Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A look at Indian society from lower level

I haven't written or updated my blog since May'08 but there were some unprecedented events in my life, which made me think and think hard about the casteism and its deep roots in Indian society.
To clear the doubts I must mention here that I belong to Scheduled caste and in India that's the first thing, no matter how qualified you are, how rich you are and how intelligent you are. I am not exceptional in any of the above mentioned fields but I've understood that Power is substitute of social equality. Get it with your rank, links or money but be powerful if you want to live with your chin up in our so called 'secular' society.

The next elections will be huge surprise for our democratic nation. None of the political parties is worried about the development of country or society but its there in every party's election manifesto. I would like to wipe my butt with all of their agendas except for BSP because I want to stand up for my people. When I say my people, I don't refer to Indians, engineers, Indians in foreign countries or the people with right to vote, I group myself with the scheduled caste and tribes, the Dalits, the harijans and the once and seems like ever-will-be untouchables.
Why use these harsh, un-constitutional words? Well Do I have an option? Why should I forbid myself from using these words when there are still atrocities on people from my community? One of my very able and intelligent friend refers BSP as the party with most number of goons under its supremo's (Kumari Mayawati) control but he forgets about the social engineering which she put into practice to win Rajya Sabha elections in UP. Another one is proudly telling me that one of their classmates in school was nick named ‘Achoot’ and thinks its funny.
Coming back to the elections, the national political parties already have been shocked with voters’ response. BJP riding high on Gujrat success and Indian shining campaign was rejected at the national level, even after dissolving the government before their term. Congress has already faced the inflation, global economic crisis and terrorist attacks across the nation during its term so its chances are pretty slim. So BJP, with Advani’s ever lasting dream to become prime minister, can be considered as front runner. But their previous results as compared to its manifestos, Ram Mandir & Checking Bangladeshi intrusion, may turn the wave against them. I don’t know whether people used to vote for BJP primarily because of the two mentioned reasons but 2004 was one example pointing in that direction.
So what’s next for 2009? Regional parties will play a very decisive role. We are all well aware of the coalition politics in India since mid 90s. Looking back at some of the recent elections or national events, one of the best concepts used by any political leader was social engineering by BSP, getting the muslims, bramhins and thakurs to contest election under the Big Blue Elephant. Do you find any praise or any mention of that in national election telecast or articles, ABSOLUTELY NO.
Media is the latest pimp of the society. First it was rich and powerful, then politicians, administrative officers, police and now the journalists. Its still caste based politics, websites are full of abusive words and slangs for harijans but no one blocks those posts. Write something in favor of SC/ST, there will be no post at all. Eg, ‘Rediff.com’ and ‘The Times of India’. Those morons must acknowledge the part of Indian society still voting for the social change or upliftment of weaker sections. They won’t, instead they’ll have debates on agendas like Ram Mandir, Terrorism, Economic growth and political families. Gurjjars put a big halt to all the activities through Rajasthan. They demanded reservation. Was BJP responsible for that? Did they promise that during election campaign? It may be a possibility but no one cares, everyone is busy in projecting the gujjars as bad elements of the society.
Who votes for BSP? Mostly, it’s the lower caste. Why? They’re the only ones who still believe the politicians can change our country because they’re still struggling to make their ends meet, still their houses are being burnt, their sons being set ablaze and their daughters dishonored. Is there any TV reporter covering that? NO. They’re busy covering economic progress, IPL, Bollywood, child marriage, hindu-muslim issues and other stories that make them rich.
That’s what the upper caste educated people have been doing since ages. Hanuman and Ganesh are gods? How come? What’s the proof? But Rishi Valmiki was tagged as a bandit. How come a bandit wrote such a big religious epic which everyone is now relating to reality? Any answers? Meera Bai’s relatives detested her love for Shri Krishna. Get real guys, why don’t you accept that only reason for their hatred was her teacher, Guru Ravidass and he belonged to lower caste, Chamar. Jai Gurudev! Even our historical and religious books are tampered by those learned bramhins.
Because of the reservation, my community has advanced. I am proud of my people who are working at some of the highest positions in all fields of society. One sincere request to them, help your other brothers and sisters. They value you and look up to you. Chase your dreams but not at their cost. It’s social equality that hurts most of the so-called-upper-caste population. They want to use us, at their disposal but when we get a position or status equal to them, they’ll make sure they mention the caste and reservation was one of the reasons of our success.
I don’t know what affect this post will have on my friends and relatives but I felt like writing this and accepting it with Pride!! Jai Bheem!