Caste order is vicious Chandrabhan Prasad http://dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=prasad%2Fprasad194%2Etxt&writer=prasad
But for Tatas Corus deal, the Shilpa Shetty's triumph would have continued to be shown on news channels. Within hours of the breaking new that Shilpa had won the *Celebrity Big Brother* show, middle class Indian virtually danced on the streets. The vivacious Shilpa Shetty deserved the win. But the war cry over racism disappeared into thin air. Consider the pre-January 29, the way Jade Goody episode was treated. Many a hurt Members of Parliament, diplomats, the Opposition, fashion designers, columnists, thinkers, architects, peace activists, NGO operatives all cried foul over the racist Britons. Post-Shilpa win, did anyone explain as who voted Shilpa to victory? Arguably, most Indians/South Asians/ non-Whites may have voted in favour of Shilpa. If England was a race-split/race prejudiced society, would the non-Whites votes been enough to make Shilpa victorious? For records sake the total population of Britain comprises of 92.1 per cent Whites, 2 per cent Blacks, 1.8 per cent Indians, 1.3 per cent Pakistanis, 1.3 per cent mixed, and 1.6 per cent others. Here are a few questions to the race conscious middle class India: If England were a racist society - with over 92 percent Whites, who evicted Jade Goody from the *Celebrity Big Brother* show after her alleged racial slur - a whopping 82 per cent voters ousted Jade. If England were a racist society - with over 92 per cent Whites, from where did Shilpa garner 63 per cent of the total votes polled? If England was racist, how could Jermaine Jackson, a Black, garner 37 per cent of all the votes? Let us pose yet another question. Did any Indian vote for Jermaine Jackson, keeping in mind that he was the only contestant seen comforting Shilpa when racist slurs were being made? Jermaine Jackson, a singer himself is world famous Michael Jackson's brother. More popular in England than Shilpa before the race row. To put the issue in perspective, let us consider Indians' caste question and Untouchability, the huge mass of Dalits suffer from. India too has the Big Brother inspired TV show known as *Bigg Boss*. What if caste discrimination situation emerges in the *Bigg Boss* show, where a Dalit contestant accuses a non-Dalit of practicing caste discrimination, and the issue comes in the public domain? Assuming that the issue of Caste discrimination was real and middle class India watched, will the Dalit contestant have a chance to emerge victorious? We must keep in mind that even after giving the new India a Constitution, Dr Ambedkar was defeated twice in Parliament elections. Even though the late KR Narayanan *saheb* had served as India's Ambassador to China and US, he upon entering politics had to contest from reserved seat. How many Dalits for instance figure in Padam Vibhushan/Padmashree awards each year? Keeping the fact in mind that it was 92.1 per cent White Britons who voted Shilpa to glory, Indians should learn from the Britons as how to deal with their own caste question. The *Celebrity Big Brother* show is nothing but the larger mirror of the White British society. Indians' problem is history fed. They defined Shilpa-Jade spate as a case of racism-white woman charging on a brown. Indians perceive East India Company as raider, and not a trader. Shackled by history, Indians keep perceiving British as conqueror, and not a liberator. As a matter of fact, British colonialism was history's greatest humanitarian aid to India-British imperialism not only gave *Hindustan* a dignified name India, they also created India as a nation-state. Isn't it true that the British sowed seeds of civility in India? As the cradle of modernity and knowledge, fountainhead of science and civility, Indians must learn to develop a sense of respect for the Whites. The way they embraced Shilpa, and Jermaine Jackson, Indians too should embrace Dalits and start dismantling the caste order. India's caste order is more vicious, and repressive than racism can ever be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power. It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality." - Dr BR Ambedkar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ greenyouth mailinglist is the activist support mailinglist for kerala run by Global Alternate Information Applications (GAIA) To post to this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
