HANDOUT 17- SOCIAL ISSUES

BACKWARD CLASS MOVEMENTS

INTRODUCTION
The Upper most categories of the backward castes consist mostly of landowners. There are several
such castes in different parts of the country, such as the Jats, the Ahirs, the Marathas in Maharashtra,
the Gujjars in Punjab, the Vellalas in Madras, the Kammas , the Reddys and the Kapus in the Andhra
Pradesh, the Vokkaligas and the Bants in Karnataka.Ranking below them arw tenant culitivators,
artisans and other service castes .They include the Ahirs and the Kahars in Bihar ,the Kolis in Gujarat
and the Vaddars in south India. They are considered caste –Hindu, as they are above the pollution line.
They have not enjoyed political power in the recent past. Most of them are small or marginal farmers,
tenants, or agricultural labourers. They were under the economic and political control of the
landowning castes.

 The Kaka Kalelkar Commission, the first Backward Class Commission appointed by
the Government of India, identified more than 3,000 castes or communities as ‘other
backward castes’ (OBCs) in 1956.
 The Mandal Commission 1980, the second Backward class Commission, calculated
that 52 percent of the population –including non Hindus –Constitute other Backward
Castes. Besides, a number of state governments appointed educationally backward
castes/classes.
 Almost all the commissions except the Rane Commission in Gujarat (1983) used
social, educational and economic criteria for identifying ‘backwardness’.

The Indian Constitution is silent on the definition of the backward classes. However, the
characteristics of backward classes are described and spread over the different Articles of the
Constitution. Article 15 (4) speaks of social and educational backwardness. In Article 16 (4), mention
is made of backward classes and their inadequate representation in service. Thus the backward classes
broadly comprise of
(i) the Scheduled Tribe,
(ii) The Scheduled Castes and
(iii) the Other Backward Classes

TYPES
Backward-caste movements in India can be classified into the following four types on the basis of the
levels or social strata they occurred in:
1. Movements led by upper non –Brahmin castes such as the Vellalas, the Reddis and the Kammas of
old Madras Presidency, the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats of Mysore, and the Marathas of Maharashtra
against the Brahmins. Ramaswamy Naiker of Tamil Nadu Launched the ‘Self –Respect’ movement in
Madras in the late 1920s to perform marriage ceremonies without Brahmin Priests. The non –
Brahmin movements in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu raised cultural issues. The Leaders of non
Brahmin movements attacked caste and condemned it as a tool of Brahmin oppression .These are
known as non-Brahmin movements against the Brahmins. Such movements are not found in north
India because’ the Brahmins were generally backward with regard to modern education and
government employment’.
2. Movements within the non- Brahmin castes, mainly led by intermediate and low castes such as the
Ahirs and the Kurmis in Bihar,the Noniyas in Punjab, the Kolis in Gujarat , and the Malis in
Maharashtra .
3. Movements by the depressed classes or untouchables against upper and other backward castes.

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4. The fourth type is that of the tribal movements. We have treated the third and the fourth types of
movement’s separately.

The Rudolph’s (1984) consider the backward classes (castes) of the northern, western and
upper-southern states ‘Bullock capitalists’.
Christophe Jaffrelot calls the rise of the backward classes as the ‘ India’s silent revolution ‘.

EVOLUTION
With the change in the agrarian structure, the advent of the market economy, the growth of urban
centres and the spread of liberal education under British rule, a few of the backward castes improved
their economic condition .By the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of this century, they
aspired to rise in the caste hierarchy .As a first step they followed the path of Sanskritisation , adopting
the rituals and the life style of the upper castes. They invented legends about their ancestors and
demanded higher social status. The Marathas, the Malis, the Sagar Dhangars of Maharashtra , the
Kurmis and the yadavas of Bihar, the Kolis of Gujarat,the Kaibarttas of west Bengal, the Lingayats of
Karnataka and the Telis of Orissa followed the path of Sanskritisation in the first quarter of the 20 th
century. During the first quarter of this century ,some of the backward or non –Brahmin castes in
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu demanded separate electorates so that they could elect their own
representatives. The demands for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions
continued in the 1980s.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BACKWARD MOVEMENTS OF NORTH AND SOUTH

