More inclusive than most, the RSS has always been supportive of reservation and there has been no incoherence in its thinking on the issue
The RSS has always been supportive of reservation and there has been no incoherence in its thinking on the issue There’s always an anxious attempt by a section of the media and the intelligentsia to manipulate the outlook of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on reservation. In my long-standing association with its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), I have witnessed no incoherence in the thinking of the RSS on reservation policies. On the contrary, time and again, there have been assertions in favor of policies that give preferential treatment to marginalised sections in state-sponsored education and government jobs, among other things. In one of his Independence Day speeches from the ramparts of the Red Fort, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the quota system is a form of historical compensation and shall continue until its purpose is served.
The RSS and its affiliated organisations have consistently worked for inclusion through representation of marginalised sections at meaningful places. Be it university policy-making or national politics, the RSS has established a semblance of social diversity at top positions through the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP and a plethora of other organisations. It must be noted that both have the rare distinction of being the world’s largest organisations.
While, the ABVP remains one of the oldest student-led organisations and largest in terms of membership and footprint, globally, the BJP, with more than 11 crore members that are increasing daily, will remain the world’s largest political party for the foreseeable future. It is impossible to achieve this feat right from universities to the Parliament with a myopic social vision. Hence, there is a robust modus operandi at an institutional level that ensures equitable representation of diverse social groups.
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, another affiliate organisation of the RSS has made deep inroads in tribal areas and has successfully created sustainable educational opportunities for tribal children. This is a silent revolution being heralded not in Delhi’s posh Khan Market area but right from the jungles of Gumla and Simdega in Jharkhand to Malkangiri in Odisha.
There’s much brouhaha over the appointment of D Raja as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI). The commentariat is determined to present this as a watershed moment in the history of Dalit representation in national politics. It might be a remarkable event in the history of the leadership of the CPI as majority of the general secretaries of the party have been Brahmins, as was rightly observed by a senior journalist Kurban Ali in an opinion piece published in the Prabhat Khabar.
In contrast, the late Bangaru Laxman holds the unique distinction of being the first Dalit to lead a national political party and the BJP is extremely proud of this significant fact as it took the party just 20 years to do what the so-called liberal and socially progressive CPI took more than nine decades to achieve. Much before the anointment of Meira Kumar, the late GMC Balayogi was the first Dalit to hold the esteemed Chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker in the BJP-led NDA government.
The social justice movement is at the crossroads today. The BJP is motivated by genuine impulse not illusion of inclusion that was created by the previous dispensations. It was the Narendra Modi-led Government at the Centre that gave a constitutional sanction to the National Commission for Backward Classes through the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill. Our purpose is firmed in symbiosis and not symbolism. From Stand Up India to the Mudra Yojana, there is an everlasting commitment to make Dalits, OBC’s and tribal communities partners and stakeholders in India’s growth story.
Reservation, envisioned as a way to uplift people on the fringes has undoubtedly served its purpose. Dalits, socially marginalised groups and tribal communities now are satisfactorily represented and empowered to voice the concerns of their community. However, a lot remains to be done. There is still a glaring lack of social diversity in the judicial process, mass-media, civil society and industry.
I speak as a Dalit rights activist that no one family should be entitled to corner the benefits of reservation and accumulate wealth and political clout. At the provincial level, there have been policy experiments of bifurcating and trifurcating marginalised sections right from Andhra Pradesh to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh recently. The fruits of reservation must reach those at the bottom of the social pyramid. Conversations on reservation have already started within the community and no action on reservation will be initiated unilaterally by the Centre without consultations with stakeholders.
(The writer is a former Central Minister, Member of Legislative Council, Bihar and Professor at Patna University.)
