Caste and Class

7/30/2019 Caste and Class

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Caste and Class: An Interlinked ViewAuthor(s): Ajit RoyReviewed work(s):Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 14, No. 7/8, Annual Number: Class and Caste inIndia (Feb., 1979), pp. 297-299+301+303-304+306-307+309+311-312Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4367350 .

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C a s t e a n d C l a s s : A n InterJinked V i e wAjit Roy

In the face of growing attempts to substitute the concept of caste for that of class in the revolu-tionary strategy for India, this paper, unabashedly, seeks to uphold the essence of the traditional strategy ofthe histortical communist movemlent in India.

First, contrary to the widespread view that the caste is a uniquely Indian phenomenon, the origin ofvarna is shown as basically a formzof class differentiation.Seconidly, caste, with many significant variations no doubt, is traced in the social developments inother parts of the world.Thirdly, the historical attempts made by Gandhi, Ambedkar and Lohia to solve the caste problem

are briefly examined and their limitations revealed.Next, the spontaneous movements within the caste-class dichotomy in India are briefly studied.Finally, the class essence of the presently accentuated caste tensions is brought out.

CASTE, or more precisely, varna, forwhich the fortner,a Portuguese synonym,has come into wide use in compara-tively recent years, has been an invari-able dirnension of the social evolutionin India during the last 3,500 vears.While the general connotation of theconcept -i-as a hierarchical stratifica-tion of society- has remained unchang-ecd, the specifics of the varna orderhave undergone a few changes, alongwith changes in the socio-economicenvironmnent.Contrary to. the naive view that thefour-fold v1arna ivision, along with theaccompanying residue of 'outcaste', wasa readymade scheme of social order, of(livine or semi-divine origin, and that

it has been an inseparable componentof the so-called Hindu dharma, mostvedic scholars are in agreement thatthe concept of Varna had undergonechanges even in the vedic phase ofhistory itself.The earliest of the vedas, the Rig-veda, uses the term varna to distin-guiish the Arya varrnafrom the dasaVarna. Varna means colour and "it wasin this sease that the word seems tohave been employed in contrasting theArya and the dasa, referring to theirfair and dark colours respectivelv."'During the Rigvedic phase itself, theAryan community had started splittinginto classes. The Rigveda frequentlymentions three strata among the Aryans:Brahma, Kshatra and Vis, the first be-ing the priestly literati, the second, thewarriors and the last comprising thecommon people. "It is only in one ofthe later hymns, the celebrated Pur-ushasukta, that a reference has beenmade to four orders of society asemanating from the sacrifice of thePrimeval Being. The names of thesefour orders are given there as Brah-mana, Rajanya, Vaisya and Sudra..."2Some scholars have, however, expresseddoubt about the authenticity of this

hvrmn's claim to Rigvedic origin; theybelieve it to be a later interpolation.According to one opinion, "theemergence of a distinct class structure"among the Aryans coincided with theformation of the four varnas or whatwe have now come to identify as castes."The earlier division into three socialgroups or varnas represented divisionof labour and division of social productand not division into classes. The firstclass-caste division occurred between theAryans and the dasas wvhowere majorlocal enemies of the Aryans. New rela-tions of production were introducedwhen the conquered dasas were trans-formed into a servile class and madethe helots or servants of the tribe asa whole. The dasas who were absorbedinto the Aryan fold as the shudra caste,became the main producers of the so-cial surpltis."3

It is true that that the first classdivision on the world scale was thedlivision between master and slave, thblatter procured from captives of alientribes. It is also true that the pre-Aryan tribes absorbed into the Aryanfol0( as helots were turned into the'base of the social pyramid and de-signated as the fourth, Shudra, varna.Buttthe intra-Aryandivision among thethree original varnas was itself a classdivision, prior to the absorption of thepre-Aryans. The Vis or the Vaisya ofthe original three-fold varna divisionformed the pedestal of the Aryan so-cietv till the assimilation of the non-Aryan tribes in the form of the Shu-dras. "The Aitaraya Brahrmana escribeshim [the Vaisva] as tributary to ano-ther" and "to be suppressed at will..."'Indeed, the formation of the threeoriginal varn?lassignified the separation)of the manual and mental labour. TheVis or the Vaisyas weve condemned tomanual labour in order to create and

yield surplus produce for the mainten-ance of the two higher varnas.

The fact that the Kshatriya had beendifferentiated as a separate warriorstratum signified the advance of theprocess of dissolution of the primitive-communal system, in which wars -1)oth defensive as well as offensive-were the common responsibility of allthe able-bodied members of the clan.This separation representing the crea-tion of a coercive force distinct fromthe collective as a whole signified aclass division; the monopoly of thecoercive powers in the hands of theupper stratum in tuirn contributed toa further consolidation of the division.Division of labour simultaneouslyrepresenting division of social productis nothing b)ut a class division,because the division of labour im-plies the possibility, nay the fact thatintellectual and material activityenljoyment and labour, production andconsumption -devolve on differentindl.vidluals...

With the division of labour, inwhich all these contradictions areimplicit, which in its turn is basedon the natural division in the familvandl the separation of society intoindividuial families opposed to oneanother, is given simultaneously thedistribution, and indeed the unequaldistributionf, both quantitative and(uialitative, of labour and its pro-(ducts, hence property....5The differentiation betveen the Brah-mana and the Kshatriya represented adivision of mental and material labourwithin the ruling class, "so that withinthis class one part appears as thethinkers of the class (its active, con-ceptive ideologists, wN,homake the per-fecting of the illusion of the classabout itself their chief source of liveli-hood), while the others' attitude tothese ideas and illusions is more pas-sive and receptive, because they are inreality the active members of this classand have less time to make utp illusionsand ideas about themselves. Within thisclass this cleavage can even develop

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Annual Number February 1979 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLYinto a certain opposition and hostilitybetveen the two parts .. "6But on the whole it was, at least inthe early phase, a functional divisionwithin the ruling class with opportu-nity of horizontal mobility. Vedicscholars cite many instances of suchmobility in the early vedic phase. Forexample, one commentator says:Manv members of the rulingfamiiilies, inding court life unpleasant,duie to succession disputes, intriguesanid revolutions, adopted [the] lucra-tive and influential occupation ofpriesthood. Ikshaku Mandhatri'sfourth and fifth descendants, VishnuVriddhas and Haritas, adoptedpriesthood... WVhenNavaga's king-domiwas destroyed, his fourthdescendant, Rathithara became ... [a]priest. Haihaya Vitihavya beingdefeated by Pratardhana of Kasi be-came a ... priest. We owe the secondMandala of Rigveda to his son...

Kausika Gathina Visvaratlia becamea priest when his Kanyakubja king-dom was devastated by Haihayainroads, and he assumed the name ofVisvamitra and founded a priestlygotra of his own. The third Mandalaof the Rigveda is mostly the compo-sition of the Visvamitras... Bhargavajamaldagni (a Brahmana) became awarrior. HI-s son, Parasu Ram, wasa renowned fighter. Drona, an Angi-rasa (one of the four original Brah-mania clans) was a teacher of thePandavas in archery and he by hisprowess acquired the South Panchalakingdom. Not only there were inter-marriagesbetween the Kshatriyas andBrahmanas, but professions werea(lopted and interchanged as circum-stances demanded. The social organ-isation was in a fluidic condition.7The two functions of the ruling classphysical coercion and intellectualcoercion - were indeed collateral innature. There are many instances inhistory when there two functions havebeen performed by one and the samestratum of the ruling class. For instance,in the opinion of Antonio Gramsci,"ThePrussian Junkers resemble a priestlv-

m.ilitary caste".8Referring to the picture of the Aryanlife as revealed in the Rigveda, MaxMuller says:We see the Aryan tribes takingpossession of the land and under theguii(lance of such warlike gods asIndra and Martits, defending theirnewxvome ag,ainst the assaults of theblack-skinned aborigines as wvell asagainst the inroads of later Aryancolonists. But the period of war sooncamne o an end and when the greatmass of the people had once settleddown in their homesteads, the mili-tary and political duties seem to havebeen monopolised by what we calla caste, that is a small aristocracv.9In a note on the word 'caste', MaxMuiller adds:During times of conquest andmigration, such as represented to uas

