Why does caste play such a prominent role in Indian politics?

Résumé du document

India is widely seen as one of the most promising emerging power in the world with China. The country is the largest democracy in the world; it has benefited from a strong economic growth over the last decade and counts more than a billion inhabitants. However India will have to face several political and social issues in the near future to fulfill all its great promises on the international scene. One of them refers to the idea of caste and its role played within the Indian society. Caste-based groups have gained an increasing influence in Indian politics since the independence of the former British Raj in 1947. Some may consider the collapse of the Old-Congress party in the late 1960s and the emergence of a competition between political parties for caste-based vote founded on populism as a key factor for such a trend.

Furthermore, the reservation policy for Scheduled castes and Tribes (SCs and STs) written down in the 1950's Constitution has made caste a central debate in the political arena, especially in relation to the claims for broadening this reservation policy to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Such wishes were finally granted by the 1979 Mandal commission report but would never be applied before the early 1990s, though briefly. Nonetheless, one may be interested in having a look first at what the idea of "caste" in Indian society does mean and highlighting the colonial roots of this new phenomenon in politics

Extraits

[...] Hence, the reason why caste plays such a prominent role in India politics seems to be linked to the correlation between the colonial background of the country, which gave caste associations a new status; and the evolution of post independence Indian politics, deeply rooted in the paradoxes of its own constitution. Bibliography: Books: Baily, S (1999) Caste, Society and Politics in India from the eighteenth century to the modern age; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Galanter, M (1989) Law and Society in Modern India; Oxford University Press, New Dehli Jalal, A (1995) Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: A Comparative and Historical Perspective; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Kohli, A (2001) The success of India's Democracy; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge General Articles: Alam, J. [...]

[...] In reality, the British Raj gave a new impetus to the caste system, whose degrees of social importance varied according to the different regions; by implementing measure of all-India political significance” (Jalal: 1995; 205) for caste groups. This “chosen categorization of Indian society” (Jalal: 1999; 205) led to a sudden increase in caste claims for a higher social status and political recognition. For instance, an increasing array of people started switching to “more high sounding names” so as to claim for “Brahmin or Kshatriya status” (Jalal: 1995; 205). [...]

[...] At the same time one may underline the role played by the nature of the Indian constitution in the relations between caste and politics in India. Indeed the 1950's constitution is seen as highly paradoxical in the sense that on the one hand it does promote Nehru's principles of secularism and equality, and on the other it makes reference to the existence of the unequal caste system by distinguish Scheduled Castes (SCs) and tribes (STs) from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) through the reservation policy. [...]

[...] (1967) “Caste and Politics”, Economic and Political Weekly 797-799. Rudolph, L.I and S.H. (1960) Political Role of India's Caste Associations”, Pacific Affairs 5-22. Shah, P.J. (1966) “Caste and Political Process” , Asian Survey 516-522. [...]

[...] The emergence of such agrarian” movement led both the anti-Congress parties and Gandhi's Congress to race for “mounting emotive populist appeals to the Indian masses” (Baily: 1999; 284) so as to win caste vote in the electoral arena. Such use of populism highlighted the importance of caste classification for people thought of as deprived or wronged, namely the Other Backward Castes (OBCs). For a better understanding of the OBCs' issue in Indian politics; a case study of the work and consequences of the Mandal commission's report would be helpful. In 1979, this commission was appointed in order to address whether reservations could be granted to the OBCs. [...]