before the curd, pulses, dark vegetables and fruits is though survey), the proportion is 24.3 per cent among more frequent among non-SCs and non-OBC SC and ST children, while it is 19 per cent among women (Table 1), yet the linkages seem to be weak other than this social group. Weight-for-age or if caste is considered separately. Hence social underweight is a composite index that takes into power or caste is linked to households’ economic account both acute and chronic undernutrition. opportunities, resources, status and health About 40 per cent children among SCs were outcomes, which is evident from the following data. underweight as compared to 28.8 per cent among The income or the power of the economic the children belonging to the socially privileged class reveals more polarised findings. Child sub group. Some other micro level studies have malnutrition and women health studies have shown that caste discrimination persists in consistently revealed that households’ wealth, various forms such as rude behaviour during usually measured by increments in household diagnosis, in dispensing medicine, waiting time material standards, is strongly associated with or prioritising severity of illness vis-à-vis forward childhood nutritional status and women’s health. caste population, while accessing public health Infant and under five child mortality differential care services. Women health status measured in is more than three times in poorest and richest terms of body mass index (BMI less than 18.5) also households. The large-scale primary data collected reveals that thinning is more common among by NFHS-4 (6.1 lakh households) provides socially disadvantaged sub groups as compared to information on various indicators of children, non-SCs and non-OBCs women. In fact, caste is adult and women health in relation to household

Table 1: Weekly (once a week) food consumption by women in India: 2015-16 Social Groups Wealth Index Categories Food Others (Non-SC items SCc OBCs Lowest Second Middle Fourth Highest & Non-OBC) Milk/curd 62.9 71.2 72.9 45.6 58.7 68.9 77.0 85.5 Pulses 88.7 90.0 92.0 85.7 88.4 89.8 91.3 93.6 Dark vegetables 85.2 84.5 88.1 82.9 84.9 85.3 86.3 87.6 Fruits 39.3 44.9 56.6 19.9 30.9 42.5 56.7 74.0 The pattern of food consumption among women, at all India level, shows that weekly consumption of milk/curd, pulses, dark vegetables and fruits is though more frequent among non-SCs and non-OBC women.

Table 2: Health and nutrition indicators vis-à-vis wealth index in India: 2015-16 BMI <18.5 Percent Children (6 to 59 months) Wealth (15-59 years) IMR U5MR Index Under Moderate Per cent Per cent Stunted Wasted weight anemia women Men Lowest/poorest 56.3 71.7 51.4 48.6 24.2 33.3 35.8 31.9 Second Quintile 47.2 57.3 43.5 40.6 21.7 29.7 29.5 26.6 Middle 39.2 46.2 36.5 33.2 20.2 29.3 23.1 20.5 Fourth Quintile 29.6 34.9 29.2 27.4 19.3 26.8 17.1 16.3 Highest/richest 19.8 22.6 22.2 20.1 17.9 24.0 11.6 10.6 The health outcome of children measured in terms of IMR and U5MR reveals that it is 56.3 and 71.7 among the lowest wealth index category households, while these are 19.8 and 22.6 among the highest wealth index households. Source:National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16, Mumbai, IIPS

Geo graphy and You . 2020 55 economic condition (calculated into a wealth index). The health outcome of children measured in terms of IMR and U5MR reveals that it is 56.3 and 71.7 among the lowest wealth index category households, while it is 19.8 and 22.6 among the highest wealth index households (Table 2). It is argued that there is a concentration of stunted and underweight children in poor households as compared to richer ones. Further, the nutritional indicators of children vis-a-vis wealth index reveals that stunting and underweight was 51.4 and 48.6 per cent respectively amongst the lowest wealth index category, while it was 22 and 17.9 per cent among the richest/ highest wealth category households. This evaluation identifies the groups of child population which are at increased risk of faltered growth, disease, impaired mental development and death. The indicators of children’s and women’s health in relation to wealth index, which are presented in the following table, clearly indicate that a poverty-nutrition/ health trap exists in India quite strongly. It may, however, be noted that inequality on the basis of economic class does not exist in isolation. The inequality and discrimination is a product of simultaneous interaction and operation of Child malnutrition various axioms particularly caste, class and patriarchy. For example, the literature on women’s and women studies indicates that women, in general, are marginalised due to the patriarchal composition health studies of society. In this way, women of all classes are subject to suppression and discrimination. have consistently But women of marginalised social groups are exploited by the trilogy of patriarchy, caste revealed that and class. The inequality in women’s health is households’ wealth, a product of intersectionality of caste-based marginalisation, economic powerlessness, usually measured culture-based socially constructed norms (state of self-denial in accessing health services, by increments in unequal access to diversified food) and domestic violence. The intersectionality analysis in health household material and nutrition status (NFHs-4) reveals that the group is worse-off in all three dimensions (wealth standards is strongly index, social/ caste status and gender) and has worse health outcomes in terms of IMR, U5MR, associated with stunting, underweight, anaemia, BMI /thinness childhood nutritional and food consumption than the best-off group (non-poor, non-SC/ST and boys). Further, the status and women health outcomes of children belonging to forward caste and richest quintile households show less health. gender differentiation/discrimination throughout India. In other words, the advantages of caste

56 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Women of marginalised social groups are exploited by the trilogy of patriarchy, caste and class. Seen here are children of the Jaunsar tribe, a poor and highly exploited community in Uttarakhand.

and class compensate for gender disadvantage. of caste, wealth/income data of NFHS-4 Further, the intersectionality of caste, class and survey (2015-16) for all states of India reveal a gender jointly reveal that boys belonging to the similar pattern (though regional variations in highest/richest quintile have the same health intersectionality need further examination). outcomes irrespective of caste throughout It is disheartening to find that despite an India. In other words, economic and gender improvement in health and nutritional advantages jointly outperform caste disadvantage outcomes at the all-India level, disadvantaged throughout India. groups continue to be deprived of the fruits of economic growth due a complex caste, class and Way Forward gender intersectionality. Studies related to the intersection of caste, class and gender identities in health outcomes are few R eferences and far between. One such study (Mukhopadhyay Borooah V.K. 2010. Inequality in Health Outcomes in 2015) discusses the intersectionality of caste, class India: The Role of Caste and Religion, in Thorat S. and gender for child undernutrition measured and K Newman (ed.) Blocked by Caste: Economic in terms of stunting for rural India, based on Discrimination in Modern India, New Delhi: NFHS-3 (2009-10) data. It concludes that class Oxford University Press. inequality dominates caste inequality and caste NFHS (National Family Health Survey). 2017. inequality dominates gender inequality in rural National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16: north India for all levels of stunting. In contrast, IIPS, Mumbai: India. Available at: https://bit. caste inequality dominates class inequality which ly/2QQDwTn in turn dominates gender inequality for severe Mukhopadhyay S. 2015. The Intersection of Gender, stunting in rural south India. Caste and Class Inequalities in Child Nutrition in Broadly, inequalities in health and nutrition Rural India, Asian Population Studies, 11(1): 17-31. of women and children showing intersection Available at: https://bit.ly/3aishLb

Geo graphy and You . 2020 57 ~ Caste and Class in India

By Sarfaraz Alam On ThE Margins in God’s Own City The Geography of the Scheduled Castes in Varanasi Varanasi, being one of the most socially diverse cities of India has been moulded over time by the underlying religio-ritual processes. There is a relatively weaker religious association of the Scheduled Castes with the mainstream Hindu society of the city. This is manifested through their inconsequential roles in the religio- ritual practices performed at various temples, influenced by the earlier practice of untouchability. Their negligible numerical strength in the core of the city renders them almost irrelevant in its social, economic, and cultural life.

