Base paper presented in the Convention organized by Proletarian People’s Front (Sarwahara Jan Morcha) on 6th October 2024 at Ambedkar Bhawan, Delhi on the topic
“Caste Annihilation and Historical Mission of the Working Class”
(हिंदी में पढ़ने हेतु यहां क्लिक करें)
Besides the principal contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, caste contradiction plays a significant role in Indian society as the working people belonging to the dalit and marginalised castes also face caste oppression in addition to the exploitation by capital. The hindutva fascist ideology promoted by Indian capitalism in the neoliberal period has also generated a strong Savarna reaction. The present capitalist ruling class in India overlaps to a great extent with the Savarna castes of feudal period. Hence, the Savarna reaction plays an important role in the reactionary fascist upsurge created by Indian capitalism facing an almost unending crisis. Therefore we observe a considerable rise in caste based arrogance and oppression. Attempts are on to re-establish the idea of being Brahmin-Savarna as entitlement to a superior birthright. Discarding the bourgeois constitutional principle of formal equality, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla declared in 2019 that Brahmins deserve social honour owing to their exalted birth. RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya declared the same in August 5, 2024 editorial –
“Politics has attempted to define caste in its own ways, but Indian society has kept caste alive not only to preserve its multifarious traditions but also as a unifying factor. … What is the place of caste in India? … Beyond all petty politics, there is something about caste from the angularity of tradition and sociology that our society might not have trumpeted it openly or talked about it in muted voices for some periods but never discarded it. This is the key to the riddle of caste.” And,
“Identifying with the nation as caste the society had a simple view – betrayal of caste is the betrayal of the country. … Hence, the need is to realise the significance of caste in our country instead of trying to understand it as a tool to appraise people and disunite the country by vested interests. … especially those who, following the colonial agenda of ‘break the country, earn money’, aim to use caste and social identity as the key to disunite Hindus.”
Obviously, the RSS condemns as anti-national the desire to annihilate caste since, in their view, one can’t be Hindu nationalist without being casteist. While 20th century fascists Mussolini-Hitler are sources of inspiration for Hindu revivalist RSS-BJP, the very foundation of their Hindutva ideology lies in the glorification of the arch reactionary Sanatani ideology of varna-jati. They want to put its supreme icon Manusmriti and its symbols on a lofty pedestal in every sphere of life. They talk of decolonising India of all modernity and western civilisation. However, they have no intention to renounce modern civilization and all the conveniences of industrial development. Their real design is to oppose all modern democratic and egalitarian ideas and to glorify Sanatani ideas and icons in social life. They intend to trample all aspirations of emancipation from exploitation and social justice by the working people, women and historically oppressed communities so that they are compelled to continue putting in maximum labour for the super profits of the ruling class while living a life below basic human dignity without demur.
2.
Taking forward the definition by Ambedkar, we can take caste as the division of labour ossified as hereditary division of labourers. The production relations based on occupational division of labour, and the property relations and distribution based on that, was the foundation of feudal mode of production. This consists of the property owning class appropriating the surplus produced by the majority propertyless working people or, in other words, it is a system of exploitation and rule by a minority over the majority working people. However in India this feudal division was made immutable and extremely inhuman by the incorporation of endogamous marriages based on clans divided into gotras, laws of purity-impurity and harsh punishments for violation of the same based on religious ethical system of Brahminical Smritis.
The ideas of superiority and inferiority, of high and low birth, between individuals arose in human history because of the origin of private property, class divisions on its basis and the emergence of state as the instrument to maintain the rule of exploiters over the exploited. The historical process of class division in the society has birthed all the forms of high and low, superior and inferior – patriarchal family, caste system, racism, communalism, parochialism, linguistic divisions, etc. To make this class division and the system of exploitation and oppression permanent, getting these ideas accepted by the exploited themselves gave it the maximum possible strength. The religious ideology of laws, rules, ethics and principle of purity-impurity and the harsh punishments for their violation gave a strong foundation to this hierarchy of inequality. The basic function of the Brahmanical ideology of caste was to get ideological, moral, legal acceptance of this system of exploitation by the exploited themselves as this ‘religious-moral’ law of punishment minimises the possibility of revolts and reduces the costs of the state administration of real physical punishments. Therefore, this ideology was patronised by whosoever was the ruler – Shung, Gupta, Pal, Chol, Chalukya, Shaka, Hun, Turk, Mughal, Maratha or the British. Every ruler found this ideology of use in their exploitative rule. That is the very reason all religious-moral protests against it in the form of Bhakti movements from Nath-Siddhas, Lingayats, Raidas, Kabir, Nanak, etc failed to break this system of caste since they had no possibility of transcending the class society functioning as its basis at the then level of social development.
However complex the web of ideas and rules of religious morality, symbols, myths and purity attached to it, the foundation of the caste system remained the ownership of the landed property as the chief means of production in the then mode of production and not the ideas and rules of religious morality, symbols, myths and purity. The caste system was a physical power founded upon the landed property and maintained by the repressive power of the feudal state. Hence, despite all the significance of the struggle against the symbols and myths of caste, the question of caste annihilation is a struggle for change in the real objective life of the people oppressed by caste and, therefore, struggle for emancipation from exploitation and oppression. The protests against the myths and symbols of caste can also be truly significant only as a component of this struggle. Else, despite all the differences in forms, this conflict in the sphere of myths and icons will essentially be a ‘militant’ version of the Gandhian approach of Hriday Parivartan (change of mind).
3.
Jotiba Phule, in his own way, was the first to start conceptualising the relations of production in the caste based social system and the relations of ruling class and the Brahmanical ideology as its superstructure and also presented the initial ideas of the struggle for emancipation of peasants and workers. However, in later years, he turned towards the idea of a reformist Satyashodhak religion. Thereafter, Ambedkar put the question of emancipation of Dalits from caste oppression on the political agenda. The aim of caste annihilation remained in the thought of Ambedkar as a revolutionary aspect throughout his life. He also led the glorious anti-caste discrimination mass democratic struggle of Chavdar Tank in Mahad, Maharashtra. This had the possibility of giving rise to a militant anti-caste struggle. However, he later chose the pragmatic path of state initiated reforms instead of resistance based on mass initiatives of oppressed people. If the Mahad mass resistance had moved forward, it would have become logically necessary to transcend the programme of caste annihilation into the programme of a democratic revolution based on militant class struggle. However, Ambedkar’s pragmatism led him to the road of reformism and collaboration with first the colonial and later the bourgeois state. Instead of the goal of caste annihilation, this led him to massive disappointment both from the bourgeois state of India and his own followers co-opted by the state as Dalit representatives. He chose the escapist option of converting to Buddhism in his last days.
The leading class of revolution against the system of exploitation must prove itself to be the leader and representative of all the oppressed classes of the society and its programme of emancipation must be accepted as the programme of emancipation by all oppressed classes. If the Communist Party of India had formulated a programme of democratic revolution in India based on class struggle, it would have become logically necessary for it to also present a programme of caste annihilation as an inseparable component of that revolutionary programme. But how could CPI present a programme of caste annihilation when it failed to formulate a programme of democratic revolution led by the proletariat? Despite many sacrifices this party could never be more than a social democratic left faction of Congress. And when, in the end, it presented a programme of ‘democratic revolution’ in 1951, it was in fact the reformist programme of class collaboration with the national bourgeoisie proclaiming it the flagbearer of progress towards socialism. How could a programme of caste annihilation be on its agenda when it had no revolutionary programme? Naxalbari brought the question of revolution back to the forefront of the working class political agenda but it also failed to take up the task of articulating a programme of revolution for India.
4.
