LETTER

Ever since the first issue in 1966,

EPW has been India’s premier journal for Gyaneshwari Express that the targeting of the passenger train
comment on current affairs
and research in social sciences. Sabotage – I was a “mistake” (Indian Express, 31 May).
It succeeded Economic Weekly (1949-1965), But they cannot be regarded as official
which was launched and shepherded
by Sachin Chaudhuri,
who was also the founder-editor of EPW.
As editor for thirty-five years (1969-2004)
T he derailment of the Gyaneshwari
Express on 28 May, either due to sabo-
tage or explosion as per media reports, in
spokespersons of the party. A few news-
papers have quoted some anonymous
Maoists saying that they were not respon-
Krishna Raj
gave EPW the reputation it now enjoys. which, as reported, more than 150 people sible. But why are the party leaders (e g,
editor have already lost their lives, is highly rep- the ever-eloquent Kishenji and the media-
C Rammanohar Reddy rehensible and completely indefensible. savvy Azad) silent?
Deputy Editor The People’s Union for Democratic Rights In the absence of any clear-cut state-
Bernard D’Mello
(PUDR) strongly condemns whichever ment from the CPI(Maoist), the needle of
web Editor
subhash rai organisation is responsible for the carnage suspicion will continue to be pointed at
Senior Assistant Editors as we believe that no political cause or that party. The suspicion gains ground in
Lina Mathias motive can justify an act of this nature. view of the past record of the Maoists –
aniket Alam
Bharati Bhargava As is evident from the contradictory their attack on the Kakatiya Express (ad-
Assistant Editors statements coming from ministers and mitted after all these years as a “blot” on
Srinivasan ramani government functionaries, the facts of the the party by Azad) and the Delhi-Howrah
ashima sood
case are still far from clear. PUDR demands Rajdhani Express some years ago, and
Editorial Staff
Prabha Pillai that a high level and impartial inquiry be several recent incidents of their obstruc-
jyoti shetty instituted into the incident so that the tion of trains in the Jhargram sector.
Editorial Assistants truth can be uncovered, responsibility If they are really innocent, leaders of
P S Leela
Tanya Sethi fixed beyond all possible doubt and the the CPI(Maoist) should come out with an
Editorial Consultant guilty brought to book. Till such time this official statement (which they can circu-
Gautam Navlakha happens PUDR appeals to all sections of so- late through the internet, or telephone –
production ciety to refrain from making or fuelling as they have been doing in the past) con-
u raghunathan
s lesline corera unfounded allegations which can only end demning the incident, denying their role
suneethi nair in futile mud-slinging matches or in witch- in it and demanding an independent
Circulation hunts. Such rumour-mongering and false investigation into it by a team headed by
Gauraang Pradhan Manager
B S Sharma conclusions on the part of governments, a retired judge and consisting of human
Advertisement Manager political parties and the administration rights activists, ex-bureaucrats (e g, Harsh
Kamal G Fanibanda (aided by sections of the media) not only Mander/Debabrata Bandyopadhyay), ex-
General Manager & Publisher denies justice to those affected by the senior police officers (e g, K S Subramanian)
K Vijayakumar
tragedy, but also fails to address issues of and other eminent social activists.
editorial
edit@epw.in safety and welfare of citizens for the future. If on the other hand, the party cadres
Circulation
Asish Gupta, Moushumi Basu are responsible for it, the CPI(Maoist)
circulation@epw.in
PUDR leaders should come out openly and ac-
Advertising
advt@epw.in knowledge it, explain the reasons and in-
Economic and Political Weekly Gyaneshwari Express form the people of the steps taken against
320-321, A to Z Industrial Estate Sabotage – II those (both leaders and cadres) who plotted
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel
Mumbai 400 013 it. This is the least that one can expect
Phone: (022) 4063 8282
FAX: (022) 2493 4515
E ven a week after the destruction of the
Gyaneshwari Express on 28 May, none
among the important CPI(Maoist) leaders
from a party that swears by Marxism
and Maoism, and claims to represent the
interests of the Indian poor (who comprise
EPW Research Foundation
EPW Research Foundation, established in 1993, conducts and spokespersons – Ganpathi, Kishenji, the majority of the victims of the disaster).
research on financial and macro-economic issues in India.
Ramanna, Azad, among others – has as Sumanta Banerjee
Director
k kanagasabapathy yet officially come out with a public state- Dehradun
C 212, Akurli Industrial Estate ment denying their role (or owning up).
Kandivali (East), Mumbai 400 101
Phones: (022) 2887 3038/41 Asit Mahato, the leader of the People’s Atrocities on Dalits
Fax: (022) 2887 3038 Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA)
epwrf@vsnl.com
Printed by K Vijayakumar at Modern Arts and Industries,
151, A-Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai-400 013 and
(which claims to be independent of the
Maoist party) has issued a statement dis-
sociating his organisation from the incident.
T he question of atrocities on dalits –
who constitute around a sixth of the
nation’s population – and the consequent
published by him on behalf of Sameeksha Trust
from 320-321, A-Z Industrial Estate, Yet, another member of the same organi- denial of justice in a majority of cases is
Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai-400 013. sation – Bapi Mahato – has admitted that it an unfortunate reality of our country.
Editor: C Rammanohar Reddy.
was responsible for the attack, and confessed The hiatus which exists between
4 june 5, 2010 vol xlv no 23 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