in the hymns of the Rigveda, thesystem of castes, as it is described,for instance, in the Laws of Manu,would have been a simple impos-sibility... On the other hand, evenduring that early period, there musthave been a division of labour, andhence we expect to find and do findin the gramas of the Five Nations,wcarriors, sometimes called nobles,leaders, kings, counsellors, sometimescalled priests, prophets, judges; andwork'ng men whether ploughers orbuilders or roadmakers. These threedivisions we find clearly even in theearly hymns of the Rigveda.10At a much later period, the varnadivision was further extended to in-clude a fourth stratum the Shudras.According to a source quoted earlier,Chudes, a mixed tribe of Austroloidsand Negroides, and whose settlementsextended from Baltic Esthoniathrough eastern slopes of Urals,western spars of the Altai up to thewestern parts of Siberia, on the banksof Yenissi and whose ancient sitesshow that they were skilled in metal-making, fruit-raising, irrigation-worksand raising of swine, have been knownas Shbudras... They were employe(dnot only for grazing the cattle, tillingthe soil, doing domestic work ofdrtudgery, but also skilled in craftsso that they might be useful to theirmasters.1'Besides the Chudes, even if one ac-cepts the above theory, the Shudra

tarnia must have over the centuriesabsorbed the impoverished Vaisyas, themixed descents from early Aryans andthe indigenous pre-Aryan tribes, andother elements of pre-Aryan indigen-ous population absorbed in the lowestrung of the Aryan society. The originalsocial divisions, based on divisions ofeconomic and political powers, buttres-sed by ethnic, particularly colour,differentiation over the centuries crys-tallised into rigid caste divisions.The masses of the indigenous pre-Aryan population, particularly dark incomplexion, who refused to be absorb-ed in the lowest rung of the Aryanorder, or vere refused absorption, after

the Aryans had consolidated theirfour-fold varna divisions, graduallycame to be regarded as 'untouchables',the outcastes or the fifth varna.Even after it had established its(lecisive sway and had even given riseto a reaction against its rigidity, in tbcform of Buddhism/Jainism, varnuadivi-sion had not, however, become fullvhereditaiy in all the Aryan settlements.In his dialogue with Assalayana, aBrabmana youth, came to argue withGotama Buddha, against the latter'steachings on varna divisions, Gotamais reported to have said:"Have you heard that in some ofthe adjacent districts there are only

two castes - masters and slaves -and that [a member of] the master[caste] can become a [member of]the slave [caste] and vice versa?"To this Assalayana replied: "yes,sir, I have heard that... 912The evidence of the Rigvedic textsincdirectly proves the existence of aclass division of the contemporaryAryansociety although slavery or inductionof pre-Aryan clans as helots in th-service of the Aryans was yet to emergeas a significant phenomenon. Withouta part of the society having been reli-eved from the responsibility for mat-erial production, those beautiful hymnswould never have been composed. MaxMuller pays a glowing tribute to "theancient literature of India, the litera-ture dominated by the Vedic andBuddhistic religions" and says:

That literature opens to us achapter in what has been called theEducation of the Human Race, towhich we can find no parallel any-wvhereelse. Whoever cares for thehistorical growth of our language,that is, of our thoughts whoevercares for the first intelligible deve-lopment of religion and mythologyhowever cares for the first founda-tion of xwhat we in later timescall the sciences of astronomy, metro-pomv, grammar and etymology, who-over cares for the first intimations ofphilosophical thought, for the firstattempt at regulating family life,village life, and state life; as foundedon religion, ceremonial, traditionanid contract (samaya) - must paythe same -attention to the literatureof the Vedic period as to the litera-ture of Greece and Rome ancdGermany.13As to how this high intellectualachievement of the Vedic Aryans ha(dbeen possible, Max Muller suggests twofactors by way of explanation, onepsychological and the other geophysi-cal. In India, he says, "we find theAryan man, whom we know in hisvarious characters, as Greek, Roman,German, Celt and Slav, in an entirelynew character. Whereas in his migra-tion northward, his active and politicalenergies are called out and brought totheir highest perfection, we find theother side of the human character, thepassive and meditative, carried to itsfullest growth in India"."Further, "in the northem climates,where life is and always must be astruggle, and a hard struggle too ... theEuropean climate with long cold win-ters, in many places also the difficultiesof cultivating the soil... We work tillwe can work no longer, our highestideal of life is a fighting life". By con-trast, in the East, particularly India,life is, or at all events was, not very

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ECONOMIC AND POLITIGAL WEEKLY Annual Number February 1979severe struggle, where climate was mild,the soil fertile, where vegetable foodin small quantities sufficed to keep bodyin health and strength, where thesimplest hut or cave in a forest was allthe shelter required ... was it not, Isay, natural there, or if you like, wasit not intended there, that another sideof human nature should be developed-not the active, the combative andacquisitive, but the passive, the medita-tive and reflective?"15

Max Muller certainly has a pointhere. The mild climate and fertile soildid play a significant part in the evolu-tion of the early Vedic society in India.They combined to enable a part of thesociety to produce the basic needs ofthe whole community and thus free theother part to indulge in passive medita-tion and reflection. Because of thesetwo distinctive features of the Vedichabitat, namely, fewer needs and lighterlabour needed to meet them even onthe basis of quite primitive technology,extraction of surplus produce waspossible even before slavery in one oranother form had made its appearancein India.The differences in geophysical en-vironments may have in course of ahistorical span contributed to a processof psychological differentiation betxveenthe northern and southern Aryans, butthere could hardly have any majorpsychological divide between the twobranches of the Aryans, so recentlyparted.

Moreover, the high level of medita-tion and reflection expressed in theVedic literature was far from the uni-versal level of the Vedic society. Itwas the reverse side of the intellectualretardation of, originally, the Vaisyacommoners,and then the shudra labour-e1s who were condemned to a life ofhard physical labour and subsequentlydebarred from access to superiorknowledge.Finally, as Max Muller himself men-tions, but without fully realising itssignificance, conscious attempts weremade by the emerging power elite-the passive meditators to perpetuatethis iniquitous social division by "at-tempts at regulating family life, village

life and state life, as founded on reli-gion, ceremonial, traditionand contract".Thus the varna division from itsoriginal beginning in the Rigvedicphase was essentially a reflection ofclass differentiation, sustained by theideological and political domination ofthLeruling strata.Just as the ruling class was functio-nally, differentiated into collateral

Kshatriyas and Brahmanas, similarlyalso with the growth of productiveforces and consequent separation ofhandicrafts and agriculture, there cameto develop functional differentiationamong the practitionersof various crafts.In the course of time and under theconditions prevailing, transmission ofhereditary skill played an importantpart in the maintenance and develop-ment of crafts and services. Therefore,the growth of sub-castes and theirpetrifaction into hereditary formationsfollowed as a matter of course.Over the centuries, as new crafts andskills developed and new elements fromthe aboriginal clans became absorbedwithin the wider social frame, dominat-ed by the Aryans, the number of sub-castes wvent n proliferating. And underthe over-powering influence of theBrahmanical ideology of hierarchicalsocial order, these sub-castes becameembroiled in struggles for relativesuperiority vis-a-vis the other, originallycollateral, sub-castes.The practice of untouchability is amuch later development and its originis still somewhat a matter of specula-tion. Ghurye, for instance, offers thefollowing explanation of the origin ofthis practice:Special rights for higher classesand disabilities on the lower oneswas almost a universal feature ofclass-society; and the Brahmanictheory of four castes with theirrights and disabilities does not callfor any special explanation. Onlythe practice of untouchability ispeculiar to the Hindu system. It willhave been clear from the history ofthis factor of caste ... that the ideasof utntouchability and unapproach-ability arose out of the ideas ofceremonial purity, first applied to theaboriginal Shudras in connectionwith the sacrificial ritual and ex-panded and extended to other groupsbecause of the theoretical impurity ofcertain occupations.16This explanation is far from satis-factory. First of all, untouchability isnot so particularly an Indian pheno-menon. As Ghurye himself says else-where: "In Japan during her militaryage- twelfth century to the middle ofthe nineteenth century AD - societywas divided into five distinct groups...The fifth class was formnedby twogroups called the Eta and Hinin, whowere the Pariahs and outcastes of thecommunity".'7Ancient Iran also had a four-foldsocial division and a very importantplace for the priests and rituals;'8butthis had not led to the practice of un-touchability' and unapproachability. Theexplanation of the emergence of thisobnoxious phenomenon probably lies

mnainly n the sharp ethnic differencesbetween the fair-skinned Aryans whoformed the ruling elite and the jet-black aborigines of this subcontinent.When the Aryans realised that a pointhas been reached in the process ofabsorption of the dark-skinned pre-Aryans at the base of the social pyramid,beyond which, they could not hope toretain even the already somewhatdiluted purity of their race, they im-posed sharp and strict restrictions onmutual contacts between the Aryan so-ciety and the pre-Aryan aborigines.

The Iranian branch of the Aryanshad no such problems as they did nothave to encounter a large mass ofdark-skinnedpopulation. The theory ofunclean jobs, willy-nilly performed bythe fifth varna, would hardly explainthe phenomenon of untouchability. Intheir primitive community, the Arvansthemselves had to take care of the so-called 'unclean' jobs. They "had theirown medicine men as [well as] theirown carpenters who made the chariots,their own leather tanners who madeleather for their war and domesticneeds... [these jobs] required specialtraining and technical knowledge.Every tribe had them and prizedthemr".19The importance of the pigmentationof the skin as a factor governing theaccommodation of population groupswithin the caste system is proved bythe fact that even after the varna orderhad been rigidly established, there wasno difficulty for the established orderin absorbing the fair-skinned fresharrivals through the north-west at arelatively high rung of society.