India today is a capitalist society which has emerged and developed through a long process of compromises and negotiations with both colonial rule and feudal reaction. After a period of expansion and consolidation till the 1980s it gave rise to monopoly capital, and chose to launch a merciless onslaught on the working class in the form of economic reforms or neoliberal capitalist economic policies named as liberalisation-globalisation to accelerate the capital accumulation, which fully unfolded in the 1990s. Thus Indian capitalism transformed from a phase of expansion to a crisis ridden capitalism forcing it to also choose a fascist political alternative to take shape. RSS with fascist ideology was already in existence since 1925. Now it began to become a major force by gaining trust and patronisation of the Indian capitalist class. This has resulted in present fascist party rule.
The twin capitalist tendencies of neoliberal policies and fascist reaction becoming stronger have resulted in, on one hand, emergence of an extremely wealthy oligarchy at the top of society owning more than 80% of the national wealth, and on the other, it has generated a majoritarian Hindutva reaction on this foundation, which has Savarna reaction of superiority as a birthright at its core resulting in the rising trend of caste oppression.
5.
Caste differentiation originated from private property and class differentiation. Therefore, a class society, capitalism being one such, cannot be the basis of its annihilation. In every class society, the ruling class does not eradicate the division of labour and reactionary ideas of the class societies of history. It rather modifies and adapts them per its own needs to solidify and stabilise its own class rule and exploitation. Indian capitalism has modified, refined and adapted caste too to serve its own needs. It has almost eradicated untouchability from public life as it was a hurdle to its own mode of production, though it continues to be quite prevalent in the private family sphere where it creates no obstacle to the capitalist mode of production. Similarly, sense of caste superiority, dominance of some castes in property ownership and endogamous marriages pose no difficulty for the capitalist system. Capitalism, therefore, makes no effort to eradicate these, albeit it weakens these slowly, especially within the capitalist class itself.
Capitalism is a system of a minority owning means of production exploiting and ruling over the majority working people. Capitalists accumulate capital by appropriating surplus value produced by the workers. Capitalism has only this much difference with feudalism that instead of keeping workers forcefully tied to a feudal lord it sets them legally ‘free’ to put themselves on auction in the market for labour power. The seller and buyer in this market are formally equal but the condition of a property less proletariat’s life is the ability to sell labour power to a capitalist. As and when this propertyless proletariat, instead of being satisfied with selling labour power demands real equality, the bourgeois state, like the feudal one, enters the scene with all its repressive powers to maintain the exploitative rule. Hence, the right to equality in capitalism is in fact the right of the slave to select an owner for oneself on a daily/weekly/monthly basis and not the right to be free from slavery.
6.
Capitalism can potentially end this hereditary occupational division of labour to some extent provided that it opens the possibilities of an all out development of productive forces in a decisive struggle with feudalism. Still capitalism cannot annihilate caste differentiation as it is a private property based system too and its fight with the feudal elite is only for establishing its own sway on state power to remove the barriers in the way of capitalist production. Thereafter it gives full opportunity to the erstwhile feudal elite to transform themselves for co option into the bourgeoisie. After the bourgeois revolution of 1848, in which the proletariat (fighting on behalf of the bourgeoisie against monarchy) refused to lay down its weapons after the revolution was victorious till its class demands were met, the bourgeoisie has desisted from carrying democratic revolutions to their logical end in a revolutionary manner and the task of completing democratic revolutions has also devolved on the working class. Wherever democratic revolutions have reached their logical destiny since then whether in Russia or China, it was carried out by the working class. We, therefore, find erstwhile feudal elite to be part of bourgeoisie today in all developed capitalist countries and most of the former peasants and artisans exploited by feudalism are now propertyless proletariat. Capitalism, the new form of class division, not only preserves the narrow feudal prejudices but also opts to nurture them in its own period of crisis.
In India we haven’t witnessed even this form of capitalism. Here it developed in colonial bondage. The colonial rule not only allied with the native feudal rulers and reactionary ideas and forces in its own interests but its land settlement and trade policies also created a new chapter of merciless landowner-usurer oppression on the peasants and artisans depriving them of all traditional rights on land, forest and water bodies pushing them into the abyss of severe indigence, debt and starvation. The urban artisan class formed by the development of trade and industry in the medieval period, which freed from rural feudal oppression had raised its voice against caste system although only in the religious form of Bhakti movement, was now decimated through destruction of these industries and forced back into the yoke of the rural feudal oppression.
7.
In case the democratic revolution was completed in India through militant struggle led by proletariat and peasantry it would have shattered the strong basis of caste oppression by ending the Savarna landowners dominance on landed property through a peasant revolution from below. It would have accelerated the thorough democratisation of Indian society and would have laid the foundation for annihilation of the caste system. Its later and 2nd stage, with socialisation of production, would have completed the task of caste annihilation through a constant democratisation process. However, this was not the case. The capitalist mode of production in India was established through state reforms from above by gradual weakening and cracking open the erstwhile feudal relations through co-option of old feudal landowners. Even if the democratic revolution would have taken place from below in the leadership of proletariat allying with peasantry, by ceasing at this stage, the task of caste annihilation wouldn’t have been completed. Until a private property based system remains, though brought about through a democratic revolution completed in a thorough revolutionary manner, the task of annihilation of the caste system cannot be completed. The completion of caste annihilation would still remain the task of a socialist revolution in the socialist and communist system brought by it. In India, democratic revolution happened by transfer of power to the bourgeoisie and not through a revolution by proletariat-peasantry alliance. This bourgeois state reneged on the promise of land reforms and allowed the feudal landowners to save their lands and transform themselves into capitalist farmers. Thus the land ownership predominantly remained among Savarna and some intermediate castes. Therefore, despite attempts made with great sacrifices to complete the peasant revolution under the leadership of communist revolutionaries and the great waves of peasant movements created thereby in several parts of the country, the basis of caste differentiation and oppression remained almost intact.
8.
The bourgeoisie as usual has given formal constitutional right of equality to all citizens and thus in formal legal manner abolished caste system and by gradual development of capitalist relations has abolished all old forms of feudal division of labour thereby abolishing caste system based on occupational division of labour. Caste also got abolished in the sense of division of labour. Moreover, it gave a limited right of political representation, and reservations in higher educational and public sector employment to historically oppressed castes thereby co-opting the leading elements of the anti-caste movements into the ranks of the ruling class. In exchange, the anti-caste movement gave up the demands like mandatory universal public education and healthcare, which by then had even been accepted in several bourgeois democracies. Even in the case of the marriage law (which is deeply enmeshed with caste) the unfettered right of marriage and divorce to citizens was denied. Despite much touted ‘reforms’, Indian marriage laws do not give full freedom to citizens to marry and divorce per their choice since the state organs of police, bureaucracy and judiciary act as gatekeepers and permitting authority having many procedural powers to obstruct the free choice in aid of the reactionary social forces. This right to obstruct inter caste and inter religious marriages is being used to the fullest by the present fascist dispensation in its reactionary campaign.
The inter caste and inter religious marriages had an important role to play in caste annihilation and women liberation and the free existence of both, but we observe them having gradually disappeared from the agenda of social justice. As the leading elements of caste annihilation and social justice were co-opted by the capitalist state, all significant elements related to the agenda of caste annihilation have been eliminated one by one from the present agenda of social justice movement. The task of caste annihilation itself has been fully discarded. The social justice movement today does not even want to touch it by a bargepole. It has been replaced by a bourgeois vote bank politics of caste to consolidate caste divisions, which has ultimately become a strong pillar to support the capitalist system by becoming a major tool obstructing growth of class consciousness. Along with the communal division, the caste division has become such a vicious circle that anti caste movement appears to have a flavour of democracy and progressive thought. But in fact it has become a big hurdle in the way of the great victory of the working class on the basis of the real division, that is, the class division, without whose abolition the emancipation of Dalits and marginalised is not possible. Thus Indian capitalist democracy was quite weak right from inception even in comparison to several other contemporary democracies and its bourgeois-landlord essence and co-option of all revolutionary elements and ideals of social justice has harmfully impacted the successful completion of the tasks of caste and class annihilation.
9.
