Castes and Politics in Modern India (original) (raw)
Related papers
Politicization of Caste and Impulsions of Politics
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 2011
The paper looks into the historical context of the emergence of Bahujan Samaj Party with the interaction of caste and politics in contemporary India. By looking into the various election outcomes, it argues that BSP having emerged as a mainstream political party could not have constrained itself within Bahujan (Dalits, Backward Classes and the Minorities) confines for whom the party principally and ideologically commits itself. The democratic politics within which it had to function knowing well the caste system's influence on the political processes and the political system led to reconsider its emphasis on the Bahujan-the word tha~ had got limited with some stigmatization in the popular perception of Indian mass. Moreover with the democratization process and vote-bank politics, the lines were clearly drawn between the various caste-groups and specifically in Uttar Pradesh, those lines were obvious and visible dividing the major caste groups with three main actors where Upper castes were with the BJP and Muslims and OBCs with the SP and the Dalits with the BSP. To make the electorate shift its loyalties towards another party even with small percentage would tilt the balance in favour of a party convinced BSP to emphasize on the conception of Sarvjan. Democracy functions in particular social contexts in various societies and the societal characteristics influence the functioning of democracy. In India these societal characteristics are represented by caste with other common tenets like religion, gender, region etc. prevalent in other social contexts as well. Among all these, caste remains the major influencing factor overtaking others and keeping them way behind. Caste and democratic politics reflect upon paradoxical phenomenon, where caste represents primordial and traditional system of the society and democracy is relatively new and modem system of governance. If one looks at the former as being just old and traditional and the latter modern and secular, then this might be misleading approach towards understanding the socio-political phenomenon represented by the two. While dealing with the relationship between caste and politics one needs to understand that these two do not function independently but have influence on each other. Probably it was Rajni
Caste and Politics: Identity Over System
To integrate conceptually the relationship between caste and politics, one must appreciate that the pure ritual hierarchy operates only when backed by wealth and power. In fact, there are multiple hierarchies in the caste order because each caste overvalues itself in relation to others. This can be gauged from their origin tales, which, without exception, claim an exalted past regardless of the actual status a caste occupies on the ground. With the breakdown of the closed village economy and the rise of democratic politics, the competitive element embedded in caste has come to the fore. This has resulted in the collapse of the caste system but also in the rise of caste identities.
Communal and caste politics in India and its impact on voter
International Journal of Advance Research, Ideas and Innovations in Technology, 2019
In this research project, the researcher attempts to bring out the impact of caste and communal politics in the Election and how the voters are being influenced by the name of the caste. So, in order to bring out the impacts, the researcher would be discussing first the "Evolution of caste politics in India" and then would move on to the important question as to "Why Caste and Communal Politics still persists and increasing in India?" Then the researcher would analyse the role of Election Commission in restricting the communal and caste politics during the election and whether any legal restrictions have been imposed in this regard. And what can be done further to restrict the Communal and Caste politics?
Political Parties And Politics In India.Full Paper.Alok Chantia.LKO.pdf
Across the globe every Homo sapien (Biological being) is a cultural being who belongs at least to one nation and nationality under the reign of established government. Democracy is very good system in which every citizen can play its role for his/her nation. Democracy is established with the help of electoral policy which governs elections of a country. India is the biggest democratic country in the world where numerous national and regional parties are surviving with electoral policies. An individual always thinks about his basic rights of food, sex (marriage), protection etc for smooth survival. People of India give majority to that political party for next five years, which agrees to all these parameters in its manifesto , But it is also a fact that parties are getting good results by making comment on social and cultural sentiments of the electorate, though a voter never thinks about the cost of his vote. A voter never demands anything in return for his voter ship. The Voter of India is not aware of Article 21 and other fundamental rights given in the Indian constitution, which talks about health, wealth, safety, health, house, education, road, security. A voter also never challenges the manifesto of any party. The winning party gets all the desires of the electorates fulfilled only at the utopian level, which should otherwise be challenged in the frame of commitment which was made by the party and its member who contested during the election. A party which ignores the basic rights and violates its manifesto commits the violation of human rights of its citizens. To discuss how an individual feels cheated in the name of election and what electoral reforms are required to maintain the dignified life of a national , is the main objective of our paper. " Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them. " ― Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World
2000
The role of caste as a constitutive element in the politics of India has been interpreted in a variety of ways in the period since Independence. Early views about the negative effects of caste gave way to a positive appreciation of its contribution to the process of democratization and political inclusion. However casteism is now once again used widely as a pejorative term. This paper reviews the history of ideas about the relationship of caste and politics in India. It also examines the political importance of caste today in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and asks if the contemporary criticisms of the influence of caste in politics are justified.