September 25, 1954 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY Caste and Political Leadership in Maharashtra A Review and Current Appraisal Maureen L P Patterson

T midnight on August 14, for 33 per cent or more of the record keeping, and whose members A 1954, Keshavrao M Jedhe Hindus, and form the backbone of had had considerable experience in made an announcement of possible the agricultural population. Some­ government administration during far-reaching implications for the times when circumstances demand a the immediately preceding Peshwai. political scene in Maharashtra, show of numbers Marathas and As it became evident that in West­ From his family home in Poona, Kunbis are counted together, but ern .education lay the key to power Jedhe made public his decision to actually over the past fifty years no and betterment of socio-economic rejoin the Congress. Thus four two Census reports have agreed on conditions, it was the Brahmans who montlw after resigning from the how to handle the Maratha-Kunbi most eagerly and easily made the Shetkari Kamkari Paksh (Peasants' group, of castes. 'The Maratha caste transition from indigenous to West- and Workers' Party) Jedhe returned itself is by no means homogeneous, ern education, and who through it to the party he had quit in 1948. and there are strata within it between rose to positions of leadership in He described his return to the Con­ which there is little or no intermar­ all fields of endeavour. Thus by gress as " the return of the prodigal riage. There is a desire and a tend­ the end of the nineteenth century son cone astray clue to bad com­ ency among Marathas to override the Brahmans as a group had assum­ pany . these very real distinctions and to ed a position of dominance quite Jedhe's action must be viewed not encourage consolidation of the entire out of proportion to their numerical merely in terms of the changed poli­ Maratha community. strength in Maharashtra. The early tical outlook and beliefs of an indivi­ Next in numbers to the Marathas nationalist leaders were predomi­ dual, but in terms of a realignment is the Mahar caste, a scheduled caste nantly Brahmans, and most of and rebalancing of political power in which accounts for 10 per cent of them were Konkanasth Brahmans. Maharashtrian Hindus, and which is Maharashtra. For Jedhe is one of MARATHA AWAKENING AND ADVANCES the most respected leaders of "the by far the largest scheduled caste in Maratha caste—the caste that ac­ tliis region. At the same time Western ideas counts for over 25 per cent of the Finally, the third largest group is and education began to make a population of Maharashtra, and the Brahman group of castes. mark on the Maratha and Mahar which forms the largest single com­ These comprise some fifteen differ­ castes. 'The education of Marathas munity in this region. And the ent Brahman endogamous groups, was taken up in particular by the Congress is by far the most powerful amounting to 4 per cent of the Maharaja of Kolhapur, Shahu Chbat- political organization in Maharashtra. region's Hindus. The main Brah­ rapati, at the end of the nineteenth It seems pertinent, therefore, at this man castes arc the Deshasth. Konka century. Along with education came a rankling awareness of the domin­ time to present an analysis of this nasth, Karhade and Sarasvat. In ance of Brahmans in so many fields, development in the light of the terms of the traditional caste hierar­ and with this too came a develop­ Mahnrashtrian social structure and chy the Brahman 4 per cent is at ment of political consciousness on recent political history, and to assess the top of this three-tier social struc­ the part of the small number of its significance for leadership in this ture, the Maratha-Kunbi 33 per cent newly-educated Marathas. This poli- region, especially in view of the pos­ in the middle, and the Mahar io per cent on the lowest level. tical consciousness generated and sible formation of a Samyukta Maha­ centered on a frankly anti-Brahman rashtra State. The foregoing must be taken as a highly simplified picture of caste attitude, and the main manifesta­ THREE-TIER CASTE STRUCTURE in Maharashtra, admittedly doing tions of this anti-Brahmanism were The first background factor to be the injustice of omission to many found in Kolhapur State and Satara taken into consideration in this ana­ smaller but certainly prominent District. lysis is the caste structure of Maha­ castes; yet this outline should suffice The progress of education has, rashtra. There are altogether some for the present purposes of analysis however, not been rapid among 120 castes in the Maratlri-speaking of the relationship between caste Marathas in general, and a recent region, but in the present discussion and political leadership in the estimate places their literacy rate as we shall be concerned primarily modern context of political demo­ low as 7 per cent. A partial expla­ with those three groups of castes cracy. nation for this lies in the fact that: