Communalism, Casteism and Vandalism is the success mantra of Modi Gujarat: This is what ment by sowing the seed of poison... Hindutva in the State to the rise of the rapidly growing urban middle class in search of a new identity. Tracing the rise of the BJP from the 1980s, he illustrates how it has managed to mobilise Patels, Banias, the OBCs and Dalits under a common Hindutva banner in a span of 20 years. Yagnik points out that the Congress split in 1969 changed caste equations in the State. When the Congress (I) swept to power in 1980 using the electoral combine of KHAM (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims), the political clout of the upper castes and Patidars was eroded. Between 1976 and 1980, the Congress(I) leadership in Gujarat virtually eliminated Brahmins, Banias and Patidars from core positions in the party. For the first time in history, not a single Patidar Minister was of Cabinet rank. (The last 10 years have seen a Patidar resurgence in State politics.)The backlash from Brahmins, Banias and Patidars took the form of an anti-reservation agitation in 1981. They objected to the reservation system that gave Dalits access to medical and engineering colleges. It led to riots in which Dalits were targeted in 18 of Gujarats 19 districts. During these riots, Muslims sheltered Dalits, in some instances. The second anti-reservation riots were in 1985. Although the agitation was against the hike in job quotas for the OBCs in government and educational institutions, but victims were all Dalits, says Yagnik. However, by the mid-1980s, the BJP changed its stand towards Dalits in a bid to co-opt them. Realising the largeness of the number of Dalits and Scheduled Tribe and OBC persons in the State, who together account for 75 per cent of the population, the BJP started attempts to unite all castes under the Hindutva plank. It corrected its anti-reservation stand and was able to reap the gains of this move. When riots broke out in 1986 during Ahmedabads annual Jagannath rath yatra, the BJP managed to garner the support of the OBCs and Dalits. This marked a shift in its support base.When riots broke out all over Gujarat in 1990 during L.K. Advanis rath yatra, Dalits and middle class Hindus were set against Muslims. The 1990 riots showed that the communal divide had deepened considerably, says Yagnik. Incidentally, the man who spearheaded the rath yatra campaign in Gujarat was none other than the present Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, who was then the general secretary of the State BJP. Also, it was after 1990 that the process of ghettoisation got under way in all three areas of Ahmedabad - the old walled city, the industrial mill areas and the new middle class and elite town. The 1992 riots after the demolition of the Babri Masjid ghettoised the city further. The current round of violence is likely to cause even further spatial segregation of the two communities. Communal violence has often been portrayed as a OBC, Dalit vs. Muslim one, Martin Macwan, director of the Navsarjan Dalit network, points out that this is not necessarily true. People from all castes and classes participated in the rioting, including the elite, who looted shopping centres. He adds that since OBC,Dalits and Muslims (who comprise the poorest sections of the working class) are often neighbours, situations of insecurity and tension are perceived as those in which the two communities are pitted against each other. The image of Dalits and other backward class and Muslims as warring factions is well calculated to benefit Hindu dominance, he says. Since the Dalit movement is now in a political vacuum, the Sangh Parivar has exploited the frustration of the Dalit youth to mobilise for its Hindutva campaigns against Muslims.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 12:27:44 +0000
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