EK MARATHA EK LAKH MARATHA (When the Dominant is insecure)

                     

                

                 Ek Maratha ek lakh Maratha

                                  

                                     When the dominant is insecure

'that country the laws of religion, the laws of

the land, and the laws of the honor, are all united

and consolidated in one, and bind a man eternally

to the rules of what is called his ‘caste’

-      Edmund Bruke  

                                  

                One may like it or hate it, but one just cannot ignore the caste system. The system of caste is indigenous to this country. It is impossible to understand India without understanding the nuances of the caste system which has unashamedly become a way of life for us. It is this system to which our histories as well as our destinies are eternally enslaved to.

                

                                        With the Marathas in Maharashtra taking to streets with a belief that it is time they recieved their due, points out to a dangerous state of affairs wherein the dominant feels insecure. An agitation which began with a brutal rape of a 15 year old girl from Kopardi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra assumed unimaginable proportions and it came to be seen from the perspective of caste, wherein a girl from Maratha community was raped by dalit boys. This incident sparked protests and the wave is now seen all over the state with Marathas paying only lip service to the Kopardi incident and vigorously making political demands.

             

                                        Amongst all the demands made by the Marathas, the demand made for reservation is the most vocal and has drawn maximum populace to the participate in these morchas. I am befuddled as to how an agitation which originated to denounce the brutal rape of a minor village girl culminated into a large scale political drama wherein the agitators are hard demanding reservations in already existing jobs while the core issue of the rape of a minor girl is relegated to the background and will soon be forgotten. It is interesting to see how reservation in jobs is seen as a one-stop solution to all our problems.

                  

                                       We are a hypocritical lot. The Mandal commission II report was slammed by the same people saying that it will affect the ‘merit system’. Not even a whisper of the word ‘merit’ while the Marathas are demanding reservations for themselves as if to indicate that inclusion of the Marathas in reserved category list will magically restore the merit in the already crumbling education system of our country.

                

                                        The larger issue at hand is that of young, vibrant, fiery demograph of ours as against the failure of Indian economy to deliver. With a stagnant public sector and a nascent private sector (read crony capitalism) the youth of this nation has nowhere to go. This young population is only left with western aspirations with Indian reality. After 25 years of opening of the economy to globalization, the private sector is yet to gain grounds, the public sector has already withdrawn, vacuum left therein is yet to be filled. Under such circumstances looking at reservations as a fix-it solution is the easy way out, although immoral and unconstitutional.

              

                                        The Marathas are also demanding fair price to their agricultural produce. This demand is fair enough considering that majority of the Maratha population still practices agriculture and one can demand fair remuneration for their produce. However, simply demanding loan wavier will not help the agricultural situation. Indian agriculture is in distress. The solution to the complex issue of agricultural distress can hardly be solved by such simplistic and misguided demands put forth by the agitators.

          

                      The constitution makers took great care to frame the constitution in consonance with Indian reality and at the same time set aspirations towards achieving an egalitarian society based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. To achieve such a society with Indian reality is not a mean task and therefore specific  provisions were imbibed within the constitution itself for the upliftment of  the weak. Along with constitutional safeguards, statutory protection too was provided to them so as to bring them at par with the dominant. One such statutory protection accorded to the weak is in the form of Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (prevention of Atrocity) act, 1989. This act by the virtue of its core is not an enabling act, but is of protective in nature. Given the scenario, outbursts of the dominant against an Act which legally grants protection to the weak by prohibiting others from inflicting atrocities only points to the sorry state of affairs of which we are all part of. Instead of making a demand to amend certain provisions of the Act, it is time we need to introspect the existence of such a prohibitive act in 21^st century India. Such existence is representative of the fact that the weak still needs protection from the dominant. The Maratha agitation against this act is interesting because it is the dominant which feels threatened by the existence of protective legislation meant for the weak.

                  

                                   The Maratha agitation is prima facie a leaderless agitation. However, an idol worshipping society like ours, having a hero becomes indispensible. It is not surprising that the movement rallied around the name of Shivaji . The Marathas therefore demand restoration of forts built during the times of Shivaji and also clearing the project for installation of the statue of Shivaji in the middle of Arabian Sea, seated on a horse. The obliviousness of this stand is far from any commentary. However the need of a historical hero figure to aggregate masses on modern issues is typical of a retrograded society. Having such a male hero figure from the pages of history, helps the masses to dwell and believe that past is much more better than the present. It acts like opium to the masses making them temporarily forget the problems of the present.                

                    

                                          In conclusion, like every other organized movement and faith, this movement too is based on certain myths and promises to put end to all evils by some vague quick fix magical solutions for utopian dreams.