From this brief and admittedlyschematic sketch of the evolution ofthe varna/caste division of the Indiansociety, it should be clear that, Krsna'semphatic declaration in the Bhagvad-geeta ("The four-caste division has beencreated by Me") notwithstanding, thephenomenon is a product of historicalevolution, conditioned by socio-econo-mic-ethnic factors. Not only that theBhagvadgeeta is an ex poste rationalisa-tion of an existing soclal reality, butreligion in general is so. Many enthu-siastic crusaders against the obnoxiouscaste system in India are unaware ofthis real interrelation between theIndian social evolution and the evolu-tion of the Hindui religion. Further,ignorant of the fact that Marx had builtup his world outlook, at least chrono-logically speaking, by first revealinghis basic truth -of the derivation ofreligion from the social reality- theyaccuse Marx of having 'failed Hindu

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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Number Februar 1979India'20 by failing to make 'caste' thecentral key to the understanding of itsproblems. This accusation is entirelybaseless as Marx had begun his socialenquiry on his finding that:Maubmnakes eligion, religion doesnot make man ... This state, thissociety, produce religion, an invertedworld vonyciou.sness, because theyare an inverted world. Religion isthe general theory of that world, itsencyclopaedic compendium, its logicin a popular form, its spiritualisticp.:int d'honneur, its enthusiasm, itsmoral sanction, its solemn comple-ment, its universal source of consola-tion, and justification...2'Hence, by providing an insight intothe process of the stratification of theIndian society and the evolution ofreligion as its superstructure, Marx'swritings help to understand and fightcaste divisions.

Just as Indian varna/caste divisionshave for their essence the class stratifi-cation of society, class differences else-where also under certain circumstanceshave assumed features of caste distinc-tions.Not only had the ancient Egyptiansand Iranians and the medieval Japaneseevolved well-developed caste orders,only did the Prussian Junkers revealmany caste-like traits, many other so-cial formations also have displayedfeatures of castes: "castelike or quasi-caste systems have occurred in varioussocieties whenever social strata havetended to evolve into closed, endogam-ous groups'.22Superficially viewed, the feudal divi-sion of medieval Europe closely res-embled the three-fold stratification ofthe original Rigvedic varnas. "Thenobility (counterpart of Kshatriya) wasri military aristocracy charged with thedefence of the country and the exer-cise of judicial power. The clergy(counterpart of Brahmana), an ecclesia-istical and intellectual elite not onlyministered to the spiritual needs of thepopulation, but, as the literate stratumin the early medieval period, alsoperformed important administrativefunctions. The peasanitry's the counter-part of the early Vaisya) principal so-cial obligation was to labour for thesupport of the nobility and the clergy,who dominated the feudal oligarchy".23Soon the two upper divisions deve-loped into closed groups with identicalinterests as lords lof huge landed estatesand with close family connections."After the twelfth century, entrance in-to the nobility could be obtained onlythrough heredity or royal grace: hentce-

forth the king alone could elevate aperson of non-noble birth to the closedranks of the nobility. During the heightof the Middle Ages, kings made but spar-ing use of this power."24The "higherc.lerical offices weie increasingly pre-empted by the younger sons of thenoble families until the upper ranks ofthe church hierarchy became almostclosed to any but those of nobleblood".25Just as the Indian varna division waslater sought to be sanctified with thenmythabout the divine origin of theprecise hierarchical order - that theBrahmana,Kshatriya Vaisya and Shudrawere created out of the mouth, arm,thigh and feet respectively of Brahma,the Creater - so also was the medlevalEuropean hierarchy projected as adivine dispensation. R H Tawneyquotes a medieval theologist: "TheChurch is divided in these three parts,preachers,and defenders, and.. .labourers...As she is our mother, so she is abody, and health of this body stancdsin this, that one part of her answer toanother, after the same measure thatJesus Christ has ordained it... Kindlyman's hand helps his head, and his eyehelps his foot, and his foot his dody...and thus should it be in parts of theChurch... As diverse parts of manserved unkindly to man if one took theservice of another and left his ownproper work, so diverse part of theChurch have proper works to servecod... "26All this, however, is not to deny theparticularly petrified character that thecaste system cane to assume in Indiaand the most obnoxious nature of thepractice of untouchability with fewhistorical parallels. While the roots ofthe practice of untouchability have al-ready been touched upon, the petrifac-tion and the seeming unchangeability ofthe caste regime have to be traced inthe very long period of historicalstagnation of the Indian society. AsKosambi has rightly concluded:

When the profound ignorance,generally complete illiteracy, of theU1PBrahmins of the period (i e, late19th century) is taken into account,this shows that the degenerate castesystem had long outlived its useful-ness to society - even at the verycentre of Hindu sanctity, Banaras.However, due to historical inertia,the institution could be abolished onlyby fundamental alteration of theproductive mechanism industrial-isation. Transient economic pressurecould accomplish little.27

The explicitly religious reform move-

ments and regional/local struggles apart,India has seen since the twenties threemajorstreams of national campaigns forthe eradication of caste iniquities ingeneral and the curse of untouchabilityin particular, led by Arnbedkar,Gandhiand Lohia, according to the chronologi-cal order of their initiation. Ambedkarstarted as the spokesman,of a particularsub-caste, Mahar, in the erstwhile Bom-bay province, but later emerged as theforemost leader of the 'untouchables'of the whole country. 1His lifelongstruggles against the caste oppressionwere, however, constrained within theboundaries of constitutionalism on theone hand and religious reforms oni theother. The limits of the first dimensionwere reached when as the chairman ofthe Constitution drafting committee, hesuccessfully piloted in the ConstitutionalAssembly the republican Constitution ofthe Independent India - a Constitu-tioni which, true to the ideals of bour-geois democracy, proclaimed an end toall forms of formal inequalities amongIndian citizens28 (except for preferen-tial treatment for the depressed sec-tions of the population - a uniqueaddition to the treasury of bourgeoisdemocratic ideals) and further providedfor legislation making the practice ofuntouchability a criminal and cognisableoffence.

The other limiting dimension of hisapproach persuaded him to part waywith Hinduism as a religion and to lead,shortly before his death in mid-1957, amass conversion of the 'untouchables'to Buddhism at a ceremony in Nagpurin October 1956.

Although earlier Ambedkar had orga-nised a Labour Party primarily withhis caste followers and modelled on theBritish Labour Party, and, just prior tohis death, he evinced a certain interestin establishing some sort of liaison withthe Socialist Party led by Lohia, hisentire outlook was firmly rooted in theWestminstertype of democracy. Lohia'scolleagues who acted as go-between inthe negotiations with Ambedkar report-ed to Lohia: "He was very sympathe-tic, cordial and eager to understand outviewpoint in detail. He explained thedemocratic practice in England, at somelength, of choosing a candidate, and itseems is a very great believer in demo-cracy".29 Lohia confirmed this aspectof Ambedkar'smental make-up when hewrote back: "With Dr Ambedkar, thegreatest difficulty has always been hisideological affiliation with the Atlanticcamp. I do not think that this affilia-tion is anything but ideological... Youmight continue a little ideological dis-



