Sid Harth (USA) The Myth of the Lokmanys: Tilak and Mass Politics in Maharashtra By RichardI Cashman Very interesting book on politics of Maharashtra in British Raj. Selective excerpts. Bombay was never considered by the hinteland of Marathi speaking population the then, Bombay province, which included Sindh and parts of Nizam’s Marathi speaking territores, parts of Marathi speaking territories of Mysore, now Karnataka and whole Gujarat, which was divided by several independent princely states, ruled by either Hindu or Muslim rulers. As a fair comparison, Calcutta was considered by Bengali speaking people as their crown, representing all their Bengali culture, arts, literature and past glories. Bengal was ruled by Muslim rulers and yet Hindus and Muslims did respect each other. Maharashtra possess a relatively homogeneous population. The majority of the inhabitants come from non-Brahman communities. The core of this group is the Maratha-Kunbi caste cluster which number forty percent of the popualation and ranks with the outsiders like Rajputs as one of the largest caste communities in India.It is this group which produced Shivaji and many of the ‘bhakti’ poet-saints and which has had formative influence on the local culture. The support of many non-Brahman artisan castes, who number approximately one-quarter of the population and identify with the Marathas, has assured a non-Brahman political hegemony in recent times. The Brahmins, five percent of the population, form a thin upper crust of society. The depressed or Scheduled Castes, ten percent of the total, form the third or lower tier of society. They were not effectively organized until the twentieth century. The Vaishya or trading element has always been small (two to three percent) and weak, most likely because of the poor condition of the soil and the limited scope for the capital formation savings. Its functions have been largely usurped by Gujaratis and Marwadis from regions to the north. The Muslim population, five percent of the total, is poor and politically ineffective. Much outdated as the current reformulated Marathi-Maharashtra has been changed by pioneering in manufacturing, that creates jobs and associated and related service sector. All points to the fact that Modi-magic does not or would not work here. Modi’s divisive and caste-religion based politics worked in the last general elections, minus Tamil Nadu and west Bengal. RSS did not believe in regionalism and BJP is RSS’s illegitimate baby. Anti-Congress rhetoric also is outdated as Congress party without their alliance partners is almost reduced to cinders. Modi deals cards, say in a game of cards, and cheats. A good example of his Maharashtra campaign theme. …and I am Sid Harth Post another comment
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 01:53:37 +0000
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