The author is Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. [email protected]. The article should be cited as as Alam S., 2020. On the Margins in God’s Own City: The Geography of the Scheduled Castes in Varanasi, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 58-65

58 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Varanasi or 'Kashi', as it was known in the

d ancient texts is one of India's oldest and a s holiest cities. It holds great significance o

t for the Hindu pilgrims who throng the o h

P Pra : various temples located in the city.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 59 aranasi is popularly known as the share geographical, social, economic and cultural city of Lord Shiva—Shiv ki Nagri spaces of the city. In fact, this has emerged as an or Mahadev Ki Nagri. In Kashi important research question for the urban social (as Varanasi was referred to in geographers in the recent decades. Ancient texts), there is a popular This question acquires significance from the saying: ‘kankar kankar mein Shankar’, which point of view of development of an inclusive city meansV that each and every pebble of Kashi has outlined by urban social geographers since the God Shankar in it; hence the entirety of Kashi 1970s (Harvey 1973). Being specialised in spatial is sacred (Vidyarthi et al. 1979). Therefore, aspects of urban life, they examine questions of Varanasi has been known for centuries as the justice and inclusiveness of the city by considering centre of Hinduism (Kumar 1987). Besides, the spatial distribution of various social groups. The city is also an important centre for Buddhism, spatial distribution pattern of social groups in Jainism and Islam in varying ways. Varanasi the city is shaped by a combination of economic, is often portrayed as a religious and spiritual religious and political processes operating over city; attracting hordes of pilgrims and tourists a period of time. At the same time, the existing from across India and the world. Most writings, spatial distribution patterns of social groups whether popular or scholarly, on Varanasi also also influence the social, economic and political reflect this perspective. In view of the overarching processes in the city. Thus, the pattern of spatial religious narrative, academic works on smaller distribution of marginalised groups in the city is and historically marginalised communities, such not only a phenomenon to be explained but is also as the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled an explanation of the questions of social justice/ Tribes (ST), remain scant and sporadic. injustice and inclusivity/exclusivity in the city. Generally speaking, Indian cities are socially This paper examines the inclusiveness of and economically highly heterogeneous. This is Varanasi from the point of view of the SC true about Varanasi as well. It is a multi-religious population. One observes spatial segregation city, being inhabited by people of a variety of of religious and ethnic communities in the city. faiths and pursuations—Hindus, Muslims, While in the oldest part of the city is the upper Christians, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. As per caste Hindus (Brahmins, Kayasthas, Ahirs and 2011 Census for Varanasi Hindus are in majority Banias) are numerically dominant, in the zones with 70.1 per cent of total population followed by next to it, there is a significant presence of the Muslims with 28.8 per cent, Christianity by 0.3 Muslims. Other smaller ethnic and linguistic per cent, Sikhism by 0.2 per cent, Buddhism by 0.2 groups are found spatially segregated in the per cent and Jainism by 0.1 per cent of population. core and middle zone of the city. But, the SC Around 0.02 per cent of total population population is nearly absent from both the zones stated 'Other Religion' while 0.3 per cent stated of the city, which necessitates an explanation. 'No Particular Religion' (Fig. 1) (Office of the Less than half the average concentration of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner 2011). SC population live in the core region of Varanasi, Varanasi is also home to a number of ethnic/ meaning almost all the wards of the core region linguistic communities such as Bengali, Telugu, has a Location Quotient (LQ) of < 0.5, where Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Nepali. LQ is calculated as share of the SC population Each of these communities inhabit specific to total population in each ward/ share of SC localities of the city since long. Historically, the population to total population in Varanasi (for city is inhabited by people of various varna/ calculating LQ, population data from District castes such as the Brahmin, Kayastha, Baniya, Census Handbook, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 2011 Rajput, intermediary and artisan castes and has been used) (Office of the Registrar General & those belonging to the lower castes. In a way, the Census Commissioner 2011). city appears to be a mosaic of places inhabited by people of various religions, castes and linguistic The S cheduled Castes in Varanasi communities. The differences in the lifestyles and As per 2011 Census, there are 210.4 million SCs beliefs of these groups give rise to curiosity about in India accounting for 16.6 per cent of the total the way various religions, castes and communities population of India (Census 2011 Data 2011).

60 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Fig. 1: Varanasi City - Population by Religion, SC and ST

Percentage Hindu (other than SC and ST) 62.71 Muslim 28.82 Hindu (other than SC andScheduled ST) Castes 6.85 Muslim Scheduled Tribes 0.55 Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes Christian 0.34 Christian Not stated 0.33 Not stated Sikhs 0.22 Sikhs Jain 0.12 Jain Buddhist Buddhist 0.04 Others Others 0.02

In 2011, the total population of SC in Varanasi city is 82,129, which amounts to 6.9 per cent of the total population of the city. This figure is well below their share in urban populations of Uttar Pradesh and of India.

Fig 2: Share of SC population in 5 lakh plus cities of Uttar Pradesh, 2011

3,000,000

2,500,000 Total Population S C Population

2,000,000 A study has reported Varanasi as having the highest degree of caste-based segregation

o of all cities of metropolitan Uttar Pradesh. P 1,500,000 Total Total pulation

1,000,000

500,000

0 ) ) ) ) ) ) C C C C C C C C C C T G G G PP PP C O O O + + N N ra M ra C C g ida ( ida ni ( ni A eerut M eerut o igarh M igarh hansi M hansi o (M l

J

N L M A aranasi M aranasi u V L M cknow orakhpur M orakhpur aharanpur M aharanpur rozabad ( rozabad GhaziabadM G i MoradabadM S F anpur Bareilly (MG+ Bareilly K lahabad (M lahabad l A Source: http://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/0904_PART_B_DCHB.pdf

Table 1: Comparative change in the share of SC population, 2001-2011 Per cent SC population to total urban population Administrative Unit 2001 2011 India 11.8 12.6 Uttar Pradesh 12.5 12.7 Varanasi District 8.1 8 Varanasi City 7.2 6.9 The growth rate of SC population in urban centres was higher in Uttar Pradesh (30.9 per cent) and much higher in India (43 per cent) as compared to Varanasi (4.9 per cent) during the same period. Source: Computed from Census of India (2011) by the author

Geo graphy and You . 2020 61 Fig 3: Varanasi city ward-wise share of scheduled caste population (2011)

SCs are virtually absent in the older/core areas of Varanasi. There are two wards without a single SC person and 11 wards where the population of SC community is less Per cent share than 50 persons. < 1 1-6 6-11 11 and above

Map not to scale

In rural areas, their share to total population is higher—18.5 per cent, compared to 12.6 per cent According to the in urban areas. However, the decadal growth rate of the SC population is higher in urban Census of India, 2011, areas—41.3 per cent, compared to 15.7 per cent in rural areas. The largest number of SCs are close to half of the SC found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where they constitute of over one fifth (20.5 per cent) of total population in Varanasi population, one of the highest in the country; 12.7 per cent of the urban population. However, lives in slums. This the social geography of SCs in Varanasi presents means that among the a totally opposite picture. In particular, a closer examination of their number, per cent share SC population who live to total population, growth and distribution in Varanasi reveals some compelling facts to in the core of the city, a the fore and questions the nature of a socially large number actually inclusive space. N umerically Weak live in slums. The numerical strength of a caste/community may throw light on the availability of

62 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 opportunities or their preferences. Varanasi L iving on Marginal Spaces is inhabited by many caste groups—James A study of caste-based spatial segregation Prinsep identifies 27 sects of Brahmins; three has reported Varanasi as having the highest sects of Kshatriya; 16 castes/professions of degree of caste-based segregation of all cities Vaishya and 69 castes/professions belonging to of metropolitan Uttar Pradesh (Haque et al. Sudras (Kejariwal 2009). His survey identified 2018). However, the spatial distribution of SCs in Brahmins as the numerically dominant caste Varanasi reveals a far more problematic truth. As in the city. But in the present time, except SC evident from figure 3, SCs are virtually absent in and ST, the exact number of people belonging the older/core areas of Varanasi. There are two to other castes is unavailable. According to the wards without a single SC population and 11 Census of India, 2011, the total population of wards where the population of SC community is SC in Varanasi city is 82,129, which amounts to less than 50 persons. There are 22 wards with less 6.9 per cent of the total population of the city. than 200 SC population. Interestingly, most of This figure is well below their share in urban these wards are located in the older and interior populations of Uttar Pradesh and of India. parts of the city. In contrast, there are only three The share of SC population to total population wards in which the SC population exceeds over in Varanasi is lowest among the class-1 cities of 3000 and 13 wards with over 2000 persons. Most the state—Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, of these wards are on the periphery of the city. Meerut and Allahabad. Interestingly, Varanasi What is more, close to half (45 per cent) of the SC is the only class-1 city of Uttar Pradesh in which population in Varanasi lives in slums (Census the percentage of SC to total population is in of India 2011). This means that among the SC single digits; in the remaining six cities, their population who live in the geographical core share is in double digits (Fig. 2). On the other of the city, a substantial number actually live in hand, among 15 0.5 million plus cities of Uttar slums. This way, the marginalisation of the SC in Pradesh, Varanasi has the lowest percentage of SC the city is absolute and complete. population except for the ‘modern city’ of Noida Caste-wise concentration of population in the (which has a marginally lower proportion of SC city reveals some interesting patterns. Among population than Varanasi) in the Gautam Budh the important SCs in the city are Chamar, Nagar district. Due to the smaller number of SCs Khatik, Dhobi, Pasi, Dom, Gond, Hela, Rawat in Varanasi, they remain invisible in its space. and Musahar. Many of these castes are found in specific localities of Varanasi. For example, the Growing Slowly settlements of Dhobis (washer men) are mainly Population growth rate in Varanasi is particularly found in the northern part of the city along low, much lower than the national and state level. the banks of the river Ganga, near Rajghat and Between 2001 and 2011, urban population growth around the cities ponds; Doms mostly live near rate in Uttar Pradesh and India was 28.7 per cent the cremation grounds at Dashaswamedha and and 31.8 per cent, respectively. It was much higher Harischandra Ghat, where they are engaged in compared to the 9.7 per cent mapped in Varanasi. many rituals pertaining to cremation/burning of Also pertinent—the growth rate of SC population dead bodies; Khatiks, mostly earn their livelihood in urban centres was higher in Uttar Pradesh by selling vegetables in the city, have their largest (30.9 per cent) and much higher in India (43 concentration in its southern periphery. Similarly, per cent) as compared to Varanasi (4.9 per cent) people belonging to Hela caste (musicians), during the same period. Population growth rate traditionally earn their livelihood from playing of Varanasi was in fact over more than six times music and live in specific localities of the city. lower than that of UP and over nine times lower than that of the country. Also, the share of SC U nderlying Causes in the total population of Varanasi has declined The historical development of the city and its from 7.1 to 6.8 per cent (Table 1). Should it mean cultural specificity is to a large extent responsible that Varanasi is not a preferable destination for its present social geography. Varanasi is for SC communities in terms employment famously known as the temple city with religious opportunities? structures along the river Ganga. These temples

Geo graphy and You . 2020 63 Intermediate castes include all the castes below the Brahmins but above the so-called untouchables. The Nai (barber) have been functioning as ritual associates of Brahmins and sometimes also as independent ritual specialists. Seen here is a member of the Nai community performing funeral rites along the banks of the river Ganga.