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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Nuimber February 1979cussion with him through your commonfriends."While Ambedkar's ilfelong efforts in-cluding his part in the making of theConstitution have made some importantcontributions towards bettering the lotof the 'untouchables', they have beenfar from successful in liberating thelatter. His religious excursion, leadinghim and his followers into the fold otBuddhism, has produced hardly betterresults: indeed in so far as the eradica-tion of the inequality of the 'untoucha-bles' is concerned, this has been as un-productive as the earlier conversions ofthe 'untouchables' to Christianity.This was inevitable for two reasons:first, the superficial changes, representedby the legal-constituitional measures aswell as the change of religion on thepart of the oppressed masses had nostruicturalchanges in the bases of thesocial system as their counterpart;second and more important, as long asthe wider fllindu society stuck to itstraditional moorings, the overwhelmingimpact of its massive presence wouldsuccessfuilly nullify the effects of anysuperficial and/or peripheral changes.Gandhi's commitment to the eradica-tion of untouchability was total. A firmbeliever in the Hindu religion and hencean ardent aspirant for moksha, from thetwenties onward, he "declared, timeswithout number, from various publicplatforms that it is the prayer of myheart that if I should fail to obtainmroksha n this very birth, I might beb)orna bhanlgi in my next. ... if thereis a rebirth in store for me, I wish tobe born a pariah in the midst ofpan:ahs,because thereby I would beable to render more effective service tothemand also be in a better position toplead with other communities on theirb)ehalf".31But as in other social spheres, Gandhisought to achieve his objective in thesphere of caste relations also withoutdestroying, even seriously disturbing,the existing order. He sought totackle his task through an idealised andutopian interpretationof the varna divi-sion. This shouldl be clear from thefollowing exposition of his views givenin 1932:The varna system is ethical as wellas economic. It recognises the in-fluience of previous lives and of here-dity. All are not born with equalpowers and similar tendencies. Nei-ther the parents nor the State canimeasture the intelligence. But therewould be no difficulty if each childis prepared for the profession indi-cated by heredity, environment andthe influence of former lives; no timewvould b-e lost in fruitless experimen-tation, there would he no soul-killing

competition, a spirit of contentment*would pervade society and therewould he no struggle for existence.2However, to do justice to Gandhi, itshould be mentioned that his advocac)of the continuation of the varna divi-sions was based on the utopian expec-tion that all work would be regardedin equal esteem and would be equallyrewarded.Gandhi's approach was one of acco-mnodation, instead of challenge. Thiswill be clear from the practice heintroduced in the Satyagraha Ashram,about which he writes:The Ashram does not believe insubcastes. There are no restrictionson interdining and all Ashramites sitto dinner in the same line. But nopropaganda in favour of interdiningis carried on outside the Ashram, asit is unnecessary for the removal ofuntouchability, which implies thelifting of bans imposed on Harijansin public institutions and discardingthe superstition that a man is pol-luted by the touch of certain personsby reason of their birth in a parti-cular caste. This disability can alsobe removed by legislation. Interdin-ing and intermarriageare reforms ofa different type which cannot bepromoted bv leaislation or socialpressu-re. The Ashramites thereforefeel free to take permitted food witheveryone else but do not carry onanv such propaganda.33It will be be seen from the abovethat like Ambedkar, Gandhi also de-

pended substantially on legal-constitu-tional, that is, superstructural changesfor achieving the desired reforms insocial practice. In other words, he hadno consciousness about the need fordemolishing the social reality whichhad given rise to and continued tosustain the obnoxious practice of un-touchability. This was the fundamentallimitation of his 'Harijan' campaignever since he had launched on it afterhis fast in the Yervada jail in 1932.His main weapon in combating thisevil was his re-interpretation of theHindu scriptures. He wrote in Harijao.I have, indeed, said that the versesproduced by the Sanatanists in sup-port of untouchability as they de-scribe it are whollv inconsistent withthe fundamental principles of Hindu-ism. Therefore, under the canons ofinterpretation laid down in theShastras themselves, such verses mustbe repudiated as devoid of autho-rity. 4He made it clear repeatedly that vis-a-vis the question of untouchability, hisaim was reforms within the frameworkof the Hindu religion. As he says:... have no doubt that, if Hinduscling to untouchability, Hinduism andHindus will be swept out of exist-ence. I cling to Hinduism becauseit gives me all the solace I need, and

because I have found in it no war-rant for uintotchabailityas we knowit to(lay.3Gandhi sought to avoid any confronta-tion of the 'untouchables' with theiroppressors on either economic or socialissues. For their economic ameliora-tion, be would depend on velfaremeasures undertaken by reformists; atthe social level he would depend onthe enlightened caste Hindus for slowlypersuading the conservative majority toeschew untouchability. To a corres-pondent who wanted to know if theHarijan labourers should be advised toretaliate against harassment by thelanidlords, Gandhi replied:No one can be compelled to slavefor another. Hence, those Harijanswho are oppressed should learn toquit the oppressors' lands. The ques-tion naturally arises: Where shouldthey go after quitting these lands?

It is the dutv of a Ilarijan sevak tofind some work or other for suchhelpless Ilarijans.3 6T-) another question: "Rathelrthan doconstructive work among Ilarijans,will it not be better to create intensedissatisfaction amongst them with theircondition and thus promote such self-help as they can generate among them-selves? It is no use your trying toconvert the savarnas", Gandhi replied:The question betrays ignorance ofthe whole scope of the movement.To create dissatifaction among theHarijans can bring no immetiaterelief to them and can only perpetu-ate a vicious division amongst Hindus... the movement is one of repentanceand reparation. Hence it is confined,on the one hand, to constructivework among Harijans, and, on theother, to conversion of savrnas bypersuasion, arguments and, above all,by correct conduct on the part ofthe reformers.37Gandhi was, it will be seen from theabove, against any militant activism onthe part of the Harijans.Religious reform movements, ofcourse, have played and can playsignificant roles in bringing about

historical progress under certain condi-tions. But they can do so only if theyreflect the urges and efforts, even ifindirectly, for effecting the neededstructural changes in society. SinceGandhi left the entire question ofstructural changes out of his terms ofreference, his ceaseless campaigns onbehalf of the 'untouchables' for aquarter of century were hardly moreeffective than, say, the efforts of mis-sionaries to eradicate the evils of al-coholism or prostitution.That the 'Harijan'work was the leastsuccessful among Gandhi's multifariousundertakings is proved by the fact thatnone of the 113 contributions fromithe



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Annual Number February 1979 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLYworld and Indian statesmen and thinkersto a volume38 brought out in his hon-our - a tome of 459 pages - makesany mention of this part of his activ-ities; only the editor of the volume,S Radhakrishnan,devotes half a dozenlines to this in his editorial introduc-tion.Although he felt a measure ofspiritual affinity with Gandhi, particu-larly on the question of "non-violent,peaceful means of propaganda, organ-isation and struggles", and later ondeveloped a lot of respect for Ambed-kar, Lohia advanced the struiggleagainstuntouchability considerably beyond thelimits imposed by the two earlier ex-ponents of the struggle against thispractice. As against Gandhi's adviceto the 'untouchables' to eschew activeresistance against caste oppressions andhis efforts to solve the problem withinthe framework of varna divisions,Lohia advocated militant struggles bythe 'untouchables' themselves, though,rightly, in alliance with elements fromthe upper castes, for the total abolitionof the caste system. While Ambedkar'sactivities were mainly limited to the'untouchables' themselves -in Lohia'swords, he (Ambedkar) "refused to be-come a leader of non-Harijans"-Lohia's conception of struggle envisageda common front against the caste insti-tutions embracing forward-looking ele-ments from all parts of society.If the collection of his articles,speeches and notes, published underthe title "The Caste System" in 1964is any guide, then it may be concludedthat before 1953, Lohia had not paidany particular attention to this prob-lem. In the ten years between 1953 an(l1963, he seems to have developed acomprehensive approachto this question.

Though be claims that "the SocialistParty [that is, after he had split awayfrom the PSP to form a separate partyof which he was the undisputed leader]is the firstpolitical party in India whichhas understood the caste system...',39his exposition of the problem wasextremely scrappy and superficial. Hispublication on the subject, referred toabove, does not even try to look intothe social and historical origin of thecastes, or its evolution overtime. Hispassionate zeal and crusading spiritnotwithstanding, Lohia's outpourings onthe subject of caste are marked bysimplistic exposition, if not self-con-tradictions, as may be seen from thefollowing analysis of his writings andspeeches on the subject.Lohia gives a correct estimate of thetraditional strength of the caste ties and

the objective reasons for it. He says:Caste is presumably world's largestinsurance for which one does not naya formal or regular premium. Thesolidarity is always there, when every-thing else fails. In fact, there are fewoccasions for other things being triedouit. Men julst tend to make friendswithin the caste, their family mostcertainly. Such a close solidarity atchild-bearing, funeral obsequies, wed-dings and other rituals must neces-sarily have its consequences on otheraspects of life including the political.It muist, in fact, influence and deter-mine the mind and its basic thought.The political aspects are easily in-fluenced. When a continual get-to-gether takes place on all majOr an(lpersonal events of life, it must besomewhat bizarre if political eventstook place outside that framework.When men are puzzled at a castevoting more or less alike, they be-have as though they had come fromanother planet.40Even if one makes allowance for thefact that with the progress of urbanisa-tion and modernisation and the advanceof intra-caste class differentiation andinter-caste class solidarity, there havebeen some modifications, the picturedrawn above is still largely true in sofar as the backward and less dynamicruralareas of the country are concerned.He reveals correctly how differentlower' castes have successfully challenged Brahminsupremacyin variousregionsonly to claim the same privileges forthemselves vis-a-vis the other oppressedcastes. "Again and again," he says,"the revolt of the down-graded casteshas been misused to upgrade one oranother caste rather than to destroy theentire edifice of castes".4'He repeatedly - and rightly - stres-ses that only a miniscule section ofthe high caste population form theruling elite because of their economicpower, professional excellence andintellectual accomplishments. The restof the so-called high caste populationare duped into supporting this elite outof a false consciousness of casteaffinity.42Alongside this analysis, Lohia form-ulates the following programme fordestroying the caste institution:(i) "Studies, debates, seminars andall other types of meetings and discus-sions [to] lay bare such elements ofIndia's culture, thought and life, ashave produced stagnation and caste";(ii) actions "to purify religion andits practices of the taints of caste,which shall, while believing that inter-marriage alone ultimately dissolvescastes and propagating for it throughscientific studies and the creative arts,concentrate on the immediately attain-

able aims of common and festivalmeals";(iii) "demand the securing of sixtyper cent of the leadership posts ingovernment, political parties, businessand armed services, by law or by con-vention, to the backward castes andgroups ... taking care to see that oneor two numerically powerful backwardgroups do not usurp the right of theimmensely more massive but splinteredtotality of the lower castes...";(iv) not to "act electorally but may,through appropriate decision and ifrequisite strength is reached, affiliate...with an existing political party of itschoice or turn itself into one..."43

