Comments on the recent article “India’s middle class awakes” by Pavan Varma

Pavan Varma, an author and former diplomat, and currently an adviser to the Chief minister of Bihar, has recently written an OP-ED article in Times of India (23^rd November, 2013). Interestingly the article has made several points about the growth in importance of the middle classes in the Indian society and polity, which are almost the same or similar to those I made in my post “Rise of the middle India” (February 2013) appearing in this blog.

For instance, he notes, like us, the growing participation of the middle class in the massive public protests in the national capital on a number of issues, such as, miscarriage of justice (e.g. Jessica Lal murder case), corruption in public sphere (most notably during the Anna Hazare agitation), and more recently in a remarkable display of the public anger about the government’s insensitivity and callousness in respect of the Nirbhaya case which was symptomatic of a larger malaise. Clearly there has been a noticeable coalescence of public disaffectation with the way our democracy is being conducted. Varma, however, has not mentioned the three or four other factors (which we felt were equally important for the emergence of the middle class) like the stellar role of the news and the television media in communicating the true facts and vital details of the criminal and the corruption cases; government’s various acts of commission and omission and the people’s fights against this malfeasance through an effective use by the activists of the newly enacted RTI law; a proactive CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) which is Government’s own audit watchdog and the law courts, and last but not the least, the emergence of the social media.

Varma has noted quite correctly that the middle class has gradually come to acquire even a numerical significance, a sort of ‘critical mass’, that it had earlier lacked and in some broad sense has also a India-wide homogeneity in tastes and aspirations. And as we suggested in our own post, the political parties today might find it no longer expedient to ignore this class. We also believe that it would be better to describe the confluence of various social groups and economic categories, as underlined in Varma’s article in terms of a range of earnings, as the middle ‘classes’ rather than an abstract conceptual category such as ‘middle class’.

The point of departure in Varma’s article is the weaknesses he finds within this emerging ‘political class’ and the lacuna it has displayed in its disparate protests and agitation movements and its apparent lack of political vision to provide an alternative to the objectives of and the ways and means adopted by the two main political formations, Congress- and BJP-centered coalition of political parties. He talks about their organizational weakness, lack of pan India presence as an organized force and leadership, apparent inability to go beyond pointing fingers at the multitude of scams and follies indulged by main political parties and not coming out with strong alternative policy options on a national scale. Presumably, Varma does not think much of the newly launched Aam Admi Party and its imminent political initiation by fire in the upcoming elections for the New Delhi assembly early December, 2013.

Varma fears that in absence of a well-articulated set of policy blue prints of national scope and significance, wider coverage of issues other than just a principled stand on corruption, the middle classes and their newer political representatives might not appear as effective to the electorate and fair badly in the elections. On the other hand unscrupulous political parties might use the anger of the middle classes about mis-governance or the governance deficit (lack of goods and services and the economic development the governments are expected to deliver) and manipulate their emotion to their advantage by subsuming and co-opting sections of the middle classes and winning them over to their partisan and disastrous self-centered and sometimes autocratic or fascistic policies.  

I think one can broadly agree with Varma’s reservations about the further and more important political role of the middle classes. It is true that while they (if you take the Aam Admi Party as representing them) now have waded into overt political action (like fighting elections) these representatives should probably avoid the simplistic reductionism entailing all economic, political, social issues facing the people of this country to the fountainhead of corruption. They must also make their position clear about the form of capitalist economic development model that the present ruling political parties are committed to and have a good support base among the elite and even sections of the middle classes. Many would argue that some of the major cases of corruption in high places arise out of the crony capitalism and because the kind of unregulated greed of a section of the impatient entrepreneurs is taken to be synonymous with the new aspirational ethos believed to be sweeping India during these past two decades. Since also much of India’s recent economic progress has come about after aligning the country gradually, probably inexorably, with the international trade policies (and quite a few dogmas), and relying on a sizable infusion of foreign capital and much of the domestic economic policies today have to be in consonance with the pulls and pushes generated at the behest of the big global power blocks (like US, European Union, etc) a clear-sighted foreign policy enunciation, that is neither subservient to these blocks nor totally isolationist like in the past, would be a prerequisite for a matured political formation that aspires to rule India. Coming months (or even years) will show if the middle classes have acquired that maturity.  