64 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 have been historically important sites of various SCs. Their distribution patterns reveal that religious/ritual performances. Therefore, they not only live a spatially segregated life but the older part/core of the city is populated by also a spatially marginalised one. Their low people of those castes who have traditionally numbers and near absence from the core of the been specialists of such ritual performances city render them almost irrelevant in the social, and also by those who have been acting as economic and cultural life of Varanasi. With associates in such performances. According to a lower growth rate (due to less migration) it is L P Vidyarthi , ritual specialists as well as ritual fairly apparent that even SCs from outside the associates are drawn from three socially broad city do not consider it as a favourable location to categories—Brahmins, intermediate castes migrate. Not only are there limited employment and peripheral groups (Vidyarthi et al. 1979). opportunities, social and cultural space is also Brahmins have been traditionally engaged in skewed against the SCs. Thus, B R Ambedkar’s priesthood, performing rituals for pilgrims and suggestion that by shifting to urban areas, rural others. Intermediate castes include all the castes Dalits avoid social discrimination may not hold below the Brahmins but above the so—called true for Varanasi. untouchables—Rajput, Bhumihar, Kurmi, Khatri, Bania, Koeri, Kahar, Halwai, Manjhi, Acknowledgments: This article is a part of a research Teli, Mali, Lohar and Nai. Each of these castes project sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science has been functioning as ritual associates of Research, New Delhi. The author would like to thank Brahmins and sometimes also as independent ICSSR for funding the project. He would also like to thank ritual specialists. Peripheral groups include Apala Saha (Assistant Professor, Geography Section, all those who are on the periphery of Hindu Mahila Mahavidyalaya, BHU) and Satya Prakash society or even outside Hindu society. Among (Senior Research Fellow, Bhojpuri Adhyayan Kendra, the socially ‘untouchable’ peripheral groups only Faculty of Arts, BHU) for their help in writing this article. Dom, Mochi and Chamar are ritual specialists. Doms have been engaged in cremation rituals R eferences at the ghats. Mochi and Chamar have been Office of the Registrar General & Census traditionally playing musical instruments at Commissioner. 2011, District Census Handbook. the time of performing Ganga worship as also Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow: Government of India. in temples. Since, the ritual performances of Census 2011 Data. 2011. Primary Census Abstract Slum cremation and playing music cannot support Data, Government of India, New Delhi: India. a large number of people, therefore scanty Available at: http://censusindia.gov.in/pca/pca. population of such castes are found in the city. In aspx some temples, Muslim musicians perform during Haque I., D. N. Das and P. P. Patel. 2018. Spatial worship further decreasing the opportunities and Segregation in Indian Cities: Does the City Size space for Hela, Mochi and Chamar in the city. To Matter? Environment and Urbanization Asia, 9(1): take another example, in Varanasi the occupation 52–68. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/ of sweeping has been traditionally associated with doi/pdf/10.1177/0975425317749657. the Mehtar caste. However, it is the Kurmi and Harvey D. 1973. Social Justice and the City, Baltimore: Koeri castes who have been traditionally engaged Johns Hopkins University Press. as sweepers in the various temples. They also Kejariwal O.P., 2009. Benares Illustrated: James Prinsep clean the personal utensils of the priests. This was and Benares, Varanasi: Pilgrim Publishing House. because the Mehtars were labeled as untouchables Kumar N. 1987. The Mazars of Banaras: A New and hence not permitted to enter the temple Perspective on the City’s Sacred Geography, The precincts (Vidyarthi et al. 1979). National Geographical Journal of India, 33(3): 263-276. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar. Way Forward org/5736/096edc27f49e8ac28990ae762dbe5fbaf A number of studies by sociologists and social 09f.pdf. geographers point out that the SC population Vidyarthi L.P., M. Jha and B. Saraswati. 1979. The lives an extremely segregated life in both the Sacred Complex of Kashi: A Microcosm of Indian villages and in the urban centres of India. Civilization, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Varanasi depicts a far worse scenario for the Company.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 65 ~ Caste and Class in India

The pressure on hand pumps located in Dalit, Muslim and poor backward class localities is greater compared to hand pumps in other localities in the village of Kushmha in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh.

66 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By Sonali Bhatia Ca s ste, Clas and the Power of Water The Socio-Political Ecology of Drinking Water in Rural India T he narrative of a village in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh finds that caste and class hierarchies effectively influence the decision making on water allocation, use, and control over drinking water. In the village, it is found that manipulating the given unequal ecology of water, the spatial arrangement of hand pumps and technology is used to control the distribution and allocation of available drinking water—thus making it accessible to some at the cost of others.

The author is a doctoral researcher at Center for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. [email protected]. The article should be cited as Bhatia S. 2020. Caste, Class and the Power of

Photo courtesy: Authorcourtesy:Photo Water: The Socio-Political Ecology of Drinking Water in Rural India, Geography and You,(4-5): 66-72

Geo graphy and You . 2020 67 n India, caste represents a very peculiar to drinking water. form of social groupings that is hierarchical Drinking water distribution is a crucial arena, and fundamentally determines the which explains how available water is made social life, lifestyles, livelihoods, access accessible to people. It requires both material and to economic and social opportunities, discursive practices to control the distribution and habitation and cultural patterns of the people. It is allocation of water. The power to control water is Ia crucial and dominant part of the social structure not absolute, which is held or acquired rather it is of villages. The ideology of the caste system is relational which needs to be reviewed constantly based on the notion of purity and pollution which (Ekers and Loftus 2008). Thus, the socio-political creates a gigantic hierarchical pyramid where and ecological processes involved in controlling Brahmins are at the apex, a small stratum of ‘pure’ water distribution create spaces for maintaining elite; while the mass of ‘polluted’ untouchables those asymmetrical power hierarchies using occupies the base (Desai 1994). This ideology, ecological, cultural and spatial inputs. It becomes where one needs to maintain social and physical more stringent when water becomes scarce or any distance, is the basis for internalisation of the logic visible/invisible threat is posed to their power and of the caste system and thus, its survival. control over water. These intricate socio-political These self-contained caste groups transformed ecological processes involved in the control of in unique ways when exposed to modern British water vis-à-vis maintaining power structure systems of administration and laws, education and in villages becomes a dynamic and continuous new capitalist economic structures. This led to the cycle, which produces and (re)produces the power uneven emergence of new social classes which, hierarchies compounding the implications on however, runs through the corresponding caste hitherto unequal water distribution. lines. The upper class assumed the upper caste and lower class assumed the lower caste (Desai R esearch Design and Methodology 1994). The class struggle within the caste struggle A research study was carried out by surveying that emerged after such developments within 120 households in two villages (Kushmha and the existing Indian society is complex. The hope Orgai) in Sonbhadra district located in Uttar of social mobility, which is rare in a closed caste Pradesh. The present study is however based on system, was better expressed in the open class only Kushmha village (Fig. 1) given the limitation system (Gupta 2003). This complexity of both class of this article. GPS locations of hand pumps were and caste led to the milder form of fluidity within mapped and caste localities were delineated using horizontal caste groups only. The caste groups that ArcGIS and Google Earth. can rise by their economic (landownership) and political influence along with numeric strength Background of the Kushmha Village is also somehow limited to those castes who are Kushmha village, according to the Census ‘not too low’ in the social hierarchy (Srinivas of India, has a total of 496 households. The 1962). This is evident in the contemporary politics percentage share of General, Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where the rise of (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) population are Yadavas, Kurmis, and Koeris has transformed the 72.8, 27 and 0.18 respectively. This is the largest rural polity. Caste and class analysis thus become village in this block in terms of both population important ingredients and expressions of the and area. Census data on Muslim population power structure in the Indian villages. It includes of this village draws a naught. However, while the interrelationships of historical, economic, and surveying it was found that there are around 25-30 political factors resulting in the mode of social Muslim households in the village. relations for the ‘control of interests’. In Kushmha village, a total of 80 households This conceptual clarity on power relations were surveyed—out of which 6 were high castes becomes an important part of the socio-political (mainly Brahmins of various denominations and ecological analysis of water accessibility. It such as Pandey, Tripathi, Sharma, and Choubey), explores the ways power-relations determine the 44 Other Backward Classes (OBCs) (Ansari, water-society relations. It effectively influences the Chaurasia, Chandrabanshi/Prajapati, Maurya/ decision making on water allocation, control and Kushwaha, Yadav, Sonar and Gupta), 25 SCs use, which accentuates the struggle to have access households (Koli, Paswan, Dusad and Chamar)