We must also examine how the right to reservation was conceded in India. The idea of reservations originated in bourgeois democracy as a sort of compensation to the long oppressed and marginalised communities. This is the affirmative action by the bourgeois state to ensure inclusive development of the communities which had lagged behind. Driven by a minimum sense of civilisation and democracy, it concedes the fact that some communities were oppressed historically and accepts that positive discrimination for their development is justified. It must be noted that this includes no intention to dismantle the foundation of injustice and deprivation itself. That is impossible in a system of exploitation by a minority. This just gives priority to a few from the unjustly treated community. Still it reflects a minimum sense of justice and modern civilisation since it concedes the fact of injustice and accepts giving priority to few for representation as social justice. However, in India, the bourgeois leaders from Tilak and Gandhi to Modi and Bhagwat have never conceded the fact of the caste system being historical injustice. Even their ‘most compassionate’ representative Gandhi never accepted that caste itself was unjust. He only asked Savarnas to show mercy to the ‘Harijans’ by accepting reservations as a tactical necessity for Hindu unity. Nehru also visualised a liberal society maintaining the status quo. In fact, not even the greatest hero of bourgeoisie can think of ending this injustice. To abolish the very system of injustice, we require a working class hero leading the struggle for final abolition of all forms of injustice, especially the exploitation by capital.
Even If reservation was provided in the best bourgeois democratic manner by getting approval for it through a social movement conceding the fact of historical injustice and acceptance of the compensation for that injustice as an act of social justice, it could ameliorate the caste injustice and segregation only to a limited extent, and would have not become the programme of its annihilation. But it was legislated only as a cunning tactical ploy to co-opt the anti-oppression struggle within the bounds of exploitative rule of capital. Hence, in real essence the fact of caste injustice and segregation was never accepted. Ambedkar, as the leader of Dalits, therefore, had to pay a high price for it – since reservation was given without universal public programmes of housing, nutrition, education, healthcare, etc and ensuring real objective upliftment in the material life of the Dalits and other marginalised through priority for them in above said programmes, the reservations in reality failed to benefit them to the extent it could have, if it was really intended. But of course there was no such intention. This was the real character of the capitalist state with a bourgeois landlord inner essence.
However the capitalist state couldn’t have stabilised on a very narrow social base among the Savarnas. The bourgeois landlord state had to perforce expand its social base in other castes and, therefore, despite reluctance owing to its inner character of capitalists-landlords the bourgeois democratic state had to implement the system of reservations for political representation, admissions to higher education and recruitment for public jobs, and a small number of Dalits could definitely get the opportunity to participate in these spheres. They have become the extended base of the capitalist state as the nouveau bourgeois layer. Obviously like every reform from above it has a positive aspect. However it also has a negative aspect which is overshadowing and restricting its positive aspect every moment now. When capitalism reaches the stage of jobless growth owing to the economic slowdown as a result of the over accumulation and opts to resolve the crisis through the fascist forces, the real character of the regressive politics based on it comes to the fore. However, even then we cannot deny the presence of a call for justice and will for better life in it and it must always be upheld especially at the moment of present fascist tendency when every call for justice is sought to be suppressed and there is an increasingly fiercer onslaught of Savarna reaction on the bourgeois democratic right of reservations. Obviously, at such a moment the defence of the right of reservations, which has a definite content of the call for justice, has become a mandatory task. There can’t be two different opinions on this. However, we can only ignore the task of emphasising its petty limitations which is now coming out all the more in the open every day at great peril. This is to clear all illusions regarding the question of political line for emancipation of Dalits especially the poor and working class Dalits.
10.
The existing neoliberal policy is to make reservations ineffective by hook or crook. An intensive onslaught against the working class, oppressed and marginalised people has been launched by capitalism in the form of privatisation and commercialisation policies of neoliberalism. This has quickened the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. High unemployment, severe inflation, stagnant or falling wages and increasing dismantling of public amenities has made life extremely miserable for most people. The few democratic rights won through long persistent struggles of working class and oppressed-marginalised people are being curtailed and talk of amending the constitution is being bandied about. The bourgeois segment and middle class of all castes has been supporting this privatisation and commercialisation finding it to be in their interest. Even in Dalits, the small top bourgeois layer created by the reservations, middle class and the intellectuals have been propagating that the path of Dalits’ freedom from social oppression lies in the development of ‘Dalit Capitalism’ through free markets.
But, what have the three decades of ‘free’ capitalist development in the neoliberal period, especially the last decade of Modi rule, really given to the Dalits? On the one hand, modification of roster rules to decide the number of reserve category positions, lateral entry, huge backlog in recruitment for reserved posts, conversion of reserve positions to open category after declaration of all candidates as Not Found Suitable (NFS), etc have already made the right of reservations highly ineffective. On the other hand, outsourcing and employing ad hoc, casual on contract employees in government and public sector have resulted in absolute decline in the number of aggregate as well as reserved category employees and the number of SC and OBC employees in Central government services has decreased from 568,886 in 2018-19 to 317,255 in 2022-23 and from 703,017 to 415,799 respectively. In Central Public Sector Enterprises this number has come down from 16,080 in 2011-12 to 8,437 in 2022-23 and 26,500 to 20,156 respectively.[1]
11.
The intense crisis of capitalism has created a humongous problem of unemployment. This problem is even more critical for historically oppressed communities since they lack the social networks based on land ownership, capital and caste privilege, and therefore, admission to higher education and employment in government services has been their sole ticket for improvement in life (according to a recent research[2] average income of Dalit entrepreneurs is 16% less than the common average, even less than that of OBCs, STs and Muslims since their social capital from networks is the least.)
Hence, any attempt to weaken the right of reservations is bound to be fiercely resisted by the Dalits. However, it is also a fact that, in the neoliberal period, the competition within the Dalit castes has also intensified owing to the increasing unemployment and constantly decreasing number of opportunities for employment through reservation. The castes like Valmikis, Mazhabis, Mangs, Madigas, Musahars, Arunthathiyars, etc which are on the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy especially the scavenging castes have been the most vulnerable to the harmful impact of the privatisation. Owing to the dismal failure of Indian capitalism in all out industrialisation and creation of jobs, only a very small number of them had succeeded in freeing themselves from their old customary occupations. This customary scavenging and cleaning occupation has been the hardest hit by privatisation and outsourcing. While the burden of work has increased, a larger part of the income has been appropriated by the contractors and private capital. Being on the lowest rung of caste hierarchy and much deprived of education, they had succeeded in getting less benefits of the reservations. Now they have been the most impacted by neoliberalism. Hence the already desperate attempts to secure an assured share of the reservations pie and consequently their welcome to the Supreme Court judgement on sub classification. This is being opposed by the relatively higher positioned castes in the hierarchy. This demonstrates that this judgement has given rise to a regressive rivalry within the Dalit castes, which is being led by the bourgeois layer formed within the respective castes through reservations. In its essence, it is a capitalist rivalry which is taking the form of caste rivalry. This rivalry is riding on the shoulders of the poor segment of these castes, which will create enmity and instigate fights among them. This shows that the positive and just role of reservations is getting almost exhausted in the period of crisis ridden capitalism. In this scenario, the rivalry within various dalit castes to secure and hoard a larger share of benefits of the reservations proportional to the size of their population on the basis of caste census will take the society into a highly regressive phase. This will encourage the already existing element and tendency of exclusiveness within the castes, and weaken the element and tendency for assimilation, increase honour killings in inter caste marriages, will lead to a rivalry for increase of population among different dalit and marginalised castes, give rise to regressive elements of divisiveness, mutual hate and scorn, and isolation. It is even possible that under the hegemony of the fascist forces, one caste will be instigated to attack another, to manoeuvre it into furthering the Hindu Identity politics. The only alternative available to the working class to counter this is to raise the slogan of share on the basis of labour and not of population, and thus demand for 100% share in the jobs and rest things with the key slogan of “one who makes the world function with their labour, shall be its owner.” The demand for a reorganisation of the society on the basis of “one who works will enjoy, and not the one who doesn’t” will hand us the key to the mode of production based on social ownership of means of production by abolition of private property which will eliminate the problems of unemployment, poverty, starvation and indigence in a very short period. This is not something imaginary since the working class has already demonstrated it in history.