Tsunami of public opinion and the response of the marooned political class

The political class in this country has always moulded the public opinion and is used to commandeering it by (dividing them into religion or caste-based communities,) appealing to raw and the basest and the most archaic instincts of people and historical schisms between communities in terms of their caste, cultural and religious identities. Lack of information, education and enlightenment among the people in broad swaths of the country which foster superstition, outdated outlook and conservatism came in handy in perpetuating this hegemony. And in this they have always had implicit support of the ruling classes, the economically rich and powerful, both in the cities and villages.

But the development breakthrough brought in by the emerging capitalism in India since the 1990s through the policies of liberalization has changed this force field. India is changing with growing aspirational urban middle classes, whose ranks are slowly but surely being swelled with new entrants from poorer and historically and socially backward classes. Ironically, this is helped by the affirmative policies embraced by successive governments and that of positive discrimination that is the staple of the serial political drama played out by the political class for the last three decades. With the growth in the urbanization, education, enterprise, exposure to international standards through television and mobile telephony (probably two major drivers of demands for consumer products that indirectly helped economic growth) came the need for information. At least urban Indians (especially those in semi-urban, tier-2 or tier-3 cities and towns) - and their numbers are no longer miniscule or could be safely ignored in political calculations - are getting to know about the products, standard of life, standard of services available in the most developed and metropolitan cities of the country. They are also getting informed how the best of capitalism is brought out in the first rate cities in the first world countries by harnessing it through intelligent and efficient regulation and steadfastly following the rule of law. 

This underlies the importance and increasing role of the media (especially the electronic version) in highlighting the deficiencies, inequities, unreasonableness in our political system and amplifying the popular impatience about the status quo sought to be maintained by the establishment – the government bureaucracy and the political class – and delays in redressal of the public grievances.

There is also the new technological developments in internet based communication and dissemination (social media platforms, blogosphere) that has made this tide of anti-political class sentiment due to its speed and extent of spread – through spontaneous articulation, repetition, recycling, resonance, lack of a command structure, runaway unpredictability – resemble a tsunami, that of public opinion (something the political class has not yet learnt to commandeer to its selfish goals).

It is in the light of the above that we could analyse what might appear as a beginning of a rethinking by the political class on the bill and later the ordinance to retain the lifeline available in the existing Representation of the People Act (RPA), proposed to be snatched by the Supreme Court in its July judgment, to the convicted members of the parliament and the assemblies. Is this a belated recognition of the strength of public opinion against the criminalisation of politics? It is difficult to be sure, though. Indications are there about the political parties individually readjusting their public posturing, especially keeping in view the imminent need to face the electorates for the assembly elections in four states during the end of this year and for the big parliament election early next year. 

It was the Congress party that actually took the lead through an all-party meeting to reach a consensus about bringing about a bill in the Parliament making the requisite changes in the Representation of the People Act (RPA) so that the elected representatives can continue to hold their position despite conviction, with some marginal restrictions. Practically every party, including the BJP, supported the move. But somehow between that meeting and the actual debate in the Parliament when the bill was introduced, the principal opposition party and also smaller parties like BJD, CPI etc, were smart enough to sense the public mood (to be more accurate the mood of the articulate and educated middle classes) and opposed the bill brought by the ruling party. When at the end of an acrimonious day of debate the bill was referred to the standing committee, it was clear that the political class bought some time for themselves.

Pressures from the parties supporting the UPA, like the SP and RJD, whose leader Lalu Yadav was looking at the spectre of disqualification as MP after his possible conviction in the fodder scam case, partly forced the hand for Congress. There was also this arrogance of power, feeling of hurt among some cabinet ministers who pride themselves as the legal eagles being forced to bite dust on their own legislative turf. One found a determined government pushing the so-called Congress Core group into resolving to bring the law by the backdoor of an ordinance to be regularized later in the parliament’s winter session.