constitutional pronouncements to “abolish
untouchability in all its forms” and the
actual practice on the ground is only too
well documented. There are short periods
when dalit issues get highlighted but are
soon relegated to the backpages. Today the
nation’s focus is, once again, on this issue,
whether in Mirchpur, Haryana (where a
dalit settlement was attacked by the domi-
nant castes, killing two), Banthal, Gujarat
(where dalits were expelled en masse from
the village), Jait (Madhya Pradesh chief
minister’s village where dalits were
denied temple entry), Madurai (where
government itself usurped dalit land) or
Bathani Tola and Laxmanpur Bathe in
Bihar (which had witnessed dalit massa-
cres more than a decade ago). This could
be an opportune time to deliberate on
some of the important dimensions of the
whole problem and strategise accordingly.
The initial step should be a critical re-
view of the role of the state in preventing
attacks on dalits and eradicating discrimi-
nation. How has the two decade old
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 fared
on the ground? How can the alliance be-
tween the police, administration and (un)-
civil society, which makes legal interven-
tions infructuous, be broken?
This leads to a questioning of the role
of that amorphous thing called “civil
society”, specially since the urban upper
classes and castes continue opposing
reser vations and casting aspersions on
dalit abilities. The media, so crucial to
moulding public opinion, also strengthens
a regressive understanding on this issue.
Further, there is a wider community
sanction to the continued humiliation and
discrimination against dalits. Caste coun-
cils (khap panchayats) have planned and
executed some of the recent attacks in
Haryana, while the police, judicial and
administrative personnel are also found
to actively collude with them to protect
the perpetrators of atrocities.
This suggests the need for new types of
social reform and cultural movements
which could change societal mindsets. But
the experience of Maharashtra and Tamil
Nadu indicates that the existence of broad-
based social reform movements is no
guarantee for dalit human rights and also
highlights the limitations of hitherto
Economic & Political Weekly EPW june 5, 2010
existing movements of dalit emancipa-
tion. How can one address this situation?
Would a strategic alliance with other
movements opposed to identity-based
oppressions, like patriarchy and race, and
with movements opposed to the rule of
capital help build a strong current of revo-
lutionary social transformation?
The New Socialist Initiative organised a
panel discussion at the Gandhi Peace
Foundation, Delhi on 27 May 2010 to un-
derstand and flag some of these dimen-
sions of the problem. Jagmati Sangwan,
leader of the Haryana unit of the All India
Democratic Women’s Association, and
eminent writers and human rights acti-
vists Anand Teltumbde and Subhash
Gatade led the discussion, while a partici-
pant of a fact-finding team which had
v isited Mirchpur immediately after the
incident, shared his experience.
New Socialist Initiative
Identity and Class
A recent debate within the Communist
Party of India-Marxist (CPI(M)) in
Kerala has opened the debate on identity
and class politics within communist prac-
tice. The CPI(M) has reiterated the ideo-
logical basis of the party in class struggle
and rejected the demand for discussing
identity politics. State secretary of the
party, Pinarayi Vijayan, pointed to the role
of class struggle in eliminating social evils
such as untouchability and ushering in
social development in Kerala.
This official position of the CPI(M) is in
tune with the original Marxist position,
which considers that the development of
“other” identities will weaken class solidarity
and intensify “false class consciousness”.
Identity politics will not allow a “class-in-
itself” to develop class consciousness and
become a “class-for-itself”. A dalit bour-
geois may get support of the dalit prole-
tariat in exploiting the entire working
class under him. Similarly, a woman en-
trepreneur can divide the working class
on the basis of gender. Thus identity-
based politics can be used as a strategic
tool by the capitalists for the illusory and
partial “incorporation” of a section of the
working class into the bourgeois domain,
thereby weakening and ultimately exploit-
ing the entire working class.
vol xlv no 23
LETTER
Rather than considering the categories
of “identity” and “class” as binary entities,
it has to be understood that the concept of
“identity” is subsumed under the concept
of “class”. This will bring together people
of different identities and ultimately result
in a broad-based unity of the entire work-
ing class. Class-based politics, if imple-
mented properly, has the extraordinary
ability to obliterate, to a great extent, the
parochial divisions based on caste, creed
and race. This does not imply that class
politics is silent about the social realities
of race, caste and gender. It strongly acts
against all forms of exploitation but the
modus operandi is different.
Discrimination against dalits is countered
not by strengthening dalit identity but by
integrating them with the wider society
under the label of working class. Organis-
ing as a class gives them the opportunity
to acquire an identity which is not exclu-
sive to them alone. They will enhance
class solidarity while strengthening them-
selves. While traditionally the caste sys-
tem has maintained social equilibrium
through hierarchy, exclusion and exploita-
tion, class politics will weaken these erst-
while differences and thus, has the poten-
tial of ushering in a caste-free India.
Similarly, gender-based identity politics
will only intensify what sociologist Ulrich
Beck calls the “battle between sexes” and
weaken institutions such as the family.
The radical feminist demand for strong
gender-based identities, the abolition of
the family and mothering role can destroy
social harmony. Marxist feminists have
taken a more pragmatic viewpoint calling
for restructuring the family, ending domestic
slavery and the collective methods of
child-rearing and household maintenance.
Thus, class can be effectively used as an
instrument for the integration of excluded
sections in society. Identity politics, on the
other hand, can be extremely divisive.
Sabareesh Gopala Pillai
University of Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram
Corrigendum
In the article “On ‘What Is Maoism’: Some
Comments” (29 May 2010), MEGA (on page
90) is the German acronym for Marx-Engels
Complete Works.
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