The complicated relation of caste and politics - The Beats

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Monday, April 15, 2019

The complicated relation of caste and politics

Photo Credits - News18
Words - Asmita Yadav
Have you ever thought why caste is still a key point in India especially when it comes to politics?

In India, religion and caste-based politics are still prevalent. Some of the highlighted topics are Ram Mandir, Babri Masjid, Hindu, Muslim, Minority, Majority, Ali-Bajrangbali. They managed to be fairly successfu with their agendas. In this article, we will try to answer a few questions based on caste politics.

How does a politician practice caste politics?
Mainly, the political party first observes that which religion or caste is in the majority in a particular area and then they give the election ticket to the candidate who belongs from the same religion/caste. This increases the chance of their victory.

2014 was marked as a major twist in Indian politics where the BJP gained more than 400 seats in General Lok Sabha Election.

BJP is said to be a right-wing party who follows Hindutva ideology. There is a belief that BJP influenced the upper caste politics which attracted the Hindu votes for them.

Why does a citizen choose a candidate that belongs to their religion/caste?

In India, when people go for voting they don’t vote for the development of their area or nation but for development for their caste.

Mainly, they think that if such candidate wins who is more likely to belong from there caste they will do the work in their favour or will promote their religion and they will become more powerful.

This type of mindset encourages the leaders to do caste-based politics and also influence the citizens to vote for them. Such behaviour has also influenced a few politicians to raise the tension of communal riots which can be useful in the future for their nefarious political purposes. There is no doubt that India had witnessed many communal riots and violence in its history because of a few political statements and speeches of hatred. For example, communal riots in Ayodhya, Gujarat riots, the fight between Maharashtrians and North Indians, migration of workers originally from UP in Gujarat, riots in Muzaffarnagar and many more such incidents which directly or indirectly involves a political leader.

When we respond to such things, they become confident about their strategy and constantly try to promote such hatred which gives them political benefits and publicity. 

In many cases, leaders take beneficial steps for the majority in their locality which leaves the impression in public that yes they genuinely care for our caste but unfortunately they try to build confidence that they stand for them. This results in ignorance of the development of minorities in the area. This encourages minorities like Dalits and Muslims to choose a leader who has the same ideology as theirs. For example, in UP, Dalits are most likely to vote for BSP, who claim that they are a party of Dalits and other scheduled castes and the work done by them is mostly in their favour because they don’t want to lose this community for their victory.

What consequences does this caste system politics have?
Caste politics ends the real meaning of an election, which says that it is for the people, by the people and to the people. The service now becomes for the religion, by the religion and to the religion.

Another consequence of such behaviour discourages genuine people to conduct elections on real issues. Deserving candidates lose the election just because they are not with the majority.

If such behaviour of Indian politics will continue in the future then India is likely to lose their stand in the world.

What can be done to avoid this system of politics?
It should be our responsibility to try not to respond to such behaviour and start boycotting such things instead of promoting them. If we want such type of behaviour to be eradicated from our political society then it is better to choose a candidate on the basis of their work.

There should be a strong and powerful law made against such politicians who try to create communal riots or deliver hate speech. Not only making laws but also taking action on them as soon as possible is required.

Election Commission should give a guideline on how casteism can’t be used to gain votes and if such things do happen, then the candidate will not be allowed to stand in the election.

The main reason for this spread of casteism is media. Media have to stop taking such issues as keen stories or debating subjects. Laws and rules should be made for the media in order to stop them in spreading  such issues

Casteism is a serious threat to our nation and that is why this should be taken seriously.

9 comments:

  1. Absolutely right ..this is the fact which we all know but even then we can't do anything😕😕

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolutely right ..this is the fact which we all know but even then we can't do anything😕😕

    ReplyDelete
  3. Agree with the article..This article helps to vote us in right direction and to stop caste voting system

    ReplyDelete
  4. Agreed. And some of the suggested aspects have been implemented. It is the general public who need to be educated more and more on this subject. With writers who think and spread similar thoughts like you, Ms. Asmita Yadav, should get together and do the needful whatever possible from your end. Hopefully, we see a better India in the near future. Every drop makes the ocean. Best wishes and God Bless.

    ReplyDelete

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