The response of the BJP was crafted on the basis of their cynical estimate that their current losses, if any, due to the application of the new legal provision, would be more than made up by cornering the Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections later this year if they can get on to the right side of the enormously negative public opinion about the ordinance. They went to town crying hoarse (including protesting to the President) about the Congress party’s mala fide intentions in pushing the bill as an ordinance and parading their own consistent stand opposing the bill since the parliament debate.

Congress party’s own prevarication was finally ended when they realized firstly that persuading the President, if not about the legality but the morality of the ‘criminal’ ordinance, would not be a cakewalk. Secondly in some quarters of the party, especially its youth enclaves, the realization had set in that pushing through this ordinance would alienate the party from the young India of the social media, the new voters, aspiring among other things a better definition and practice of the rule of law. Certainly they were loath to loose the game to the opposition even before it began.

Thus the two main political parties, though not voluntarily, showed for once a remarkable alacrity in deferring to the undercurrent of a progressive public opinion in favour of a more lawful political space where the electoral exercise might aspire to become cleaner and fairer. If this trend can be sustained it will certainly be good for our democracy.



Rise of the middle India (...contd.)

The importance of the growing middle class both as a beneficiary and therefore as the intellectual champion of the robust growth of the pro-market economy under the post 1991 liberalized regime has always been recognized and was welcomed by ruling parties and their backers both in India and abroad. But this was a conveniently wishful view of the role of an emergent constituent of the Indian polity, the youthful face of our democracy. The latter was testified not only by the progressively dipping average age of the people but by the rapidly increasing number of young electorates exercising their franchise during 2009 parliament election and many of the assembly elections thereafter. The influence of these young (many first time) voters in helping other disenchanted sections to seal the fate of the incumbent left front government in West Bengal during May 2011 election has been noted in published statistical analysis.

It has been an euphemism resorted to by most established political parties that these youthful voters everywhere voted for ‘change’ and ‘development’. It is conveniently forgotten that under the glow of the same youthful idealism (innocence if you like) they also expected the operation of the rule of law, an in-your-face honesty both in political and non-political spheres of our social life. They did not expect to see scandals and financial scams tumbling out every other day from within the immaculate corridors of power. They also expected an end to the endemic small micro-level corruption at almost every interface of the public with the government. Anti-corruption movement in 2011 thus found a ready constituency in the educated middle class, students, young professionals, entrepreneurs, etc. It gradually dawned on the ruling classes, going by the turn out in Anna’s meetings at Delhi and in rallies taken out on his call on the streets of metro and other smaller cities, the Indian middle classes mattered no longer just as consumers of pricey, sleek goodies in the malls. That enlightened public opinion against corruption started to matter in the election was writ large on the defeats of the congress party in Goa and the congress supported DMK in Tamil Nadu assembly elections earlier last year.

Apart from the electronic media in this anti-corruption crusade, the emerging technology of the social media and electronic networking was lapped up by the young middle class India and used, probably as never before in a totally public cause, to inform, interact, agitate and mobilize the minds of such a large number of people with relative ease, eloquence and speed that the cacophony in the cyberspace almost resembled and paralleled the slogan-shouting and roaring crowd in the Ram Lila Maidan in Delhi. New means to go with a new movement for achieving a cleaner, more transparent and accountable democratic functioning of the government. Indian middle class thus has acquired a public-spirited voice and a means to make itself heard and be counted. Even numerically it is no longer a push over.     

The unspeakably brutal assault on a young girl (leading to her eventual death) on a cold December night in Delhi was probably like the straw on the camel’s back. Delhi residents, women, young and old, needed no more persuation to say ‘enough’ and hit the streets. Hundreds of young women and yes, young men as well, students from universities, colleges, even school children, women activists, older citizens, congregated from daybreak till night every day at India Gate and an impromptu tableau of collective grief, anguish and anger swelled and brimmed over the majestic path more used to a staged annual display of state power and a cavalcade of phony inclusiveness. Except on that appointed date and time the government found it difficult to be seen to go to the India Gate, and meet the citizens to assuage their grief, to find words of assurance that it understood the real meaning of their ‘we want justice’ outcry which would have carried conviction to the protesters. It was not easy bridging the gulf of trust deficit built up over years of misgovernance and inaction against the gangrenous organs of the state machinery, which has cumulatively over a long period of time created this atmosphere of impunity in which the criminals and their apprentices seem to feel at home and be emboldened.