The movements in north India are within the caste frame work and confined to Sanskritisation. This
has not been the case in Maharashtra under the leadership of Phule and the Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam movement in Tamil Nadu. They revolved against the caste system. But in course of time,
their opposition against the caste system fizzled out. The reasons for such diversion need
examinations, the backward caste movements in post- independence India are mainly confined to
electoral politics. They function as pressure groups to seek reservations in jobs and educational
facilities.

MOVEMENTS
Name: Satya Shodhak Samaj Movement
Place: Mahrashtra
Year: 1873
Against whom: Caste system
Leaders: Jyotirao Govindrao Phule
Causes: He strongly criticized the Brahmanical domination in the name of religion. He demanded
representation of all classes of the Hindus in all the local bodies, in services and institutions.
Mode of protest: Creating awareness
Result: His efforts culminated in the form of enactment of the reservation system for socially
underprivileged sections in the Constitution of India.

Name: Shri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam Movement

Place: 1903
Year: Kerala
Against whom: Caste system
Leaders: Sree Narayana Guru
Causes: The SNDP worked for the spiritual and educational upliftment upliftment of backward
Ezhava community

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Mode of protest: Creating awareness
Result: He gave a new slogan “one religion, one caste and one God for mankind”.

Name: Justice Party

Place: Chennai
Year: 1916
Against whom: Caste system
Leaders: Dr T.M. Nair, P. Thyagaraja Chetty, and C.N. Mudaliar
Causes: It aimed at doing justice for all Dravidians through the establishment of a separate state
Mode of protest: Sent petitions to the British government
Result: The Justice Party took part in the elections in the Madras Presidency and in 1920; it won the
elections and formed the government. The party was in power for a brief period. In 1944, the Justice
Party was transformed into a social organisation called Dravidar Kazhagam.

Name: Jaat Reservation Movement

Place: Haryana
Year: 2012
Against whom: Government
Leaders: All India Jat Aarkshan Sangarsh Samiti
Causes: Reservation (i.e. demand of OBC quota)
Mode of protest: Agitation
Result: The Jats were included in the central list OBCs for getting reservation in states like Bihar,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakhand.

Name: Gurjjar agitation

Place: Rajasthan
Year: 2006
Against whom: Government
Leaders: Kirori Singh Bainsla
Causes: The Gujjars demanded a lower scheduled tribe status to their caste instead of their current,
higher Other Backward Class status.
Mode of protest: Agitation
Result: The Rajasthan state government in order to resolve the issue announced that it would bring
two laws i.e. providing 5 per cent reservation to Gujjars in the Special Backward Classes category and
another 14 per cent reservation for the Economically Backward Classes among the upper castes taking
the total quota in the state to 68 percent.

Name: Meena-Mina issue

Place: Rajasthan
Year: 2012-13
Against whom: Government
Leaders: Kirori Lal Meena, Samta Andolan Samiti etc
Causes: Problem started when the Central government's reply on an RTI application said that only
'Mina' belonged to the ST category and they were entitled to reservation benefits in government jobs,

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educational institutions and elections. This led to couple of litigations in the Rajasthan High Court
demanding that the 'Meena' be struck off the quota list.
Mode of protest: Agitation, petitions
Result: The state government stated that it considered Meena and Mina as surnames of the same
community. It was just the spelling difference, nothing more. We are giving reservation benefits on
both the surnames

Name: Patidar reservation agitation

Place: Gujarat
Year: 2015
Against whom: Government
Leaders: Hardik Patel and others
Causes: The reason for agitation was that the people of Patidar community were seeking Other
Backward Class status for the community.
Mode of protest: Agitation, rallies
Result: Hardik Patel was arrested by the police