http://www.countercurrents.org/teltumbde220411.htm
Let me just make a few points here and there. Mr Teltumbde makes a big fallacy w...hen he states that the fight of the urban dalits is completely disconnected from the struggle of the rural dalits. If that was the case the BSP, which came to power on the votes of the rural dalits would never have come in to existence. The BSP came in to existence by the plank created by BAMCEF, which was a union of govt sc/st employees.
Dr Teltumbde points out that political power does not translate in to emancipation as you have quoted him, but at the same time makes emotional underpinnings to dalits being landless struggling against the ruling class. He also seems to be against this celebration of dalit industrialists as an excersise in copying the ruling castes. In some sense Dr Teltumbde is pointing to a communist logic that states that dalits have to stick to labour and fight against the oppressing elements which make up the industrailists etc (havent read the article in all its details, but this is what the gist of the article really seems to suggest). Dr Teltumbde does not seem to realize that a struggle getting framed as a policy matter needs to happen at the political power center in any democracy, so a share in the power centre is a must.
The statement that you have made above, about the enemies of the dalits being the obcs and most of the dalit problems are of a rural origin and all that matters is land rights had been used in a negative light prior to mandal with the uppercastes telling the backwards that the dalist are stealing their jobs thanks to reservations. Also talking about the backward castes, Dr teltumbde does not seem to mention that they are a fractured lot themselbes, with the minority land owning backward castes and the majority MBC;s or most backward castes living in a similar situation to the dalits. This union of MBCs and Mahadalits got Nitish kumar to power in Bihar.
Also, the statement that politival power does not change much seems so inane when u look at states such as UP, where even though crimes against dalits still exists, the majority consensus among the community has been one of increased self respect and assertion. The amount of land re-distributions, transferring of corrupt police officers who were against dalit interests etc are revolutionary.
Also hwo do you struggle for land redistribution. This problem is known to the dalits educated or uneducated since the forming of the country. The way of politics goes in steps. Before it used to be the upper-OBCs living in the villages discriminating against the dalits and the uppercastes not allowing dalits to progress in the cities. There was no clash of interests between the OBCs and uppercastes who were stuck with two different indias. The agitation for mandal comission which was primarly spearheaded by the educated urban dalits and which was for the benefit of the OBCs, got the OBC in to clash with the uppercastes. The OBCs began to realise that the actual source of economic stronghold lies in the cities and it is when this fracturing of the entire caste establishment that put two dominating entities against each other came up, that you had a pro-dalit party like BSP coming in to power. Following Kanshiramji, who said "as long as caste exists, i will use it for the betterment of my people" would in Dr Teltumbdes view be tantamount to following the path of brahminism.
Also Dr Teltumbde does not realize that in a globalized market the aim of dalits is to look for what oppurtunities come across. It does seem hypocritical to insult the guys who celebrated the coming of dalit entrepreneurs as a way of gearing the thinking of the community towards entrepreuership at the same time working as a top executive in a semi-private establishment of india.
Now, with this line of thought as to how representation does have its wisdom for dalits, minorities etc, I would like u guys to read my previous posts.
Also there is a difference between attacking raja and attacking mayawati. Raja is a corrupt guy who just happens to be a dalit. What mayawati or BSP symbolizes is an idea of empowerment of a community that has been demasculinized for millenia. And it is this sentiment of 'ruling' in a state according to your own terms in a country that even today disrespects your very existence, that makes dalits all around india identify with mayawati. It is this reason that I would appreciate you not using choice words when talking about her, just as you would not go calling a black guy a nigga, just because all blacks say it. The teltumbde article points to the mayawati statue building as being a plain ego building excersise. It is this identification that makes her celebrate her birthday grandiosely (which I frankly believe she does not do plainly because of narcissitiv tendencies), because the ire that she picks up from the uppercaste dominated press, makes her an idol of adulation among the dalits even more, who see such ire from the higher castes in their daily life. It is in such regards, that Dr Teltumbde does not understand the very activity of her building statues, which he plainly labels as an ego building, really represents an affirmation of identity among her electorate and plainly asking this electorate to identify itself as some ploretarait definition of communism is not even beginning to understand the emotional underpinnings of a viable movement among the dalits.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A critique of Teltumbde's article "Another Reservation
http://www.countercurrents.org/teltumbde080410.htm
The deal is as to how he twists facts to make his case.
1) Dr Ambedkar only talked against political reservations having a time limit of 10 years, because they were useless. And he did not make such a case against reservations in jobs etc. Teltumbde knows all this but still lies about this.