 

In time all roads to the India Gate were sanitized with canisters of gas and cannons full of water, some young skulls broken in ‘unfortunate’ collateral damages.  But the sound of their footfalls on the empty streets may yet start to sound menacing like Banquo’s visitations in the strategy and plan meetings within stony august buildings reminiscent of raj.

Movement for ensuring dignity and justice for women last year as much as the anti-corruption movement a year ago might be signs of the rising middle India. All power to them.

(concluded)

Rise of the middle India

Though middle classes usually have been perceived by the political establishment to have only marginal importance based on its numerical sparseness vis-à-vis the electoral politics, the centerpiece of a mass democracy like India, they have always played a significant role in shaping the public opinion on a number of issues that affect Indian society, politics and economy.

Till recently, political parties, leaders and their apparatchicks, sympathasiers, apologists in the media generally believed that no matter how much vocal the educated, city-bred critics from among the middle classes appear to be, neither the party ruling the government nor the major opposition parties (harboring an intention to topple it and come to power after the next election) have anything to fear from these agitators because of their own strong ‘mass base’ which in the Indian political lexicon is sometimes pejoratively termed as the ‘vote bank’.

The twin advantages that the political parties had derived (and continue to do so) by sticking to their comfort zone are (a) the numerical preponderance of their support base and (b) the awareness about the lowest common denominator that binds and cements this base, namely, narrow sectional, sectarian, regional, religious interests in the context of winning the electoral battle (which, sadly, has become the be all and end all of the Indian democracy). Indian parties have by and large, over these last sixty five years since independence, found in the issues related to reservation of caste-based job and education quota (with further religion-based sub-quota being attempted recently) much more emotive appeal for the mass electorate they identify as their major constituency, and therefore put their weights behind such slogans and political actions, rather than enlightened measures for bringing corruption under control or to usher gender equality or dignity and justice for women. Also over the years the mainstream parties, often solely governed by populist tailism (not to forget the calculation of the eventual accrual of the electoral benefits) have unwittingly pandered to pressure groups fighting for the recognition of the various regional (even sub-regional or tribal) aspirations and ethnic identities. So much so that today there is a genuine fear of marginalisation of the so-called ‘national’ parties and their increasing irrelevance in major states and regions of this sub-continental nation.

However, over the last decade or so a wind of change has become slowly but surely emerging in various parts of the country, especially in major cities and towns which, somewhat awkwardly, may be described as an awakening of a liberal conscience of an under-performing democracy and it is the middle classes that are taking the lead. Broadly there were four notable developments that could be said to provide a backdrop to the new assertions to reclaim democracy in this country from being hostage to petty party politics.

The landmark public protests by large sections of concerned citizens in respect of the travesty of justice in the Jessica Lal murder case (and the Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case in almost contemporaneous time frame) brought about a new non-political space where students, youth, women, senior citizens, activists, NGOs could publicly articulate their anguish and dismay at the apparent miscarriage of justice. Though limited in scope the successful outcome of these protests in creating enough public pressure to cause revisiting these cases at the higher courts and eventual sentencing of the accused suggested a template for the citizenry to articulate their justified grievances against the non-performance of the machinery of the state. More pertinently, the activists on the streets and their silent supporters in homes and offices saw that money, political connections, muscle power need not invariably tilt the scale of justice in favor of those who flaunt them and ordinary people could get justice from the judicial system which otherwise looked inefficient and ineffective.