The above programme was drawn uIpbv Lohia for the Association for Studyand Destruiction of Caste some time in1960. In 'A Note on Caste', presentedat the special conference of the Socia-list Party at Gorakhpur n June 1963-the note in which he claims that "TheSocialist Party is the first politicalparty in India, which has understoodthe caste system and has launched apolicy of abolition of castes" Lohiasays:The attack on caste has till nowbeen from one and a half sides -from the religious side and partlyfrom social movements. Now simulta-neously with the economic approach,the attack has to be launched fromthe side of marriage relationship

also, may it be verbal only, so thatthe social attack may be perfect.Adult franchise and the principle ofpreferential opportunity constitutethe political approach, while increasedwages, abolition of taxes on uneco-nomic holdings, distribution of land,etc, would be the economic measuresfor abolishing caste. Such an all-rouindattack alone would render thedestruictionof caste possible at last.44First of all, a little reflection wouldreveal that Lohia's analysis of the castesituation does not fully tally with hisprogramme for its abolition. If thecaste has acted, as it really has, as asort of social insurance, then the casteinstitution cannot be overthrown un-less an alternative system has emergedto substitute it. An alternative frame-work to replace caste can only be, inso far as the oppressed masses are con-cerned, organisations on class lines andfraternal ties among them. But the roleof such class organisations and of classstrtuggles or throwing up these organisa-tions is totally absent in Lohia's schemefor struggles aga nst caste.He correctly reveals the dynamics ofthe caste struggles seen so far; onelow caste or sub-caste seeking its ownadvancement, not only in isolation frombut also at the cost of other low or



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Annual Number February 1979 EC(ONOMICAND POLITICAL WEEKLYlower castes. But he does not seem torealise that this is inevitable as longas the movement is motivated by casteconsciousness. He obviously does notaccept the Marxist position that of allthe social forces, it is only the workingclass which is objectively and historicallycompelled to emancipate all other op-pressed and exploited segments alongwith its own emancipation. He clingsto the utopian hope that a struggle in-spired and limited by caste conscious-ness can rise above its raison d'etreand seek the liberation of the othersegments of the oppressed population,beyond the circle of its own caste.While Lohia is aware of the facfthat the actually ruling or dominantforce in the Indian society is not highcastes as such, but a very small frac-tion of it, yet he does not accept thatit is class struggle and class struggleonly that can dispel the false (caste)consciousness that ties the depressedmasses of the high castes to their af-fluent 'brethren' within the commoncastes.The specific programme suggested byLohia cannot basically alter the socialreality that has arisen in the course of3,500 years of history. For instance,studies, seminars and symposia cancontribute to altering the social realityonly if they are related to revolutionarymass practice. Lohia's programme ofstruggle against caste is not interwoveniwith the class struggles of the workingclass and the toiling peasantry. Inisolation from these struLggles, studiesand debates would be a sterile intel-lectual pastime, which within theexisting socio-economic milieu can beindulged in only by the edcucateduppercaste elements.

Inter-dining will be a symbolic actonly without affecting the condition ofactual social existence, and inter-marriage, a rarity, as long as an econo-mic and cultural guilf continues todivide the high and low castes. Inter-marriage between the high and lowcastes cannot be the means, as Lohiaexpects, for achieving the dissolutiorof castes; it can only be the consum-mation of the process of the abolitionof castes.

Lohia demands 60 per cent of theleadership post in government, busi -ness, armed services, etc, for backwardcastes and groups. It is, to say the least,totally unreal and utopian to expectthat a major and decisive part of gov-ernment and armed services leadershipwill be handed over within a classsociety to elements from the oppressedsegments of the society. It may per-

haps be conceivable in a highly deve-loped country like the United King-dom, wherein for historical reasons alarge stratum of the working class hasbeen won for collaboration with theeconomically and politically dominantclass, so that the manning of formalleadership positions by elements frotnthe working class will not jeopardisethe statuis qua. But it is idle to expecLsuch a development in a country likeIndia, pregnant with explosive poten-tialities because of massive and grow-ing deprivation of the vast majority ofthe population.Indeed, by raising such a demand,Lohia has revealed the reformist cha-racter of his approach. He does notadvocate a revolution - peaceful orotherwise - involving the overthrowanddestruction of the existing order. Heaims at its reform- conceivably majorreform but without endangering itsfoundation.Lohia demands the same proportionof leadership posts in the politicalparties also for the backward castesand groups. Since he does not qualifyor specify the parties, the implicationis that all political parties, includingthe parties of the dominant socialforces, are also covered by this demand.One fails to understand what leadershiprole can the elements from backwardcastes and groups play in the politicalparties, i e, political instruments, ofthe ruling classds/strata.

How and why should business whichis run for private profit be persuadedand/or cajoled to recruit its leadershipaccording to the Lohia formula? Dueto competition among business estab-lishments, the only criterion in theirrecruitment can and must be efficiency.Finally, can a modern society be runby a leadership, 60 per cent of whosepersonnel would be chosen because oftheir backwardness? Or, maybe, whatLohia had in mind was advanced, i e,educated and skilled, elements frombackward grouLps. f so, isn't there areal danger of these elements gettingalienated from their own social baseand absorbed as elements subservientto the vested interests within theexisting structture?

Moreover, how can it he ensured -thatsome particular castes, sub-castes orgroups will not try to monopolise thebenefits of Lohia's formula? Or, alter-natively, how to draw up a formulaxvhich will do justice to and satisfy allthe innumerable sub-castes and groupsamong the backward segment of theIndian population? Will not such aventure serve only to intensify anad

perpetuate the divisions and dissensionsamong the backward sections, insteadof unifying the masses of the oppressedand exploited population?Lohia suggests that the movementfor the abolition of castes may in futureopt for an existing political party orform a new one. But nowhere does heelaborate the nature of politics, appro-priate for the basic objectives of themovement. Politids implies a comprehen-sive perspective of social development,not merely the pursuit of a single orpartial objective.Moreover, if the last excerpt fromLohia's writing, quoted earlier, is sup-posed to represent his ideszs aboutthe political frame of the movementvisualised by him, then Lohia's politicsis hardly distinguishable fromn, ay,Indira Gandhi's. For, adult franchiseand preferential opportunities have al-ready been there for some time, taxeson uneconomic holdings were abolishedby maniy a state government underCongress rule, distribution of land andsome increases in wages have also beenpromised and partially implemented.It will thus be seen that in conceptualterms, Lohia's programme was basicallya moderate one, which did not chal-lenge the class rule of a minoritv,monopolising the productive resourcesof the society. It is a programme forbargaining for improved status withinthe existing system. Hence apparentdifferences notwithstanding, Lohia'sprogramme is not a radical alternativeto Ambedkar'sand Gandhi's approaches,but merely a development thereof.The basic homogeneity of all thesestrands is rooted in their non-historicaland anti-Marxist approach. Moreover,Anti-Marxism s more explicit in Lohia'scase than in the case of the other two.Before we come to anti-Marxism,letus take a particular sample of Lohia'snon-historicism.The resolution "Towards destructionof caste", drafted by Lohia begins asfollows:The Third National Conference ofthe Socialist Party views the castesystem in India as the largest singlecauise of the present material andspiritual degenerationof the country.45

Lohia's talk of degeneration is his-torically untrue. Compared to any pre-vious period of the Indian history, thepresent period represents considerableadvancement in both material andspiritual terms, all the growth of crisisfactors notwithstanding. Indeed, eventhe present accentuation of the castetensions represents an advance of self-awareness - a relative growth of thecritical self-co)nsciousness -and an



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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Number February 1979upsurge of mass resistance on the partof the most downtrodden segments ofthe Indian masses. Instead of degenera-tion from. any idealised, hypotheticalmilieu in the past, all social symptomsindicate powerful struggles for regenera-tion and upliftment, struggles whichhave been fed in varying measures bymany streams, including those repre-s-ented by Ambedkar, Gandhi and Lohia.