2) More than half the reserved category jobs in the government are not filled, so dont get the deal about there actually being an issue about rich dalits taking away the jobs of the poor dalits.
3) Just as subcaste reservation has become an issue in states such as andhra pradesh, if it was misusage of reserved seats only by rich dalits as teltumbde points out, it would be more than easy to start a campaign by political parties demanding reservation only for poor dalits. This breakin up of the dalit consttituency has been something that has paid rich dividends in bihar with Nitish Kumar and MBCs. But the breaking up has been according to castes which have not garnered any share of reservation, against breaking the dalits in to so called poor and rich dalits. Please note that the MBC breaking up has been for reservations in posts requiring less qualifications, like ticket collectors etc in railways, which get filled by the quota candidates and are not the one's that second generation beneficiaries of the quota target, for which the quota never is fully filled.
4) Another clever instance of mixing words is where he talks about states using up their power to make laws to help growth of backwards, only to add to more reservations. I don't understand why reservations and new policies cannot go hand in hand.
5) The OBC reservations came in to effect because of agitations carried out primarily by the dalits. Initially the OBCs used to get jealous because of sc/st progressing through reservation, but mandal showed the OBCs that their beef on this matter should be with the uppercastes and not sc/sts. This goes completely against his statement "The elites of the BCs could skillfully transform the popular grudge against reservations for the SCs and STs into the passion for their extension to other backward castes, thus setting into motion the competitive backwardness to claim reservation." Then he talks about reservations opening up a pandoras box of sorts, while he feigns that he does not understand that it is these very sections taht have not had a share in teh working of the country that are really asking for the same.
6) He makes a statement that Kanshi ram talked about the chamcha age and hence naturally concludes that reservations are useless. Whereas it was BAMCEF which was a union of reserved employees working for the government that really ushered Kanshi Ram and BSP to the centre stage of indian politics. Completely twisting the whole context in which Kanshi Ram talked about the Chamcha age really makes him smell of being a brahmin stooge. The reason that most dalits using reservation don't openly come out in support of the dalit movement, is because of the casteism prevailing urban india, where these dalits have a lot to lose, be in professionally or in society. The problem there is not with reservations but societal attitudes.
The deal is as to how he twists facts to make his case.
1) Dr Ambedkar only talked against political reservations having a time limit of 10 years, because they were useless. And he did not make such a case against reservations in jobs etc. Teltumbde knows all this but still lies about this.
2) More than half the reserved category jobs in the government are not filled, so dont get the deal about there actually being an issue about rich dalits taking away the jobs of the poor dalits.
3) Just as subcaste reservation has become an issue in states such as andhra pradesh, if it was misusage of reserved seats only by rich dalits as teltumbde points out, it would be more than easy to start a campaign by political parties demanding reservation only for poor dalits. This breakin up of the dalit consttituency has been something that has paid rich dividends in bihar with Nitish Kumar and MBCs. But the breaking up has been according to castes which have not garnered any share of reservation, against breaking the dalits in to so called poor and rich dalits. Please note that the MBC breaking up has been for reservations in posts requiring less qualifications, like ticket collectors etc in railways, which get filled by the quota candidates and are not the one's that second generation beneficiaries of the quota target, for which the quota never is fully filled.
4) Another clever instance of mixing words is where he talks about states using up their power to make laws to help growth of backwards, only to add to more reservations. I don't understand why reservations and new policies cannot go hand in hand.
5) The OBC reservations came in to effect because of agitations carried out primarily by the dalits. Initially the OBCs used to get jealous because of sc/st progressing through reservation, but mandal showed the OBCs that their beef on this matter should be with the uppercastes and not sc/sts. This goes completely against his statement "The elites of the BCs could skillfully transform the popular grudge against reservations for the SCs and STs into the passion for their extension to other backward castes, thus setting into motion the competitive backwardness to claim reservation." Then he talks about reservations opening up a pandoras box of sorts, while he feigns that he does not understand that it is these very sections taht have not had a share in teh working of the country that are really asking for the same.
6) He makes a statement that Kanshi ram talked about the chamcha age and hence naturally concludes that reservations are useless. Whereas it was BAMCEF which was a union of reserved employees working for the government that really ushered Kanshi Ram and BSP to the centre stage of indian politics. Completely twisting the whole context in which Kanshi Ram talked about the Chamcha age really makes him smell of being a brahmin stooge. The reason that most dalits using reservation don't openly come out in support of the dalit movement, is because of the casteism prevailing urban india, where these dalits have a lot to lose, be in professionally or in society. The problem there is not with reservations but societal attitudes.
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