The first version of the Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi lead UPA stood out for legitimizing Communal Socialism and a Culture of Entitlement by giving both an aam admi spin.
The second version it seems is now all set to combine the two to create a lethal mix of vote bank politics if this story in the Financial Express is anything to go by.
In a move that could stir the political pot, the rural development ministry under Congress leader CP Joshi has given a proposal on ‘automatic inclusion’ of Muslims in the below-poverty line (BPL) list of families along with Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Aware of the political sensitivities involved, the ministry plans to replace the word ‘Muslim’ with ‘minority’ to pre-empt opposition—especially from BJP-ruled states who are likely to protest the move.
Inaugurating a conference of social editors, rural development minister CP Joshi said that to simplify the process of identification of BPL families, his department has broadly decided on automatic ‘inclusion’ and ‘exclusion’. It has been proposed, he said, that SCs, STs and minorities will be automatically included in the BPL list and then the well-off families would be excluded on basis of Income Tax returns, land etc.
Joshi justified the proposal of automatic inclusion stating that “SCs, STs and minorities together form less than 37% of the population” — less than the BPL population pegged by the SC Saxena and Suresh Tendulkar Committee reports released recently. He, however, said that his ministry was waiting for the NSSO survey to decide the mode to be adopted for the new BPL survey.
By proposing of automatic inclusion of Muslims under the ‘minority’ head, Joshi has gone beyond what the Saxena Committee report — it was appointed by the rural development ministry — recommended on the methodology to be adopted for a BPL survey. While it said that weightage should be given to certain social groups, including Muslims, during the survey, it did not favour automatic inclusion. According to the Saxena report, SCs/STs would get three points and Most Backward Castes (MBC) two points. The Saxena report said that Muslims and OBCs be given one point each.
Automatic inclusion of Muslims in the BPL list could be the first major attempt by the Congress-led UPA government to woo the vote bank that roughly constitutes 18% of the country’s population. The proposal could be significant given that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar go to state polls in 2012 and 2010 respectively, states where the Congress is desperately trying to get a foothold.
Inclusion and exclusion from the BPL list is a big issue in the rural hinterland, particularly in the Hindi heartland, since benefits of most Central and state-sponsored welfare schemes like Indira Awas Yojna, old age pension are decided on the basis of the list
With competitive politics that thrive on a cynical exploitation of a Culture Entitlement becoming the norm there is unlikely to be significant political resistance to this move from the parties.
This exercise of deeming who is and who is not BPL being the zero sum game that it is, we can be assured of more incendiary politics of affirmative entitlement not much ulike the Gujjar-Meena clashes of the last few years.
Will the new BJP President Nitin Gadkari who has been touting his Social Entrepreneurship proudly on his collar, take this Communal Socialism and Culture of Entitlement head on ?
or
will it merely be more regurgitation of the same banal rhetoric of “last man standing” ?
Filed under: betrayal of aam admi, DesiPundit, Progressivism, UPA-II Critical Appraisal
All Indians who believe in Dharma must support this irrespective of their ideological affiliations.
There is no need to see this as Muslim appeasement.
We should not allow the ugly hindu to raise its head by doubting the intention of the central government.
Jaikumar is saying that this is not a Muslim Appeasement. Are you having hangover?
Are you referring to yourself by mentioning “Ugly Hindu”?
Would you like to explain DHARMA? hhhhhmmm Leave it.. you will probably will take it from your holy book (KURAN ?)and will paste it here.
@Jaykumar
what dharma…why should we not doubt the intentions of central govt…this is not at all acceptable…how can a so called secular govt do this thing…
Jaikumar: are you being sarcastic?
If not, there is some serious problem with you in referring to Dharma and ugly H. Can you please elaborate how this minority appeasement be justified in developmental or Dharma terms?
Jaykumar is
a) Drunk
b) On Opium
c) Bashir Ahmed
d) Communist
e) Dhimmified Hindu with serious stockholm syndrome
Take your pick.