68 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Fig. 1: The Location of the Kushmha Village

Fig. 2: Kushmha village boundary showing different wards and location of hand pumps

Koli, Chaurasia, and Paswan 1 10 Muslims (Ansari), Chobey Kushwaha Maurya (Kushwaha), 11 Kushwaha Brahmin (Pandey 8 2 6 and Chaurasia 5 and Tripathi) Paswan and Dusad 3 13 4 7 Chauhan, Yadav and Chamar Kushwaha Pandey, Yadav, and Sharma 12 12

10 13 Chauhan, Yadav and Chamar Sharma, 9 Chandrabanshi, Kushwaha, few Paswans, Pandey, and 8 1 11 Pandey and Chaurasia Kushwaha 2 6 3 5 4 713

Sonar, Kushwaha, Chamar 12 and Chaurasia Map based on fieldwork carried out in March 2018 Hand pumps 12 Kushmha village. According to the Census of India, the village has a total of 496 households. The percentage share of General, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Map not to scale Tribes (STs) population are 72.8, 27 and 0.18 respectively. and 5 Muslim households (Ansaris). S patial Distribution of Caste Groups There are 75 hand pumps (introduced first in in Kushmha 1995) in the village (out of which 69 are mapped) The village is segregated based on caste (Fig. 2). and more than 100 wells could be found mostly The social morphology of the village can be said located inside upper caste’s households and to be the clear manifestation of the integration their agricultural fields. Interestingly, only one of social order into spatial order. Moreover, the community well is in the Harijan Basti (denoting directional aspect of the morphology strictly the area where the Dalit/SC population resides) follows the Hindu cosmological scheme where and 2-3 wells are located on the outskirts which everybody has been ‘assigned’ their place in the are predominantly used by Yadavas and a few socio-spatial schema. Paswan households for drinking purposes. There The central part of the village is around an are four ponds in the village out of which only one old temple (Maa Kushmeshwari Devi) which has water and the other two were dry. The village is occupied by four Brahmin (Pandeys and also has 5-7 baulis (rainwater storage wells 5-6 in Tripathis) households. Kushwaha, Sharma, a few in diameter). Kushmha is divided into 13 wards Paswans are also in the same locality though they represented by different caste groups with each are farther from the temple. Guptas, Chaurasias ward having its elected representatives. and Sonars reside behind the temple. The western

Geo graphy and You . 2020 69 part of the village is occupied by big landowning castes (mostly Kushwaha and one Thakur family) which is nearest to a canal. Muslims and OBCs (Sharmas, Guptas, Chaurasias, and Sonars) dwell in the eastern part of the village. The northern part of the village is inhabited by Chaurasias and Kolis who are fewer in terms of number and thus, have households distributed unevenly. And, lastly, the southern part is where the Chamars and other low castes live.

A vailability and Accessibility to Drinking Water The main source of drinking water for the majority in Kushmha village is the hand pump. The upper castes generally have more than one source of drinking water. Most of them have personal wells located within their houses while others have personal ponds and small hand pumps (chapakals) as other available sources of drinking water. Dalits and poor OBCs have to walk to different localities to access hand pumps, in case their hand pump is out of service or when the water level falls below the extraction level. The dependence of Dalits and OBCs on a single source of drinking water, which is prone to frequent failure is more complex than it would seem at the outset. The next nearest hand pump is in a different locality, it is either too far or these caste subgroups have to conform to a different set of rules and regulations if the locality happens to be that of the upper castes. An old Dalit woman remarked during the survey “why do you think we have a hand pump in our basti—it is because people in certain localities dislike our entry to collect drinking water”. The pressure on hand pumps located in Dalit, Muslim and poor OBCs localities is greater compared to hand pumps in other localities. The hand pumps in front of Brahmin or Thakur households are restricted from others, who cannot access the water without their permission. These hand pumps are exclusive, on grounds of socially sanctioned norms and traditions. The dominant Hand pump installed under minority quota for Muslim households. caste (Koeris) can afford to install hand as well as Chaurasia and Yadav households are also dependent on this submersible pumps that require a huge investment handpump as the nearest handpump to their locality belongs to Brahmins (top); Interacting with Muslim women during fieldwork and can supply water even in peak summer. Since in Kushmha village (middle); Only source of water available for they invest the money, no one asks for water from Chaurasia and Sonar (landless OBCs) women in the village (bottom). these ‘personal’ perennial sources of water as compared to Dalits, Muslims and OBCs who have water available only for certain hours (depending

on the groundwater level, interruption/ Authorcourtesy:Photo

70 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 breakdown in water supply and the crowd at the water point).

S ocio-Political Ecology and Accessibility to Water Hand pump installation: Hand pump installation in the village is not a random and unbiased exercise but a systematically planned one to control its distribution. In 1995, the pradhan (head) from the Chaurasia community first installed hand pumps in the main village, the upper castes and few OBCs (mostly Prajapati) were the first to get it installed in front of their houses. However, it was not adequate particularly after the village witnessed a drought in 2002 and experienced a gradual decline in rainfall since the last decade. Later, other localities also installed hand pumps. It was reported that during this period, the village got the maximum number of hand pumps installed. The households near the canal got their hand pumps installed only after 2005 as their population increased. These installations were done using caste-based relations. Avinash Kushwaha, an elected Member of Legislative Assembly of the state of Uttar Pradesh at the time, installed hundreds of hand pumps in several nearby villages for the Kushwaha community during his tenure from 2005 -2010. This new access to technology (hand pump, motor for irrigation), favoured groundwater ecology, caste position (‘not too low’) and acquired political and economic power with time, has provided a collective set of tools to have access to and control over water. In the field it was observed that mainly three Water ecology is factors have played a crucial role in deciding where a hand pump would be installed. First, access manipulated using to the Jal Nidhi programme of the government technological where one needed to pay only 33 per cent of the total installation cost. The information and interventions in access to such a programme were provided and facilitated by Avinash Kushwaha. Second, such a way that personal and kin-based relation with the pradhan, the location of hand pump installation needs to water is made be passed by obtaining the consent of all ward representatives. Finally, whosoever gives an available for some application to the panchayat for installing a hand pump in their locality must have 'enough space' to at the cost of install it. It is interesting to note how space is used the other. to exclude lower caste people from accessing water. Not having enough space in their locality is not by accident but has a historical, cosmological and