In proclaiming the superiority of hisown recipe over Marxi:sm,Lohia says:Karl Marx tried to destroy class,withouit being aware of its amazingcapacity to change itself into caste,not necessarily the ironbound casteof India but immobile class anyway.46

One is not fully clear about the realimport of the above statement. If it ismeant only to convey the idea that allsocial distinctions have not been entirelyremoved in the historically evolved so-cialist societies, Lohia can hardly claimgreater prescience than Marx. For,more than a century ago, in his famous"Critique of the GCtha Programme",Marx not only foretold, but justifiedthis. These "defects", he *said,"are in-evitable in the first phase of communistsociety as it is when it has just emergedafter prolonged birth pangs fromcapitalist society".It is only "In a higher phase of com-mutnistsociety, after the enslaving sub-ordination of the individual to the(livision of labour, and therewith alsothe antithesis between mental and phy-sical labour, has vanished; after labourhas become not only a means of lifebuit life's prime want; after the produc-tive forces have also increased withthe all-rou-nddevelopment of the indi-vidual, and all the springs of co-opera-tive wealth flow more abundantly",47-only then, existing social distinctionscan fully disappear.Moreover, Lohia is wrong in sup-posing that any class or caste, includingthe so-called ironclad caste in Indiacan really be immobile. Humanity isimioving ahead towards the ultimateabolition of class and caste distinction,however devious the road it may haveto traverse, in all societies, including,as we shall see below, the Indian.On a number of occasions, Lohiabrackets the Indian communist move-ment with the Congress and Nehru asforces upholding the status quo inthe sphere of the caste. But he providesthe Imiost irrefutable argument againsths own contention when he says aboutthe pre-split Communist Party:

It has indeed achieved remarkablesuccess in acquiring for itself theloyalty of the agricultural labourers,

who are by and large the Harijancastes. This phenomenon of Harijanloyalty to the Communist Party pre-vails over all of South India.48Flying in the face of his own find-ing, Lohia characterised the (pre-split)C1PIln Andhra Pradesh as an instru-ment of the Kamma caste. He said:The Kammas of Andhra "have almostas an entire caste sought to revengethemselves on the lieddys [anotherdominant caste in Andhra P-radesh]through the instrument of the Com-munist Party".49In this, he was onlyrepeating the opinion of the Americanauthor Selig Harrison.5"How jaundicedthis view is may be seen from thefollowing comments by another Ameri-can academic:Because many of the Communistleaders [in Andhra Pradeshj wereKammas, the party has often beenconsidered a Kammaparty. This ana-

lysis must be qualified, however.'1he Communistmovement did not re-present a continuation of the senti-ments which first emerged in thecaste hostel movement and continuedin the Justice Party and self-respectmovements. Its demand tor greaterparticipation of deprived groups weregeneralised beyond the specific ex-perience of Kammas and non-Brah-mins. With this demand it was ableto mobilise persons from many castes,including many Brahmins among thefounders of the party... . There werealso several Reddis, including thebrother and the brother-in-law of thethen young Congress leader [presentPresident of India] N Sanjiva Reddy.To these persons, youth and a desirefor reform were more important thancaste. The Kamma support given tothe Communist Party does not re-present a caste-wide solidarity whichconsciously opted for communism inorder to oppose the Brabmin-domi-nated Congress. It was more an ex-plosion into politics by a group ofpersons who were doing the samethings at the same time, and the firstgeneration of Kammasto be educatedjoined this trend.51His passionate commitment to thecause of eradicating caste divisions not-

withstanding, his anti-Marxismand anti-communism prevented Lohia fromarriving at a correct understanding ofthe caste problem and the solutionthereof.IV

In discussing the caste situation inIndia today, it is possible for a super-ficial viewer to miss the wood for thetrees. The barbarousatrocities on the'Hlarijan'masses in certain pockets ofthe country and the recent re-emergenceof caste alignments as important andsometimes even apparently detei-miningfactor in the institutional politics tend

to suggest that the so-called 'ironbound'caste dimensions of Indian social situa-tion have not only continued to remainas strong as ever, but even becomestronger. The reality, however, isentirely different. The whole course ofsocio-economic and political develop-ments, particularly since Independence,has considerably weakened the casteelement in all its dimensions. Whilein a vast country that India is, thereare naturally wicle differences betweenone region and another, there is nodoubt about the logic of the overalldevelopment. The flollowing empiricalclata and analytical commenits are in-tended to give only samle broad indica-tions of these developmnents.An American sociologist writes aboutthc changes on the caste front in asmall town (population 3,886) in theNellore district in Andhra Pradesh,which he calls by a.pseudonym, Peddur.[l-he] character and organisation ofcaste in tedclur is unciergoing manychanges toclay. All the people caiiremember wthen Madiga and MalaL[larijan] children had to sit sepa-rately in school, if they were allowedto attend at all; when high castechilireni returniisg from school hadto leave their clothes at the doors oftheir homes ancdbathe before entering;when low caste teachers were notallowed to touch high caste childrerand higher caste teachers would nevertouch lower caste children, even indiscipline. Children now sit together

in the schools, some low caste teaches.;are even asked to lead certain highcaste children to school by the handand few children of any caste wouldthink of bathing before entering theirhomes after a clay of study.Sonme years ago, low caste peoplewere seldomn called by their propernames, being summoned by a desul-toiy word or a shortened form oftheir names instead. Today they areoften called politely. Whereas theywvere once not permitted to appearwell-dressedl or to smoke in the pre-sence of others, thev now can often(o1 so withouit the fear of a rebuke.They can now legallv enter temples,handle the cloth they wish to buybefore puirchasing it in certain storesancd sometimes hand the cloth theyw^vantmade into garments to tailorswithout wvetting it first.... After the first two panchayatelections of the 1950s the Madigamember was not allowed to speak atmeetings and was offered neitherchair nor mat to sit on. Now he ispermitted a chair and is sometimesasked to comment on issues whichconcern him ancd the people he re-presents.52At the other pole of the society,Not long ago, Brahmins, Razus, andKomtis [all 'twice-born' castes] wouldtake purificatory baths and say man-tras before taking a meal. Now manyof them would enter a hotel in a

307



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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Number February 1979larger town and eat without hesita-tion though they cannot be sure whocooks for and serves them.53Among the middle order castes also,the restrictions on social relations arebreaking down.Twentyfive years ago, only theReddis, Kamiimasand Baljas wouldeat together. Now the Gollas Gaond-las anydBegamas will also eat anddrinikwith these castes and all of themare beginning to attend the ceremo-nies that occur in the different castes.54It would, however, be entirely wrongto suppose that caste is disappearingat Peddur. The "system of caste", thereport underlines, "though it is under-going many changes, is still of basicsignificance in the social organisation ofPeddur."55Various studies about the role ofcaste in the alignments of forces indifferent states reveal that apart from

the dynamics of socio-economic deve-lopments, the imperatives of politicalcontests in representative institutionsbased on universal adult suffrage werepromoting a devaluation of caste exclu-siveness. For instance, an observer ofthe Andhra Pradesh scene commentsabout the electoral contest in a parti-cular constituency in 1962 that "It is arivalry which is not based on intrinsicor historic sub-caste rivalry, but ondiffering political interests..."56Abotut the state level politics inAndhra Pradesh, the same author says:Since 1962 both the Congress fac-tions have been led by Reddis..Each man has mobilised factional sup-port in most of the state's twentycdistricts, cutting across caste andregional lines for political interests.Since the 1967 election each grouphas recruited members from the im-portant castes in the state. T1h-eministry contains several Reddis, twoKammanas,wo membersof other minorlanded castes, one member of alesser status agricultural caste, twoBrabminis,one Muslim, one weaver,and two Scheduled Caste persons.The dissident group has almostexactly the same composition, for ithas recruited the rival to each ofthese persons, usually one of the samecastc groutp. Similarly the two wingsof the CommutnistPartv have mobi-lised persons from bo'th dominantcastes, both under the leadership ofReddlis. As in the villages, so in theState, political conflict in AndhraPra(lesh takes place within both thedominant castes which have assumedstate leadership. And as one goeshigher, the term 'caste conflict'begins to lose its usual meaning.57Almost the same process has beendiscerned in Bihar state politics byanother social scientist who says:The fact that the upper castes con-tended among themselves for politi-cal power required that each contend-

ing caste group go beyond its ownvarna and seek support from othercaste groups. This necessarily wide-ned the scope,of political involvementand the caste groups which stood onthe periphery of political universewere inducted into it.... At the timeof their entry into politics, most ofthese caste groups functioned as ap-pendages of the main contenders inthe upper castes; leaders from theupper castes co-opted men from thelower castes to leadership positions.The latter were for a time satisfiedwith their role as political apprenticesof the former but slowly they suc-ceeded in building their own autono-mous support structure and emergedas leaders in their own right. Thusa slow process of induction of theuniderprivileged aste groups has beenin operation in Bihar. This processhas, however, led to the emergence ofthe underprivileged caste groups ascrucial forces to be reckoned with inany political calculation.58It is true [he continues], that theunderprivileged caste groups have,more or less, succeeded in breakingthrough the social barriersand effect-ing an entry into the political realrmthus overcoming many difficulties intheir path of social mobility, but thisis attributable, by and large, to thelevelling effect of democratic poli-tics and the compulsions that suchpolitics creates in its wake. ..59While the political process, analysedabove, has led to a weakening of thecaste-exclusiveness, it is still subject tocaste determination. As Rajni Kotharirightly points out:The process of factionalism withinthe entrenched castes, a similar struc-turing of the ascendant castes, thesystem of co-optations and castecoalitions - all of these, though theybrought about a fragmentationof thecaste system, were in reality verymuch caste-oriented and sought theirbases in caste identities, in the pro-cess of course, also generating politi-cised values and impulses for personal

