Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Call for caste rising on INDEPENDENCE DAY
Any particular caste’s members’ congregation for their common cause is nothing new in our society. It does take place at regular intervals. But this congregation was something different. It was meant for Brahmin journalists only. I was really surprised to know about this and curious also to know what was the agenda.
In my journalistic career of 20 years I never heard of such a gathering of journalists on a caste line, even in Uttar Pradesh the state which I belong to and which is often blamed for promoting casteism in the society and politics in particular.
After this gathering, some media persons in their blogs have come heavily on such events. A particular blog (To say truly, I did not like the language used for the organizers and participants) states that this was done at the instance of an influential person from commercial capital Indore in a bid to drive a wedge between Brahmin ministers in the government namely Anoop Mishra, Gopal Bhargava, Archna Chitnis, Laxmikant Sharma and the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The blog also states that this was done to benefit a particular minister from Indore in the race to the chief minister post.
I don’t want to discuss the merit or demerit of the charges levelled against the organisers and participants.
The objective behind the gathering as mentioned in the blog (Another blog has also posted the same piece) may be a far-fetched theory. Several journalists who attended the programme are known as journalists of repute and they are professional to the core. I am also sure many of the journalists must have turned up at the venue at the insistence of their friends or just out of curiosity to get to know what was the agenda of the meet.
But what sounds terrible to me is sowing of the seed of division among journalists on the caste lines. “Will this serve the society or the fourth pillar of democracy if there is a Brahmin journalist, a Rajput journalist, a Kayastha journalist, a backward class journalist, a dalit journalist” continues to strike me.
If what has been written in the blogs is not true I don’t know what the agenda of the congregation was. The invite suggests it was just a gathering with no agenda at all. One of my journalist friends who accepted the invite also confirmed that there was no agenda. He had simply lunch with others and came back.
But it cannot be as simple as that. Those who organised the event must have got some agenda in their minds. I have no problem with that. Let the people have their different agenda and work on that. But I am concerned what if it leads to a chain reaction in media and society. Are we going to witness congregations of journalists of different castes and communities in the coming days?
Look at another aspect of the gathering- It was held on August 15, the Independence Day. Could we not have used the pious occasion for some meaningful discussions or welfare activities or something else productive and constructive.
Notably, there is another debate related to caste triggered off by interview of noted journalist Prabhash Joshi who reportedly talked of great work done by leaders in different fields who happen to be Brahmins.
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..Do brahmins still belong to an upper caste?..
ReplyDeleteNeed more Parshuram's in media it seems...
Grass-eating Brahminical forces are cowards. No surprise if they are getting united.
ReplyDeleteKitne bhe ikatthey ho jayen.. jang hogi tho hum kshtriyon ko he awaj denge...
बहुत अच्छी शुरूआत है भाइ साहब!
ReplyDeleteYou are bang on target. Journalists are journalists, they don't belong to any caste.
ReplyDeleteAnil Singh
In my view calling the Brahmins grass-eating and cowards is comments against the entire caste. This is highly objectionable. We should not cross the limit of decency in making comments against anybody. We should respect each other while believing in the concept of peaceful co-existence. No caste or clan is superior to others.
ReplyDeleteRanjan
Those who are terming brahmins eating should know that Lord Parshuram made this earth without Kshatriya for 18 times and some Kshatriya fled away in the guise of woman..........That's why Kshatriya have survived
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ReplyDeleteIt seems we are getting personal in talking about each other. The objective behind my writing the piece was to express my concern over the fact that if journalists get divided on caste lines what would happen to the society which is already divided into various castes and communities. I think we should be modest in expressing our sentiments and respect each other.
ReplyDeleteRanjan
mein is smeelan me bulaya gya tha lekin card dene wale se hi inkar kar diya tha. meine mjak kia tha bramhbhoj ke nate buloge to aayenge dkdhina dena pdegi. mein nhi gya. is kism ke giroh bnana chand logon ki swarth sidhi ka jriya bnte hain. ab agar brahmn ptrkar smmelan ho hi chuka hai to any dhandhe wale brahmano ke smmelan bhi kar hi liye jayen. har dhandhe mein mojood hain!
ReplyDelete