Caste Matters

by Suraj Yengde

While liberal politics offers a critique to the right-wing majoritarian view and counters the hatred spewed by the casteist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it does not address the urgent needs of struggling people. The right wing benefits due to this blatant oversight and the scant attention paid to economic problems by liberals. Thus, most of the country’s contemporary issues can be traced to the failure of liberal parties, and the liberal elite have become the primary target of anger, having invited the wrath of working people. Communal hatred is conveniently whipped up by the right wing, and those supporting liberal values are downplayed as those who support oppression. The downgraded and repressed populace gets easy traction with the right-wing promises that appeal to their immediate needs. The hatred towards the elite due to dynastic or nepotistic arrangements in politics or the workplace where the common man seldom has access is manipulated by the right wing to recruit the disgruntled masses. Liberals have failed to provide a model to the subaltern groups that will offer safety and security to their future. As these groups see no other option before them, the conservatives are able to feed off their reactionary mood.