VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
The ancestors of Captain
Amarinder Singh may have ruled over half of Punjab as
rulers of Patiala princely State
and he himself ruled entire Punjab as a democratically
elected Chief Minister but now he practically wants reservation for himself and
those belonging to his caste.
The demand would come as a
surprise for many. But yes, the former Chief Minister from Patiala
royalty wants reservation for the Jat Sikhs of Punjab in the Other Backward
Caste (OBC) category. Capt Amarinder wears two hats. He is a Permanent Invitee
to the Congress Working Committee but that is not important. What is important
is that he took over as the President of the All India Jat Mahasabha when he
was unemployed politically and removed as Punjab Congress chief. Being a leader
of the caste group, he was the first to argue that Jat Sikhs need reservations
in Punjab as it was being extended to Hindu Jats in
neighbouring Haryana and Rajasthan.
The story of another Jat Sikh,
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is the same. He has been the Chief
Minister for five terms, is widely respected for his statesmanship and earthly
wisdom and his son presides over a huge business empire apart from being the
Deputy Chief Minister. He too advocates OBC status for the Jat Sikhs in Punjab ,
undoubtedly the dominant caste socially, economically and in terms of land
holding. I do not know how many Jat Sikhs in Punjab
would feel elated if they are categorised as “Backward” in the nomenclature and
start getting reservations in jobs and educational institutions. But I am sure
a lot of them would resent such a move as they have done well in all fields of
life without the crutches of any reservation all these years not only in India
but all parts of the world.
The situation is no different in
neighbouring Haryana — ruled by another Jat, Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Cutting
across party lines, the community has been demanding OBC status though not
seriously. Most of them join agitation when the farming season is off and they
have to while away their time waiting as they are for the standing crops in
their field to mature. Hooda has been paying lip service to the demand of the
community knowing that reservation or not, OBC status or not, the community
will remain socially and economically dominant caste of the State for decades
and centuries to come.
When I was in the university, I
read the concept of dominant caste given by noted sociologist MN Srinivas which
is perhaps relevant for all times to come for the rural areas of the country.
It holds that a caste is dominant in an area due to its economic strength,
political power, ritual purity and numerical strength. The dominant caste
wields economic and political power over the other caste groups and enjoys a
high ritual status in the local caste hierarchy. The dominant caste may not be
ritually high but enjoy high status because of wealth, political power and
numerical strength. The presence of educated persons and high occupation rate
also play an important role in deciding its dominance over other caste groupings.
By all counts, Jat Sikhs in Punjab and Jats in Haryana
are clearly dominant caste and even if a ritually higher caste lives in the
area dominated by them, they are socially and economically backward.
So what prompted the tottering
UPA-led Central Government to take a call on Jat reservation at the end if
2013? You guessed it right — votebank politics and general election in a few
weeks. After getting a severe drubbing in four States which went for Assembly
polls, what else could a beleaguered Congress do? Two of the States which saw
one of the worst Congress defeats in years — Delhi
and Rajasthan — have a sizeable Jat population as well, prompting the decision.
When votes are difficult to get
and a defeat is looming large, why not try the reservation formula which has
been milked to the hilt in the last — almost — quarter of a century since
Mandal Commission was implemented by the VP Singh Government. But does the UPA
realise that the reservation issue has been milked for so long, it yields no
electoral dividends and the law of diminishing return applies to it. Union
Minister Manish Tewari says this should not be seen from the prism of
elections. But then will he ever accept if any policy, any decision of the
Government is dictated by elections?
The Union Cabinet recommended to
the National Backward Class Commission (NBCC) that they take a call at the
earliest on demands from 9 States that have sought OBC reservation.
Interestingly, the same NBCC had earlier rejected the call for giving OBC
status to the Jats saying it did not find any merit in the argument. Some
political Machiavelli obviously told the Congress leadership which in turn told
the Prime Minister that the farming community of Jats has a strong presence in
several north Indian States and they would vote for the party if given OBC
status on the eve of elections. As NBCC had earlier rejected the demand, the
Cabinet promptly approved a new methodology to collect statistics about Jats,
which will be used to convince the Commission that the community be given
reservation as they are indeed backward.
But referring the decision to the
NBCC is not the last one has heard of the contentious issue even though OBC
status in Government jobs and educational institutions is a matter of time for
the Jats. The agitation against Mandal Commission recommendation was prolonged
and apolitical. But when the Union Cabinet takes a political decision, it is
bound to reap the bitter harvest too as resentment is brewing, particularly in Punjab .
Capt Amarinder Singh has written
to the PM saying that it should be extended to Punjab
and religion should not be the criteria for denying Jat Sikhs OBC benefits.
Describing Centre’s move in nine States as “unfair and discriminatory,” the
Captain wants the PM to extend it to Punjab and three
other States. He is yet to hear from the Prime Minister, who hails from the
same State even though his letter is harsh. “This is arbitrary and will be
viewed as a partisan attitude,” he said. His Congress counterparts in the State
are talking in different voices but are saying that rich Jats in Punjab
like the Badal family do not need reservation and it should be on the basis of
economic criteria.
The radical elements amongst the
Sikhs have jumped the political bandwagon opposing reservation on the basis of
caste saying this would perpetuate the caste system which is against Sikh
tenets. Asserting that Sikh society is casteless, they say reservation should
be based upon economic criteria rather than caste.
If this issue could be milked in Punjab ,
then what on earth can prevent it being exploited for political ends in Jammu
& Kashmir? Former Union Minister and president J&K Pradesh Congress
Committee (JKPCC) Saifuddin Soz sought inclusion of Jats of the State within
the OBC category. Capt Amarinder has already made it clear that religion should
not be the criteria asking for OBC status for both Jat Sikhs and Jat Muslims.
But the larger question is that
when the size of the cake is not increasing, bringing more castes in the ambit
of reservation is only making the slices of the cake smaller. Government jobs
are shrinking and even educational opportunity in Government sector is not
growing as compared to the private sector. So whom and why are you pleasing
someone by bringing one caste or the other in the OBC category. Why don’t you
tell those demanding OBC category that benefit, if any, is only notional and
this would not translate into upliftment of the community even by a degree. But
then, Congress only followed what VP Singh did over two decades ago — surrender
to symbolism, populism and the diktats of votebank politics rather than the
grassroot sociological reality. (December 30, 2013)
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