[Reader-list] Re :Re: Why i am afraid of Mayawati?

[Hemangini Gupta]

hey shivam
maybe theres a larger point that can be taken with regards to hindol?s piece?? 
caste-politics in UP (and elsewhere?) are associated so closely with
identity-politics which are, of course, vital and empowering and so on,
and i don?t think that any of us (or anyone) would be in a position to
take a normative view of a democratic vote (elite consociationalism?!!)
- but what of the questions of what comes after identity politics? 
you?ve emphasised (very eloquently, if i may say so) the importance
of identity politics in driving empowerment, but this election more
than being driven by caste seems to have driven by ?sarva samaj?;
perhaps a coalition of the poor, of the needy, more than one of caste
alone? how will the dalit party?s emphasis on identity politics
translate into other (more material, perhaps) gains such as education,
healthcare etc.? i think it was weiner who said that with the exception
of kerala, the efforts of states to provide material benefits for
dalits remains marginal; ?dalit politicians and bureaucrats and dalit
associations and political parties have had little impact on public
policies?. you\'ve argued that the ambedhkar villages scheme may have caused positive change, but the other examples are identity-self-respect-related ones.
mayawati?s win has likely impacts on the upcoming gen elections as
well, with UP under her and a significant presence in neighbouring
states, she could impact the votes of maybe 150 seats? so if we are
looking at her in a national sense, what can we expect in terms of
policy and planning that moves beyond what is seen as ?dalit rage? and
the politics of exclusion which mark the intersections between (dalit)
caste and politics? much of dalit politics has been based on the need
to gain power, confer dignity, self respect etc. - so with the
assumption of power are we now inevitably moving to step 2:
implementation? or can we wonder about that progression?
i?m not offering the ?what will she know of global politics? line,
because of course i agree that for atleast a decade now, in terms of
economic issues, elections seem to have been won on issues of democracy
and social justice but then policies framed have been macro-economic,
elite ones (this is what yadav calls the ?bifurcation of politics?? the
bhasha-english divide)? but i am wondering how the shift will be made
from what has been a politics of exclusion and discrimination to one of
power and governance. in fact maybe i?ll stick my neck out further to
suggest that to view hindol?s post as a MEMCRY lament alone is to miss
the wood for the trees. the bsp is associated with amassing wealth,
gaining power - what indicates that these traits will change now, or
that they will work well on the natl/intl arena?
ps: and need i say, my views do not represent those of cnn-ibn etc. etc.!hemangini
On Fri, 18 May 2007 05:20:25 -0700 (PDT) gouri  wrote  This is a very moving response to a yuppy view of  politics. Ordinarily such responses tend to be  self-righteous and have a very angry tone. It is  difficult not to be.  best,  Gouri  --- Shivam Vij  wrote:    > Thanks for posting this Rakesh. This is a very  > important post on the  > CNN IBN website\'s otherwise dull blog section. It  > has been written by  > Hindol Sengupta who covers fashion and suchlike for  > them. He says he  > can\'t relate to Mayawati, finds it ironic that the  > \"backbone of the  > knowledge, entreneurial [sic] economy\" should be a  > \"non-vote bank\". He  > says that his class of people, his \'type\' - People  > Like Us, to use a  > cliche - \"rejoice every time Manmohan Singh takes  > stage\" but alas,  > even he couldn\'t win a Lok Sabha election from South  > Delhi.  >   > The reason why I think it is an important post is  > that unlike most  > other PLUs, Sengupta makes no claim to  > \'objectivity\'. When Youth for  > Equality / United Students / other  > \'anti-reservationists\' oppose  > reservations, and speak about Dalits/OBCs, they  > claim to be doing so  > with a claim to \'objectivity\', that is, they do not  > admit that the  > viewpoint(s) they are putting forward are of a  > certain section of  > society that is influential in shaping public  > opinion despite being in  > a minority.  >   > Sengupta admits not only his discomfiture with a  > democratically  > elected Mayawati but also that his discomfiture  > stems from his  > background, from who he is. He describes himself and  > his ilk as  > \"middle-class, educated, metro-bred,  > Christian-education raised,  > young.\" That would abbreviate into MEMCRY, but let\'s  > just use the word  > \'yuppie\'.  >   > It is quite extraordinary and laudatory for a yuppie  > to admit his  > distance from the political rise of the \'low-class,  > neo-literate,  > village-bred, government school-raised, middle  > aged\'. Such an  > admission is a rarity, and it is exactly what the  > \'anti-anti-reservationists\' want the  > \'anti-reservationists\' to admit.  >   > Sengupta\'s \'realisation\', though, is an incomplete  > one. Except for a  > passing reference in the last paragraph, he does not  > mention that the  > distance between Us and Them is in great measure  > that of language.  > Conversations on class, social mobility and suchlike  > these days seem  > to forget the Hindi/English divide. It has been left  > to Kancha Iliah  > and Chandrabhan Prasad now to remind us of it.  >   > Unfortunately the realisation of his being a PLU  > doesn\'t go too far.  > But the honesty does extend to his class bias: his  > problem with Lalu  > having a buffaloes in his backyard and on Mayawati  > he writes: \"But  > forward planning? Infrastructure ideas? Modernity?  > Mayawati, alas, is  > the quintessential behenji.\"  >   > So what about Lalu\'s success as railway minister?  > Could it be that  > Mayawati hasn\'t been able to work on development  > because she\'s not  > been in power for more than two years collectively  > in three terms?  > Could it be that Mayawati\'s Ambedkar Villages scheme  > has made the  > ceiling fan finally whirl in a few villages and  > allowed a few Dalits  > to gather the courage to go to the police station  > and file an FIR  > against the men who raped their daughter? Could it  > be that the  > Dalit-Brahmin alliance by Mayawati could force a  > Brahmin or two to  > give up untouchability and accept dalits as part of  > the same social  > realm as theirs?  >   > The questions don\'t bother Sengupta because the  > answers don\'t affect  > him. In other words, another area where I would like  > Sengupta to  > extend his realisation to is middle class  > self-centredness. The middle  > class cares only about itself, the rest may go to  > hell. If this is  > true even in perception, that is bad enough.  >   > I also hope his realisation will sooner or later  > extend to adding the  > phrase \'upper caste\' to MEMCRY. After so much heat  > on reservations,  > are the yuppies still blind to the fact that PLUs  > are exclusively  > upper-caste? Whether its is by design or default  > that the middle class  > is predominantly (if not exclusively) upper caste is  > arguable. Whether  > this should be changed by improving the quality of  > primary schools  > and/or by reservations in higher education, is  > debatable. But no one  > can dispute that the Indian middle class is composed  > of the upper  > castes. Yet they choose not to admit this. Sengupta  > honestly admits  > that his convent education, metropolitan upbringing,  > class status are  > the causes of his dismay (and \'fear\'!) over  > Mayawati\'s victory. I wish  > he\'d extend this honesty to admitting that his caste  > is responsible in  > the first place for his MEMCRY yuppie status.  >   > He detests the heartland politicians because they  > don\'t speak his  > idiom. But the heartland politicians are who they  > are largely because  > of their caste.  >   > Kumari Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ram Vilas  > Paswan, Lalu Prasad  > Yadav and others of their ilk are symbols,  > literally, of the political  > assertion of those below the middle class. The logic  > of such political  > assertion, according to Sengupta, is:  >   > \"It\'s the same logic that kept Lalu in power, that  > allowed him to  > argue that development is nothing. He brought  > something more to his  > voters - he was one of them, and for those who had  > been oppressed for  > centuries, to see one of them in power, to see a CM  > who kept buffalos  > in his backyard was intoxicating. It was a real  > sense of power. No  > roads or electricity could beat that.\"  >   > If Sengupta roots for Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka  > Vadra just because he  > can relate to them, why shouldn\'t those not  > fortunate to have his  > MEMCRY yuppie status not vote for leaders whom  > *they* can relate with?  > If \"those who had been oppressed for centuries\" (as  > if they aren\'t  > anymore) can enjoy a \"real sense of power\" by having  > one of their ilk  > in the CM\'s chair, then should we conclude that  > Sengupta and the  > yuppie class he represents also wants the same venal  > pleasure by  > seeing people of their ilk in power?  >   > Sengupta\'s understanding of caste politics - that  > the lower castes,  > the \'oppressed\', vote for People Like Them for a  > sense of power - is  > to miss the wood for the trees. Indeed, if you ask  > Dalits in a remote  > village in eastern Uttar Pradesh (as I did in the  > middle of February  > this year) why they vote for Mayawati, they will  > actually say that  > they do so because she brings them dignity, because  > she is one of  > their own. In the mid-nineties Mayawati used to say  > in her rallies,  > \"Main Chamar ki beti hoon. Main Chamari hoon, main  > tumhari hoon.\"  >   > But the reason why Dalits feel the need to have one  > of their own in  > power is because they think that only then will they  > have the roads  > and electricity they need - something Sengupta  > suggests  > foreign-educated Rahul Gandhi will deliver better  > than someone like  > Mayawati who has risen from a village and knows what  > it   === message truncated ===                 ____________________________________________________________________________________Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search   that gives answers, not web links.   http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC  _________________________________________  reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.  Critiques & Collaborations  To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.  To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list   List archive: 
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