The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1967. Caste Extremes In India

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31449, 16 August 1967, Page 16

The Press WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1967. Caste Extremes In India

Mrs Gandhi’s task of restoring the solidarity of the Congress Party in India seems to increase in complexity. There is nothing new in the complaint of the Untouchables that the Government has failed completely to improve their lot by giving them a recognisable status in Indian society. Mrs Gandhi’s pledge to give “ increasing attention ” to the problem has an ironical ring when it is recalled that the Constitution which came into force in January, 1950, contained specific provision for the abolition of Untouchability and pronounced its practice in any form to be punishable. Nearly 20 years later the leader of the Republican Party for Untouchables, Mr Gaikwad, has had to remind the Prime Minister that in some areas members of that lowly caste are not permitted to use public wells or enter temples, and are still treated as slaves. While such conditions exist, the case for establishing the Untouchables in a region of their own, and providing them with their own amenities, seems almost unanswerable. The Government should not hesitate to examine their plight with that remedy in mind. At the other extreme of the caste system that plagues India are the princes, who have been angered by a Congress resolution urging the Government to abolish their personal allowances and privileges. Abolition of the privy purses, which cost the country about 50 million rupees a year, would certainly make a useful budgetary impact. It is probable, moreover, that Indian public opinion would share the feeling of Congress that sufficient justice has been done to the old princely families. The Government may feel, however, that the maharajahs are in a strong position. Many of them are now active politically, having had little difficulty in winning election in their own states as Congress party candidates. But in recent years, notably at the last election, the princes have taken a more independent line. Some transferred their loyalty to opposition parties, others formed parties of their own. The Government has to face the fact that nine of 17 states are already in the hands of opposition coalitions. Other states where Congress is barely able to command a majority could be lost if there were more defections by the princes or those having links with the old ruling houses. This possibility, in conjunction with the decision of a meeting of princes held in New Delhi to form a permanent organisation to safeguard their interests, may persuade the Government that abolition of the privy purses might not be expedient. In any case it is clear that the princes feel they are in danger of losing privileges other than those in the financial category. They are thought to be solidly behind the new association, although only about half of them are eligible to receive the money allowances. There is already a move afoot to form a new all-India opposition party, the first steps having been taken last May by rebel Congress party members from 11 states. If the princes were to associate themselves with this movement, in search of a wider political authority than they now enjoy, the Congress could be dealt a fatal blow.