I thought the following event announcement for 4th of June, 2009, may be of interest to those residing in Delhi.
Dear Anand, First of all allow me to congratulate you for having moved from Chennai to Delhi. It would give you better exposure, us better chance to interact. I wish I were in Delhi on 4th of June. I would have surely come to the discussion. However, unfortunately, right now I am in New York, coming back on 10th of June. If you like, you can include the following input from me in the publication of the proceedings of the seminar if and when you do publish the same in the future. Do we want “caste annihilation” or “caste equalization”? Dr. Ambedkar may have said: “Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible… Virtue has become caste-ridden and morality has become caste-bound.” --B.R. Ambedkar, in Annihilation of Caste, 1936 However, the book itself has more to do with annihilation of Brahminical religion (Hinduism) than “Annihilation of caste” itself. In fact, the title happens to have been chosen by an organization called, “Jaati todo, samaaj jodo,” which had organized a seminar under the title of “annihilation of caste.” The book itself is nothing but the lecture that Ambedkar had written for presentation at the said seminar. It was mostly a critique of Hindu religion. My personal feeling is that what we really need is “equalization of caste rather than “annihilation of caste.” This is because if the lower castes were not identified with their caste identity, it will be difficult for them to partake their due share of power at the expense of extra power that the upper castes have accumulated during the time when upper castes have been overtly as well as covertly preferred caste for assignment of all kinds of power. If the lower castes do not have the caste ID, how can they claim any share of power? In the absence of group ID, all will be treated simply as individuals and in the race of individuals the upper castes would be assured of being way ahead. Any time its (caste’s) disclosure happens to be to the advantage of the upper castes, they can disclose it, otherwise, officially there will be no caste/class ID. We must understand that annihilation of a concept is not an easy thing to do, as it exists primarily in the mind. We cannot get into one’s mind and verify whether a concept is dead or not. What we can ensure is equalizing groups based on the concept. Even though originally the concept might have been invented for the sake of exploitation of some people under a given identity, we not only can, but need to, take help of the same IDs to ensure empowerment of various caste groups equitably. Once that (equalizing) is done, the ID itself may gradually wither away. Even if it does not wither away, at least it would not be being used for the purpose of exploitation. Caste ID is like union ID. Without unions, it is easy to exploit individuals, particularly if there are abundant of people of a particular skill or no skill and they have no work. On the other hand, when they are in groups, it is more difficult for them to exploit them. They will be able to go on strike and support each other during hard times. As I have already said, it may have been invented for the sake of exploitation, it can now be profitably used towards better purposes, including equalization of grpups. One can say that it (caste) can and is being used towards bad purposes too, like enabling higher castes in helping each other at the expense of those the lower castes. However, as long as we have democracy moderating the power of groups, the disadvantaged groups will have their democratic power giving them needed added boost towards equalization. What about the case when middle class people are in majority and they are discriminating against the lower class/caste? Even in that case caste categorization can be used to help them because the middle class should know that it is the existence of the lower paid lowest class/caste that pulls down their own wage structures too. If the lowest wage is pushed or pulled higher up, the wage structure of the middle class/caste too will go up. Thus no matter how we look at the issue of “caste,” what we really need is “equalization of caste” rather than “annihilation of caste.” Regards, Dr. Satinath Choudhary ====================== 4 June 2009: Public Discussion on "Internationalising Caste", New Delhi (fwd) Monday, 1 June, 2009 4:30 AM From: "Shiva Shankar" <[email protected]> To: undisclosed-recipients CACIM <http://www.cacim.net/> and Navayana <http://navayana.org/> invite you to a public discussion on INTERNATIONALISING CASTE - EVERYBODY'S ISSUE? OR NOBODY'S ISSUE? *June 4, Thursday, 2009 * 3.30 - 6.30 pm, India Social Institute <http://www.isidelhi.org.in/>, New Delhi Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion impossible… Virtue has become caste-ridden and morality has become caste-bound. --B.R. Ambedkar, in Annihilation of Caste, 1936 The efforts to internationalise the issue of caste-based discrimination against the 260 million Dalits in South Asia and treat it on a par with racial discrimination, which had received a boost in 2001 at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) held in Durban, suffered a serious setback at the Durban Review Conference held recently (April 20-24, 2009) in Geneva. While in 2001, WCAR had discussed caste euphemistically as 'discrimination based on work and descent', in line with terminology devised by the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference (DRC) has evaded even an allusion to caste. More than a month after the Geneva event, there's