Hence, this question must be posed – can the sub classification really give higher benefit of the reservations to the relatively backward castes? If yes, to how many and with what regressive results? Is there really no other way to fight the scourge of unemployment? The recruitment in the public sector has already been restricted to a great extent through privatisation and outsourcing. Moreover, we are witnessing the policy of rendering reservations ineffective. The extreme poverty ridden majority working population of these castes will find it almost impossible to get access to highly expensive and profiteering driven higher education in order to secure the benefit of the reservations. In case the principle of creamy layer is implemented securing reserve positions will prove to be almost impossible even for the relatively better off sections of these castes. Therefore, it is not difficult to conclude, on the basis of the existing attitude of the ruling class, that the declared objective of ensuring justice to the hitherto most deprived castes through sub classification in reservations is a deception, and the real policy is to make reservations ineffective and the sub categorisation will also be used for the very same purpose. It is true that facing massive protests the Modi government has indicated temporary retreat but the varna-casteist tendency of Sangh/BJP tells us that they will definitely attempt it again sooner or later.
12.
Clearly, the scope of improvement in the life of Dalits through reservations is very limited. Till Indian capitalism was in a phase of limited expansion, reserving some opportunities for education and employment for the deprived castes was not fiercely resisted by the Savarnas as the aggregate number of opportunities for Savarnas in education and employment were expanding too. This enabled some limited benefits of reservations reaching a small number of deprived castes in that period. This created a small middle and even smaller rich class among them too. But the large majority of Dalits continued to live a life of extreme indigence below the minimum requirements of human life as rural and agricultural labourers at very low wages since the supply of labour continued to be highly surplus. They also continue to be the victims of inhuman oppression by the Savarna caste landowners.
If we look at the scope of reservations, according to the Reserve Bank, the peak of 1.96 crore jobs in all of government and public sector was reached in 1996-97. After that, this number has been continuously declining and in 2011-12, it came down to 1.76 crore.[3] The RBI report does not give the numbers after that, but the available data of privatisation, government recruitments and employment in large sectors like railways and banking show that this number has fallen even further. That is, the total number of jobs falling under the category of reservation is being reduced in various ways. Moreover, various ploys are being used to weaken the reservations, already making it very hollow.
It can be argued that the reservations in the private sector are the answer to this. But even in the private sector, the number of regular jobs is very low. Most of the jobs in the private sector are casual, ad hoc, daily wage, gig jobs without any regular contract, which are completely insecure. According to the above Reserve Bank report, the number of regular salaried jobs in the organised private sector was 73.60 lakh in 1983-84. By 2011-12, it had increased to only 119.70 lakh. The numbers after this are not available in this report but the fact of jobless economic growth is well known. It is clear that even after implementing reservations in the private sector and increasing its percentage to make it proportional to the share in population, the maximum limit of the scope of struggle for employment through reservations can only be approximately 3 crore jobs. To put it into perspective, the total number of employed persons in India at present is a little more than 40 crore and the number of all persons of working age is approximately 100 crore.
Thus, it is clear that the scope of the struggle for reservations is very limited and even after achieving complete success in it, it will have very little impact on the goal of caste annihilation. Even then, the only means of survival for the proletariat of the Dalit castes will remain the sale of their labour power to the owners of the means of production and as long as they are forced to auction themselves at farms, mines, factories and ‘labour chowks’ of the towns, the dream of achieving social equality for them is just an alluring illusion. The objective of caste annihilation can never be achieved by a programme which does not even consider the question of the majority workers of the Dalit castes.
13.
Leaving aside the extremely reactionary policy of Economically Based Reservation (EWS), reservation is basically a policy of positive discrimination to prevent discrimination on the basis of caste among those competing for the same opportunity. For example, it means that there should be no discrimination on the basis of caste among those who are eligible to become IAS or there should be no discrimination on the basis of caste among IAS officers who are eligible to become Secretary or a system of positive discrimination should be set up to prevent possible discrimination on the basis of caste among those who are eligible to be appointed as Professor or Judge. Clearly this is a policy of positive discrimination to prevent discrimination on the basis of caste among those who are competing with the required qualification for every post from that of IAS, Professor, Judge, Secretary to that of Clerk and Peon. Hence it has a bourgeois democratic character, the attempt to end which is a fascist attempt to curtail the rights granted under bourgeois democracy and opposing this attempt is the correct policy.
But essentially, reservation is merely a measure to prevent discrimination on the basis of caste among peers for a particular educational or employment position. The recent caste survey of Bihar tells us that more than 80% of the families have an income of less than Rs 20,000 per month. Several other surveys have also revealed that the income of more than 90% of the families is below Rs 25,000 per month. In the current scenario of the privatisation and commercialisation of education, is any youth from a family earning less than Rs 25,000 per month in any real position to take advantage of reservations in any of the three areas? Or what does it mean for 90% of India’s informal sector workers, which includes a large number of workers from deprived castes? It has become difficult for this working class and toiling masses to get employment on even casual, daily wage, ad hoc basis on farms or brick kilns, etc. This is the stark reality. Thus, like every bourgeois democratic right, the right to reservation also has a class character. In the present era of privatisation and commercialisation of education, only the bourgeois strata and the middle class among the Dalit castes can avail its benefits.
14.
The issue of reservation for the small affluent and middle class created among the Dalit castes by the right to reservation given by the capitalist system is an issue of the democratic right to protect its interests in the competition for opportunities available within the capitalist system. It wants to achieve this on the basis of mobilisation of the numerical strength of its caste. Hence, it is an issue of caste consolidation, in sharp contrast to the program of caste annihilation, because that is the only tool of political bargaining for it. That is why the experience of states like UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan shows that contrary to the common lazy analysis, caste is not an insurmountable obstacle in the fascist campaign of the Sangh/BJP and the BJP has often skilfully used the strategy of utilising the contradictions within the Dalit/OBC castes to its advantage.
Hence, for the affluent/middle class Dalits that have emerged from the reservation-based reform program, instead of the caste annihilation being an issue, the promotion of caste pride has become the main trend. They claim that their caste was the caste of kings in the past, which was later made ‘low’ by Brahminical conspiracy. But if all castes were castes of glorious rulers, what injustice is left in the caste system? The question then is not its abolition, but restoration of the ancient glory by cleaning up the Brahmanical distortions in history, literature, Puranas, etc! This character of the so-called anti caste injustice campaign can be clearly seen in demands to ‘clean up’ the casteist elements of these texts. RSS Sar Sangh Chalak Mohan Bhagwat has also announced his sympathy for this clean up as this renders their goal of caste harmony (samrasta) easier. Therefore, despite paying lip service to ‘Jai Bhim’ in honour of Ambedkar, who kept raising the question of caste annihilation throughout his life, for many ‘anti-caste’ elements, the fascism of Sangh-BJP is no longer something to maintain distance from.
15.
The bourgeois constitutional system has legally freed all citizens from the bondage of feudal divisions based on caste occupation. But capitalist democracy can only provide formal legal freedom. To convert this legal freedom into real freedom is against its character because the wage labour of the propertyless proletariat is the foundation of capitalism and it will never shy away from using the old division of labour and the old privileges based on this. On the contrary, if the need arises, as in the fascist times now, it will not shy away from using not only the old caste-based division of labour but also all other types of old divisions of labour to divide and rule the people. This is its essential nature and also its need. Indian capitalism, which grew up under the tutelage of colonial rule, did not have the capacity to provide non-agricultural non-rural employment opportunities on a large scale through all-round industrial development. As far as breaking the old feudal caste division of labour in one stroke is concerned, it was against both its interest and character. Therefore, the process of breaking down the hereditary occupational division was not only very slow, there was or is no reason for it to be erased completely.
