Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi has claimed that Union Telecom Minister A Raja has been targeted by the Opposition over the alleged 2G spectrum scam because of his caste. Had Raja not been a Dalit, the DMK chief’s defence implies, nobody would have raised the small matter of an alleged loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the exchequer. Had Sunanda Pushkar not been a woman, by the same logic, nobody would have objected to her sweat equity in the Kochi franchise of the Indian Premier League. Or questioned the former minister of state for external affairs, Shashi Tharoor, for that matter, had he actually belonged to the cattle class. Nobody would have accused Mohammad Azharuddin of match-fixing either, had he not been a Muslim. And, of course, nobody would have batted an eyelid over Mayawati's contribution to sculpture had she not been a Dalit.

Expedient, and often effective, as refuge in identification with a minority, any minority, might be, is it really tenable in such cases?

The question, therefore, arises: is A Raja being attacked because he is a Dalit?