Thoughts on the republic day

I. Modernization project

Every visitor to India, foreigners, NRIs, over the last two decades testify to the positive changes to many of our metro cities, the highways connecting some of these cities, the wide roads, smooth flyovers, the changing skyline with more glass-and-concrete high-rise office buildings and commercial spaces. They also would notice, approvingly, a greater number of smartly turned out people on the boulevards lined with foreign banks, ubiquitous malls and multiplexes, swanky and polished cars of variegated colors, shapes and sizes swarming the well lighted arterial streets of an ever expanding city on a reclaiming and re-development spree. Also, from the sportsmen to the businessmen and bankers, to the politicians and the government bureaucrats you can discern a certain homogeneity in tastes in material accomplishments and a predisposition to bullishness towards attaining higher and higher GDP no matter whatever else happens to the minor matter of the human development indicators.

Be that as it may, the predominantly export and service industry (especially IT and ITES) propelled growth over the last twenty odd years has brought in its wake an unprecedented wave of urbanization, migration of people from the impoverished and no-prospect rural hinterland to the metropolitan areas, being towed to the caravan of aspiration. All these have led to a rapid increase in the demand for housing in the cities and on the municipal facilities that are failing to keep pace with it. One result is a growth of slum-like dwellings and a general increase in congestion, pollution, noise, pressures on the urban social life, rise in the urban poverty and destitution.

Simultaneously, traditional manufacturing centers in and around the cities are folding up having become sick for a variety of reasons. With the space occupied by the old mills fetching much more return simply as prime real estate properties for building new residential and commercial complexes, closing down the mills – and throwing out the industrial workers who used to work there – has made sound economic sense in today’s liberated environment. Apart from growing unemployment, there has been an upswing in the “semi-employment” in mushrooming unorganized informal sector of economic activities (often requiring very little skills) with more scope for exploitation by the entrepreneurs and less for collective bargaining for the workers’ rights. Thus is created a sizable reserve army of low or semi-skilled, partially employed urban poor with no stable job, no dependable income, living in shoddy unsanitary dwellings devoid of any privacy (not even a toilet space) and open to devastation in the next accidental fire or cloudburst.    

Cities are of course not just slums. In a typical city like Pune about 40% population live in the slums. From the descending airplanes the more hopeful and the optimistic disseminator of the modern India story would more conveniently focus on the neatly ordered urban spaces full of gated housing communities enjoying amenities meeting international standards. There are those behemoth highrise commercial buildings where each small cubicle could be servicing offices and private homes in the distant continents with confident and cheeky simulation of the local accents and smart affectation of the customer care. These middle class, predominantly young, men and women, working so hard and earning rather decent salaries by the average Indian standards need avenues for feeling the power of their wallet filled with cash and credit cards from several companies. Thus the city is also dotted with ATM kiosks, multi-brand supermarket chains selling bewildering variety of things of desire, multiplex cinema theatres running ten different movies in a flexible time schedule, fast-food joints and eateries with both local and international cuisine.

    

The more everything changes in our country however so much within us and without seem to remain the same. The growing perception of a lurch towards modernity, for instance, often enough shows up an awkward gait of young unformed legs burdened by a powerful bulwark of a torso controlled by a smallish hard head, not given to flaccid feel-good emotion, but rather compact and quick in calculating where to lease and when to leash those tearing legs.

Even before the deeply hurt country bade fare well last December to the young woman absolutely embodying the aspirational modern India, savaged by hoodlums (members of the reserve army ?) and succumbing to her injuries, India of the hoary traditions spoke up in many voices, from the religious gurus and the godmen to heads of cultural organization, political leaders, not to leave out the spokespersons of the police and the government administration. And these utterances, apart from establishing benchmarks of retrograde misogynic thinking (like the marshland hastily filled up and piled to erect the brand new re-development project) proved beyond doubt, if any proof were required, that India’s modernization project has been conceived in an essentially narrow, superficial and opportunistic manner. After all unleashing the famed ‘animal spirit’ of entrepreneurial zeal (a’ la John Maynard Keynes) in the economic sphere was the limited intervention planned by the political elite. The complete economic fall out of the policies, the social impact including the required shakedown of the die-hard subterranean sensibilities were wishfully thought to be falling in place all by itself !  The tragic rude jolt showed that the task was nowhere near being defined let alone completed.   

(... to be continued)