Democratization of India, Mandal Marg

in your book The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and EncountersWilliam Dalrymple wrote: “Ten years ago every other person in Delhi who drank alcohol seemed to be either an old school friend of the prime minister or a member of his cabinet. Now, all of a sudden, no one in Delhi can find someone in power. A major democratic revolution has gone almost unnoticed, except by the urban English elite living on the margins of the Indian political scene.” And, in a meeting with Mr. Dalrymple, late Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh in 1996 After his elevation to the national cabinet, he remarked, “…For the first time, power came for the downtrodden and the oppressed and we will use it to make sure their lot is better.…”

The socio-political movement that led to this phenomenon known as “circle” dramatically changed the demographic diversity of the people’s representatives. It is not surprising that the scholar Christophe Jaffrelot called it the ‘silent revolution of India’.

on social justice

The discourse of social justice in modern India can be traced back to the initiatives of social revolutionaries such as Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, Sahuji Maharaj and Periyar during the colonial rule. But a sustained intervention with a tangible outcome in terms of policy formulations emerged only with the arrival of BR Ambedkar on the national scene. The “Dalit Classes” (Dalits) and “Adivasis” (Adivasis) – as they were called by the colonists – were listed as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively until 1935. The benefits of reservation in education and employment for these social groups were adopted in proportion to their population as soon as the Constitution of India came into force. But a large section of the “backward classes” and occupational caste groups remained socially and educationally backward; Therefore, his presence in the bureaucracy, judiciary, academia or the media was negligible.

Nehruvian socialism lost its sheen in the post-independence years. The polity and governance remained in the clutches of the cunningly chosen brahminical minds. On this occasion, the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) gave a clarion call, ” Sansopa tied the song, pitched pave with a hundred“(SSP was committed to 60 per cent share for backward classes”). The Constituent Assembly debated the caste-class dichotomy. It was envisioned that the Backward Classes would be a backward community. This was supported by BR Ambedkar, who said: “…Backward community is a community which is backward in the opinion of the government….” But Mandal’s report confirmed this with the line “India may have one caste and often one social class”.

Article 340 of the Constitution had an egalitarian potential which resulted in the formation of two Backward Classes Commissions, the Kalelkar Commission (1953–1955) and the Mandal Commission (1978–80). Nothing came out before. The mobilization campaign to implement the recommendations of the other led to the “Mandal Movement”. The “Mandal moment” was the announcement on 7 August 1990 to implement one of its recommendations of 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central services. Even though the Mandal parties lost power at the Centre, the Mandal influence continues. The 73rd and 74th amendments have taken forward the idea of ​​social justice by giving the benefits of reservation to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Horizontal reservation was also extended to all women. In 2006, reservations were extended to OBC candidates in institutions of higher education – known as Mandal II.

on the fraternity

There has been a drastic change in the popular understanding of secularism in India. Much has been written about its failures. The real test of secularism and social democracy rests on the mutual co-existence of communities. Thus, secularism needs to be situated in the context of “fraternity” enshrined in the ‘Preamble’ of the Constitution. For this it is necessary to create trust and brotherhood among the minority communities. The Mandal parties put a stop to communal mobilization and spreading hatred by the right wing. The 1990 saw two spectacular political decisions – the arrest of LK Advani by the Lalu Prasad-led government in Bihar at the peak of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Second, the Mulayam Singh-led government in Uttar Pradesh ordered the police to fire car valet Gathered near Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.

Another point of merit derived from the “Mandal” is to not allow religion to be a hindrance to the identification of socially and educationally backward castes and communities. The consciousness created by the Mandal demolished the notion of the Indian Muslims as a monolith. The churning around the circle also led to the rise of pasmanda (backward in Persian) Movement among backward Muslims demanding democratization and representation. Mandal’s report recognized a large section of Muslims and Christians who converted to Hinduism, but most of them continued their earlier caste-based occupations. Thus, Mandal positions backwardness at the intersection of caste and religion.

Mistakes and Curriculum Corrections

Mandal (ITE) political parties have made serious mistakes by restricting key organizational positions to family members and expanding in favor of caste brethren. However, there may be possible curriculum reforms such as being more lenient towards the aspirations of the lower castes such as the economically backward classes or the most backward classes; forging alliances with parties running Dalit and Adivasi agendas; And the emphasis on quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill – which is still pending – with fresh insights, and is also fielding more women candidates from marginalized communities. Solidarity works in politics. The role played by two Dalit icons, Kanshi Ram and Ram Vilas Paswan, for the mobilization and implementation of the Mandal is enormous. It is worth recalling how Kanshi Ram had to face consecutive defeats in the Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad and East Delhi in 1988 and 1989 respectively. Mulayam Singh extended unconditional support to his candidature in 1991 and helped him win from Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. In turn, the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party alliance fixed the powerful Bharatiya Janata Party in the 1993 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. One of the popular slogans in that election is still high decibels and political value – ” miles Mulayam-Kanshiram , Jai Shri Ram flew away in the air (When Mulayam and Kanshi Ram came together, the euphoria of ‘Jai Shri-Ram’ evaporated”).

Arvind Kumar teaches at Center for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi