CASTE OUT
by Bhavna Vij-Aurora
IT ’ S a definitional issue that goes to the core of the BJP ’ s existence . The tension between being seen as a ‘ Savarna party ’, while trying to fulfil an ideological plank built around castelessness , has been a formative one for it . It has mostly navigated these perilous waters with some decent management skills — mixing intelligent cooption with lofty slogans . But ever so often , the state of play can go out of hand .
That a Dalit BJP MP from Robertsganj , Uttar Pradesh , could accuse CM Yogi Adityanath of “ rudeness ” and PM Narendra Modi had to promise “ action ” in response to the written complaint would have been inconceivable even a fortnight ago . It shows the degree of nervousness in the BJP after the simmering Dalit anger boiled over during the April 2 protest .
Party strategists are back at their drawing board . Poll-eve calculators are out . Ambedkar Jayanti , April 14 , now looms as a day for trying to invert the optics : ‘ Modicare ’ will be launched on its eve by the PM in Chhattisgarh . Yet , doubts persist on how exactly to figure out the caste dyn amic and control it ? Even the whisper of a Dalit out-migration could spoil an already iffy harvest in Karnataka . Was the BJP ’ s Dalit outreach not adequate ? Could the alienation resulting in periodic Dalit threats to convert to Islam — the latest one came this week from restive north Rajasthan — be laid at the BJP ’ s door ?
These doubts coexist with a contrarian pull — the view that the BJP may actually have gone overboard in “ Dalit appeasement ” and may , in the process , end up ali enating its traditional Savarna votebank . It ’ s precisely this dilemma that del ayed the decision to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its March 20 order insulating government servants from automatic arrest under the SC / ST ( Prevention of Atrocities ) Act .
It ’ s clear that the apex court ’ s ruling represented a big moment of institutional curve . Officials cannot be arrested without proper sanction , it said , and laid down other safeguards , including anticipatory bail and preliminary inquiry before registering a case . Whether one cites legal principles or the history of social relations to interpret it , it was the procrastination of the Union government ( and , by extension , the BJP ) that was interesting .
Even as it debated and dithered , Dalit
organisations called for a Bharat Bandh , and only post facto did Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad take to Twitter — on April 1 , 12 days after the SC order — with assurances of a review petition . ( The SC has rejected the government ’ s plea for a stay ; now law officers , including Attorney General K . K . Venugopal , are working overtime to file the written submission that the court will take up on April 12 .)
Whatever the final outcome , the BJP has managed to paint itself into a corner . Even ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan admits the government was tardy . “ It ’ s not that the government is not working for the Dalits , but the work is somehow not reaching them ,” he tells Outlook . Reiterating that the SC / ST Act has been diluted and hence the Dalit anger , Paswan says , “ But it should not cause any division in society .”
The Lok Janshakti Party president then goes on to list the work done by
A VERY BL
It ’ s a tight knot for the BJP : How to avoid being singed by
the NDA government for Dalits — the SC / ST Act was actually made more stringent in 2015 , with more acts made culpable . Ambedkar has been regularly honoured . A Dalit is now the President of India . Despite all this , the BJP ’ s inner dichotomy came into play at a crucial time . While the government was still procrastinating , perhaps watching the wind , Paswan went ahead and filed a review plea in his personal cap acity . It was not before he and other Dalit leaders , including minister for social justice and empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot , had appealed to BJP president Amit Shah to file a review petition .
The party took its time and reacted only when the situation seemed to be getting out of hand . “ The petition has been filed , but it will be almost impossible for the BJP to balance Dalit outrage with the political exigency of keeping its core votebase happy ,” a senior BJP leader says ,
24 OUTLOOK 16 April 2018