In the 1980s, the proportion of workers from Scheduled Castes (SC) among the total workers in the leather industry was more than 4 times their proportion in the population. In 2021, it has come down to only 2 times. Similarly, in the 1980s, the proportion of SC workers in the total workers in the cleaning, sludge, sewerage etc. sector was 5 times their proportion in the population, that is, almost all such workers were from SC castes. But even in 2021, this ratio has remained more than 2 times. (Source – State of Working India 2023, Azim Premji University). But if we look deeper, it will be found that the workers of Dalit castes are concentrated in the lowest rung, most difficult, least wage earning jobs while people of other castes are to be found more in newer better paid mechanised jobs.
It is clear that all citizens are legally free to adopt the profession of their choice today. To some extent this change has also taken place in reality. But since the propertyless proletariat has been facing the problem of very limited demand for workers in comparison to the supply of workers due to the creation of a huge reserve army of unemployed, a large number of workers are forced to work at very low wages. Therefore, due to the lack of sufficient industrial employment, many extremely poor toilers of Dalit castes are still unable to get out of their traditional occupations. Due to the supply of such a large number of workers at low wages, mechanisation is also less profitable for the capitalists in many areas and even today work like manual scavenging and entering gutters to clean sewage are being done in the old inhuman way, although mechanical alternatives for these have been available for more than a century.
16.
Another important aspect is that the right to resist and retaliate against caste oppression has been completely sidelined by the pragmatist Dalit leadership. Apart from the declaration of formal equality in the Constitution, no provision was made to prevent caste oppression. In fact, instead of giving the victims of caste oppression any right to take action to retaliate against it, Ambedkar himself was made to call upon the abandonment of all forms of disobedience and non-cooperation in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly on 25 November 1949 at the time of adoption of the Constitution –
“If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? There first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.”
17.
But was there a constitutional way to counter caste oppression? In the capitalist constitutional system, let alone giving Dalits any right to retaliate caste oppression, no legal provision was made for this. The matter ended with the hope of extremely regressive institutions of the state inherited from the colonial rule punishing the perpetrators of caste oppression. That is, in exchange for limited reservation, all the demands of the movement against caste injustice, especially the movements from below, were rejected.
Along with the contradiction based on wage labour intensified in the post-Green Revolution era resulting in several Dalit massacres and the resistance against them. This was sought to be addressed through the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. But in reality, the resistance that rose from below was completely confined by the police to the legal-administrative purview of special sections and special courts and by bringing it under the purview of breach of law and order, the self-resistance of the oppressed people was made illegal. Dalit police stations were established and Dalit officers were appointed. But the police and the courts are ultimately run by money power. To make matters worse, the administration is full of casteist people from top to bottom. Who is untouched by the omnipotence of money and the superiority of caste in this capitalist society? In such a situation, how is it possible for a victim of caste oppression to get justice? This is just a system that exhausts them and forces them to give up in despair. Influenced by Ambedkar’s ideological view of bourgeois democracy in which the state was considered to be some supernatural power above classes and beyond the influence of caste superiority, that the poor people were entrapped by accepting an oppressive state to be the judge of al, whereas such a state cannot exist in a class-divided society. In fact, the day society becomes above classes, the need for the existence of the state will end. All this was never a part of Ambedkar’s ideology. The state is always a tool of oppression of the ruling class. Even when agriculture became capitalist without a revolutionary change in land relations, an overlap to a great extent remained between the rich and big farmers and the upper castes. So even this bourgeois state had to be a tool of oppression of the upper castes. Therefore, instead of the resistance of the oppressed people against caste atrocities, by limiting it within the boundaries of the police and court bureaucracy, it has, on the hand, become a mechanism to save the real criminals committing caste atrocities and on the other hand it has also become a means of bargaining for Dalit bourgeois electoral politics. What exactly does this indicate? The fact that all such thoughts and ideology of Dalit liberation have completely merged with capitalism and if any revolutionary-ness is to be seen in it, then it will have first to be cremated so that whatever was and is revolutionary in it can be saved and preserved using the dialectical method.
18.
There has been a lot of confusion about the character of capitalist democracy in a large section of both the anti-caste and communist movements in India. Many believe that capitalist democracy establishes equality and fraternity among human beings. It is often argued that feudal or semi-feudal system still exists in India because if bourgeois democracy had been established in India, the deprived castes and women would have definitely achieved freedom and equality, and the oppression based on caste and patriarchy, which are largely intertwined, would have ended. They believe that the struggle for a socialist society under the leadership of the working class in India is possible only after liberation from caste discrimination and oppression under bourgeois democracy. Is this not a glorification of capitalism, as if it is a system above oppression? Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to this argument from the point of view of the caste annihilation program.
In capitalism, the character of exploitation is not the direct forceful appropriation of surplus but through usurping the surplus value of wage labour. Hence, it certainly raises the slogan of legal freedom and equality by attacking the exploitative system of feudalism, but in real life, this equality and freedom is nowhere to be found or seen in capitalism. Despite the flag bearing ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’, capitalism is a class divided exploitative social system based on private property in which a minority has private ownership over the means of production. Compared to the slavery and feudal system, capitalism certainly brings about a revolution in the forces of production and increases the amount of surplus produced to a great extent, and compared to both the older systems, the number of people sharing this surplus increases to some extent. That is, it has the ability to co opt some advanced persons of the exploited working class and oppressed communities as managers at different levels of the system. That is, it gives the right of representation. This is the basis of creation of a very small number of capitalist strata within all castes and co-opting them in capitalism, which obviously does not change the exploitative character of capitalist democracy. Rather, it is clearly visible that while the capitalist strata within all castes jostle with each other for their share, they are also unanimous in keeping capitalism, the system of exploitation of the toiling masses of all castes, intact.
Let’s look at the European-American developed capitalist countries whose capitalist development took place at a time when it was possible for them to fight feudal autocracy and narrow-mindedness in a more militant and revolutionary manner. Even in these countries, immediately on assuming power, the bourgeoisie compromised with the feudal aristocracy and kept the feudal remnants, narrow-mindedness and prejudices alive to a large extent. Not only the property and privileges of the feudal aristocracy and former slave lords remained largely protected, but racism was also not eradicated. It is rather on the rise in the current period of capitalism just as caste oppression can be seen increasing again during the rise of fascism in India. We also find that in fact the capitalist system did not provide democratic rights to the working people anywhere. In these countries, the condition of property ownership was necessarily attached to all rights. Even universal suffrage started to be granted after the Bolshevik led workers’ revolution in Russia and universal suffrage without any discrimination on the basis of gender and race was fully implemented in France in 1945 and in America and Switzerland only in the period from 1960s to the 1990s. Prior to this, in all developed capitalist countries, suffrage was limited to only a small wealthy class. Capitalist democracy has never accepted the propertyless as worthy of civil rights anywhere. In this sense, India, which got freedom from colonial rule in 1947 and provided universal suffrage to all from the very beginning, appears to be more democratic than the developed countries. But this is not true. The presence of democratic and progressive values was stronger on the ground and in the society in those developed countries where the capitalist class fought against feudalism in a more militant and revolutionary manner and implemented capitalist democracy. The main thing is that whether it is India or the leading capitalist countries of the West, all the political and economic democratic rights obtained in the 19th and 20th centuries in all the capitalist countries are the result of long protracted struggles with great sacrifices by the working class, especially the great October proletarian revolution led by the Bolsheviks. Forgetting this lesson and relying on the legal reforms of capitalist democracy has been a grave mistake of a large part of the anti-caste and labour movement of India and this has pushed back the entire process of democratisation, including caste-annihilation. Democratisation is now also being reversed in developed capitalist countries because the workers there had turned their backs on revolution and had become collaborators of the capitalist class going against the ideology of revolution, having forgotten the realities of class society by becoming partners in the neo-imperialist global loot in association with capitalism.
