Its about empowerment

Chandrabhan Prasad



With just over 50 MPs, the Left has been virtually blackmailing the
UPA Government. But, how powerful the Dalit/Tribals are with 121 MPs
in the Lok Sabha?



In the popular Dalit perception, most Dalit/Tribal MPs are clay
statues in the Parliament, who can rarely move on their own. How do
the successive Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers been treating the
successive Dalit/Tribal MPs in the realm of governance? Readers can
make their own judgments.



What however, we know is that, rarely the Finance Minister talks to
Dalit/Tribal MPs during the formative months of Budget preparation,
though the Finance Minister makes it a point to meet with various
industrialists and their associations. He even meets with the trade
Union leaders, and associations of agriculturists.



At the hindsight, the 121 Dalit/Tribal MPs don't seem to enjoy the
clout normally associated to the official power-protocol of the
institution of Parliament. This is understandable given positioning of
the community inside society. There is no meaning thus, in despising
the Dalit/Tribal MPs, as barring some Tribal constituencies, most of
them are elected the majority where non-Dalit call the shots. Silence
of Dalit/Tribal MPs is thus, predestined.



But what if the Dalit/Tribals had eleven Billionaires? Can in any
society the political power structure ignore its Billionaires? Can US
for instance, ignore Jews, who constitute a mere two per cent in the
total population of that country? Despite numerically being
insignificant, 45 per cent of all American Billionaires are of Jewish
origin. The Jewish Billionaire Club thus, largely predestines the
American policy on Israel. The money therefore, is not only about
market.



According to the Business Standard Billionaire Club listing (2005),
there are 311 billionaires in India, whose combined worth is at Rs
3.64 trillion. Needless to say, there is no Dalit/Tribal in that
Billionaire Club.



What if there were 11 Dalits/Tribals as Billionaires? Wouldn't they be
more powerful than 121 Dalit/Tribal MPs? In other words, with 11
Billionaires, wouldn't the same 121 MPs become more powerful?



Why do after all, the successive Prime Ministers and Finance Ministers
address functions organised by industry bodies such as CII and FICCI?
Or why do the industry bodies invite Prime Minister or/and Finance
Minister in their public functions when most policy level deals are
clinched in non-official engagements?



If allowed to understand things in abstract, when a Finance Minister
goes to deliver a speech in the CII or FICCI organised function, he in
fact, does so as a performer. If allowed to drag it little farther,
the Finance Minister does exactly what Cine artists do in functions
organised in Dubai. This phenomenon is no India specific. The world
over politics salutes money. There are just three Black Billionaires
in the USA, and the neither State and nor the society can mess with
the larger Black mass.



Dr Ambedkar once wrote that "Men love property more than liberty "
Just one Dalit Billionaire can influence a quarter of the Parliament.
In fact, a Dalit Billionaire can even take a political party on rent
to air the community rights.



In the age of globalisation, Dalits now should redefine the very
notion of power. There can be nothing more powerful thing than the
State power. The State power is regulated by politics. The politics
and the State power are innately interwoven. What we tend to miss is
the fact that, the politics itself can be regulated by Capital. The
Capital and politics thus become as innately interwoven as the
Politics and the State power are. In the end, the power revolves
around the trinity of Capital-Politics-State.



The Dalit/Tribal mass should understand that, without some command
over Capital, their politicians will remain powerless. In fact, this
phenomenon can be at times so vicious that despite a Dalit/Tribal
having become the Prime Minister of the country, the larger
Dalit/Tribal society can still remain powerless. It is in this sense,
a Dalit/Tribal Billionaire Club becomes a critical factor in
empowering the community.