Hardik Patel and the Patidar agitation: Why the Sangh Parivar will be cheering
Wednesday, 2 September 2015|
Hardik Bhawsar
From the time youth leader Hardik Patel amassed an estimated six lakh people to press for the inclusion of the Patels in the OBC pool of reservation, every political pundit has been trying to identify the mastermind or brain behind the sudden, and unexpected, emergence of this movement.
Nobody denies the depth of anger among the Patels against the policy of affirmative action. Nor does anyone rule out the enviable financial clout of the Patels and their numerical strength, said to comprise 18 per cent of Gujarat’s population, as factors behind their massive mobilisation witnessed last week.
Nevertheless, pundits unanimously believe no movement can acquire such a sweep, and depth, simply on the basis of anger, financial resources, and numerical strength. It must have had access to organizational skills, honed over years of experience in crafting popular protests, beyond the capacity of a 22-year-old, as Hardik is, so they say.
Eyebrows have also been raised at the political savviness Hardik has demonstrated. At his rally, contrary to expectations, he spoke in Hindi, suggesting he wanted to reach via TV an audience beyond Gujarat. This impression has been further reinforced as he descended on Delhi for confabulating with the leaders of Jats, who have been demanding to be included in the central OBC list.
All this has prompted the speculation that the movement has its mastermind(s) a group of people, unseen and unheard, guiding Hardik behind the curtains. The question to ask is: who are they? What is their motive?
Hardik’s visit to Delhi suggests an attempt to widen the Patel movement beyond Gujarat. He claims he wants the Patels to be included in the OBC pool of reservation. But, in the same breath, he has also said that in case the Patels can’t be declared socially and educationally backward, then caste-based reservation should be scrapped in favour of one based on economic indices.
His articulation pits him against a large majority of India’s population, as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs are all beneficiaries of reservation. It would seem he can hope to win only the support of the upper castes and upwardly mobile social groups, such as the Jats and Patels, all of whom compete for government jobs and seats in educational institutes in what is called the general category.
In addition, he can access the support of the corporate sector, which has been hostile to the suggestion of implementing affirmative action in its recruitment process. Though the troika of upper castes, upwardly mobile castes, and the corporate sector wield power disproportionate to their numbers, it is debatable whether beneficiaries of reservation would accept any dilution of this policy.
Nobody denies the depth of anger among the Patels against the policy of affirmative action. Nor does anyone rule out the enviable financial clout of the Patels and their numerical strength, said to comprise 18 per cent of Gujarat’s population, as factors behind their massive mobilisation witnessed last week.
Nevertheless, pundits unanimously believe no movement can acquire such a sweep, and depth, simply on the basis of anger, financial resources, and numerical strength. It must have had access to organizational skills, honed over years of experience in crafting popular protests, beyond the capacity of a 22-year-old, as Hardik is, so they say.
Eyebrows have also been raised at the political savviness Hardik has demonstrated. At his rally, contrary to expectations, he spoke in Hindi, suggesting he wanted to reach via TV an audience beyond Gujarat. This impression has been further reinforced as he descended on Delhi for confabulating with the leaders of Jats, who have been demanding to be included in the central OBC list.
All this has prompted the speculation that the movement has its mastermind(s) a group of people, unseen and unheard, guiding Hardik behind the curtains. The question to ask is: who are they? What is their motive?
Hardik’s visit to Delhi suggests an attempt to widen the Patel movement beyond Gujarat. He claims he wants the Patels to be included in the OBC pool of reservation. But, in the same breath, he has also said that in case the Patels can’t be declared socially and educationally backward, then caste-based reservation should be scrapped in favour of one based on economic indices.
His articulation pits him against a large majority of India’s population, as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs are all beneficiaries of reservation. It would seem he can hope to win only the support of the upper castes and upwardly mobile social groups, such as the Jats and Patels, all of whom compete for government jobs and seats in educational institutes in what is called the general category.
In addition, he can access the support of the corporate sector, which has been hostile to the suggestion of implementing affirmative action in its recruitment process. Though the troika of upper castes, upwardly mobile castes, and the corporate sector wield power disproportionate to their numbers, it is debatable whether beneficiaries of reservation would accept any dilution of this policy.
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