In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the need for reconstruction after destruction resulted in temporary rapid capitalist growth. The amount of surplus that it produced in developed capitalist countries increased employment and wage rates and the workers’ livelihood improved. The standard of living of the oppressed also rose. In the short term the glitz and glamour covered up many problems and oppression in these countries. But as soon as this short-lived golden age of capitalism ended in the 1970s, the capitalist counter-attack on the working class in the form of neo-liberalism began and racist oppression on blacks, Hispanics etc. also began to rise. Just after Obama was elected president, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ revolt against racist oppression became necessary, and the class character of the minority from among the oppressed races that had joined the ruling class through the right to representation also became completely clear.
19.
The capitalism of the era of neoliberalism is the capitalism of over-accumulation of capital and financial monopoly. This over-accumulation of capital has, on the one hand, created a class of super-rich (which mostly consists of old wealthy elite, and, in the case of India, the majority are upper castes including some intermediate castes) and, on the other hand, has given birth to a huge army of unemployed by destroying small owner production. Due to this, the effective wage rate has fallen drastically and the majority of workers have been forced to compete fiercely with each other in temporary and insecure jobs of daily wage and gig economy to somehow make a living.
In its current era of over-accumulation, instead of creating jobs in the productive sector, capitalism is creating more number of menial jobs such as watchmen, drivers, delivery-courier workers, maids, sweepers, etc in the service of the class of super-rich that has come into existence through extreme unprecedented capital accumulation. The super-rich and their well-fed manager-accountant class are the basis of the upper caste reaction in Indian society today. This division of the super-rich and the workers of the menial category is in itself a reproduction of the discrimination of the old caste system in a new form by capitalism. In such a rotting capitalism, it has become even more difficult for the toilers of the deprived castes to come out of the clutches of the upper caste by generating massive employment. The little breathing space that capitalism had given to the people of the oppressed castes during the period of expansion is now being snatched away from them by the upper caste reaction in the period of rotting capitalism i.e. fascism and at the same time the shameless surrender by the latest version of the social justice movement before it. The section of Dalits that have joined the middle/rich class is helping in this upper caste reaction in some way or the other by limiting the entire issue to reservation or participation (bhagidari) per their class interests and by joining hands with the fascist forces in power. On the other hand, it is said that Dalits are the real proletariat and the participation of the caste is the real proletarian struggle. But why do they maintain silence on the question of the right to form unions, employment guarantee, minimum wages, 8 hours working day, safety at the workplace, etc. for this Dalit proletariat that is being forced to become servants of the rich, is not answered. In fact, all this reveals their class character and their merger first with capitalism and now with the emerging fascism of today.
20.
The neoliberal economic policies of capitalism have greatly reduced the creation of jobs that are considered productive from the capitalist point of view. Instead, the vast majority of jobs available today are those that serve the private consumption of the rich, as indicated above. Secondly, the public institutions created to build public housing for the working people in the cities have, instead of doing so, privatised public land on a large scale and transferred it to real estate capitalists and other rich people. They have turned these into their gated colonies by pushing their prices and rents sky high through financial speculation, taking them out of the reach of the common working people. Only a very small affluent section of the deprived castes can and does find a place in these. If anyone else from among them tries to rent a house in these, he has to face caste discrimination, which in itself is a clear answer to all the fallacies being spread by much of the non-class Dalit liberation discourse. On the other hand, most of the population of the deprived castes today are forced to work at very low wages and serve the new and old rich of all castes and live in labour colonies/shanties/slums. The situation is such that two-thirds of Mumbai’s poor population lives in the ghettos covering only 8% land of the city, which is devoid of most civic amenities, while most residential areas are occupied by the gated colonies of the upper caste rich and the middle class. The point to be noted here is that even if it is an exception, the newly-rich people of the Dalit castes have also created places for themselves and their behaviour as a Dalit is competitive with others and hence appears progressive and democratic, but their behaviour towards the slum dwellers is on the basis of class and here too they are in a kind of competition with others and they also have a sense of pride of superiority associated with it. Yes, if they are connected with democratic-progressive struggles then it is a different matter. If we look at it this way, then a large number of people who have come to the city from the dakhin tolas (southern part) of the village with dreams of freedom from the oppression of the uttar tola (northern part), are finding the same old caste discrimination and segregation of the villages being reproduced in these ‘modern’ urban centres of capitalism, but definitely in a new form.
The demand for reservation cannot solve the problems that capitalism has created in the lives of all the poor and working class people including those from the Dalit castes, because there is class division in these castes too and their working class is not in a position to take advantage of reservations. Capitalist class and its governments cannot and will not provide the benefit of reservations due to the capitalist ‘over-development’ and because neither do they have fear of the working class revolution nor the need to expand the social base of capitalism like before. In fact, this is a class contradiction for which it is necessary to organise a mass struggle on the basis of a class platform. Thus, the presence of caste as an important contradiction, as has been shown in the first line of this paper, is actually a virtual presence and exists mostly at the level of superstructure. As soon as the working class eliminates the base i.e. capitalist relations and establishes its political dominance over the society, all the social wealth and sources of wealth i.e. takes it under social ownership; as soon as it eliminates the contradiction between social production and private appropriation and removes all the anomalies present in the field of production to distribution, it will eliminate not only caste but also all the contradictions, divisions, conflicts and oppressions based on the old division of labour. Yes, it is necessary to do this that the working class must definitely identify the contradiction called caste and also make a program for its elimination. Just as in the midst of our discussion this contradiction begins to appear virtual vis-a-vis class contradiction, similarly in real life too, as soon as the struggle for caste annihilation will be carried out linking it with class struggle or class struggle is carried out by combining it with a concrete program for the annihilation of caste, as soon as this class struggle intensifies, the ground for its annihilation or the fight to end it will begin to be created, because without this the real class struggle will not be able to move forward. This is like the situation of a hydrogen bomb whose explosion conditions (extreme heat) can be achieved only by the extreme heat generated by the explosion of the atom bomb itself. This is almost the relationship between caste annihilation and class struggle.
But at present there is no strong movement of the working class in the country which can give voice to the aspirations of these deprived toilers on the basis of the problems of their material life. These aspirations can be given voice only by a strong mass struggle on the democratic demands of improvement in their material life – reform of agricultural land and rural residential property, the provision of public housing in cities, compulsory equal and accessible public education and healthcare, employment guarantee for all, food security, labour rights, etc. And this can only be done by a fight against fascism in a revolutionary way, since it has emerged as the biggest obstacle in the way of all above today. But the leadership of the working class movement in India is still dominated by revisionist parties. These parties have restricted themselves to some merely ritualistic opposition along with the politics of bourgeois electoral alliances. On the other hand, the revolutionary part of the workers’ movement being in the throes of narrow sectarianism, fragmentation and inertia is still not ready to accept this political challenge.
21.
For the affluent and middle class of Dalits, the question of opposing caste discrimination is an issue of the bourgeois democratic right to protect their representation in the race for opportunities available within the capitalist system, which they want to achieve on the basis of mobilisation of the numerical strength of their castes. Their stand is clear that they will limit themselves to the rights given to them in the constitution of capitalist democracy and the right to reservation granted by the constitution is the right to representation, and has no connection with poverty eradication. They are right too. Reservation is not at all the solution for emancipation of Dalit workers from the exploitation of capital and this emancipation from exploitation is not an issue for this movement. Naturally, the current anti-caste discrimination movement from a capitalist outlook is also completely absent in giving voice to the just aspirations of Dalit workers for emancipation from exploitation which cannot be fulfilled by reservations. On the contrary, today, by falling prey to the propaganda of population-based share through caste census, it is also becoming blood purist in the matter of caste, which is its point of departure for association with fascism. In the recent debate that arose after sub-classification, casteist arguments and slurs used by the comparatively advanced section of Dalits against the castes supporting sub-classification were similar to those the Savarnas have been using against the Dalit reservations., This entire new current of social justice is based on the denial of the fact that unity among the non-Brahmin or Dalit proletariat can happen only on the basis that all of them are wage labourers, that is, slaves of capital. Only if this is accepted, the question of unity of the entire proletariat across castes arises. Obviously, this is exactly opposite to all casteist politics including Dalit politics and contrary to the neo-fascist ideas ranging from caste consolidation to blood purism. It is not a coincidence that most of those who talk of changing the society, that is, of reaching a classless society, by considering caste as the main contradiction, are those who refuse to arrive at the truth through a scientific, that is, materialistic-dialectical method, or to accept the cognition of truth as a process, and are doomed, knowingly or unknowingly, to get stuck in the quagmire of current capitalist politics.
