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Not
Dubious Retreat, It’s Fast Forward Mandal
The
empowerment of many cannot be derailed by a few
The Mandal initiative
was the biggest political revolution after Independence. An unprecedented
shift of power took place as a result of the implementation of the Mandal
Commission report. The shuffling of socio-political relations was so radical
and powerful that nobody can change it now. But the idea behind the Mandal
move is showing signs of degenerating because of factors of personality,
caste and creed that have been given importance over the essential philosophy
of helping backward and underclass sections. This is a sad and unfortunate
thing to happen.
The growing animosity between Laloo Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan on the eve
of elections in Bihar is a symptom of this degeneration of the idea of Mandal.
This is a dangerous fight. It should be quickly contained. Everybody should
help contain it because it is a fight between personalities of likeminded
ideology. It is a fight that will be exploited by the BJP and its allies.
Laloo and Paswan are members of the same cabinet, how can they hope to carry
on like this? The Manmohan Singh government will find it very difficult
to sustain this internecine battling.
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Power: dalits at a rally in Delhi |
The
growing animosity between Laloo and Paswan is a symptom of this
degeneration of the idea of Mandal |
There are other ways
in which the original idea of Mandal has suffered in the past decade. It
got focused as a battle between the upper castes and the OBCs. I had never
spoken of caste identities so much, my idea was more on the lines of class
identity. I spoke of jamaat, not jaat. I wanted Mandal to become a tool
for ending socio-economic inequities for all those that were at the wrong
end of it — dalits, OBCs, Muslims, even those among the upper castes
who were economically weak and hamstrung. But that did not happen; it became
caste versus caste, upper castes versus the OBCs and others. It got attached
to personalities who made Mandal a vehicle for personal and political aggrandisement
rather than a radical tool for undoing thousands of years of exploitation
and inequality.
I do not believe in hatred between communities and castes. I do not promote
anti-upper caste sentiment. I do strongly believe in undoing the injustices
of the past and, therefore, I strongly believe that people who have suffered
socially and economically for thousands of years should be given incentives.
However, undoing the injustices of the past should not become a means for
creating new injustices. I keep telling people, don’t target the upper
castes, don’t create a caste war. Nobody should be made to suffer
because of what he or she is by accident of birth, not the dalits, not the
OBCs, not Muslims, not the upper castes.
Instead, the attention of leaders of the Mandal movement should stir to
areas like education. Unless people are educated, how will they develop?
Unless the philosophy and politics of Mandal can help the underprivileged
classes educate themselves, they cannot move ahead. Education is the only
way. If education is ensured, the need for reservations will eventually
vanish.
Having said this, I also wish to state that social change of this magnitude
is not an overnight process. Things take time. Processes require decades
to mature. In its impact on power-sharing and the acceptance of this huge
democratic constituency, Mandal was a great achievement. But that was only
the beginning. Mandal has to be taken forward, not bashed about. The remedy
for democracy is more democracy.
Inherent pressures will build and change aberrations. Socio-political dynamics
have a way of self-correction. Look at what has happened to the backward
movement in the south. It is a settled issue now, nobody is complaining
that majority sections have a vice-like grip on power. Structures of governance
and administration in the south are in no way inferior to the north. In
fact, they might be better. These things take time.
My only concern is that Mandal should not get perverted by personality and
sectarian concerns. It should not degenerate because some people can’t
see the big picture of required social and economic change. That is what
Mandal is all about.
We need people who are concerned about the underprivileged, who uphold the
secular fabric of India. I realised before the May elections that the Congress
is key to fighting the communal forces, that is why I came out to support
Sonia Gandhi. The Congress is new to the coalition culture but it is a mature
party and there are people in this government who are deeply committed to
social and economic equality.
Sonia Gandhi has shown great maturity and fighting spirit. Manmohan Singh
is doing the right thing, taking the initiative in Kashmir and the Northeast
as well as making the right noises on issues such as the employment guarantee
scheme. But these forces should stick together. Coalitions were something
that the Mandal era made necessary. We faltered but we succeeded too. The
NDA could run a stable government after falling twice, don’t forget.
Coalitions take time but they are beginning to stabilise. You don’t
learn how to ride a cycle until you take a few falls.
The writer is a former prime minister of India
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December
25, 2004
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