Caste division and Hindu-Muslim divide biggest impediments to India’s growth.
By Syed Iqbal Hasnain
SEATTLE: One of the major takeaways from the 2014 parliamentary elections was that Indians have moved beyond caste and communal politics, empowering Narendra Modi, who articulated a new aspirational vision of developed India. Modi’s victory came after two successive elections in which the Indian youth, middle class and village folks voted for Congress-led coalition, with the hope that it would create a better infrastructure, free market economy, manufacturing units and community colleges for skill development to generate employment for youth.
Initially, the United Progressive Alliance had shown some promise and appeared that it would take India to the next stage of development, which will bring prosperity, get more people out of poverty and place them in the middle class. Indians were absolutely disappointed with political paralysis that marked the second term of the UPA, which saw a power struggle between Congress party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
During 2014 elections campaign, the country saw a new development icon on the Indian political horizon in Modi, though so many allegations had been leveled against him. Through his eloquence, he mesmerized the youth in rural areas, the middle class in mofussil towns, cities and metros, and articulated a new agenda for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was not based on divisive issues. In the first few weeks of his government, Modi changed the political narrative and promised to take all Indians on the growth path through “Make in India” and “Digital India” initiatives.
However, Modi put his cronies in the party and Prime Minister’s Office to implement his narrowly defined developmental agenda. He tried to replicate his Gujarat –style governance model to the national level. This perhaps was a monumental mistake, as the prime minister had an opportunity to invent the new wheel, tap competent professionals and put them in charge of key ministries to kick-start manufacturing, education, science and technology, and infrastructure development.
Funding in basic science research had gone down substantially during UPA I & II period. It is a well-known fact that basic research leads to new knowledge as it provides scientific capital. Newer products and newer processes are painstakingly developed by research in the purest realms of science.
Modi had an opportunity to appoint professionals in important ministries like Human Resource Development, Science and Technology, Commerce, and Tourism. But, unfortunately, he chose very mediocre individuals to head all these ministries. Most of his ministers lack basic knowledge about the ministries they are heading. The bureaucracy within various central government ministries and bodies has its own modus operandi to trap the new Prime Minister and ministers through their time-tested operating system. Like his predecessors, Modi too fell in the snake pit of the Delhi bureaucracy.
The premier has been kept away from the media. Since assuming the post of prime minister has not addressed a single press conference or given an exclusive interview to any news organization. In a democracy, it is absolutely essential for an elected leader to have frequent interactions with media to know what is going on across the nation. He communicates through tweets on innocuous issues. However, he has never tweeted on important issues such as highways construction, funding on basic scientific research, the status of skill development courses for youth, saffronizing youth and killing of intellectuals. He has access to filtered information through his political cronies and some privileged bureaucrats.
A majority of secular and liberal Indians are convinced that the Muslim bashing is happening with the tacit approval of BJP president Amit Shah with the aim of reaping electoral success in the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh elections. Both states have substantial Muslim population and sharp caste divisions within the Hindu society.
These two and other populous north Indian states such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have huge backward caste and Muslim populations within the 15 to 28 age group that are uneducated or poorly educated. Poor teaching standards and large-scale absenteeism of teachers from schools compel students to drop out from schools.
Even those that manage to complete higher secondary and graduation acquire no skills which are required in the present day service-driven market economy. They voted for Modi based on his promise that soon good days would come for all and jobs would be created for all. They are vulnerable to religious exploitation and the BJP smartly used them after 2014 elections to form local youth organizations to push Hindutva agenda, which included campaign against the so-called “love Jihad” and beef eating.
The skill development initiative, which Modi has promised for youth, who have passed high school or higher secondary certificate, is gridlocked. The dysfunctional Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) to whom responsibility was given have failed to deliver skill-based courses required for today’s’ economy.
The Modi government has to do some out-of-the-box thinking and establish US-type community colleges on priority basis across UP and Bihar.
A vast number of youths in the north need courses to acquire skills, which will get them jobs, and prevent them from roaming on the streets, allowing to be sucked into communal and caste pits.
The US model community colleges offer both credit courses and noncredit courses. If a student intends to enroll in regular universities after completing two years in community colleges, he or she has the option of taking credit courses. Non-credit courses prepare an individual to get a job after acquiring particular types of skill sets required in today’s job market. Such colleges are an open system; students can enroll either full-time or part-time and complete the course. It provides enormous flexibility and help in acquiring required skill to an unskilled person. This is the only short and long-term way to channelize the energy of north Indian youths.
The Modi government should learn from the successes of the education model of south Indian states, where vice-chancellors have empowered the youth by providing them with skill based courses at affordable fees. As a consequence, there are no youth organizations campaigning against “love jihad” and beef eating in most southern states.
BJP vigilante groups in southern states are composed of elderly persons whereas in north India they mainly consist of youth in the age group 15 and 28.
The strong caste and communal fault lines of north Indian states were blurred during 2014 parliamentary elections and all joined together to vote Modi, the icon of development, to power. As a consequence, the Jat party of Ajit Singh, Dalit party of Mayawati, backward parties of Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav were all decimated.
The masses thought in their wisdom that Modi will provide them jobs and opportunities. After 18 months under Modi, nothing has changed literally for the youths and nothing promising is on the horizon. The BJP should not forget that, if Modi fails to deliver, the masses will go back to the fold of caste parties.
The caste division and Hindu-Muslim divide are the biggest impediments to India’s growth in the 21st century. All Indians despite their religious, caste and ethnic differences belong to one stock or genetic group and all have to work for digital India.
(The writer is a consultant on education and climate change, based in Seattle. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of University of Calicut, Kerala, and Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.)
1 Comment
There is always an barrier when whenever the demons of caste will make the efforts nil. We overcome come this as soon as possible.