almost no public debate in India on the issue. Dalits have tried raising the issue of caste with various UN forums for over three decades now. The first effort at lobbying with the UN resulted in Dr Laxmi Berwa, an expatriate Dalit from the United States, presenting a testimony before the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on 31 August 1982. What is shocking has been the near-total absence of any debate in the Indian public sphere about the setback to the fight against caste at the international level. Why does caste continue to be an issue raised only by Dalits today? What is the role of civil societal groups in this? Why it is that society remains indifferent to atrocities on Dalits - even though every hour two Dalits are assaulted, every day three Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered and two Dalit houses burnt? Why have NGOs come to dominate the UN interventions on caste? Are social/ political/ activist movements being left behind? To debate and raise awareness on these issues and to broaden the scope of the global effort at fighting caste, we invite you to three sessions of debate and discussion: THE EXPERIENCE OF INTERNATIONALISING CASTE: Ashok Bharti (National Confederation of Dalit Organisations, NACDOR), Paul Divakar, National Council for Dalit Human Rights NCDHR; Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Law Network, HRLN) CASTE - THE MEDIA'S COMPLICITY AND SILENCE: Neelabh Mishra (Outlook Hindi) and Pamela Philipose (Senior Journalist) CASTE AND OTHER QUESTIONS: RACISM, COMMUNALISM, IMPERIALISM: Praful Bidwai (Senior Journalist), Annie Namala (Director, Centre for Programming Inclusion and Equity), Surinder Jodhka (Director, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies) Moderator: S. Anand, Navayana Each panel will be for about 40 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. After the concluding panel, it will be an Open House. Tea will be served at 3.30 p.m. For further details contact Madhuresh at Cacim 9818905316 (www.cacim.net) or Anand at Navayana 9971433117 (www.navayana.org). Click here for ISI location: http://www.isidelhi.org.in/contactus.php#location A READY-RECKONER OF ONLINE REFERENCES AND RESOURCES: 1.The official Durban Review Conference website[http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/]. 2.Human Rights Watch on how and why DRC failed on caste. The site also offers extensive background and position papers. [http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/] 3.International Dalit Solidarity Network website. Offers joint statement by IDSN, HRW and NCDHR; plus a press kit. [http://www.idsn.org/news-resources/idsn-news/read/article/durban-review-conference-break-the-un-silence-on-caste-discrimination/128/] 4.Caste and the World, S. Anand, The Hindu, May 24, 2009. [http://www.hindu.com/mag/2009/05/24/stories/2009052450180500.htm] 5.Caste: Racism in all but name? Shobhan Saxena's Times of India report on DRC, 26 Apr 2009. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Deep-Focus/Caste-Racism-in-all-but-name/articleshow/4449716.cms] 6.Caste Out, Yet Again, EPW editorial on Durban Review Conference; May16 2009. [http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/13508.pdf} 7.Seminar, the monthly journal, devoted an entire issue (Dec 2001) to the Durban WCAR conference of 2001. Features articles by Martin Macwan, Kancha Ilaiah, Gopal Guru, Dipankar Gupta, Soli Sorabjee and others. [ http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/508.htm] 8.Race and Caste, Andre Beteille, The Hindu, March 10, 2001. A controversial article that triggered a huge debate. [http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/03/10/stories/05102523.htm] 9.Race and caste: A Response to Andre Beteille by Kalpana Kannabiran, August 2001 [http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/beteille.htm]. Also see this letter to The Hindu. [http://www.hindu.com/2001/03/14/stories/05141306.htm] 10.India's Apartheid, Rajeev Dhavan, The Hindu, August 24, 2001 [http://www.hindu.com/2001/03/14/stories/05141306.htm] 11.Is Durban the answer? Vir Singh, The Hindu, September 02, 2001 [http://www.hindu.com/2001/09/02/stories/1302054a.htm] 12.Caste, race and sociologists - I, Gail Omvedt, The Hindu, October 18, 2001 [http://www.hindu.com/2001/10/18/stories/05182524.htm] 13.Caste, race and sociologists - II, Gail Omvedt, The Hindu, October 19, 2001 [http://www.hindu.com/2001/10/19/stories/05192524.htm] 14.Caste, Race and the Indian Anthropologists, Amarjit Singh, ambedkar.org [http://www.ambedkar.org/WCAR/CasteRace.htm] 15.The Durban dip can cleanse a billion sins, ChandraBhan Prasad, Aug 2001. [http://www.ambedkar.org/chandrabhan/TheDurban.htm] 16.En Route to Durban: Thoughts on Caste and Race, Vijay Parshad, n.d. [http://illvox.org/2007/06/en-route-to-durban-thoughts-on-caste-and-race/] 17.CPI(M) official position statement on WCAR, Durban; 3 August 2001 [http://cpim.org/statement/2001/2001_Aug_03_durban_conference.htm] 18.Caste and the U.N. meet, Kancha Ilaiah, The Hindu, August 21, 2001 [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/21/stories/05212523.htm] 19.Caste and Race, Naunidhi Kaur, Frontline, 6 July 2001 [http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1813/18130950.htm] 20.PUCL's special focus on the 2001 Durban countdown debates. [http://www.pucl.org/reports/National/2001/debate.htm] WWW.NAVAYANA.ORG <http://www.navayana.org/> -- www.navayana.org Navayana 120, Ground Floor Shahpur Jat New Delhi 110017 Landline: +91-11-26494795 Mobile: +91-9971433117 Visit us at U450 at London Book Fair, 20-22 April 2009
