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Session 2 - Universalising Caste: Spatio-temporal variations
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Vibha B Madhava
4:33
4:34
Dr Lakshmanan: "The only ideal that can save us from the "Hindu rashtra" is Babasaheb Ambedkar."
4:36
Citing the sudden rise of atrocities against Dalits in Tamil Nadu, in 2012, he said that academicians got together to gain further understanding on the issue. The result of which is the Tamil manifesto - 'Caste Today'.
4:37
He recommends the writings of Ashwini Deshpande and SK Thorat to understand the complexities of caste which are rendered invisible on a day-to-day basis.
4:40
4:42
He refers to Ambedkar's ideas of origin of caste and talks about the aspects of endogamy and law of imitation in caste.
In terms of eradicating caste, he mentions the importance of a modern and democratic society. However, he adds that modernity has been misunderstood as colonial modernity.
4:43
Do you think the EWS quota is created on a lawful basis?
Yes (0% | 0 votes)
 
No (100% | 2 votes)
 
Total Votes: 2
4:44
Dr Lakshmanan: "In contemporary times, nobody shies away from caste. It is a matter of pride. The idea of the annihilation of caste has been ignored."
4:46
He delves into the complexities of reservations and the respective demands of the minority communities in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has a 20 per cent reservation for Most Backward Classes (MBCs).
4:47
"Caste today has taken a new shape completely while 'Annihilation of Caste' has been neglected or forgotten." He further emphasizes that the State is an instrument of social and democratic transformation.
4:48
He talks about the plans of the government to start a caste-based Census now, after 75 years of Indian independence. "This will legitimise caste politically like the Indian Census already did," he says.
4:49
Dr Lakshmanan concludes with an interesting proposition - "Annihilation of caste is possible only if we look at the population as categories without caste."
4:52
The floor now opens for questions to Dr Lakshmanan and Dr Khalid Anis Ansari (speaker of Session 1).
4:55
"Reservation becomes the ultimate panacea, but it is viewed through a charity perspective. The State is supposed to adhere to rule of law and not the rule of culture," Dr Lakshmanan says, addressing the audience's question on eliminating region-based discrimination.
4:57
Dr Ansari, who spoke about 'Caste in Islam' in Session 1, answers a question about the possibility of Muslims electoral politics relying on caste. "There have been instances when Pasmanda Muslims have voted in divergence to mainstream Muslim votes," he adds.
4:59
"Like the UK got an Indian-origin prime minister, when will India see a prime minister from the Dalit community?" - an audience member poses a question to Dr Lakshmanan.
5:00
In response, he says that a tribal woman as India's president is symbolic and "depolitises the marginalised tribal community." Diversity must be accepted from the grassroots level, he adds.
5:04
Dr Lakshmanan: "Hindutva encourages the celebration and pride of caste. We must concretely address the problem, otherwise, 2024 elections could be the climax for Indian democracy."
5:13
Elaborating on ascriptive hierarchies and enumeration, Dr Lakshmanan says: "We've never made an attempt to enumerate people beyond caste. Furthermore, left-wing politics is completely ignorant of negating caste. But it is being essentialised again and again in India."
5:25
Anjana Krishnan, faculty member at ACJ, deliver the vote of thanks.
5:26
That brings us to the end of the panel discussion. Thank you for joining us.
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