22.
Although the sufferings and aspirations of the working class of the Dalit castes in the situation created by capitalism and neoliberalism are basically class-based in character, but due to the failure of the vanguard forces of the working class to voice these aspirations in the form of class struggle, they are being expressed in the old framework of caste. The demand by the comparatively backward castes among the Dalits for sub-categorization within reservations is an apt example. The real aspiration here is employment with human dignity, which will never be fulfilled by reservations or any sub-categorizations in it. But in the absence of a strong revolutionary workers’ movement and low level of class consciousness, this is coming out in the form of a demand for sub-categorization in reservations, although they are not going to get any real benefit out of the sub-categorization.
In this situation, an opportunity has arisen for the fascist forces to use the section of Dalits (OBCs too) that is unable to avail the benefits of reservations by entrapping and making them a tool of their tricks and conspiracies to create mutual hatred and animosity among the deprived castes themselves. Such experiments of RSS’s ‘social engineering’ to help the Savarna reaction have already been witnessed in several states. The multiple instances in states like UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, Bengal, Andhra-Telangana, Manipur show that, contrary to the common lazy analysis, Dalit-OBC reservations based unity is not an insurmountable obstacle in the way of the fascist campaign of Sangh/BJP. Rather BJP has often skilfully used the strategy of utilising the contradictions within Dalit/OBC castes to its advantage. The politics of sub-classification is another such opportunity for it.
In this scenario, it is necessary that the revolutionary working class movement and the anti-caste movement not only strongly resist the fascist attack of the Savarna right-wing reaction on the democratic right of reservations, but also engage with full force in building a strong mass struggle on issues such as agricultural land reforms to break the monopoly of the Savarna landowners, provision of urban and rural housing for the working people, equal free public education, healthcare, transport, etc. for all, and guarantee of employment with minimum human dignity at current levels of social development or unemployment allowance, etc. Only through this struggle will the basis be prepared for building unity among the working people of different castes and eradicating caste bias.
23.
Can there be a programme for caste annihilation based on caste contradiction as the main contradiction? The argument from some quarters is that the basis of Sanghi Hindutva fascist ideology in India is the casteist ideology of Manusmriti. Therefore, caste contradiction is the main contradiction of the current Indian society or this contradiction is equivalent to the contradiction between capital and labour, implying that the resistance to Hindutva fascism is possible only on the basis of caste mobilisation. Accepting this argument leads to the logical conclusion of forming caste-based organisations. But in class divided castes, the leadership of these caste organisations will naturally be with the upper bourgeois strata of each caste, which will use them for their political bargaining through consolidation of caste identity, and not to fight for the liberation of the working class of these castes from exploitation and oppression.
It is true that due to the absence of revolutionary land reform from below, land ownership remained mainly with the Savarna landowners of the feudal society and a section of them also became capitalists. Thus, in the present capitalism, there is much overlap between the capitalist ruling class of Indian society and the ruling upper castes of the old feudal society. For this reason, the Savarna reaction has a major role in the current fascist upsurge that emerged due to the almost insoluble capitalist crisis.
But the fact remains that no reactionary fascist movement can succeed only on the social basis of the minority Savarnas. Therefore, the BJP-RSS has made focussed efforts on co-opting the upper bourgeois and middle class strata formed in all castes due to capitalist development. Caste organisations have been set up in all castes which, instead of opposing the historical injustice and oppression of the caste system, create the narrative of the glorious past of some great heroic rulers of their castes and such imaginary symbolism try to rally the people of their castes behind the fascist campaign. In this process, a lumpen section of all the castes, born out of a sense of utter frustration because of extreme exploitation and oppression, is bought by the finance of the capitalist class to be used in their fascist campaign. Through this cunning social engineering, the BJP-RSS has been able to build a majority Hindutva identity despite all the seemingly insurmountable caste contradictions, which is being used in its hate campaign against the alienated Muslim minority. Ignoring this fact would tantamount to turning a blind eye toward reality.
Caste-based mobilisation and consolidation of identity based on caste as the main contradiction can never be the basis of a caste annihilation programme. Rather, it will give the fascists an opportunity to spread mutual hatred and animosity on the basis of prejudices already present in the Dalit-OBC castes themselves and the caste-based distribution of reservations and other resources, of which many examples already exist. Sub-categorisation in reservations is the latest example. History teaches us that such competition created among the exploited and the oppressed has always been an extremely effective means for the ruling class to maintain its hegemony.
On the contrary, the basis of any programme for caste annihilation can only be the issues forming the basis of unity among the working majority of all castes. Only such unity based on solid class interests, can prepare the ground for fighting against the prejudices prevalent among the working people of different castes, eliminating the scope of mutual competition, weakening the caste identity and building a strong unity against the exploitative system, which will pave the way for erasing caste biases.
24.
Therefore, the programme of annihilation of castes can only be the revolutionary program of the proletariat as caste is based on private property and class distinction, and proletariat is the only class in history that can abolish private property and class distinctions. The proletariat can take the anti-capitalist revolution to its destiny only when its programme of emancipation from exploitation includes the programme of liberation of all classes of society from exploitation establishing its leadership on all oppressed classes and communities against the capitalist class or can at least prevent them from becoming allies of the capitalist class. Therefore, for the programme of proletarian socialist revolution, a revolutionary programme of caste abolition under the leadership of the working class is an essential requirement.
From the point of view of working class politics, only those questions can become the basis of the caste annihilation programme which, on the one hand, can move towards ending the need for reservations for the people of deprived castes themselves, and on the other hand, can also establish their class unity with the non-Dalit proletariat, that is, the questions of guarantee of universal public systems and rights instead of competition among people of equal eligibility for same limited number of opportunities. Along with this, instead of depending on bureaucracy for resisting caste atrocities, a resistance movement based on the initiative of the oppressed people in which working class organisations also mobilise the non-Dalit proletariat along with the toiling masses of Dalit castes is the need of the hour.
Based on the above reading of the character of the caste system and various currents opposed to it, the aim of a revolutionary programme of caste annihilation will not only be to eradicate caste atrocities and division of workers, but its final destiny will be the elimination of the division of labour, the very basis of the division of workers i.e. its final aim will be to completely eradicate all social divisions of labour such as male-female, physical-mental, urban-rural, industrial-agricultural etc. so that the entire basis of exploitation and differences between individuals is eradicated.
25.
Such a revolutionary caste annihilation programme will have two essential components – one, the immediate tasks, i.e. the struggle for democratic rights against caste discrimination and oppression within the existing capitalist system; two, the revolutionary task, i.e. the abolition of private property which reproduces differentiations like caste, which can only be done by a working class state established through the revolutionary abolition of the capitalist system. It is this workers’ state which will make all distinctions like caste obsolete forever by ending the division of labour through socialist construction. Here we discuss some of the most important of these immediate tasks, the first being the internal task of the workers’ movement and the others relating to the struggle for democratic rights. This list is only illustrative and not exhaustive.
Immediate Tasks of the Caste Annihilation Programme
1. Struggle against caste prejudices in the working class movement
Relentless and uncompromising struggle against caste prejudices (upper caste prejudices) and discrimination especially in organisations of the working class and the entire working class in general – an active programme to identify, investigate and strictly eradicate every manifestation of upper caste prejudices while patient political education to increase the level of class consciousness to eradicate Dalit prejudices.