@jaykumar
BPL is below poverty line!!! are we forgetting that? How can you justify a rich MUSLIM in that list? If this is nt appeasement then what is it?
As I already asked him, whether he is having hangover.. so I will go for A. DRUNK
Intentions of UPA 2.0 is what is in question here? As long as majority of Indians will keep their mouths shut and take this shit, the govt will continue to screw us over and over…
Any such move should be opposed by one and all.
This is not a case of socialism, this is purely communalism. There is no logic in CP Joshi’s decision.
“Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned.” ~His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
Now shahrukh khan, salman khan, azim premji, etc will get yello ration cards and foddgrains at cheapest rate
It’s not appeasement its recipe for self destruction.
Back to business are we?
Why not extend the same privilege to everyone who fulfills the criteria. Are the minorities the only poor in India?
Yoss,
It will help if we read the article properly. It states that the people will get filtered out further to automatic exclusion.
The criteria is
a)Income tax returns
b)Land acquired
I dont disagree that this is a electoral policy. So is NREGA(Now, MNREGA). But, both of them will benefit a few people. Indian politics is never straightforward.
Anything that benefits the poor should be supported.
@jaikumar – Using this language like ‘Ugly Hindu’ will only be a pakistani or a chinese line. Which one are you? Take your pick.
The question is why won’t Hindu non SC be included in the list.
Arjun,
I respect your point. But, If I were making a list, this sounds like a good approach. Let me explain my point.I dont think anybody says that non-SC Hindus are excluded. Yes, the principle might result( due to bureaucratic inefficency) in deserving people in this category not getting their due.
I would though support the policy of automatic inclusion. Since, this will bring more people into a social service net. After All, it is about improving the system.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Why dont you automatically include all Indians as BPL and then weed out the income tax payers and landowners. Then I agree it is a fair way to do it.
In any case, I think if we are really concerned about minority upliftment, ban the madrasa and send them to a proper school, then perhaps the minorities dont need these doles. Will any government think on these lines? Obviously not. As all these funds are going to congressi hands in any case, the congress can eat the cake and have it too and the poor muslim can remain poor and ignorant and be exploited by the next set of opportunists.
Cut the government role. If you want to dole out cash, just consolidate all subsidies and get the banks to open an account for all the BPL families and deposit it in their accounts. Allow the banks a commission on the service and in case of any fraud recover the amount from the bank. Lets see how enth the congress is
Venkatesh,
Why bring the madarsas and extremist theory into it?
The deal is like this.
There is a BPL category. That needs to be created. You can have an exclusionist principle.Or, you could follow an inclusive model.
Exclusionist works on searching every single BPL guy and adding him into a list.
Inclusive list involves putting all people from a certain category into the list and then weed out the ineligible ones.
The 2nd one will help more people. Some wrong people benefit, but, a lot more deserving candidates will also get their just due.
Why should the whole hatred for minority thing cloud our judgment? It is precisely a statement like this which a pseudo-secularist will attack.
P.S. I dont disagree that this is votebank motivated. But, it might help people, so, why not?
@Umesh
Ok, then what is your criteria to choose inclusive list? Your religion, right? If this is not communal socialism then what is?
@manoj,
You are debating what Kind of action is this initiative by Ministry of Rural development.
What I’m saying is that, independent of the motivation (votebank politics) etc. it is important to support something if it will help people in substantial way.
Your questioning the religious motivation of this act. I dont disagree on that. All I say, is that, let us make the best of the situation.
I’m a proud Hindu from Orissa. But, it is this belief system which makes me believe that reduction of poverty is much more important than fighting about reservation of jobs in the Public sector based on religious criteria.
Let me enhance this further. I believe that as prosperity improves the core values of being Hindu reinforce themselves automatically.
This can be proven by the many temples which have come up in USA. A small point.
I might also add, that, in Orissa, I hate the BJP. That of course is another story. Will talk about it some Other time.
Yoss does know my views if he has followed my comments in the past..
