Caste, Religion & Ethinicity in Indian Politics - 1 | PSIR Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Introduction

• Identity politics has gained prominence in Indian politics recently, driven by the rise of low castes,religious identities,linguistic groups, and ethnic conflicts.
• Scholars view the discourse on identity as a modern phenomenon, with Craig Calhoun highlighting the intensified efforts in contemporary times to consolidate individual and categorical identities.
• This modern emphasis on identity, based on factors like ethnicity,religion,language,gender,sexual preferences, and caste, is seen as a response to the anonymity of the impersonal modern world, offering a pattern of belonging and a search for comfort.
• However, the complex social changes and various conflicting forces in today's world make the production and recognition of identities challenging.
• The quest for an 'authentic self' or identity involves navigating overlapping and contested multiple selves, as noted by Cascardi, who emphasizes the modern subject's insertion into separate value spheres that often exclude or prioritize one another.
• Despite these challenges, the concerns with individual and collective identity, which seek to emphasize differences while establishing commonality with others, have become a universal endeavor.

What is Identity Politics?

• Identity Politics refers to political activities and theories based on shared experiences of injustice among members of specific social groups.
• These political projects aim to recover from exclusion and denigration faced by marginalized groups due to differences in characteristics like ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, caste, etc.
• Identity politics seeks empowerment, representation, and recognition for social groups by asserting the very markers that differentiate them from others. It focuses on selfhood and identity based on difference rather than equality.
• Critics argue that identity politics can lead to in-group essentialism, where the fixed markers of identity deny internal diversity and create new forms of closure and oppression.
• The field of Identity Politics gained legitimacy in the 1950s and 1960s with movements like feminism, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ rights being justified based on injustices faced by their respective groups.
• While the term "Identity Politics" has historical roots, its specific usage and prominence have been more recent, gaining traction in the last 15 years.

Identity Politics In India

Despite adopting a liberal democratic system after independence, India has seen the continued strength of communities and collective identities, which actively seek recognition.

• Beteille's observation: The Indian polity has consistently attempted to balance the liberal individual spirit with the concerns of communities.
• Bikhu Parekh's perspective: This process acknowledges a variety of autonomous and largely self-governing communities, striving to be an association of individuals and a community of communities, recognizing both as bearers of rights.
• Post-independence state role: The state's recognition of particular identities led scholars to believe that it provided a material basis for identity claims. The state is seen as an "active contributor to identity politics" by creating and maintaining structures that define and recognize people based on certain identities.
• Diverse identity politics: India exhibits various forms of identity politics, notably based on language, religion, caste, ethnicity, or tribal identity.
• Interconnected identity markers: These identity markers do not operate independently. For example, a linguistic group may be divided by caste, which in turn may be influenced by religious orientations, or all may fall under a broader ethnic claim.

Caste

Understanding Caste-Based Discrimination and Politics in India

• Caste-based discrimination has been a long-standing issue in Indian society, deeply rooted in the social fabric.
• After India gained independence, caste discrimination became intertwined with politics, leading to political freedom and recognition for oppressed caste groups.
• Dipankar Gupta highlighted the difference between Ambedkar's and the Mandal Commission's views on caste:
• Ambedkar advocated for reservations to eliminate untouchability.
• Mandal Commission viewed caste as a political resource.
• The Mandal Commission played a crucial role in transforming caste identity into a political and economic asset.
• Despite social mobility, the caste system continued to oppress Shudras and outcastes, who faced poverty, illiteracy, and lack of political power.
• The rise of caste-based identity politics aimed at providing state support to oppressed caste groups through protective discrimination.
• Caste-based political parties emerged to represent specific caste interests, such as the BJP (upper caste), BSP (Bhaujan Samaj Party), and SP (Samajwadi Party).
• Left parties also used caste-based mobilization for electoral gains, such as in Andhra Pradesh elections in 1950.
• Caste-based identity politics democratized Indian society but weakened the development of class-based organizations.
• Caste has become a crucial determinant in Indian society and politics, leading to shifting caste-class alliances and increased confrontational politics.
• The mobilization of caste identities has empowered new groups and intensified political confrontations, contributing to a crisis of governability.

