> Research & Reports India: Caste Stronger than Religion? Hindu-Muslim tension continues to structure the public arena in India, as the riots in Only after Congress had been ousted general election. In this contest, a shift Research > brought to the surface a year ago. But at least in the Hindi belt, the repertoire of for the second time, the new Prime Min- in the Congress Party towards the South Asia caste appears to be just as powerful. While communal conflict remains salient, the ister V.P. Singh decided to implement repertoire of caste will be a new vari- crystallization of caste identities has redefined the political cleavages of North India. The the recommendations of the Mandal able. Congress, which already governs emergence of caste-based politics has blurred religious divisions, evident in the recent Commission Report in 1990. In reac- over half the states, is far from exclu- success of political parties that cater to lower-caste voters. Political campaigning for the tion, the upper castes, especially stu- sively championing the cause of the state elections in four provinces of the Hindi belt this year, vividly illustrates this dents, launched violent protests against lower castes. While its Chief Minister competition between the two political identities: the religious and the caste-based. the sudden diminution of their job in , Digvijay Singh, is opportunities and the outright challenge campaigning for the OBC quota in the By Christophe Jaffrelot Hindu-Muslim riots in early 2002, to the socio-political order they domi- state’s civil service to be increased from these turned into anti-Muslim pogroms nated. V.P. Singh’s decision and subse- 14 to 27 per cent, the Chief Minister in he politics of identity in India, espe- through the administration’s acquies- quent developments sparked a counter- , Ashok Gehlot, is promising Tcially in the Hindi belt, are domi- cence and even active participation. mobilization, in which the OBC for the a quota in the state’s administration for nated by ethno-religious conflict. Since Two thousand were killed dur- first time joined forces to defend their the poor from the upper castes. The 1984, the symbol of these tensions has ing instances of violence that were rem- quotas against upper-caste agitation. Congress has introduced the theme of been Ayodhya. In the sixteenth centu- iniscent of the ethnic cleansing of Par- In this context of social polarization, caste – any caste – into its discourse to ry, the Moghuls built a mosque in this tition half a century before. The the Dalits, previously reluctant to bear counter the appeal of Hindutva. town, which Hindus ensuing mobilization of the Hindu the brunt of the backlash against posi- The BJP is in a fix. Extremist compo- regard as the birthplace of the god Ram, electorate resulted in a landslide victo- tive discrimination, made an alliance nents of the Hindu nationalist move- and named the structure Babri Masjid, ry for the BJP in December 2002 and with the OBC. New political parties ment, including the Vishva Hindu after the first Moghul emperor Babur. the resurgence of militant Hindu iden- emerged and formed alliances, such as Parishad (VHP), pressure the party to

Hindu nationalists put claims on the Wyatt Andrew tity. Hostility to henceforth fed the Samajwadi Janata Party (Socialist return to its strategy of ethno-religious site in order to ‘rebuild’ a temple dedi- A symbol of caste conflict in India: in Tamil on the anti-Jihadist discourse prevalent People’s Party), claiming to represent the mobilization. In Rajasthan and in Mad- cated to Ram. This demand became the Nadu, the statues of Ambedkar, the first Pan in the world after 11 September 2001. interests of all lower castes, and the hya Pradesh, the two most important focus of every election campaign from Indian Untouchable leader, are ‘caged’ to pro- Bahujan Samaj Party, whose leader, Kan- states going to the poll, VHP leaders the late 1980s to the middle of the tect them from vandalism. The political assertion of shi Ram, is a Dalit. All these new politi- have, once again, identified Muslim 1990s, even after militants destroyed caste cal groups fielded scores of lower-caste shrines built atop Hindu temples; state the mosque in 1992. This ethno-reli- by paying respect to Ram as a national The political culture of caste has candidates, in acknowledgement of the governments, however, have prevented gious mobilization has exacerbated hero – and that they keep their own grown in tandem with the spread of fact that the OBC – constituting the rel- their campaigning.1 Consequently, the conflict between Hindus and Muslims. religious observances private. Hindu nationalism. These two trajecto- ative majority all over India – voted for VHP resuscitated the Ayodhya issue The resurgence of Hindu national- ries are less parallel than dialectical, as their own candidates rather than upper- following a report by the Archaeologi- Hindus vs. Muslims ism was also due to a wave of commu- they reinforce one another. During the caste notables. As a result, the propor- cal Survey of India, which stated new Clashes were already commonplace nal riots which polarized the electorate. colonial period, and under Nehru’s gov- tion of OBC elected representatives in excavations to prove the prior existence during the colonial period. Ever since With Hindus voting en masse for ernment after 1947, the emancipation of northern India climbed from 11 per cent of a Hindu temple at Babri Masjid. Muslims organized a movement in Hindu nationalist, their self-appointed the lower castes was promoted through in 1984 to 25 per cent in 1996; that of Nevertheless, the BJP’s central leader- defence of the Caliphate in the 1920s, ‘defenders’, the Bharatiya Janata Party a system of positive discrimination that upper-caste elected officials dropped ship, including Prime Minister