which comprise about 47 per cent of Marathas are predominantly peasant- the Hindu population—and about EARLY BRAHMAN LEADERSHIP fanners, with powerful tics to the go per cent of the people here are If we look at the history of Maha­ land, and with little incentive to Hindus. rashtra in the past 150 years we will indulge in schooling. Many of those The largest of these groups is the see that effective leadership in socio- Marathas who have gamed positions Maratha caste, accounting for 25 per cultural and political life has been of leadership- in Maharashtra today cent of the population. The Mara drawn overwhelmingly from the come from among the top " 96 Fami­ thas are sometimes considered toge­ Brahman group of castes. There are lies " who have inherited wealth in ther with the Kunbis—a caste report­ many reasons for this, the principal the form of lands, and who can edly striving for assimilation into the one doubtless being that the British trace, their family prestige back to higher Maratha caste, but actually administration in the nineteenth the days of the Maratha hero, Shivaji, possessing customs, rituals and a diet­ century looked for clerical and minor in the seventeenth century.- Keshav­ ary which distinguish it from the administrative personnel to those rao Jedhe is a mar with such a Maratha caste-and if considered castes whose traditional occupations background, and it this as well as together, these two castes account involved scholarship, teaching, and his personal qualities (rather than 1065 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 25, 1954 high educational qualifications) that as they do about 10 per cent of the the Non-Brahman Party and the saves him a place of honour and population of this region, Mahars are Satyashodhak Samaj petered out for respect in the eyes of Maharashtrians, an increasingly important and self- a variety of reasons, it was the Con­ and especially of Marathas. conscious community whose co-ope­ gress which provided a welcome to Other Maratha leaders, such as ration Maharashtrian leaders must all and sundry, and whose stated the 'late B S Jadhav, who was a gain, and with whom Marathas in principles of social equality were Minister at various tunes, during the particular will have to establish definitely acceptable to persons who 1920's, and V D Ghate—a promi­ closer and more harmonious relations were anxious to get away from alleg­ nent educationist and presently an than now exist Between these two ed Brahman domination. The fact MLA—rose to t h e i r positions groups. that Gandhi, though a non-Maha- through the channels of education rashtrian, was a Non-Brahman seems rather than of family lineage, At RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY to have played a significant part in the present time in view of the During the first World War a attracting Marathas and other Non- competitive examinations for entry large number of Marathas saw army Brahmans into the Congress. into the higher levels of adminis­ service in other parts of India and When Keshavrao Jedhe entered tration, Marathas are finding that if abroad, and as a result of this many the Congress m the early thirties, they are to gam positions of real ex-servicemen returned to their vil­ the top figures in the Maharashtrian leadership and responsible posts lages with considerably broadened Congress were Shankarrao Deo and commensurate with their proportion horizons. Furthermore, the Mon­ N V Gadgil, both Brahmans. in the population, they are going to tagu Chelmsford Reforms of 1910 jedhe brought with him into the have to pay greater attention to rais­ made provision for reservation of Congress a large number of his fol­ ing the general level of education in seats in the Bombay Legislature for lowers, and rapidly he rose to join their community than is at present " Marathas and Allied Castes ". At Shankarrao Deo and Gadgil at the the case. the same lime the various educa­ top. Jedhe's caste-membership was tion;)! programmes instituted by certainly not without significance, IMPORTANCE OF THE MAHARS Shahu Chhatrapati of Kolhapur for due to his personal prestige as a The Mahars constitute the largest began to bear fruit in the shape of Maratha leader, Congress influence and most important scheduled easte a number of enthusiastic young Non- was greatly strengthened in Maha­ in Maharashtra. A leading member Brahman leaders such as Bhaurao rashtra, and particularly among the of this community, Dr B R Ambed Paul, A B Latthe. Madhavrao Marathas. kar, has undoubtedly held higher Bagal and others. Actually, during the peak years of positions in the Central Government These and other factors combined the nationalist struggle overt caste than any other of the former " un­ to make the 1920's a decade of consciousness and inter-caste tension touchables ". Unlike the Marathas, intense caste-consciousness in Maha­ were reduced to a minimum, yet it the Mahars have apparently been rashtra. The Non-Brahman Party is possible to say