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Hinduism does not unite people;
it divides people and places them in a set of hierarchies. Freedom from that hierarchy is real freedom
to me. Dalits don't fight an enemy; they fight the social conditions that create a hostile
force against them. The individual thus becomes autonomous from his society, only when he
also rebels against his caste. So to a Dalit there is nobody who is placed
under individual category: A Brahmin is a Brahmin as a community-that has been the historical
experience. A Kshatriya is not a Kshatriya as an individual
-he represents that community. When he rebels against that community, then he becomes an individual.
So to Dalits, people are yet to conduct as individuals, they conduct as per the laws
of the caste they belong to. Dalits want to fight that system which comes from tradition,
by deploying the weapon of modernity. Modernity fights caste more than man.
Government refers to the caste system, saying
that this caste cluster has been denied opportunities for ages, and certain corrective measures
have to be taken to bring them into the mainstream. There are two systems in place-one is
political representation, called reservation, that was fixed for a period of ten years, and that
had to be attended only when needed. But for government jobs and education, there was
no time limit at all, and it is up to the Dalit middle class to vacate those facilities
to really become free from the entire quota system.
And I think there is a great amount of churning going on among Dalits, and Dalits are,
many Dalits are taking pride in saying that my kid did not use affirmative action.
Any evidence? Yes! My kid is studying in U.S.A., and he has got a job there. My kid is doing a job
with Microsoft in India without using any quota. So a new beginning, a new thing
has begun.
Tradition is the biggest hurdle for Dalits. And that tradition is not only in the realm
of ideas, culture, social structures and all that. Tradition also is about the production
system. As we have said, and keep saying, that India's farm sector should be completely
mechanised. And sanitation work should be completely mechanised.
That can be done only when market values come into force, because market values are against tradition.
In market values, things are on sale; one can negotiate, and renegotiate
his or her rank in society. In non-market value systems, everybody's rank is fixed by birth.
Market does not consider any right which is fixed by birth. If this product is good,
and the price structure is competitive, then the market will accept that product. Here somebody
cannot say that: "I have made this basket and it is pure because I'm a Brahmin". If the basket
is not good and even if it is made by a Brahmin, the market will reject that basket. So the market
is more..uh..it is a force which equalises everybody.
Social markers are all about hierarchies in society. There is a hierarchy in food system.
There is a hierarchy in dressing and clothing. There is a hierarchy in cooking utensils and
eating places. There is a hierarchy in musical instruments! There is a hierarchy in songs.
This particular musical instrument will never be used by a Brahmin. And this particular
instrument which a Brahmin uses can never be used by Dalits. So, they are all social markers
which are being replaced by material markers, which are new to civilisation. For example,
mobile phones have no caste, computers have no caste, jeans have no caste, t-shirts have
no caste. So all these new...television has no caste. So beauty parlours have no caste.
So in the market era, all such material markers, which are caste neutral,
are replacing social markers, which is weakening the caste system. Dalits have deployed
the weapon of anonymity to escape caste system. So a Dalit does not succeed at his place of birth
- he succeeds elsewhere. That 'elsewhere' is nothing but cities. That 'elsewhere' is nothing but
industrial belts. So if industrial belts are expanding, cities are expanding,
Dalits chances of freedom is also expanding. Because Dalits now have an alternative route to success,
and in that sense industrialisation and urbanisation, hold the key to Dalits emancipation.