Well, I’m not aware of your views on BJP but that aside, your answer is little contradictory in itself…
By reduction of poverty in Muslims (which is a good thing BTW, I’m not opposing that at all), how come the core values of Hindu reinforce them automatically.
People in US who built temples there were all Hindus as per my understanding. Only things US temples have are that they are little more grand and little more clean with respect to most of our temples in India and people visiting them are little more rich compared to India… I think these temples came up there because Hindus from India migrated to US. I mean, I believe, they didn’t come up because USA got reach…
I’ll refer you to little bit of history here where this whole bitter Hindu Muslim communal story started. As per my understanding, it started with Morley-Minto reforms in 1909 where Muslims were given representation in excess of their fair share of population in assembly and provincial councils with the provision of separate electorate (only Muslims will vote for Muslims etc.) which started this whole notion of Muslims are a separate nation etc.-2 which finally culminated in India’s partition.
There are two further proof points of this theory. 1. The communal clashes between Hindus and Muslims were almost negligible before such provision (even during 1857-1909 period when there was no Mughal control, and in 18th century when Marathas were the predominant political force in the country) 2. Almost all communal clashes during 1909 – 1947 happened in British India. All the princely states were more or less free from it.
Hence politics of entitlement through your religious identity sows the seed of separatism for sure. The whole Congress argument before Independence was based on this theory and hence they never accepted this two nation theory of Jinnah. But those were different times and those were different leaders.
Now we have MMS, SG and RG in charge of the whole situation and after 100 years, through committees like Sachar and ministers like Joshi, all we are doing is sowing the seed for something similar to happen in future. Those who do not learn from their history are bound to repeat their mistakes. This is true for an individual as well as for a nation.
Well,
Obviously, this issue seems sidetracked. I will take this as an honest misunderstanding and re-explain it again.
Taking your point about Muslim poverty, independent of stray exceptions, as prosperity improves in their social circuit the stranglehold of the Madarsas will weaken. Examples are names like the Pathan Brothers from cricket.
Your second point about temples in USA is basically a bigger restatement of what i said. if prosperity reduces religiousness then so many temples would not be created. I just like typing for long hours
The Morley Minto reforms were definitly a policy of divide and rule. It was also built to Pander to the Muslim aristocracy who dreamt their heydeys during the Mughal sultanat. My point is that, these equations changed after partition. Lot of people migrated.
Guaranteed some of the muslims left back in India might not support indian democracy, but, they are insignificant in number.
But, the above arguments are unimportant. We have a growth rate of 7-9% in the last 5 years
if we can maintain this for another 25 years, we will reach the poverty percentage of less than 10%. Today our BPL figure is 37%.
What I can guarantee is that, if we reach this figure in next 15 years. All these Other problems will quieten.
India is a very old civilization. In Mid-15th century we were 20% of world economy(possibly higher). Today i don’t think this is even 2%. We have a bigger destiny than a Hindu-muslim issues. It would help if we are tolerant about a few things.
But, it is important to solve these caste issues. Economics will go a long way in resolving that.
Taking a minoritist but necessarily true argument, A disproportionate number of our minority brethren are from these SC classes.
My solution for these issues is poverty alleviation.
@Umesh
“as prosperity improves in their social circuit the stranglehold of the Madarsas will weaken”
The problems that Islam creates for it’s followers do not start and end with Madarasas. Also it has nothing to do with the “poverty” among muslim. It is the nature of their religious doctrine that makes them feel superior to rest of humanity and hence they also demand more power and special status. Take example of UK where even the better economic status has not resulted into “reason” winning over “Islam”.
Nevertheless if you dont want Muslims to go to Madarsas make rules that impose penalty for going to such systems. The “Secular” UPA instead has given them status equivalent to modern schools.
Also, it is a gross mistake to compare temples Abroad with Madarasas. Temples aren’t the exhibition of Hindu Power, nor the temples exist to ensure that the religious Dogma continues to prevail the reason.