that all along m particularly conscious of the advan­ in the Bombay Legislative Council various ways caste has exerted an tages to be gamed from education. gamed strength partly because of important though at times subtle In fact, the literacy rate for Mahars factors such as the above, and partly effect on the Congress organization is at present said to have reached because of the huge number of in Maharashtra. It was always, and 11 per cent, compared with 7 per politically-conscious persons (most of still is, something to be reckoned cent for the Marathas. Mahatma them Brahmans) who were at that with, in spite of protestations to the jyotirao Phulc, the Mali (caste just time boycotting the Councils as part contrary. below Maratha) founder of the of the nationalist struggle. As a re­ reformist and anti Brahman Satya- flection in part of the aid and sym­ ANTI-BRAHMAN VIOLENCE IN 1948 shodhak Samaj, opened a school for pathy extended to Non-Brahmans by AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Mahars in Poona in the mid-nine the British (in an attempt to offset Grim evidence of the deep-rooted teenth century, and Christian mis­ tire anti-British attitudes and actions nature of caste-consciousness and sionaries have been especially sensi­ of an influential group of Brahmans, potentialities of inter-caste conflict in tive to the educational disabilities particularly those led by Tilak), and Maharashtra came in January and and needs of the Mahar caste. in recognition of the special consi­ February 1948. The assassination of The British administration recruit derations accorded them in the IQIQ Mahatma Gandhi by a Maharash­ ed freely from the Mahars, and Reforms, the Non-Brahman Party trian Brahman provided the occasion through army service a great number tended to go along with the Govern­ for widespread anti-Brahman demon­ of Mahars gamed a general and often ment in the Legislature, -and was strations, looting and burning of specialized education. Moreover, therefore deemed to be anti-nation­ Brahman houses, factories, shops, Mahars were early attracted to the alist. dispensaries, and printing presses. industrial areas as labourers and Also during the twenties a large These disturbances marked the culmi­ M;in skilled workers, and having far section of Marathas and other Non- nation of a more or less suppressed fewer ties to the land, as well as Brahmans under the leadership of movement on the part of the Non- having lost, their traditional occupa­ the Satyashodhak Samaj (among Brahmans, and of Marathas in parti­ tion of village watchmen, members whose leaders was Keshavrao Jedhc) cular, to assert themselves over the of this caste have, on the whole, conducted various activities in Satara previous three or four decades. Also, proved to be a relatively stable ele- District, Kolhapur State and other by and large, Maharashtrian Brah­ ment in the. industrial labour force. places in this general area designed mans had not been enamoured of This contact with urban centres has to harass Brahmans and, quite Gandhi's policies, and in the couple also had the effect of exposing frankly, to drive them from their of years before 1948 the predomin­ Mahars to new ideas of social equal­ positions as priests, petty government antly Brahman-owned and edited ity and so forth, and of impressing officials, money-lenders, and teachers Marathi press had indeed been ex­ on them the possibilities of using in the rural areas. tremely critical of Gandhi. These education as a means of By-passing By the 1930's however, the Con­ factors, in the general all-India con­ their traditional low status in Maha- gress had gathered strength nation­ text of unrest and violence that fol­ rashtnan Hindu society. Comprising ally and in Maharashtra; and when lowed on partition in 1947, and the 1066 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY September 25, 1954 specific event of Gandhi's murder 1954 on account of irreconcilable the year, it will be possible to eva­ brought on the worst, and what is differences with the other party luate Jedhe's action better in terms likely to be the last, open, sustained, leaders. A meeting of the residual of Congress leadership in this region. and violent expression of anti-Brah­ party executive on September 25 and In conclusion, we may refer to a man feeling in Maharashtra. 