Religion

Identity Politics and Religion in India

• Identity politics in India often revolves around the construction of communities based on shared religious bonds. Major religions in India include Hinduism,Islam,Sikhism,Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. The Hindu majority influences various groups and political parties to assert that India is fundamentally a Hindu state.
• These assertions lead to homogenizing myths about India's identity and history, which are contested by other religious groups concerned about preserving their cultural and religious practices. This tug-of-war has sometimes resulted in communal riots.
• The Hindu revivalist movement in the 19th century is seen as a pivotal period that reinforced the division between Hindus and Muslims, a divide that was further deepened by the partition of India. This division has since evolved into a communal ideology, often manifesting as Hindu-Muslim conflict. In recent years, tensions have also emerged between Hindus and Sikhs, and Hindus and Christians.
• Factors contributing to communal ideologies and riots include Hindu national assertiveness, the politics of representational government, persistent communal perceptions, and competition for socio-economic resources.
• Since the 1990s, identity politics based on religion has posed significant challenges to Indian democracy and secularism. The rise of majoritarian assertiveness became more pronounced with the BJP's coalition government in 1998, which united various Hindu constituents and fostered a collective Hindu identity.
• However, this religious identity often glosses over internal differences within the same religion, such as caste distinctions among Hindus or regional variations within Islam, to promote a unified front.
• The post-independence era has seen a reaction to majoritarianism in the form of minority assertiveness, leading to confrontational politics that undermines India's syncretic traditions. This shift is being institutionalized through a rewriting of history, which has the potential to reshape India's national identity along communal lines.

Language

Identity claims based on the perception of a collectivity bound together by language have their roots in pre-independence Congress politics, which promised post-independence reorganization of states on a linguistic basis.

• The "JVP" (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Pattabhi Sitaramayya) Committee's concession regarding the formation of Andhra from the Telugu-speaking region of Madras was a pivotal moment.
• This concession marked the beginning of the contentious struggle over states reorganization, a central issue in Indian politics from 1953 to 1956.
• Ironically, the demand for separate states based on linguistic collectivities did not conclude in 1956 and continues to challenge Indian leadership even today.
• The complexity arises from the fact that none of the newly created or claimed states are mono-ethnic
• Some states have numerically and politically powerful minorities, leading to a cascade of claims that threaten existing territorial boundaries.
• Disputes over boundaries between linguistic states have sparked conflicts, exemplified by the tensions between Maharashtra and Karnataka over the district of Belgaum, and the Nagas' claims to parts of Manipur.
• The absence of a uniform language policy has further complicated linguistic divisions.
• In each state, the dominant regional language is often used as the medium of instruction and social communication.
• This fosters a strong affinity and allegiance to one's own language, which can extend beyond one's state of origin.
• For instance, the formation of linguistic, cultural, and social groups outside one's state of origin helps consolidate unity and a sense of community within a separate linguistic society.
• Language becomes a crucial basis for organizing group identities and defining the "in-group" and "out-group."
• While linguistic states are believed to offer freedom and autonomy for collectivities within a heterogeneous society, critics argue that they reinforce regionalism.
• Linguistic states have provided a platform for a vast array of identity claims in a country with 1,652 'mother tongues' and only fourteen recognized languages around which states have been reorganized.
• Critics contend that the recognition of linguistic groups has fragmented feelings of national unity and spirit.
• In this climate, slogans like "Maharashtra for Marathis" and "Gujarat for Gujaratis" have intensified linguistic mistrust and framed economic and political goods in linguistic terms.

Ethnicity

• Ethnic identity can be understood in two ways: one based on a single attribute (like language or religion) and the other on multiple attributes (like culture, customs, and region).
• The most common way of forming ethnic identity is through multiple characteristics.
• Ethnic identities are often formed in relation to one another, and their relationships can be harmonious or conflictual.
• Competition among ethnic identities can lead to autonomy movements, demands for secession, or ethnic riots.
• Examples of ethnicity will be explored in detail in Unit 26 of Book 2.

Summary

• Identity has become a significant aspect of modern politics, where individuals are identified based on shared attributes like language, gender, religion, culture, or ethnicity. This process of mobilization is known as identity politics.
• Identity politics gained prominence in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States and Europe.
• In India, identity politics has played a crucial role, evident in the rise of dalit politics (e.g., BSP), backward class politics following the Mandal Commission Report, linguistic organization of states, the rise of the BJP, and various ethnic conflicts, insurgencies, and autonomy movements.