Nevertheless the secularists are busy finding parity in everything. As soon as they concede that there is something seriously wrong with Madarasas they feel compelled to criticize temples.
When Swami Narayan Temple was built in London see what British Newspapers have to say
“Something altogether extraordinary has happened in Neasden. There has been an almighty outbreak of Hindu faith. Its the sort that political parties can only dream of harnessing when they talk of community. Whole families have given months, some years, of their time. Bankers have turned electricians, accountants have laid drains. Some have given up their jobs. Solicitors, doctors and architects have sacrificed annual holidays and been assigned by saints what might be seen as labor. Women cook and organise the festivities. Children play their part”.
And our very own Times of India reported
“Britain sees the gentle face of Hinduism”
If at all we have to believe the Sacchar Committee’s report that Muslims are not really developed it is not because of any policy goof-ups it is purely because of the ideology they have adhered to. And as long as you give incentive to Muslims because they are muslims nothing would change.
@akshar,
Your argument is based on a principle which is difficult for me to subscribe to..
But, still let us assume that you ignore the Muslim aspect of my debate.
How do you propose to address the rapid spread of evangelism in SC/ST category people?
My main concern is to address the intrinsic poverty in these groups.
Just give me one answer -
How many SC/ST leaders are there in the top leadership of the RSS, which, claims to represent the significant Hindu majority?
Kalyan singh claims that the Thakurs in UP deserted him since, he was an OBC.
My apologies, pressed ‘enter’. Well, the problem is Hindu society as represented as pretty much the ‘upper caste’.
This needs to change. If RSS does not embrace this, they have no hope..
@Umesh
Ok, let me understand your argument..
For Hindu society: It says “if prosperity reduces religiousness then so many temples would not be created.” It implies to me that with prosperity religiousness does not reduce. It in fact manifests itself into something grand… Please correct me if this understanding is wrong..
For Muslim society: “as prosperity improves in their social circuit the stranglehold of the Madarsas will weaken.” It implies to me that same prosperity would have a reverse effect on Muslims as Madarsas which are at the centre of spreading religious intolerance by increasing the religiousness of their own followers will get weaken..
Well, I mean I’m sure you might be having some deeper meaning hidden here which I’m not able to understand.. It’d be really enlightening if you please elaborate..
PS: I believe since Petro dollars started to come in KSA, the Wahabbi movement has gained strength there. Please correct me again if I’m wrong. My knowledge is very limited here…
@Umesh
RSS is a big python which cant move because of it’s size. RSS does work for the tribal people in the name of “Vanavasi Kalyan”. Now whats the difference between Vanavasi and Jungli ? As a personal opinion I feel RSS has has done more harm to Hindus than good. I simply find RSS “not hindu enough”.
That is a strategic mistake on RSS’ part to acknowledge the tribal people as “uncivilized” or those who need “modern enlightenment”. E.g. Santal Tribals have a very rich culture though on modern principles they might be termed backward. They are just “poor Hindus”.
When one says Hindu one refers to “upper castes” is not an overstatement if we consider the political parlance in India. The fault precisely lies not with RSS but the leaders like Dr. Ambedkar.
One should look into how Gandhiji handled this problem so very effectively. His understanding of ground reality was better than the dalit leaders like Dr. Ambedkar and as a political leader he was more honest than others.
RSS’s work work the tribal people is full of faults. That does not mean RSS discriminates against them, instead the case is opposite. Being a swayamsevak for few years I have closely seen the organization and it is not all an upper caste organization as the critics would like to argue.
Rapid spread of evangelism in SC/ST category people is certainly a very important problem before the country. The missionaries themselves have worked hard to prove that tribal people are not hindu. Of course when an outraged tribal hits back at their evil designs he is immediately labeled as “RSS man”, “Hindu Fundamentalist” and as long as he is listening to the gospel he is the poor little tribal in need of help and enlightenment.
RSS has worked very hard to blur the lines of caste but it has lacked the vigor and voice it should have had.