26 will decide the fate of the SKP lengthy statement issued by Bhau- During and alter these disturban­ in the light of recent events. saheb Hiray, Bombay's Minister tor ces there was confusion in Congress Revenue, Forests and Agriculture, on JEDHE'S RE-ENTRY INTO CONGRESS circles over the cause of the trouble August 28 (published in the Marati and the placing of responsibility. Between April and August 1954 weekly, Sarathi, on September 9, There was a tendency on the part Jedhe was trying to make up his 1954). In this statement Hiray, a of Congress leaders, at least in pub­ mind where his political future lay. leading Maratha, and several tunes lic utterances, to maintain that these Some indication of the importance President of the Maharashtra Provin­ disturbances were not related to any of his temporary lack of affiliation cial Congress Committee, welcomed anti-Brahman feeling of long-stand­ with any party, and of the import­ Jedhe back into the Congress, and ing, and that they were merely spon­ ance ot the decision he was to make, paying a glowing tribute to Jedhe's taneous reactions to the murder of may be gauged from the fact that qualities as a leader (even though for their beloved leader—the caste to Jayaprakash Narayan, Shankanao a while outside the Congress), claim­ which the assassin belonged being Deo, and others from various parties ed to have been long a follower and naturally the target. However, it is contacted him, and doubtless tried to admirer of Jedhe's, and indeed to more than a coincidence that in influence his decision. Finally, after have received his early political April 1948 a large bloc of the Maha­ much cogitation, and at the dramatic training from him in the 1920's. rashtra Congress—the Bahujan Samaj, hour of midnight on the eve of Jedhe is thus officially accepted back or "Party of the Masses", bloc— Independence Day, Jedhe announced into the Confess, and it would ap­ seceded from the parent organiza­ that he had decided to return to the pear, straight into the top ranks of tion. The leaders of this bloc were Congress. In his public statement, the organization. We may view Keshavrao Jedhe and Shankarrao lie said that he felt he could better Jedhe's action, therefore, in terms of More. These two Maratha leaders serve his country through member­ its significance for the course of carried with them a significant num­ ship in the Congress, lie disclaimed Maharashtrian polities in the imme­ ber of followers of their own caste, any expectation of reward in the diate future, and at the same time and in a proclaimed effort to serve form of a ministership or any other in the context of the continuing the predominantly Maratha rural high post. However, m the event of (though nowadays perhaps more population, and the Non-Brahman the formation of Samyukta Maha­ subtle, but nonetheless important) industrial labour force, they formed rashtra, it seems unlikely that Jedhe relationship between caste and poli­ the Shetkari Kamkari Paksh, or Pea­ could be overlooked in the selection tical leadership in Maharashtra, sants' and Workers' Parly. The for­ of a ministry, and having returned to mation of this party may be regarded the Congress at thus opportune both as an attempt to protest against moment he would be on the right what was considered overtly " capi­ side of the fence, since there is no talist " domination of the Congress, possibility of Congress power being and to by-pass what was claimed to eclipsed or even lessened in the near be continued Brahman control over future in this region. positions of leadership in the Maha- On the contrary, there is every rashtrian Congress organization. indication that Jedhe's action has immeasurably strengthened the Con­ OPPOSITION TO CONGRESS gress position in Maharashtra, for the One of the aims of the Shetkari only other source of potential effec­ Kamkari Paksh was to build up a tive opposition, the SKP, appears to strong and " progressive " opposition be on the verge of complete disinte­ to both the Congress and the Com­ gration—those SKP members who do munist parties, basing their strength not join the Congress being most on the sturdy, tradition-bound and likely to join the Communist Party, essentially politically-unaware Maratha with a possible trickle into the Praja peasantry. "The SKP did manage to Socialist Party. Since Jedhe's an­ gain 15 out of the 316 seats in the nouncement on August 14, it is re­ Bombay Legislature in the 1952 ported that a sizable number of local elections, and was on its way to be­ district SKP leaders in Bombay and coming the largest party (though no Hyderabad's Marathi-speaking dis­ real threat) in opposition to the tricts have followed his example and Congress. However, internal differ­ joined the Congress. ences. centering on controversial Congress has thus received new intrusive Communist elements, and strength in Maharashtra, and in the personal ambitions of Shankarrao particular it can be said that the More, have in the past two years led Maratha element in Congress has to a chaotic jumble of personality increased its influence, and indeed is clashes in the party leadership and likely to increase it still further, if uncertainties in the theoretical basis other Maratha leaders, such as of the party. It was Keshavrao Jedhe Madhavrao Bagal in Kolhapur (who who headed the group within the left the SKP last year), make similar SKP which attempted to forestall decisions. When the Maharashtra Communist infiltration and domina­ Provincial Congress Committee an­ tion, but he finally resigned in April nual elections are held at the end of

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