2. Right to retaliate against caste oppression
In order to make the resistance against and punishment for caste oppression not limited to reliance on the existing police-court bureaucracy but to base it on the collective initiative/action of the oppressed people, collective platforms of struggle (local/professional public panchayats) should be formed at all places which ensure a democratic method of hearing and determining the guilt of the concerned parties in every form of caste oppression (deprivation of public amenities and rights, untouchability, murder, rape, beatings, obstruction in inter-caste marriages, etc.) and all social and legal measures for its immediate retaliation. A struggle will have to be waged to get this accepted as a democratic right. Only such a system can become the basis for the emergence of a strong social resistance against caste oppression which creates a proper fear of its consequences in those who commit such oppression.
3. Agricultural land – socialisation, not equal distribution
In the phase of democratic revolution, revolutionary land reform would have been an important progressive step towards caste abolition. It is also true that concentration of land property in the hands of a few castes is still a major factor in caste atrocities and the most horrific caste atrocities are committed against rural landless farm and other labourers. The question of wages, working conditions and payment of wages play a major role in these atrocities, but in the form of caste, on the one hand, it becomes easy for the upper caste landowners and rich farmers to mobilise in their favour and, on the other hand, the land-based attack on the livelihood of Dalit castes becomes a strong means to subdue them.
Therefore, it is necessary to end the control of upper caste landowners on land ownership. But for this, the demand for equal land distribution is a regressive demand today which will tie the proletariat of Dalit castes into the slavery of these small pieces of land which can give them nothing but extreme poverty. In the present capitalist agriculture, capital investment and profitability have become the main issues in which small holdings have no future. The landless labourers who will get these small pieces of land will get nothing but hunger and poverty despite the hard painful work of the whole family because they will not have sufficient capital, and even after raising loans on high usurious rate of interest, these small holdings will not be profitable, resulting in these pieces soon slipping out of their hands making them enthralled to the debtors, even forcing many to commit suicides. The correct and appropriate demand now to end the control of landowners of Savarna castes on land ownership is the nationalisation of all land including agricultural and residential land without compensation, and to develop collective/cooperative farms on the basis of share in the product in proportion to the labour performed on this agricultural land. This will be a concrete step towards eradicating small scale production and all feudal remnants from the rural economy and life.
4. Equal distribution of rural residential land and guarantee of housing for all
The progressive step would be to allot housing in proportion to the family needs of all residents of the village by complete socialisation of rural residential land.
5. Caste discrimination in urban housing – socialisation of all residential properties
Caste and religion based discrimination in urban housing is a big problem. But the ‘Hridaya Parivartan’ style moral preaching based anti-caste campaign is no solution to this. The solution to this is complete nationalisation of all residential properties without compensation except one house required by every family and allotment on reasonable minimum rent per requirement. Where there is still a shortage, construction of public housing and allotment per requirement is the only way to eradicate caste, religion and other discriminations.
6. Right to guaranteed universal public amenities (housing, education, health, transport, recreation, etc)
Right of bhagidari or participation in limited public amenities in proportion to the size of population seems to be democratic but is really an idea of exclusivity that reserves these amenities for a limited number of people. In the era of widespread privatisation-commercialisation by neoliberal capitalism, which creates a barrier to access these amenities restricting these only to the moneyed and privileged section of population, the struggle for representation is a struggle for sharing privileges, not for the abolition of these privileges. In order to eradicate feudal remnants and the privilege of the propertied dominant elite in the society, it is essential to have equally accessible universal public amenities in all areas like schooling and higher education, employment, healthcare services, transportation, sports, entertainment, etc. A system of neighbourhood schools mandatory for all i.e. education and breakfast-midday meals in the same neighbourhood school without any discrimination is essential. Only through this, it is possible to end the existing social privileges of the dominant classes/castes, which is essential for the all-round democratisation of the society.
7. Employment guarantee throughout the year and a liveable minimum wage
Rising unemployment and falling wages affect all workers, but the working people of the oppressed communities are the most affected. It forces them to tolerate many caste-based injustices without retaliation, such as the inhuman work of carrying sewage on the head or going down the sewer has become a necessity for their survival and without enforcement of minimum wages the capitalists have no need to mechanise these tasks. Therefore, employment guarantee and minimum wages are very important issues for the people of the oppressed communities.
8. Struggle for the unfettered personal right of marriage and divorce
The role of the police and judiciary in the current personal laws is making them its regulators and helping the regressive social forces. Marriage and divorce should be a democratic right of every individual to be done per their personal interest and decision without any fetters, in which the role of the state should not be of permitting authority but only of a registrar, that is, it should only register the decision of the adult citizens without questions.
26.
Proletariat is the class whose historical mission is to eradicate the system of class exploitation based on private property and create a classless society. To complete this historic mission, the working class must fulfil the task of liberating all the oppressed from all types of oppression based on private property and class distinctions. To complete this historic mission, a strong unity of the workers within the country and the world based on class consciousness is an essential prerequisite. Caste-based prejudice, competition, hatred, animosity and oppression among the working people are a big obstacle in the way of this class unity. Therefore, along with all types of oppression, the program of liberation from caste oppression is an integral part of the revolutionary program of liberation of the working class from exploitation.
Today, it is necessary to complete this difficult task of unity of Dalit and non-Dalit working people at all costs. The entire working population is the victim of class oppression, but the Dalit working population is also victim to caste oppression in addition. Because caste oppression also maintains class oppression, therefore the struggle against it also becomes a common struggle of the entire working population, not just Dalits. To break this common struggle, narratives that arouse casteist arrogance are fabricated and the workers of the so-called upper castes are used against the Dalit workers. Therefore, it is very important for the ruling classes to maintain casteist hatred and arrogance. This is a sharp weapon to break the unity of the working class. And that is why it is very important to alert and raise the workers of non-Dalit castes for the struggle and resistance against caste oppression, only then the common struggle against class oppression will also be strengthened.
An important aspect of the fight against casteist arrogance, hatred and discrimination is the ideological struggle going on in the society. Today, the reactionary ideological hegemony of capitalism is present in every vein of our society. It has not only embraced the medieval backward feudal values but is also promoting these regressive values with the propaganda power of the entire economic, political, administrative, educational and media might of the capitalist class. To counter this, it is necessary that the ideological hegemony of the working class is established. The fight against all kinds of backward socio-cultural values forms an essential part of this ideological struggle. Of course, we have a glorious legacy in economic struggles and resistance against oppression, but this alone is not enough to combat socio-cultural backwardness. In the current era, for ideological struggle, we will have to go ahead and analyse and propagate things from a class perspective. The working class, being the creator of all the material and spiritual values of the world, is the most advanced class in history. Only on the basis of unity of the working class can the growing attack on Dalits and caste-based discrimination be fought against in a strong manner.
It is very important to emphasise that the struggle against the caste disease and caste arrogance is not just of Dalits but a common struggle of the entire working population. Just as Marx had exhorted the American workers, ‘Labour in the White skin can never free itself as long as the labour in black skin is branded’, it is very important to spread this consciousness among the non-Dalit working class of India that the common struggle of all the working class for the liberation of Dalit working class from caste oppression is an essential, inseparable part of their struggle and a prerequisite for their own liberation from capitalist exploitation. It is only by fighting against caste-based, patriarchal, chauvinistic, regional, linguistic oppression that we can fight against the capitalist system. Only the struggle against all forms of oppression – caste, patriarchy, national jingoism, parochial, linguistic, etc – will found that solid unity of all the workers, which will help them realise their dream of establishing a socialist society devoid of all exploitation of humans by humana, in which every person in society will get full opportunity to participate and contribute in every sphere and at every level of life without any discrimination.
[1] Handbook on social welfare statistics, New Delhi, Government of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2016 and 2024, p. 389 and p. 393. Quoted in https://m.thewire.in/article/politics/caste-versus-hindutva-again
[2] https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/india/price-of-dalit-business-owners-16-less-income-study-shows-impacts-of-social-stigmatisation/cid/2040322
[3] Reserve Bank of India, Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy 2022-23
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