Among the pressing issues within the Indian society is the contrast between a prospering middle class and people living in poverty, who face serious economic challenges. The modern Indian state is characterized by the caste system and the presence of scheduled groups, such as tribal people. Moreover, the history of India’s independent development after WWII is marked by a strong divide and opposition between religious groups, leading to Communalism. This paper will discuss the extent to which a state can accommodate its lower castes and scheduled groups, manage its environment, and reflect on the possibility of a Communalist triumph.
In A. Roy’s Walking with the Comrades, the author discusses her experiences in India. Roy’s text is one example of a book that helps understand to what extent a state can accommodate its lower social casts and scheduled groups. India, in general, is a blend of different cultures and social classes. For example, the elements of Persian Muslim culture are blended with those of the indigenous people. Moreover, the state’s ability to support its lower strata should be reviewed considering the fact that there is a severe divide between the politicians, who usually belong to the country’s elite, and the representatives of other strata. Thus, India’s ability to support the lower caste is hindered by its religious and social diversity.
The political divide in India following WWII shows that some politicians choose to leverage the social divide for their benefit. While Gandhi and Nehru opposed the divide of India and the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state on this subcontinent, politicians such as Jinnah supported it. Some Indian leaders were educated by the British and paid little attention to the specifics of the local culture and social stratification. For example, Jinnah had a background in law, but he studied in British institutions. As a result, he had no understanding of the Muslim or Urdu culture, and these people comprise approximately 20% of the subcontinent’s inhabitants. However, he took advantage of the fact that the majority of business owners and people with education were Hindu and used this in his political agenda to gain support from the Muslims. Therefore, although he supported these social strata and their equal rights, his motives are questionable.
Managing the state’s environment is complicated by the diverse national and religious divide in India. Additionally, modern-day India uses a combination of government-controlled industries and capitalist-led businesses, with the majority of public sector services controlled by the government. This allows the government to support the disadvantaged groups by providing them with subsidiaries and job opportunities. The state’s economy has grown successfully at a rate of 3% per year before 1985 and at rates of approximately 10% after. This growth, however, did not aid the poor inhabitants of this state since the gap between the rich and poor Indians has continued to grow.
The government officials who took office after Indira Gandhi tried to introduce legislation that would support the disadvantaged groups. The government of Prime Minister Singh attempted to address the issues that so-called “depressed classes” in India faced, including Dalits and Adivasi. Singh passed laws that allowed the members of these groups to have a better opportunity of receiving a government job. More specifically, the quota for the representatives of these classes increased to 50%, twice the level that was set upon India gaining Independence. However, this decision led to protests, with some people even burning themselves in response to the government’s decision. This shows that the complex social environment in India is difficult to manage because this state has a history of accommodating diverse social, cultural, and religious groups of people/
Based on this assessment, one can argue that communalists cannot triumph in India, and they have to look for common ground with other groups. In India’s case, the communal-minded people are those who belong to a certain religion and place their religious identity above that of their nationality. Considering that India is comprised of different communities, including Hindus and Muslims, as well as Urdu people, the communalist approach furthers the stratification of other groups. Jinnah used a communalist mindset to gain support from the Muslims living in India, exploiting the idea that the Hindus would never treat Islamic people justly. Nehru, on the other hand, saw Communalism as a way of leveraging support from a particular social group and exploiting the religious differences.
In contrast to this, globalization has played an essential role in the development of India because its citizens who had sufficient technical skills received an opportunity to work for global tech giants. Despite this, however, there is still a severe divide between the rural poor people and the citizens who live in an urban area. Part of the reason for such a divide is the subsidized agriculture from the United States and Europe that does not allow Indian farmers to make sufficient profits. Still, some lower strata gained access to good jobs and better opportunities.
In summary, India’s system of social divide and the history of Communalism complicates the ability of the government to support lower strata. Historically, some political leaders have used these disadvantaged social groups to support their agenda. Others have helped them by setting a 50% quota for government jobs, but this led to severe protests. Based on this, one can conclude that Communalism will not triumph.