Geo graphy and You . 2020 71 social context. Even if they somehow manage to social formation and the cycle of controlling find 'enough space' for installing a hand pump, the interests continues. application is rejected as the panchayat often finds it 'unsuitable'. Way Forward Caste and class hierarchies are dominant factors Manipulation of Water Ecology that influence access, use, and control of water The groundwater availability is better in the resources. The social relations are exercised to western part of the village due to the canal. It access most of the available water by upper caste is also better in the northern part of the village on the one hand while water is used to maintain where groundwater is available even at a depth these hierarchies by excluding lower caste people of 150-175 ft, predominantly occupied by the on the other hand. Thus, it becomes a two-way Prajapati and Chaurasia. However, due to the process of use, control and access to drinking unavailability of hand pumps for the Chaurasia water which makes it a spiraling, cyclic and community in the northern part, they have to face dynamic process. water shortage and walk longer distances. While The landed communities acquired political almost every Prajapati household has been able and economic power in the village with time to install personal hand pumps considering their and gained bargaining power to affect these closer ties with the upper caste households, the existing water-society relations. The political Dalits on the other hand residing in the southern and economic power of Kushwaha/Mauryas in part of the village occupy a dry area with water not nearly all the villages in the constituency increased being available even at the depth of 250 ft. Both manifold when Avinash Kushwaha became an in the southern and eastern parts of the village, elected representative. He provided access to hand hand pumps are installed by the panchayat at and submersible pumps to his caste community a shallow depth (100-110 ft.). Contrarily where in the villages and inflicted effective change in the the groundwater can be found at a depth of 90 process of water accessibility. to 100 ft in the western and central part of the All these hierarchies which are strictly village, handpumps installed are significantly maintained in accessing drinking water do not deeper at nearly 250 ft. Such a setting of hand happen in isolation but require a host of tools, pumps on given unequal ecology of water further tactics to control water. In the analysis, it is found complicates its accessibility. Thus, water ecology is that manipulating given unequal ecology of manipulated using technological interventions in water, the systematic spatial arrangement of hand such a way that water is made available for some at pumps, and technology is used to control the the cost of the other. distribution and allocation of available drinking water. All these processes become more complex Who has Power, who has Water or Who as well as deepened in the summer when the has Water, has Power? groundwater table is lowered down significantly as Maneuvering distribution of available water to compared to other seasons. make it ‘more’ accessible to some while excluding ‘others’ is effected through myriad relations of R eferences social power, economic and political influences, Desai A. R. 1994. Rural Sociology in India, New Delhi: ecological, technological and spatial inputs. Popular Prakashan. Thus, the power which circulates through the Ekers M. and A. Loftus. 2008. The Power of Water: water landscape is not just held or granted but Developing Dialogues Between Foucault and is produced and (re)produced through the Gramsci, Environment and Planning D: Society and systematic use of available tools by the powerful. Space, 26(4): 698-718. Available at: https://journals. It is evident, water has prominence in the whole sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/d5907. drama of effective power assertion and to continue Gupta D. 2003. Social Stratification: Hierarchy, to have control over water resources, it is necessary Difference and Social Mobility, in Das V. (ed)The to reproduce these social relations to maintain the Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social existing social formations. Hence, the materiality Anthropology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. of water and its symbolic meanings with imbibed Srinivas M. N. 1962. Caste in Modern India and Other water-society relations manifest the prevailing Essays, New Delhi: Asia Publishing House.

72 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 ~ In conversation

Tribes: Forgotten Again Nandini Sundar, a professor of sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, is an acclaimed researcher and a well accepted authority on tribal communities of India. In a conversation with Prof Sachidnanad Sinha, Guest Editor, G’nY, she discusses the various issues facing the scheduled tribe population in the remote regions of India.

G’nY. How do you see the Indian ‘particularly vulnerable tribal group’ tribes in terms of their essential (PVTG), previously called the ‘primitive characteristics and what do you think tribal group’. The PVTG include the are the key issues confronting the Chenchu, Kurumba and Khoda Reddy Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities? of the south, the Jarawa, Onge, and The figures are important. The term Sentinelese of the Andaman and ST envelops a broad range with 781 Nicobar Islands and several others in communities listed under the Article the east. The ST category also covers 342, covering 8.6 per cent of the communities which were called the population, at 104.3 million as per the ‘criminal tribes’ (during the British Census of 2011. These comprise the rule) and are now labelled as the populous Bhil, Gond, Oraon, Mina, denotified tribes (DNT), though some Munda and many others including DNT are also classified as scheduled 75 small communities described as a castes. There are a number of other

Geo graphy and You . 2020 73 communities which should be classified than upper caste Hindu women, they G’nY. You mentioned the plurality of as ST like the people who migrated do not have the same kind of religious religious identities of tribes—but from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to and political rights as the men in their there is no census data on tribal Assam but they have not got the ST community. The Lokur Committee in religions. The tribes may state their status. There are also various other the 1950s distinguished tribes from religion but every other religion communities that are asking for the others on the basis of alleged ‘shyness other than the major six for which ST status. So, it is a large range that of contacts’ and ‘peculiar customs’— data is presented by the Census gets comes under this category of ST having but what could be stranger than some classified as ‘others’. What are different concerns as well as different upper caste customs of Rajput child your views? ways of relating to the state. Some of marriage, untouchability or customs This is an old problem. Even during the them are struggling for survival, much based on norms of purity and pollution. 1941 Census the Hindu Mahasabha like the PVTGs, their existence under was trying to mobilise the Adivasis, threat. For others, the more common especially in Jharkhand, to return problems are landlessness—there has themselves as Hindus. The Adivasis been a great deal of proletarianisation were resisting this. The Census forms in the last five decades. They also do not provide for Adivasi religion suffer from militarisation. If you look at and more significantly the census where you have had the maximum state enumerators, usually school teachers repression it has usually been in the People talk about who are non-tribals or from elsewhere, tribal areas whether in the North East or automatically record Hindu for in Central India. People talk about how how different the tribes. different religions need to be respected, religions need to but nobody recognises the Adivasi G’nY. Based on your experiences, religions, as if they do not exist. And of be respected, but could you give us some insights about course there is resource displacement-- nobody recognises the implementation of reservations in one in every four Adivasis is reported to our country? have been displaced. That is a the Adivasi religions, There is a general delegitimisation of major issue. as if they do not exist. reservation and the Indian government is trying to phase it out. Bringing in the G’nY. Do you think that the tribes are economically weaker section (EWS) becoming more like castes? What was one such strike as it goes against is the nature of social stratification So, official categorisation has actually the basic tenet of reservation in the among the tribes? reinforced a racist viewpoint. Constitution which was specifically I think in a way that debate is dated. meant as a historic redressal rather To differentiate between tribes and G’nY. In common parlance when we than as an economic measure for peasants is simply not accurate. talk about tribes, we think of them as unemployment. Addressing economic Most tribal communities have long monoliths. How does that affect their backwardness alone was never the been settled communities practising survival within the Indian state? intent of reservation. Reservation is cultivation, like everyone else. In terms Curiously, this argument about diversity very much under threat. If you look of egalitarianism, there is quite a bit was made by the Bihar Congress in at some of the recent Supreme Court of stratification even among tribal the 1930s and 1940s when denying judgements saying that promotions communities--there is a hierarchy in Jharkhand statehood. They claimed that are not a right and even reservation is terms of who one can marry and who there was no one common language not a right and that the 16(4) is just an can eat with whom. However, I agree among the tribals of Chotangapur enabling provision, it is clear that the that within a tribal community, there is and Santhal Pargana. The dominant government is not defending the rights more egalitarianism than in the upper political class just did not want to in the Courts. There is an even more caste communities. And even though recognise that tribes were people with a worrying judgement—the Andhra state tribal women are much more equal strong political identity. government had guaranteed a 100 per

74 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 3 No. 141 cent reservation for ST teachers in Corporation (NMDC) in Dantewada has are protesting, but the state and its its scheduled areas. The Andhra high a big corporate social responsibility agencies are not responsive to it. court upheld it in the face of non-tribal (CSR) budget which they had not spent persons appealing at the Supreme for decades. Few years ago, the locals G’nY. There are large tribal groups Court. What is worrying is that in your found out about it and demanded that and also the tiny ones but we are own district if you cannot be a teacher- they spend it, drawing up a plan for viewing them through the same lens. -then where is the space for the tribes what should be done. Then the state Do we have an option to see a graded to advance?. Without the reservation, government came along, transferring system? local people will have no rights at all. I the funds to the district administration, The government does differentiate understand that as education spreads, taking it to Raipur thereafter. So between STs and PVTGs as the state more people will be able to make the although in theory the district minerals has historically recognised that some ranks--but one cannot do away with fund is meant for the development of tribes need more protection. But the reservation till that happens. In terms of local communities it is actually being level of government commitment resistance the SCs and STs are starting used for other things. historically, has not matched the to come together to defend their rights provisions either as enshrined in the but I believe more awareness G’nY. Please comment on the [draft] Constitution or stated through its is required. new educational policy’s exclusive own policies. So we can have a policy educational zones. Do you think there meant for tribal protection but it is weak G’nY. How can one ensure a will be further segregation in the compared to the other policies such proportionate share through already highly segmentation field as the land acquisition, the forest act reservations? of education. or the mining act. One needs to take It is true that the dominant share of Although I have not examined the a fresh look at all the policies which whatever has accrued to the tribes is draft New Education Policy in detail affect the scheduled tribes. concentrated among members of a but currently the state provides large certain tribal community. Therefore, Ashramshalas and portacabin schools G’nY. How do you think we can better we do need better mechanisms for and hostels to the tribes in the name of the situation? equitable distribution. The Jawaharlal education. It is all about taking them If we were a democratic society we Nehru University model of admission away from their Adivasi identity. To would not be stripping people off with deprivation points for region and have exclusive zones where the tribes their assets. So I do not think we are a backwardness in addition to caste are allowed to develop the Adivasi democratic society at this stage—in category is a relevant model to look languages and get a good education form maybe, but not in content. And into. It would also help to get data as to would be welcome, bolstering if we look at drastic suicidal changes how many reserved seats actually get confidence. If you come to think of it, all (such the climate), the biodiversity in filled and why. the elite schools in Delhi or elsewhere tribal areas is the only defence. Here such as the air conditioned Goenka the companies and the government are G’nY. The Arctic tribes have school, Rishi Valley, Mayo or Doon stripping them further. The way out is independent sub-governance school are exclusive educational zones to allow communities rights. There is a structures. They can leverage for a for the rich. provision in the forest rights act about share in development projects in the community forest rights. Managing the area. Is there any similar mechanism G’nY. A few years ago the Land forests sustainably can be developed in India? Acquisition Act was in the news. How as a way forward. We need to organise There is a District Minerals Fund (DMF) do you think it can impact the tribes? and restart discussions about real established by the Ministry of Mines The states are enacting their own laws onground environmental, employment, to foot the bill for the development and are not carrying out social impact education and many other such issues. activities in mining affected areas, assessments. They are not taking The media needs to talk about climate but it goes to the administration, not consent. The tribes are struggling change in a way it has hitherto not to the community. So for instance, against resource grab but the media is been doing. That is the most important the National Mineral Development just not giving it any bandwidth. People thing now.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 75 ~ Caste and Class in India Students belonging to a disadvantaged group find themselves suffering on account of inequitable conditions of study and academic pathways to access higher education institutional systems.