Powver. 60Kothari, however, fails to identifycorrectly the real source of 'politicisedvalues', which he locates only inthe impact of education, technology,changing status symbols, and urbani-sation. New and more expandednetworks of relationship come intobeing, new criteria of self-fulfilmentare created, the craving for materiall)enefits becomes all-pervasive andfamily and migration systems undergodrastic change. With these, thestructure of particularistic loyaltiesgets overlaid by a more sophisticatedsystem of social and political parti-cipation, with cross-cutting allegi-ances, a greater awareness of indivi-dual self-interest, and forms of in-volvement and alienation that arepre-eminently the products of moderneducation and the system of moderncommunication61With all his academic perspicacity,Kothari misses the essential and grow-

ingly powerful dissolvent of the anti-quated social ties - the advancing pro-cess of class differentiation - the factthat castes are getting split into oppos-ing classes and that elements fromdiverse castes are getting unified intoconfronting classes.The volume, from which the abovelines are quoted, itself gives some in-sight into this process of class differen-tiation. Relating to the developmentswithin the Nadar commlilunityn TamilNadu, it is said:The very success of the Nadarcommunity in its rise socially, econo-mically and politically has eroded theunity ol- the community which hadin tact inade the uplift possible...T'hedifferences within the caste havebecome increasingly more significantthan the differences between the in-dividuals of differenit castes sharingsimilar social and economic back-grounds. The decline in the barriersof ritual purity have in the citiesreleased the individual for the possi-bility of new interests and associa-tions. The Nadar mill workers inMadurai are far more likely to votecommunist along with the Thevarworkers than they are to vote Con-gress despite the continuing charismaof Kamaraj... The increasing diffe-rentiation within the community anda concomitant decline in the elabo-ration of caste ranking has funda-mentally affected the homogeneity ofthe caste community... they tooprovide the foundation for the emer-gence of a political culture characte-rised by the interests of economicclass.62To take another isolated and perhapsvery much non-representative exampletoday, in the village Thaiyur, 35 milessouth of the Madras city, out of the45 big farmer households, owning 9.75acres or more each, 26 were 'Harijan'as against 19 non-'Harijan', whileamong the small farmer and landlesslabourer households, owning 0.00 to1.49 acres each, there were 63 non-'Harijan' compared with 648 'Harijan'.The joint authors of the study conclude:The mainly Harijan rural proletariatcontinue to be exploited by the non-Harijan rich farmers, and we canpredict that, as a result, the old casteideology is likely to remain in-fluential. But, in terms of absolutenumber, the class of big farmers con-sists of more Harijan households thannon-Harijan ones. This implies thatmembers of the same caste meet inrelation of exploitation, and sincethis is at variance with caste ideo-logy, we also expect changes in theideological universe.63Along with the economic stratifica-tion, social and cultural differentiations

also are growing apace within the so-called scheduled caste communities. Astudy on the social background of the



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ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Annual Number February 1979Lok Sabba members shows that "Thoscheduled caste members with low levelsof education were more in the thirdLok Sabha and they were equally divi-ded betxveen high and low levels in thefourth Lok Sabba. In the fifth LokSabha, the highly educated schedule(d.caste members formed a clear majority[among the scheduled caste membersas a whole]".64Since the educational level of thescheduled caste masses is significantlylower than the general educational levelof the country, "The elite-mass gap interms of levels of education was moreamong the scheduled castes than amonggeneral members". Between the thirdand the fifth Lok Sabbas, the represen-tatives from business, industry and in-tellectual professions among the sche-duled caste contingent registered amarked increase. The study also showedthat the continuity in the membershipof the Lok Sabha was higher among thescheduled caste MPs than among theother sections in the House.The preferential opportunities offeredto the scheduled castes since independ-ence, however niggardly in terms ofrequirements for raising the vast massesof the historically deprived population,have nevertheless helped the emergenceof a significant stratum of the schedul-ed caste elite. As a Bihar study shows,the differences between the privilegedtol) of the scheduled castes and thebasic masses thereof have become wideenough. It says:By and large, however, large num-bers of the elite in both towns- andvillages have taken little interest inbettering the lot of their less fortu-nate brethren. They feel alienatedfrom their own base and have betray-ed an incapacity to apply themselvesto the task of reshaping the largersociety into egalitarian structures.Their major preoccuipation is tosatisfy the needs of their immediatefavmilv and kin.Some of the elite who have risenhigh in the social hierarchy have

snapped their ties with their bleakPast. They are largelv ouit of tunewith the mass of the community andseek a realignment with status andpower grouips in the wider society.This is more common with the puiblicservants as social workers and legisla-tors have to maintain a double face,one for the wvider communitv withwhom thev interact in closest possibleterms for furthering their own inte-rest and the other for their own com-murnitv whose support they have toseek at the time of the election.65While the vast masses of the 'lowcaste' and 'outcaste' population conti-nte to suffer in 'a twilight world of pre-judice and persecution' uinder he doubleburden o? economic and social depriva-

tions,6 one reinforcing the other, eco-noiniic and social differentiations withinthese castes are progressively erodingthe capacity of caste bonds to unifythem into a militant force for resistancean(l social transformation. Besides, asstated earlier, the common denomi-nation of the 'scheduled castes' concealsthe multiplicity of sub-divisions en-compassed within it, generally rangedagainst one another and often indulgingin the same obnoxious practice of un-touchability and discrimination amongthemselves as are practised against themcollectively by the so-called high castes.

All this renders the choice of castestruggle, that is, choosing the conceptof caste as the key instrument of re-volutionary mobilisation totally unsuita-ble for bringing about such changes inthe structure and superstructure of theIndian society as woould lead to theemancipation of the most downtroddenand forcibly degraded masses of theso-called untouchables.

VWhile the historically inherited pre-

judices still persist in shaping the psy-chology and conduct of the uppercastes' relation with the 'untouchables',what has aggravated their aggressive-ness in the recent years is the sharpen-ing of the class contradictions in thecountryside. The demand of the 'Hari-jans' for the implementation of thedeclared policy of giving preference tothem in the distribution of land at thedisposal of the states, their refusal torender begar (unpaid labour), andattempts to end the discriminatorylover wages, usually offered to 'Harijan'labourers, along with their growingassertion of human dignity and equality,have provoked the landowning classes,a great mnajority of whom belong tothe, higher castes, to launch on aggres-sive actions against the 'Harijans' on amass scale.

The relatively recent growth of thokulak stratum and its emergence as amajor political factor in certain partsof the country particularly followingtne Lok Sabha elections in March 1977have contributed to an intensificationof the kulak counter-offensive againstthe landless agricultural laboureis andsmall peasants in the northern states.The fact that a majority of kulaks havesprung up from the intermediate land-owning castes and the 'Harijan' smallpeasants and landless labourers havebeen chosen by them as the immediatetarget of attack because of the latter'svulnerability has lent this sharpeningclass struggle in the countryside an

appearance of caste struggle. But re-volutiL)narypractice has to take cogni-sance of the essence of the pheno-menon, instead of being guided by theappearance.The above should not be construedto mean that class struggle alone canlead to the eradicationof caste oppres-sion. Caste discriminations have to bedirectly fought on their own grounds,but subordinated to the overall con-frontation on the class lines. The pointat issue is not the caste dimension ofsocial struggles but its exact place androle in the overall revolutionarystrategy.Indeed it should be the bounded dutyand constant responsibility of the ad-vanced elements among the toilingpeople in fields and factories, whobelong to the so-called higher castes,to spearhead the attacks against casteprejudices and persecutions in socialspheres; the advanced elements amangthe 'untouchables',while fighting againstcaste oppression and discriminationshould generally emphasis among theircommunity the class solidarity irrespec-tive of castes. Ouitof this differentiatedbuitco-ordinated attack only can emergea real fighting front of struggle forhuman emancipation from both classand caste dimensions of oppression andexploitation.A basic precondition of the emergenceof this front is that advanced socialthinkers and activists should learn totake a comprehensive and interlinkedview of caste and class - a view thatdoes not neglect the caste dimensionof the class, or the class dimension ofthe caste. A lot of imprecise, unsci-entific and even confused thinking hasemerged in this vital sector of con-temporary politics which can seriotuslylisorient the revolutionary practice,notwithstanding the honest and well-meaning intentions of the proponentsof these views. It is therefore neces-sary that a wide discussion takes placeamong the exponents of the contendingviewpoints as that a unity of will andaction is forged for the resolution ofthe longstanding controversy withinthe Left in India.

