For the past few days, Dalits on Twitter have called out several upper-caste celebrities, comedians and journalists for the casteism they have displayed regarding former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. One can only call it an irony that most of them identify themselves as feminists. Initially, a few tried to defend themselves, calling their offensive tweets a thing of the past. However, when the pressure mounted, they began to apologise. These namesake apologies are justifications in most cases.
Then, an unusual thing happened. The digging resulted in the unearthing of a tweet by venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy. In a tweet dated September 4, 2012, Murthy presented the vilest example by writing that reservation in promotion should be followed by “reservation in sex” and then added a highly offensive comment about Mayawati.
When the furore erupted, he wrote an apology.
Folks, I said some stupid things on twitter about caste, reservations and politics some 9 years ago. I was dumber then, and it was a poor attempt at humour. I have since deleted those tweets and I apologise for the offence they may have caused. Sorry.
— Mahesh Murthy (@maheshmurthy) May 25, 2021
This apology came after he blocked many Twitter users who called him out over his remarks. It was a damage control exercise to keep his followers free of guilt. They could always say that he has apologised and that people should move on. Conspicuously, the apology did not use the word “gender” or “sex” anywhere. The only keywords that appear in his apology are “caste, reservations, and politics”.
In his apology, he said that he was “dumb” in 2012. But was his tweet an act of naivety? His reply to a user named @Soubhik, who accused him of being crass, suggests otherwise. He replied, “I am a crass person often.” This suggests his tweet was pre-meditated and that he knew its consequences. Though Mayawati has devoted her life to the upliftment of Dalits, Murthy knew that there would be no big furore about his comment since there were not many Dalits on Twitter in 2012. So, he went his merry way.
He even went ahead to equate reservation with retributive justice in the same thread. The irony is that the very persons who claim that “now there is no casteism, so reservation should come to an end” demonstrate through their own actions (in this case a tweet) that casteism is very much alive.
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Whatever he may argue, Murthy’s tweet resurrected and reproduced the institution of caste. It showed that even after becoming the CM of Uttar Pradesh four times, Mayawati was no different from any other Dalit woman. The only difference between her and others is the presence of a security apparatus that shields her from direct physical confrontation with a person like Murthy who is only too happy to subject her to public ridicule.
Murthy’s is the classic case of an upper-caste man feeling threatened by modernity. The uncertainty of the modern world fills people like him with dread. They feel threatened. In such circumstances, when one sees a Dalit who does not get cowed into submission, the threat becomes imminent. Mayawati and the SCs and STs rising in government jobs symbolise the same danger for the casteists in Indian society. Hence, the equivalence between reservation and retribution.
The affront in the replies, retweets and likes give a sense of control until someone else comes into the story. This leads people like Murthy to try keeping more and more people under control. That is why when people began to ask him questions about the tweet, he blocked them. A similar thought process guided him when he obtained a gagging order to silence the media about sexual harassment accusations against him (the high court eventually vacated the order).
As far as “reservation in sex” is concerned, Murthy should realise that arranged marriages are the norm in India, which are conducted among people of the same castes. A cursory look at the number of ‘honour’ killings is enough to show how rigorously Indian society implements reservation in sex. These killings happen in all sorts of localities. Even the so-called literate states and urban areas are not left untouched by ‘honour’ killings.
Murthy’s privilege as an upper-caste man and a venture capitalist allows him to live in an ivory tower. The privilege also prevents him from understanding the rationale behind the anger his tweet has triggered. Only if they are willing to recognise this privilege can people like Murthy begin to make amends.
B.P.D.P. Asoka is an MA Sociology student at the South Asian University. One can reach him on Twitter @b_asoka
Featured image: Mahesh Murthy/Twitter