You have published a number of articles and reports on the question of reservation. The question has acquired paramount importance in the context of the decision of the previous government to implement one of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission and all visible signs of a countrywide polarization on this issue are there. The attitude of the BJP and the Congress (I) does not cause any surprise; these two parties, traditionally dominated by upper casteists, naturally find it difficult to stomach a situation in which the upper caste monopoly of the corridors of power is broken. The position of the CPI(M), however, – is peculiar. It’s amusing mis-representation of the Karpoor Thakur formula (as pointed out by DN, EPW, November 10) notwithstanding, it supported reservation for the BCs in the Lok Sabha, while refusing to implement it for West Bengal, declaring that there are no BCs in this Marxist ruled state. And Jyoti Basu goes on repeating ad nauseum that there are many ‘rich’ persons among the backward classes just as there are many ‘poor’ ones among the upper castes, as though all contradictions in society reduce to an easy rich-poor formula.
It is this upper caste Marxism which continues to rule West Bengal. It becomes abundantly clear if one cares to look, even casually, at the composition of the CPI(M) leadership in this state. The core of the leadership is constituted by the upper castes: Jyoti Basu, Binoy Choudhury, Sailen Dasgupta, Biman Basu, Biplab Dasgupta and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. The fact that there is none from the BCs and subalterns does not cause any shame to any CPI(M) ideologue and these idealogues are working overtime to appease their caste brethren. This precisely is the secret of the Left Front government’s refusal to co-operate with the Mandal Commission and its insistence on poverty- based reservation. It is not known whether any movement for equal dignity and honor (for example, the movement led by Nelson Mandela and his colleagues) has emphasized and applied this criterion. The success of the CPI(M) in West Bengal is two- fold: first of all, it has given shape to a ‘bhadralok’ variety of Marxism which liberally accommodates all upper caste practices; secondly, it has managed to convince the lower echelons of society that the concessions and relief they have received are due to the mercy of the ‘bhadralok’ babus. Thus, the BCs do not as yet consider themselves equal to their upper caste bosses and this explains the relative absence of a movement in this Marxist-ruled state for the implementation of the Mandal Commission. It is a measure of the penetration of the Brahminical ideology in Bengali society. – (Economic & Political weekly, Feb.2)
