Unite and fight to end social discrimination!

Recent months have been witness to students and youth in campuses and schools hotly debating the question of reservation of seats in higher educational institutes for students belonging to socially backward castes, as well as carrying out agitations on the streets. There have been numerous incidents of police brutalities on the agitating youth. The Congress party as well as other parties of the ruling class, have been inflaming passions on this question. All the old arguments for and against reservation have been dusted out and once again brought out in public to inflame passions. Some justify reservation of seats for students from socially oppressed castes as a vehicle to fight social oppression. Others argue that there will be reverse discrimination against the students from the so called higher castes, or that merit will suffer. In this situation of inflamed passions, there has been no serious dialogue organised amongst the youth on the reality of social discrimination on the basis of the Brahmanical caste system, what is keeping this alive and giving a new lease of life to it, and whether reservation addresses these issues at all or not.

It is in this context that a correspondent of the Mazdoor Ekta Lehar had the privilege of participating in a discussion which was perhaps unique in character. The youth organisation, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha had organized a discussion on "Reservation - In whose Interest?" Youth from Delhi University, JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia, school students and young workers from the working class colonies of Delhi, school and University teachers, as well as political activists actively participated in the discussion, frankly expressing their views. The Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha showed how enlightened discussion can be conducted, even while different views were expressed.

Making the keynote presentation on behalf of the HNES, the Pradhan Mantri of HNES made an important departure from the way this debate is being carried out all across the country on various campuses. He said that the students on both sides of the artificial divide are justified in their agitation. One must understand their anger, which is essentially against the present system, which does nothing to ensure social justice and opportunity for all. This is a very serious issue.

He emphasized that the struggle against Brahmancial caste oppression has been waged for centuries, and got a powerful boost through the Bhakti and Sufi movements. However, when the British colonisers began to establish their rule in India, they found in Brahmanism a reliable ally to crush the anti-colonial aspirations of the people. The British resurrected the dying brahmanical system and institutionalized it. To sabotage the struggle against colonial rule, they institutionalised a privilege distribution system whereby those who collaborated with their rule were rewarded privileges. The polity was split on the basis of caste and religion. After 1947, the bourgeoisie has continued and further perfected the tools inherited from the colonisers to preserve their rule. Caste-based reservation is one such tool, he explained. Our rulers have no intention of ending caste oppression and discrimination, as it serves them in keeping the toiling people of India backward and divided. He asserted that HNES stands for a society that guarantees rights of all to education, employment and security of livelihood, a society which is free from any kind of exploitation, oppression and discrimination. It is mobilizing youth to get organized, become the rulers and bring about the social transformation, to build such a society.

Speakers in the meeting took the discussion forward. One speaker pointed out that this system is inherently an exploitative capitalist system, and no one should have any illusion that within this system, without overthrowing the capitalist relations of production, either the problem of ending caste oppression or the problem of education and livelihood for all will become be resolved. Therefore, the pressing question facing all youth, in fact all the working and oppressed people who want to end caste based oppression and discrimination, is to unite and fight for transformation of this system. They must refuse to be divided by their enemies into pro and anti-reservation camps warring with each other.

A member of the Communist Ghadar Party of India made brief remarks congratulating the organisers for a very enlightened discussion. He said that social and caste discrimination is a reality in our society. He pointed out that there are both immediate and long term measures that the party has proposed on this score. Immediate measures include strictest punishment of those who discriminate or oppress people on the basis of caste. Similarly, the Party has demanded that the state should fulfill its duty of ensuring good quality education for all children, irrespective of their economic and social status, caste etc. At the same time, special efforts are required to assist children and youth of hitherto socially discriminated sections of our society to participate in public life as equal to all others. The fact that open caste oppression and discrimination are still a stark feature of India, from the so called institutes of higher learning to the villages, reveals that the state is actually interested in perpetuating caste based oppression. He called upon the youth to take up a united struggle for a new society free from all forms of exploitation and oppression, including caste oppression.

The lively discussion that followed saw interventions from dozens of youth and other activists. Issues such as reservation on the basis of economic criteria, reservation for students from far-flung and under-developed areas of our country, whether reservation in jobs is justified if equal educational opportunities for all boys and girls becomes a reality, etc. were raised and discussed. It concluded with all participants agreeing that students and youth must raise the banner of unitedly fighting to end caste based oppression and for education and job opportunities for all without any discrimination.