Vaj- the Hindu majority has felt threatened (BJP – Indian People’s Party) moved the British had devised. The Untouch- from 47 to 35 per cent. It was during payee, remain reluctant to re-launch the from within by the presence of a pan- from two seats out of 544 in the Peo- ables benefited from quotas in the these years that lower-caste parties Ayodhya affair for fear of alienating its Islamic fifth column. Hindu national- ple’s Assembly in 1984 to 178 seats in assemblies, the civil service, and in edu- seized power in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh; coalition partners. In September, these ism builds and feeds on this largely 1998. In that year the BJP formed the cation, which spawned a new elite, des- two states where they still reign today. partners refused to pass a parliamen- irrational perception of vulnerability, governing coalition and its leader, A.B. ignated by a novel term. In place of The involvement of the BJP in the tary bill on the banning of cow slaugh- which gained further ground in the Vajpayee, became Prime Minister. Most administrative euphemisms such as Ayodhya affair is in large part explained ter, yet another Hindu nationalist rally 1980s and 1990s, when nourished by of the parties in the coalition, however, ‘Scheduled Castes’ and Gandhi’s conde- by the rising power of the lower castes. cause. Not only has it been impossible the Congress government’s leniency did not share the BJP’s Hindu nation- scending label ‘Harijan’, the Untouch- The BJP perceived the crystallization of for the BJP to return to its strategy of towards instances of Islamic mobiliza- alist agenda. The coalition contract thus ables chose for themselves a name, for a caste-based movement as a threat to an ethno-religious mobilization, the party tion. The Shah Bano affair, conversions barred the government from challeng- its shock value, expressing their militant undivided Hindu community and has had to accept Congress initiatives of some Untouchables to Islam, and ing the status quo in Ayodhya from the social identity: ‘Dalit’ (the oppressed). sought to avert this threat by dissolving such as debate on reservations for the even before that the spectre of the Iran- official side. Independent India’s first govern- this identity within a broader movement upper castes. ian Revolution, rekindled feelings of Following a string of electoral defeats ment also took interest in those cate- stamped with the seal of Hinduism. Caste issues may blur Hindutva sen- vulnerability among sections of the from 1998 to 2002, which ousted the gorized just above the Untouchables. While the party aimed at attracting low- timent, unless BJP propaganda against Hindu community, emotions that the BJP from leadership in all of the main Nehru, already in his first speech before caste voters by co-opting lower-caste the Jihadist threat can successfully be Hindu nationalist movement skilfully states it had controlled, this policy was the Constituent Assembly, named them leaders, its success was rather limited instrumentalized. In August, when exploited. The ideology of Hindu increasingly disputed within the party. the ‘Other Backward Classes’ (OBC), and it continues to appeal dispropor- four bomb attacks killed 52 innocents nationalism, which equates national In Gujarat, BJP Chief Minister Naren- implying groups ‘other’ than the tionately to upper-caste voters. Interest- in Bombay, Vice-Prime Minister L.K. identity with Hindu culture, demands dra Modi used defeat at the polls to ‘Scheduled Castes.’ In 1953, the first ingly, the BJP stood up to protect the Advani immediately accused Pakistan- that religious minorities, Christians as campaign for the party’s return to its Backward Classes Commission was upper castes against low-caste mobiliza- based Islamist groups. Many Hindus well as Muslims, show public allegiance erstwhile militant stance. When the appointed and assigned the task to tions while the low-caste parties were follow Advani’s reading, even though to the ‘Hindian’ identity – for instance state experienced unprecedented identify these groups and to suggest gaining momentum. Co-opted lower- the police found the guilty men to be measures that would improve their caste leaders can deliver smaller num- Indian Muslims anxious to avenge the [advertisement] condition. 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Jihadists and fifth columnists. < [email protected], www.abebooks.com/home/tamarind caste in this manner would only per- The conflict between these two polit- petuate an archaic social institution that ical identities – the caste-based and Dr Christophe Jaffrelot is director of the Asia Bookroom was bound to disappear with the mod- Hindu nationalist – will dominate the Centre for International Studies and (formerly The Old Bookroom) ernization of society. election year that begins this fall. In Research and teaches South Asian politics Unit 1, 54/60 Weedon Close, Belconnen, ACT 2617, Australia The second Backward Classes Com- December 2003 four states of the Indi- at Sciences-Po, both in Paris. His most T +61-2-6251 5191 (24-hours), F +61-2-6251 5536 mission was appointed in 1978, owing an Union: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattis- recent book was published this year: India’s [email protected], www.AsiaBookroom.com to Congress’ first electoral defeat. 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In response, government took measures to prevent VHP leaders (such P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands reserving for them 27 per cent of civil as Praveen Togadia, whose discourse spreads venom wherever he goes) T +31 71 527 2227, F +31-71 527 4162, [email protected] service posts to promote their social from campaigning in their states by Chief Ministers Gehlot and Singh. and economic development.

18 IIAS Newsletter | #32 | November 2003