21 March 2014, 04:58 PM IST
Despite being 12% of the Malayali population, what holds back dalits as a political force in Kerala? If there were no reserved constituencies for dalits – Alathur and Mavelikkara - both the UDF and LDF would not have taken the trouble to field dalit candidates for the Lok Sabha.
Compared with other states, reasons for dalits not gaining political progress in Kerala can be varied, as pointed out by sociologist Gopal Guru. T M Yesudasan, a dalit thinker and former professor of English at CMS College, Kottayam, says although there are dalit organizations in Kerala, there is no dalit movement. And this has stopped the community from following the successful Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) model that Kanshiram and Mayawati created in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, without the crutches of reservation, a dalit would not have become even a member of grama panchayat in Kerala, says Yesudasan.
Sunny M Kapikkad, dalit intellectual, however, says it is not because of the lack of efforts that dalits have failed to emerge as a political force. "Dalits have striven manfully, political activist Kallara Sukumaran, who formed the Indian Labour Party (ILP), is an example. But the political society in Kerala never allowed dalits to become a force. They do not consider dalits as political beings but merely subjects."
Kapikad says: "The ghost of Nivarthana agitation (in erstwhile Travancore in 1930s) still stalks Kerala society. As Syrian Christians, Ezhavas and Muslims kept dalits out of their agitation for equal representation in government jobs, today too, similar kind of ostracization is practised by the UDF and the LDF." He says that political parties in Kerala are not willing to treat dalit as equal citizens but floats separate dalit fronts to handle them. Kapikad, however, adds that disunity among dalits too has made things difficult. "This lack of disunity is a result of the absence of institutions among dalits," explains Kapikad.
Yesudasan points out that the Marxist hegemony has played a large role in arresting dalit progress. "Dalits in Kerala have been co-opted by parties such as CPM and CPI," says Yesudasan. But communist parties have let them down. He explains the recent trend of Kerala Pulaya Maha Sabha (KPMS) factions flocking to Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi as the dalit expression of resentment towards the communist parties.
The progressive social picture in Kerala compared with other states has also played a role in stalling the dalit movement. "There is a culture of assimilation in Kerala. The dalit's failure as a political being is in asserting his or her identity. In Kerala, the dalit is trying to conceal his identity. Dalits themselves consider identity politics as something to be frowned upon and get co-opted into other parties. Unless you flip the manufactured consent of 'don't ask or reveal your caste', dalits cannot progress in Kerala's political space," says Yesudasan.
But there is trouble with identity politics. "There are identities that the society respects and those that the society despises. For a dalit in Kerala, the challenge is to win the respect of the society. For the civil society, the challenge is about giving respect to dalits. Respect from the society is a huge capital and the lack of it will impede the political progress of dalits," says Yesudasan.
There is a belief that winning power would lead to gaining respect. "The scramble among dalits to align with Modi or other political formations stems from such a belief." He is also sceptical about dalits shaking hands with right wing Muslim organizations such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Welfare Party in electoral arena.
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