Caste has always been pivotal to electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh. But in the past few years, it has become a fad to boldly display caste identities on windscreens or number plates of vehicles in the state.
Castes like Yadav, Jat, Gurjar, Brahmin, Pandit, Khatriya, Lodhi and Maurya appear to be competing with each other in asserting their dominant social or political status by putting the caste and sub-caste name tags on their SUVs, cars, motorcycles and other vehicles.
But now, the Uttar Pradesh transport department has started cracking down on vehicles donning ‘casteism’. According to Hindustan Times’ sister publication Hindustan, the transport department has launched the drive after instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The vehicles displaying caste stickers will now be seized, according to Hindustan which quoted from an order sent by Additional Transport Commissioner Mukesh Chandra to all Regional Transport Offices (RTOs).
The PMO took cognizance of the matter after a letter from a teacher in Maharashtra, Harshal Prabhu, Hindustan reported. He wrote the letter on IGRS, an integrated system designed for redressal of grievances. Prabhu said that the display of such stickers is a threat to social fabric of the society.
The PMO took note of the letter and sent it to the Uttar Pradesh government after which such drive was launched, according to Hindustan.
“Such stickers should not be pasted on the vehicles. Those who are found guilty of the offcemce, their vehicle will be seized. According to our enforcement teams, every 20th vehicle is found carrying such a sticker. Our headquarters has asked us to take action against such vehicle owners,” DK Tripathi, deputy transport commissioner, Kanpur, told Hindustan.
The practice of some people displaying their particular caste identities on vehicles is said to have come to the fore with greater visibility during the Samajwadi Party (SP) regime under Mulayam Singh Yadav (2003-07) when it became fashionable to drive SUVs and motorcycles with ‘Yadav’ written in bold letters on them.
Similarly, vehicles with ‘Jatav’ stickers became more visible during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rule even as such vehicles can be spotted even today in some districts, especially in the western UP.
Now, Kshatriya, Thakur or Rajput (different variants of the same caste) as a label on vehicles is the new entrant into the caste rivalry.