76 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 By Nidhi S Sabharwal I nequalities I sn acces to A cademic spaces Expic er en es of students from the socially excluded groups in higher education in India

India has viewed equity in higher education as a foundation for inclusive growth. As a result of strong affirmative action policies such as the reservation of seats in higher education institutions, relaxation of admission criteria and financial support, access to higher education has improved for the students from disadvantaged social backgrounds over the years. However, after entering these institutions, equal and non-discriminatory access to opportunities remains limited. The findings from a large-scale, multi- institutional, mixed method study show that higher education institutions are largely under-prepared to respond to diverse learners.

The author is Associate Professor, Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), National Institute of d a s Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi. [email protected]. The article should be cited a

o as Sabharwal S.N., 2020. Inequalities in Access to Academic Spaces: Experiences of Students from the Socially t o h P Pr : Excluded Groups in Higher Education in India, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 76-81

Geo graphy and You . 2020 77 quity in access to higher education higher education institutions remains limited is widely considered in the literature (Sabharwal and Malish 2016). The evidence shows to promote inclusive growth, reduce that the higher education institutions remain intergroup economic inequalities under prepared to respond to diverse learners and foster conditions for sustainable present on their campuses. And hence, the overall development (UNESCO 2016). Given the earning improvement in access to higher education has Eadvantages associated with higher education as been overshadowed by new forms of inequalities compared to the less educated, gaining higher with higher education serving as an institution of education can lead to better employment, wealth social reproduction of inherited privileges. and well being outcomes. India recognised The findings presented in this paper are drawn the important role that education played in from a large-scale, multi-institutional, mixed economic and social well-being of the people and method study carried out in the Centre for Policy clearly laid down the role of higher education in Research in Higher Education (CPRHE). The national development. study was implemented in 12 higher education With a gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 25.2 per institutions located across six Indian states— cent and around 35.7 million students (MHRD Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and 2017), India is in a ‘stage of massification’ with Uttar Pradesh—representing different regions the second largest higher education system of the country. The case study included different in the world. On the one hand, rising social types of higher education institutions such as state demand, increasing school participation rates universities, institutes of national importance, and expanding supply conditions have led to institutions offering traditional arts, science the expansion of the higher education system in and professional courses and different types India. On the other, affirmative action policies of government and government aided colleges in the form of reservation of seats, relaxation of affiliated to state universities. The study utilised admission criteria and financial support have a combination of quantitative and qualitative resulted in providing access to the marginalised methods for collection and analysis of data. The groups and promoting social diversity in the empirical base includes a survey administered student body. to 3,200 students, interviews with 200 faculty The participation of students from the members, 70 focus group discussions with disadvantaged socio-economic groups, such as, students and analysis of 50 student diaries. the scheduled castes (former untouchables in the caste hierarchy), other backward classes (other I nequalities in Access to a Stratified lower castes), the scheduled tribes and women, Structure of Higher Education which were previously under-represented in Opportunities higher education, has improved. For example, Even as more students go on to higher education, over a period of 20 years, the gross enrolment access to the most selective universities and ratio for the scheduled castes (SCs) group programmes of study is restricted to those improved from 4.8 in 1995 to 22.3 per cent in from the most privileged backgrounds. The 2014. Similarly, for the scheduled tribes (STs), graded nature of caste inequalities across social the gross enrolment ratio improved from 3.4 in groups continue to reflect social privileges with 1995 to 17 per cent in 2014 (Thorat and Khan a progressive loss of representation of lower 2018). Thus, unlike the elite stage where only castes groups in access to elite institutions, the privileged few entered higher education science,engineering and professional courses/ campuses, massification of the sector has widened subjects. For example, a higher proportion of the opportunities for diverse student groups for students from the higher castes (non-SC/ST/ entry into higher education campuses. OBCs)—61 per cent—were studying the science Based on the empirical evidence from a technology engineering and maths (STEM) large-scale study, this paper argues that while subjects as compared to social sciences; while access to higher education has improved for the the reverse was true for the students from the disadvantaged socio-economic groups, equal scheduled caste group. Such social stratification and non-discriminatory access to opportunities across high-return disciplines determines the for their academic success after their entry into nature of future employment which in turn adds

78 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 to the existing inter-group inequalities. Being tracked in lower ability groups, tracked into less rigorous courses, the medium of instruction being in a regional language at earlier levels of education—admission selection tests skews the access to elite institutions in favour of students from privileged groups, in turn becoming a source of socio-economic inequality.

U n-conducive Classroom Environment Further, accommodating a more diverse student population creates new tensions in higher education institutions. The source of this tension in higher education institutions is located between the point of entry which requires academic leniency and the point of exit which calls for academic rigour. Evidence shows however, classroom experiences of students from the disadvantaged social groups is vexed in a complex interplay of academic challenges. Their varying pre-college academic background and inequitable access to classroom transactions leads to lower levels of engagement in the teaching-learning process. Diverse student body increasingly represents those students whose life-circumstances, such as their ‘lower’ position in caste hierarchy, belonging to a disadvantaged group, overlaps with their poverty, being the first-in-the family to attend higher education and belonging to geographically under-served areas, which have resulted in inequitable conditions of Differences study and academic pathways to access higher education institutions. suggest potential Students’ pre-college academic credentials vulnerabilities for include having studied in government schools with regional medium of instruction and the students from possessing lower academic capital—the basic knowledge of the college going process and the disadvantaged transition to college. Most of the variables in which the students from the disadvantaged and groups and place socially excluded groups differ from the privileged group is linked with the academic transition, these students academic performance and opportunity-levels for upward mobility. Differences suggest at academic potential vulnerabilities for the students from the risk requiring disadvantaged groups and place these students at academic risk requiring concerted efforts to concerted efforts address their vulnerabilities. Inequitable access in the teaching-learning to address their process takes the form of low student-faculty academic interactions, lack of academic support vulnerabilities. by peers and uncaring and negative attitude of

Geo graphy and You . 2020 79 Gender differences further exacerbates the already marginalised student clusters, making it even more difficult for them to access the opportunities offered by elite institutions like the Delhi University and the like. These problems are further pronounced during college and university elections. faculty members towards academic abilities of form of reservation policies and lowering of diverse learners resulting in an un-conducive pre-qualifying scores at the point of entry has classroom environment for students from improved access for under-represented groups, disadvantaged groups. It was not uncommon access to have meaning, institutional actions must for the faculty members to view students with ensure educational opportunities for equality in diverse learning needs through a deficit lens, being academic success at the point of exit. insensitive to their rights to be enrolled through the affirmative action policies and holding P eer-Group Identities, Unsafe Campuses these very students responsible for lowering the and Social Exclusion average academic ‘quality’ in their classrooms. Unwelcoming campus community and a feeling of As a consequence of cumulative disadvantages not being included emerged as a major challenge and negativity, students from disadvantaged influencing out-of classroom experiences social groups remain less integrated in classroom of students from socially disadvantaged discussion and the teaching-learning processes. backgrounds. The nature of campus culture Poor implementation of remediation was found to be deeply embedded in dominant programmes and caste stigma attached to caste and gender norms, stereotypes and beliefs remedial classes as it is perceived to be only for SC/ which shaped the attitudes and behaviours of ST posed further challenge for active participation faculty members, administrators and peers from beneficiary groups. Furthermore, lack of influencing interactions with the students from awareness about library resources and methods of the socially excluded groups. The study finds d a s

using it also obstruct opportunities for academic a lower likelihood of students participating a o

adjustments for students from disadvantaged in extracurricular activities, in orientation t o h groups. Thus, while affirmative action in the programmes or being invited to welcome parties. P Pr :