When it comes to “poverty” it is purely a secular criteria. It has nothing to do with caste or religion tag. That this class has suppressed that caste for centuries is actually a myth. (Refer to State of Education in Bengal 1838 report, “The Beautiful Tree” Dharampal) and you will realize that the % of lower caste students in the Indigenous school was equivalent to their population percentage. (It reduced after Macauley’s system).
In my opinion “Poverty” is a secular attribute of an individual and hence every policy that is aimed at eradicating it must have individual as the subject of policy and must chose a secular criteria help him.
My giving help to someone for being Muslim, for being SC/ST you are giving him incentives to remain in the confines of his caste/religion.
@manoj,
Today, a Muslim sends his Kid to a Madarsa primarily because of financial reasons. If he would’ve studied in a Modern school his approach will be very different. That is where poverty alleviation will help. Of course what he learns there can be harmful in life. I know this friend of mine who has studied in a Navodaya Vidyalaya. He was describing a Maulvi he knew.
The Maulvi’s argument for not going to an English school was that their toilets require students to stand. Now, if you get the point here. Education helps people have different views. A few steps from our side will go a long way.
I hope this does illustrate my view somewhat. I don’t want my words to be misrepresented.
@Akshar100
You don’t say this , but, there seem to be an acceptance of the reality that these sections are not in the Hindu umbrella. In that situation what would be your approach.
You can have an emotional response to it. Otherwise , a practical response would be useful. We have seen emotional responses with regard to the Kandhamal violence. The world-wide Media coverage was a practical response to that.
If I were a RSS guy, I would learn from it. I would have a more practical response in the future. I’m not talking about the specific incident now, but, the principle in general.
See, statements about equality, secular poverty sound good. But, the ground reality is very different. I was in balangir 4 months back. I was visiting this family of 7 people. They had survived on mango kernels due to crop failure. In a house like this your identity of a Hindu flies out of the sky. Just to clarify, I’m a so-called Upper caste Hindu.
@Akshar100
Let me tell you what happened to the BJP in Orissa. They were in Govt. with BJD. The break-up happened. I will never say it was because of kandhamal. But, let us look at the future since then.
Puri, as you is a piligrim town. The Congress MLA candidate of Puri was a guy named UmaBallav rath. He did not get the ticket in 2009. He promptly jumped to the BJP. He was welcomed with open arms.
Now, there is a project near the town which is known as Vedanta University. This funded by an Industrialist known as Anil Agarwal. He has interests in Mining. But, he said that he will invest 5000 crores or / $1 Bn. He planned a world-class university in Orissa. Now, Uma Ballav rath has been leading an agitation against this university. This was primarily a political rivalry since, the project was supported by the MLA of Puri, Maheswar Mohanty. One thought that, once, Uma ballav rath migrated from the congress to the BJP, he would at least take some of BJP’s core values. That is not the case. Today, the situation is that, RSS listens to his diktats on this issue and writes articles in the Organiser opposing the University.
Isn’t it shameful, that this org got brainwashed by an ex-congressman? Today, in Orissa the BJP is acting like a B-team of the communists? Communists as usual support this agitation.
Day-in-day out we complain that the regular media is completely biased against the right. This was a chance to have a university which is not filled by jholawallahs. What hit the RSS so badly that it had to oppose this project.
My belief in the right being progress friendly is lost because of these actions.
A small example of Inter-caste problems. No guarnatees on the truth. I Don’t trust the Media.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/230928/Parties-sans-BJD-back-ostracised-Rajaka-community.html
@Umesh
As far as moral degradation of BJP is concerned certainly that party has gone to Dogs. An example you have given would probably suffice for the larger trend in the party.
—”See, statements about equality, secular poverty sound good. But, the ground reality is very different. I was in balangir 4 months back. I was visiting this family of 7 people. They had survived on mango kernels due to crop failure.”—
The ground reality about the caste seems to me like a cliche. What does the crop failure has to do with the caste of this family. I have at least two examples where a Brahmin girl in a family had to chose prostitution to save her family.
