Ram Manohar Lohia and His Tackling of Caste Issue
Ram Manohar Lohia and his tackling of Caste issue
This paper will study how and why caste became so crucial to Ram Manohar Lohia’s politics. This would be understood by tracing the different dimensions of some of his theoretical and political activities, specifically on caste and even otherwise. So, for example, how Lohia drew his own grand historical narrative through Wheel of History, that contextualised caste in a certain way, or how this understanding of caste also allowed him to incorporate other sites of power in his social theory for India, that subsequently shaped his politics.
Of course, such an attempt thrives on an assessment of the chronology of some of Lohia’s positions over the course of his life. Doing so, allows one to recognise the context and influences that shaped Lohia’s perspective, in this case, on caste. It is so interesting then, to realise that his politics on caste was framed in post-independent India, that period of time when celebrations welcoming a new nation were getting over and it was time to deal with some real issues. Lohia, an important constituent of the Congress Socialist Party, and a trusted aide of Jawaharlal Nehru so far in the nationalist struggle, suddenly grew inimical to him and the Congress party. The discord is traced back to the struggle for civil rights of Goans against the Portugese administration in 1946 and the general complain that the satyagraha movement envisaged by Lohia was not reaping fruits due to disinterest of the Executive Committee of Congress, that comprised all Brahmins. Lohia, even as he tried to being in new members from other castes, lamented that he could not achieve much success. This episode brought him face to face with the harsh reality of how deep rooted casteism is in Indian social fabric and how difficult and perplexing it is to uproot it. Post independence, in 1948, socialists in Congress decide to go their own way, though there were different streams amongst them on the question of
This paper will study how and why caste became so crucial to Ram Manohar Lohia’s politics. This would be understood by tracing the different dimensions of some of his theoretical and political activities, specifically on caste and even otherwise. So, for example, how Lohia drew his own grand historical narrative through Wheel of History, that contextualised caste in a certain way, or how this understanding of caste also allowed him to incorporate other sites of power in his social theory for India, that subsequently shaped his politics.
Of course, such an attempt thrives on an assessment of the chronology of some of Lohia’s positions over the course of his life. Doing so, allows one to recognise the context and influences that shaped Lohia’s perspective, in this case, on caste. It is so interesting then, to realise that his politics on caste was framed in post-independent India, that period of time when celebrations welcoming a new nation were getting over and it was time to deal with some real issues. Lohia, an important constituent of the Congress Socialist Party, and a trusted aide of Jawaharlal Nehru so far in the nationalist struggle, suddenly grew inimical to him and the Congress party. The discord is traced back to the struggle for civil rights of Goans against the Portugese administration in 1946 and the general complain that the satyagraha movement envisaged by Lohia was not reaping fruits due to disinterest of the Executive Committee of Congress, that comprised all Brahmins. Lohia, even as he tried to being in new members from other castes, lamented that he could not achieve much success. This episode brought him face to face with the harsh reality of how deep rooted casteism is in Indian social fabric and how difficult and perplexing it is to uproot it. Post independence, in 1948, socialists in Congress decide to go their own way, though there were different streams amongst them on the question of
References: • Lohia Rammanohar, The Caste System, Rammanohar Lohia Samata, Samata Vidyalaya Nyas, 1964. • Kumar Anand, Understanding Lohia’s Political Sociology: Intersectionality of Caste, Class, Gender and Language, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 40, October 2-8, 2010. • Yadav Yogendra, What Is Living and What Is Dead in Rammanohar Lohia?, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 40, October 2-8, 2010. • Tolpadi Rajaram, Context, Discourse and Vision of Lohia’s Socialism, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 40, October 2-8, 2010. • Krishna Gopal, Rammanohar Lohia: An Appreciation, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 3, No. 26/28, July 1968. • Sinha Sachchidanand, Lohia’s Socialism: An Underdog’s Perspective, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 40, October 2-8, 2010. • Yadav Yogendra, On Remembering Lohia, Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 40, October 2-8, 2010.