80 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Varying pre-college academic experiences, stigma implementing existing diversity initiatives within attached to their social group identity and hostility the institutions. Insensitivity from the campus towards reservation policy was found to result in administrators and institutional leaders can create discrimination and a sense of alienation. a vacuum in the discourse on diversity and equity Insensitive campus culture and discrimination in higher education. manifested in the form of social divisions in friendship, lack of informal interactions with Way Forward teachers, as well as, exclusionary behaviour The evidence from our study suggests that a from the administration. Programmes where higher education that propagates social change students from socially excluded groups participate resists changing themselves. Institutional such as National Service Schemes (NSS) are efforts therefore need to be made to make higher often stigmatised. Attitudes and dominant education campuses more receptive to diverse ideology—indicators that shape organisational student bodies, making available conducive and a culture—resulted in the perceptions of NSS being more positive social and academic environment, a ghetto for SC and OBC students. Perceptions and developing a positive perspective wherein of faculty members were also negative towards student diversity is valued. Strategising for participation in NSS activities and were reluctant inclusive excellence by the institutions requires to be associated with NSS adding to the stigma. responding to student diversity by way of focusing Women in general and women belonging to on their intellectual and social development. the SC and ST groups in particular were prone Purposeful and tailored strategies by empathetic to gender based stereotypes and exclusion. administration which utilises all its organisational Women in some colleges found staying back on resources to enhance student learning and campuses after the class hours unsafe due to fear support services; pedagogies of care by teachers, a of harassment from male peers and locals. In some welcoming community that engages with diversity colleges, male students imposed certain dress on the campus and initiating programmes for codes for women impacting their choice to wear cultivating civic learning amongst students what they like. Derogatory comments particularly are important institutional interventions to towards SC and ST women were also prevalent in establish non-discriminatory environment for some colleges. Such forms of campus experiences students from the disadvantaged groups in higher that disadvantage women and students from education in India. the socially excluded groups, preserve and not weaken, the stereotypes and biases. While R eferences campuses have become diverse, institutional MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development). culture limits opportunities of learning and 2017. All India Survey of Higher Education: 2016- presents barriers for students from the socially 2017: Government of India, New Delhi: India. excluded groups to realise their full potential. Available at: https://bit.ly/2w77viX Sabharwal N.S. and C.M. Malish. 2016. Diversity and U nsupportive Administrative Structures Discrimination in Higher Education: A Study of Challenges of students from the socially excluded Institutions in Selected States of India: Centre for groups get accentuated because of unsupportive Policy Research in Higher Education, New Delhi: administrative structures, weak implementation India. of institutional mechanisms - such as women cells Thorat S.K. and K. Khan. 2018. Private Sector and and the equal opportunity cells, which are meant Equity in Higher Education: Challenges of to support and protect their interest. The empirical Growing Unequal Access, in Varghese N.V., N. evidence generated in the study clearly shows that S. Sabharwal and C.M. Malish (ed) India Higher institutional receptivity towards the disadvantaged Education Report 2016: Equity, Los Angeles: SAGE. is poor and often negative. Lack of sensitivity, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural negative stereotypes towards student diversity Organization (UNESCO). 2016. Education for and stigmatisation of the beneficiary groups adds People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures to existing challenges facing students from the for All: Global Education Monitoring Report 2016: disadvantaged social groups. Such beliefs, values UNESCO, Paris: France. Available at: https://bit. and cultural norms shape the perspectives of those ly/33yCJM8

Geo graphy and You . 2020 81 ~ Caste and Class

By Dhiren Borisa

CITY & SEXUALITY An auto-ethnographic Storytelling of Caste, Class and Queerness in Delhi

What makes a city liveable? Often we are situated at various margins of a city—social, spatial and sexual. This paper uses auto-ethnographic storytelling of social-sexual differences that produce our everyday geographies. From gay parties to parks, public sex and dating apps, it opens up questions of caste, class, desires in Delhi from a Dalit queer standpoint. These geographies of survival, I argue, are ephemeral, imagined and performative. They survive as temporal entities in their ability to collapse. These are messy geographies of how the queer survive through caste, class and such other identity particularly when social standing is closely linked with the material one.

The author is an Assistant Professor at O. P. Jindal Global University, Haryana. [email protected]. This article should be cited as Borisa D., 2020. ‘City and Sexuality’: An auto-Ethnographic Storytelling of Geographies of Caste, Class and Queerness in Delhi, Geography and You, 20(4-5): 82-87

82 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Similar to unmarried heterosexual couples hiding in parks, city spaces are

d regimented through social systems of sexuality. They are only safe and free,

: till they are not ‘caught’ engaging in o

Phto Prasa something ‘not appropriate’ or ‘permitted’.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 83 ities always fascinated me. They were marked through global capital circulations and grand, glamorous and unattainable. gentrifications), and neither in similar linguistic Like many people who come from frames, but often for us in the ephemeral idioms marginalised locations, I felt, these we produce, dissected through social and spatial were promising, but difficult to hierarchies we live through (Bhan and Narrain survive. They are fantastical and glamorous. But 2005; Katyal 2016; Khanna 2016; Jyoti 2016). Cnot for everybody. I have lived most part of my This friend of mine was a Brahmin and could life in a small town in Rajasthan and it has almost convince my parents that they should send me been a decade that I have survived Delhi. Growing to the city. He would often tell me that he could up, my grandmother would teach me to dream take me to visit his home because I did not look big, but she also told me to be afraid of the big ‘Dalit’. I wondered what that meant. I was popular city. She is one of the fiercest Dalit women I know, in school—good in studies, so ephemerally always inspiring, and yet. could claim access under the Brahmanical myth She carried her four young children including of merit. Desires, often claimed innocent, are my infant mother from a village after her husband actually manifestations of caste, class and other died, and ran to the nearby town to labour as a social hierarchies. Why did I fall in love with this construction worker. She repeatedly said, I am not particular boy? He had ‘good’ looks–fair, ‘good’ sending my children to the cities. They kill us. Our social background–rich and upper caste, spoke children who go there to study do not come fluent English and lived in a fancy house in a back alive. respectable neighbourhood! Everything that I I have seen many Dalit students like me to aspired for but did not have and perhaps could be able to testify this—barely surviving and not afford dreaming. So while I would sometimes sometimes failing, as the system kills us. I sneak into his house, I would never invite him first started using the internet when a ‘friend’ home to the Dalit neighborhood where I lived. introduced me to the World Wide Web through In Delhi, things were different as against the a small cubicle at a cyber café back home. I was loneliness of the small town where you thought in love with him. He was studying in Delhi and you were the only gay person around. There visiting home during his winter break. It was were so many gay people here across social expensive to surf for an hour but the yahoo backgrounds inhabiting different spaces and chat rooms allowed me to reach out to random many that did not confine their sexualities within people across the world who had desires like me, these narrow labels. There were rich and poor anonymously. They told me on these gay chat gays, gays from South Delhi and then from low rooms (also telling me that I could probably be residential localities and basties and also from gay) that they lived in Delhi, London or Bombay. diverse religious persuasions. The city mapped And immediately, I wanted to be in these cities. through many such spaces sequestered within its Geographical scholarship tells us how the fabric through the everyday rhythms and survival, anonymity of the city has lured gays towards the parks and public toilets, queer night life, the them through mythologies of desires that are transportation arteries, grand infrastructures meticulously woven (Bell and Valentine 1995; or the dating apps. These geographies are Hubbard 2011). Particularly, for men who can imaginative and dynamic, always in the making afford, cities provided the spaces of desire. As and ephemeral. As people from different walks of cultural and sexual metaphors circulate and lives make use of the city, interact socially, sexually diffuse in global urbanisms, there has been an and spatially, they also shape themselves. emergence of gayborhoods (gay neighbourhoods) I use auto-ethnographic storytelling as a in the cities of North America and Europe. Similar decolonised method to capture this city making. aspirations may be seen circulating worldwide. We fictionalise our lives within what urban form While such is impossible in several countries in allows. It is not only how we read the grandeur and what the West calls the ‘third world’, cities have poverty of the city through the logics of capitalism, still allowed for many of us sexual and other caste, religion or other biases, but how we write freedoms (Dubey 2005; Katyal 2007). Although the city through our everyday negotiations, not as fixed to a place as Castro in San Francisco or as claiming a right to the city. Literature on Soho in London (both expensive and exclusive and geographies of sexualities speaks of our acts