I myself come from a brahmin family dependent on agriculture. While I am sitting in well furnished IITB lab and typing this out, back home we dont subscribe a newspaper because we cant afford it. A part of stipend I get here, I send it home. The ground reality I have discovered is that because I will never get any reservation by virtue of my caste, not that I demand it, I have to salvage myself my acquiring skills that can pay me well.
The reason why a family has to live on mango kernels and why a girl is forced into prostitution has nothing to do with their caste/religion. It is purely because they have failed over last few generations to acquire better skills of employment. The reason why they could not is the misplaced importance that was given to socialism in 60s,70s and 80s.
I dont see what is the “different ground reality” that makes one give incentives to a person by virtue of his caste and religion. I see people around me Brahmins, trying hard to change their surname a little bit so that they can get a government job by claiming that they are OBCs.
My argument sounds good, because as a policy maker I think it is the best one to make.
As far as tribal being out of Hindu umbrella is concerned. I think the philosophy of Hinduism is certainly identifies them as integral part. There is nothing in the nature of Hindu religion that keeps these people out. It also depends on who defines the Hindu Umbrella.
My stand on this issue is that, the leaders like Dr. Ambedkar or present one like Mayavati, Or the Christian Missionaries along with the Government and Media have portrayed these people as someone other than Hindus. Moreover they have blamed RSS, BJP for their isolation while the fact is opposite. This is resulted from their deliberate and convenient ignorance of these people and their culture.
BJP and RSS’s understanding of the tribal problem is as little as the above mentioned people but they are not the cause of that problem. It is their intellectual incoherence that has first given authenticity to the arguments of evangelists and as a consequence of that these groups are actually getting alienated.
Calling RSS “rightist” is a mistake. Frankly a deeper look into their literature gives me a clear feeling that their policies especially with respect to economy and education are left-leaning.
RSS’s other problem I feel is their anti-intellectualism. They always fail to convey their message in a proper way.
@Umesh
I think your approach is based on lot of assumptions.
What about following scenario:
With increasing prosperity even some well off Muslims start sending their kids to now ‘improved and modern’ madarasa.
As you also concede prosperity does not reduce religiousness and moreover with religion based entitlement there is bound to be some backlash from Hindus which contributes to the psychological alienation of even these well off Muslims.
Both yours and my argument on the first part (whether Muslims stop sending their kids or they increase sending them) are based on assumption. You don’t know which way the ball might roll. But the second part (entrenchment of separatism) is for sure as definitely hawks on both sides, Hindus and Muslims, will try to exploit this situation. This has happened in past and there is no reason it will not happen in future.
And given the second part, the desirable outcome even of the first part as per your prediction looks unlikely…
Why don’t you see that alleviation of poverty without any discrimination based on creed, caste and religion is the best way? If you think higher percentage of Muslims are poor then naturally higher percentage of Muslims will benefit from this program. There is no need to discriminate in a top-down manner unless one has ulterior motives.
I think, Muslim well fare is the last thing in Mr. Joshi’s mind. Right now, he must be petting himself for his master stroke for ensuring 37% votes for Congress and already hoping to garner some reward for it in the raj darbar… Congress is true inheritor of British Raj.
On the same line, one can see the pathetic ways they are adopting to keep Raj Thakrery relevant in Maharashtra. This Mumbai taxi thing was a totally unnecessary controversy. Congress is now adept in playing both sides of the game. They have tried it in several states (Andhra, Maharashtra, TN, WB) and so far it is reaping them a good reward…
And further as we all concede, BJP is no hope. They can go to any extent to sell their soul. Jharkhand is one good example. Now, today there is a report in TOI that Shibu Soren is going soft on Maoists. What face BJP is left with if this is indeed true?
So cry my dear country cry…
This is the final post on this topic (communal socialism) from my side…
[...] that there is no choice between attacking sectarianism or socialism – indeed they are often joined at the hip. Yet, only sectarianism gets attacked, not [...]