Notes1 G S Ghurye, "Caste and Classesin India", Popular Book Depot,Bombay, 1957, p 46,, Manyscholars cite this division betweenthe Arya varna and Dasa varna asevidence of differentiation withinthe early Rigvedic, Aryan society.The above conclusion is unjustifi-able. During the period under

reference, according to many hymnsof the Rigveda, the Dasa or Dasyuvarna was regarded by the Aryans311



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Annual Number February 1979 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLYas elements outside the pale ofhumanity, not to mention theAryan social order. There arenumerous invocations to Indra tokill and destroy the alien, despi-cable Dasas. Hence, these varnaspecifications refer to the divisionbetween the mutually exclusive andhostile Aryan and pre-Aryan popu-lations, and not to any differentia-tion within the Aryan social order.2 Ibid, p 44.3 Bipan Chandra, "Karl Marx HisTheories of Societies and ColonialRule", Centre for HistoricalStudies, JNU, (mimeographed copy),p 71.4 Ghurye, op cit, p 50.5 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,"The German Ideology", Moscow,1964, pp 43-4; emphasis in theoriginal.6 Ibid, p 611.7 Chandra Chakravarty, "The RacialIlistory of Tndia", Calcutta,pp 200-01.8 Antonio Gramsci, "Selections fromPrison Notebook", IntemationalPublishers, New York, 1973, p 19.9 Max Muller, "Heritage of India",Shushil Gupta (India) Ltd, Calcutta,1951, pp 21-2, emphasis in theoriginal.10 Ibid, p 135, emphasis in theoriginal.

11 ChandraChakravarty,op cit, p 202.12 Ananda K Coomaraswamy and I BHorner, "The Living Thoughts ofGotama the Buddha", Cassell andCo, London, 1948, p 125, Kosambigives a somewhat different versionof the above dialogue and com-ments on the basis of internal evid-ence in his citation that "thispassage could not have been writ-ten before Alexander's conquest ofthe Persian empire. The Buddhadoes not refer to the Rigvedic two-varna system, for the Arya couldnot become a Dasa...."; but he alsoagrees that "it sufficed to refutethe theory that the four casteswere in some way a law of nature".(D D Kosambi. "Introduction tothe Studv of Indian History", Popii-lar Prakashan, Bombay, 1975,p 169.)13 Max Muller, op cit, p 17.14 Ibid, p 21, emphasis added.15 Ibid, p 26.16 Ghurye, op cit, p 182.17 Ibid, p 148.18 Kosambi, however, rejects the viewthat the Iranians also had a rudi-mentary caste system. The division,he says, into "four classes: thepriest, the charioteer, the tiller andthe artisan ... has nothing to dowith caste, for endogamy is no-where mentioned ... all four classesseem equally honoured..." (op cit,rnp 100-01). It is difficult to accentKosambi's view that even after thedivision of mental and manuallabour, all classes were in reality

equally honoured. If not, then,whatever the formal dispensation,the union between prieQst nd tiller

families would be quite unusual.19 Chandra Chakra'varty, op cit,p 201.20 For instance, V T RajshekarShetty,"How Marx Failed in HinduIndia", Karnataka Rationalist As-sociation, Bangalore, 1978.21 Karl Marx, "Contribution to theCritique of Hegel's Philosophy ofLaw", in K Marx and F Engels,"Collected Works", vol 3, Moscow,1975, p 175, emphasis in theoriginal.22 KuirtB Mayer and Walter Bucklay,"Class and Societv", RandomHouse, New York, 1969, n 14.23 ibid, pp 34-5.2.4 Ibid, p 35.25 Ibid, p 37.26 R H Tawney. "Relicion and theRise of Canitalism", Pelican Books.1948, pp 37-8.27 Kosambi, op cit, p 391.28 Karl Marx. "On the Tewish Ques-

tion": "The state abolishes, in itsown wav, distinctions of birth,social rank, education, ocupation.when it declares that birth, socialrank, education, occupation, arenon-political distinctions, when itproclaims, without regard to thesedlistinctions, that everv member ofthe nation is an equal participantin national sovereigntv, when ittroats all elements of the real lifeof the na io.n from the standpointof the st;te. Nevertheless, the stateallows nr)rivate ropertv, education,occupation, to act in their way,i e, as private property, as educa-tion, as occtupation, and to exertthe influence of their special na-ture. Far from abolishing theqereal distinctions, the state onlvexists on the presiipno-ritionoftheir existence .. " ("CollectedWorks", on rit. p 153, emphasisin the original.)

29 Rammonobar Lohia. "The CasteSvstem", Navahind, Hyderabad.1964 p 31.30 Ibid, p .33.31 Young nrlida, TanuarV 22, 1925,reprinted in "None TTichNoneT.ow", Pocket Gandhi Series,BPblaratiya idya Bhavan, Bombav1965. p 37.32 M K Gandhi. "Collected Works",Government of India, PublicationDivision, vol 50, np 226-27..33 Ibid, p 223.34 Ibid, vol 58, p 47.35 Harijan, December 8, 1933, reprint-ed in "None High - None Low"op cit, p 21.36 "Collected Works". vol 65, p .365..37 Ibid. vol 58, p 80.38 S Radhakrishnan(ed), "MahatmaGandhi", Jaico, 1977.39 Lohia, op cit, p 146.40 Ibid, p 80.41 Ibid, p 89-90.42 See, for instance, ibid, p 98.43 Ibid, p 114.44 IbLid,p 145.45 Ibid, p 134, emphasis added.

46 Ibid, p 104.47 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,"Selected Works" (two volume ed),vol II, Moscow, 1951, p 23.48 Lohia, op cit, p 94.49 Ibid, p 93.50 Selig Harrison, "India: The MostDangerouis Decade", PrincetonUniversity Press, 1960, p 209.51 Carolyn M Elliot, "Caste and Fac-tion among the Dominant Caste:The Reddis and Kammas ofAndhra", in Raini Kothari. (ed)"Caste in Indian Politics", OrientLongman, 1970, n 158, emphasisadded.52 Pauil C Wiebe, "Religious Changein Souith India: Persuective froma Small Town", in "Religion andSociety", Bangalore, December1975.53 Ibid.54. Ibid.55 Ibid.56 Carolyn M Elliot, op cit, n 143.57 Ibid, p 162.58 Ramashray Roy, "Caste and Poli-tical Recruitment in Bihar", RainiKothari (ed) op cit, p 245.59 Ibid.60 II#d, p 18.61 Ibid, pp 18-9.62 Robert L Hardgrave, "PoliticalParticipation and Primordial Solid-arity", ibrd pp 125-26, emphasisin the original.63 Coran Dijurfeldt and Staffan Lind-berg, "Behind Poverty", Scandi-

navian Institute of Asian Studies-Cruzon Press, p 216.64 G Naravana. "Social Backgrouindof Scheduled Caste Lok SabhaMembers", EPW, September 16,1978.65 Saehchidananda. "Emergent Sche-dltiled Caste Elite in Bihar" ini"Religion an(d Societv", Bangalore,September 1974, According toofficial information in 1975 therewere 1197 Class I officers and 2689Class II officers uinder the UnionGovernment. belonging to theScheduilecl Castcs. Of them. the[AS and IPiS officers numbered 252and 130 respectively (in 1974). Be-sides, there were 881 and 164?officers belonging to the ScheduiledCastes among the Class I and ClassTI cadres respectively in the PutblicSector undertakings under theUnion Government. The Class IIIofficers in the Union Governmentand( the Central PLublic SectorIUndertakings in 1975 numbered174, 02,5 and 104, 119 respectivelv.(See Gnvernment of India, DAVP.Rightfil Place for Harijans, 1976rm 22-3.)66 For short discuissions on the basicsocial frame in India today, seeAjit Roy, "Economic and Politicsof Garibi Hatao" (1973) and "Poli-

tical Power in India: Nature andTrends" (1975), Naya Prakash,Calcutta.312

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