84 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 of ‘queering’ it, against the larger brahminical heteronormative logic that defines lives. I argue this as ephemeral geographies—that survive despite the possibility of collapse. Similar to unmarried heterosexual couples hiding in parks to make love, the city spaces are regimented through our social systems of sexuality as modesty, manufactured through purity and honour subscribed within the ethnic value complexes as caste, class and religion. They are only safe and free, till they are not ‘caught’ engaging in something ‘not appropriate’ or ‘permitted’. This performative for many of us then is not to be caught—not as a Dalit, neither as gay. Our maps of the city are thus drawn through our social locations. In the present context when we draw it through non-normative sexualities and desirability, we not only mark people as desirable or not, but also as spaces and cities. So Manhattan is sexy, because it is predominantly white, but Bronx is not because it is predominantly black. For many gay boys who live in South Delhi their maps do not expand beyond Yamuna. Before the Delhi metro made the city seem compact, many did not imagine that Badarpur could be Delhi. Before the metro was this expansive or geo-locative dating apps made it so easy, many would tell me, that they would sometimes change three buses to meet someone they desired. Now technology and transport arteries have made our relationship with the city and sexuality different yet complex and produced many new stories. You might be just a kilometer away on the dating app still you will not travel if the location of the person is across the railway line, in a basti. Gay parties that happen almost four days a week, many with changing venues to keep their Literature on clientele safe and anonymous, cluster around geographies of South and Central Delhi. While this replicates the leisure maps of the city where nightlife exists, it sexualities speaks of also defines sexuality across caste and class lines. Thus the movement to these spaces for dance, sex our acts of ‘queering’ and possible lovers is not only a physical distance, but for many that come from far ends of the it, against the ever expanding Delhi, also a question of social, economic and aspirational mobility. larger brahminical Entry to many in these spaces is ensured by using fake names (usually with upper caste heteronormative logic surnames, if they are not) or fake addresses. So that defines lives. a friend who lives in Jamia Nagar would claim respectability by stating that he is from the New Friends Colony. Or a friend from the Valmiki

Geo graphy and You . 2020 85 Homosexuality is still a taboo in conservative small towns of India. Pressure of dual and hidden identities lead to greater concentrations of the gay community in big cities.

86 2020 . Geo graphy and You vol 20, issue 4-5 No. 142-143 Colony in Trilokpuri would tell you that he lives in these spaces, most of who use them come from Laxminagar. While there might be a huge physical the working class and often from the lower caste distance between Jamia Nagar and Trilokpuri and backgrounds. Many gay boys tell me while they the venue of the parties the distinction of caste walk around commercial complexes of the city and class of sexuality and how it manifests in our that aspire to be global and sleek, that they do not spatial negotiations is clearly discernible. use these toilets – filthy people go there. The filth ‘Do you have a place?’ is an important question and stink emanating from these spaces of desires that is central to the practice of sexuality in India. unlike the classy parties in Connaught Place, is While this speaks of how sexuality was historically however, as much a geography of caste and class privatised as Michel Foucault (Foucault 1976) as is of sexuality. says; but also how shame is woven around good and bad sexualities as Gayle Rubin (Rubin 1989) R eferences writes. For us, it is also a question of caste and class Bell D. and G. Valentine. 1995. Mapping Desire: (Jyoti 2016). Do I have a place? If yes, where? Many Geographies of Sexualities, London: Routledge. live with families and have secret sexual lives Bhan G. and A. Narrain. 2005. Because I have a Voice: (there is enough stigma and shame around it) and Queer Politics in India, New Delhi: Yoga Press. thus have no place. Many even are married and Borisa D. and D. Jyoti. 2016. Queering Dalit in India. leading multiple lives in cities, while wives could The Investigator: An International Refereed Journal be in villages. Many live in compact houses with of Multidisciplinary Explorations, 2(4): 29-33. multiple occupants. Many might have a place, but Delany S.R. 2001. Times Square Red, Times Square there would be other kinds of shame, of where Blue, New York: Newyork University Press. these places are, what neighborhoods, which Dubey A. K. 2005. Footpath par Kaamsutra – Nayee bastis? Also with all these spatial questions is also Sexy Dilli, Sarai- CSDS (ed.) Deewan-e-Sarai, 02: the question of time and how discreet it is. Place 115-139. is such an important deterrent to sexual practice Foucault M. 1976. The History of Sexuality. London: that many are ready to travel miles. The much Penguin. celebrated Delhi High Court verdict in 2009 and Hubbard P. 2011. Cities and Sexualities, Oxon: the recent Supreme Verdict in 2018 on section 377 Routledge. of Indian Penal Code—the law that criminalised Jyoti D. (2016, January 22). Queer, Dalit and homosexual acts, suggests that law should not Questioning [Web log post]. Retrieved June intervene in non-normative sexual conduct if 22, 2017, from http://varta2013.blogspot. happening in private. However, overlooking in/2016/01/queer-dalit-and-questioning. the fact that privacy itself is a social good that is html?zx=63d49ee9d0e01138 unavailable to many. Katyal A. 2007. Queer Cultures and the Delhi Thus many in the city with non-normative Discotheque. Available at: http://mail.sarai.net/ sexual practices find refuge in parks and public pipermail/urbanstudygroup_mail.sarai.net/2007- toilets to find other men (Delany 2001; Dubey May/002766.html 2005). These spaces then become part of the Katyal A. 2016. The Doubleness of Sexuality: Idioms of myths of the city and circulate as sexual city Same-sex Desire in Modern India, New Delhi: scripts – erased and written every day by different New Text. people (Muñoz 1996). Often at intersections Khanna A. 2016. Sexualness, New Delhi: New Text. between the metro and the bus, as the sun begins Muñoz J.E. 1996. Ephemera as Evidence: Introductory to set, some public toilets on a busy road may Notes to Queer Acts. Women and Performance: be filled with sexual possibilities. Much at the a Journal of Feminist Theory, 8(2): 5-16. risks of police crackdowns or the publicness of Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ it, an imagined space of sexual freedom shapes abs/10.1080/07407709608571228 up to collapse soon after as though nothing ever Rubin G.S. 1989. Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical happened, leaving only stories. While affluent or Theory of the Politics of Sexuality, in Vance C. (ed.) aspiring gay boys and bisexual men with access Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality, to private dances in five star hotels frown upon London: Pandora.

Geo graphy and You . 2020 87 Website ~ BookS R epublic of Caste: Thinking I nternational Dalit Equality in the Time of Solidarity Network Neoliberal Hindutva idsn.org/ By: Anand Teltumbde The International Dalit Cover: Hardcover Solidarity Network (IDSN) ISBN: 9788189059842 works on a global level for Published: 2018 the elimination of caste Publisher: Navyana discrimination and similar Pages: 432 forms of discrimination based Price: USD 5.95 on work and descent. They link grassroot priorities with ommanding in its scope, nature of caste to devitalise international mechanisms and Crevelatory and unsparing India’s poorest, Teltumbde’s institutions in order to change in argument, Republic of damning analysis shows how policies and practices that lead Caste presents a new map of progressive politics can forge a to caste discrimination. post-Independence India. way out of the present impasse. Anand Teltumbde identifies Joining the dots between a wide N ational SC- ST Hub the watershed moments of its range of events on the ground www.scsthub.in/ journey—from the adoption and the prevailing structure of Operating under the ministry of a flawed Constitution to the power, he debunks the pieties of of micro, small and medium Green Revolution, the other state and Constitution, political enterprises the hub supports backward caste (OBC) upsurge parties and identitarian rhetoric, existing SC/ST entrepreneurs and rise of regional parties, to to reveal the pernicious energies and enterprises in technological neoliberalism and hindutva in they have unleashed and their upgradation and capacity the present day. As a politics of dire impact on India’s most building enabling them to symbolism exploits the fissile marginalised people, the Dalits. effectively participate in the government. This also involves the active participation by Central public sector Caste in Caste Matters enterprises/central ministries, Contemporary By: Suraj Yengde states, industry associations India Cover: Paperback such as DICCI and others. By: Surinder ISBN: 0670091227 S Jodhka Published: 2019 D alit Indian Chamber of Cover: Hardcover Publisher: Penguin Commerce and Industry ISBN: Viking www.dicci.org 9781138572959 Pages: 304 The Dalit Indian Chamber Published: 2018 Price: USD 6.06 of Commerce and Industry Publisher: Routledge India (DICCI) is an Indian Pages: 274 Renunciation and association that promotes Price: USD 8.73 Untouchability business enterprises for Dalits. It in India: The was founded in 2005 by Milind Caste and Life Notional and the Kamble, a well-known Dalit Narratives Empirical in the industrialist and a Padmashri By: Charu Gupta S Caste Order awardee. The association is Shankar By: S. Ramanujam responsible to inculcate the Cover: Hardcover Cover: Hardcover spirit of entrepreneurship ISBN: 9352908759 ISBN: 1138594555 in Dalit youths, organising Published: 2019 Published: 2019 seminars and expo’s to help lift Publisher: Primus Books Publisher: Routledge India the backward communities out Pages: 320 pages Pages: 186 of poverty. Price: USD 13.12 Price: USD 119.67

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Conceptualised in 2011, The Science and Geopolitics of Himalaya-Arctic-Antarctic (SaGHAA), a Delhi based think tank has been organising an international bi-annual conference committed to addressing one of the most challenging issues facing the global community—climate change. It is the first in India to focus exclusively towards holistic tri-polar issues under the aegis of LIGHTS, an NGO working in multiple environmental and educational domains. IPPL 2019