OBC’s emancipator
OBC’s emancipator
DR Chandrabhan Prasad
The Pioneer, 13 April, 2008
My village visits have convinced me that the OBCs are a great trigger in Dalits’ emancipation. I therefore, have become an ardent fan of the OBC mindset.
Before I explain this let me state that, Dalits’ question is history’s largest question unresolved, and deserves the first attention from the State, society and the international community. So painful is the practice of untouchability, exclusion and social degradation of Dalits that it can’t be compared with any form of oppression the world over.
Immediately after Mandal, I realised that the OBCs never faced Dalit exclusion and humiliation, and hence, they can’t claim Dalit policies of reservation. I argued with the Mandal brigade that like Dalits, OBCs too must have some social reforms from within. The OBCs have plenty of resources, but don’t spend in the same proportion on modern education. Dalit and OBC/Shudra movements have very distinct ideological tendencies. Dalit movements fight the system, but also seek reforms from within. Dalit movements seek annihilation of the caste order, and are often, fond of modernity and democracy.
Contrary to Dalits’ ideological tendencies, OBC movements fight the system, and don’t see any need of reform from within. They seek to dismantle hegemony of Brahmins but, annihilation of caste has never been on their agenda. Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian movement is a classic case where Brahmins’ hegemony stands dismantled, but the caste order has turned more rigid. The OBCs ideology therefore, is anti-Brahmin, but not anti-caste.
When a couple of years back, we launched English as the Dalit Goddess, some prominent OBCs intellectuals were upset with me. I later realised that ‘remove English¶ was the first major political movement the OBC s had lunched in the
In other words, the OBC movements see modernity, capitalism and industrialisation with disrespect. Most ideological foundations of OBC movements are based on negatives – anti-Brahmin, anti-English, anti-capitalism. Hence, OBC movements are self-defeating. Now I realise that the OBC ideologues are right, and I am grateful to them as the OBCs are playing a great role in Dalits’ emancipation.
The key conditions of Dalits’ emancipation are- freedom from all caste based occupation, urbanisation and education. To accomplish this, Dalits need pull and push factors. What happens when a truck gets stuck in mud? Either one pulls it by using another truck or it is pushed from behind. The third option is to do both.
Today, there is massive migration of Dalit youth to cities where they are taking up caste-neutral occupations. The OBCs on the other hand, remain obsessed with agrarianism and don’t leave the village unless they get Government jobs. Most Dalits prefer settling down in cities as they have no assets and no attraction to go back to their villages.
The OBCs on the other hand, tend to return to villages. Most OBCs i the last three decades saved money to buy land. That land drags them back to villages. I also find that majority of Dalit parents prefer private schooling over Government run schools despite the free meals given. The OBCs on the other hand despite affluence, prefer Government run schools. Most OBCs have buffalos, the OBC girls are least likely to complete schooling, while, a good number of Dalit girls study up to college as they have no such binding.
So what will happen by 2030? Most Dalit occupations will have been taken over by OBCs forcing Dalits to migrate to cities. This is the push factor. The expansion of economy and the resultant urbanisation is the pull factor.
In the urban
Hats off to OBC/Shudra benevolence!
