Ramchunder, For a variety of reasons, U.P. has lagged behind, although it is so near New Delhi. For centuries it had been exploited by whichever "empire" was in the area. Even the "Amethi" constituency that had elected the Nehru family members for years, is not really as developed as the least developed constituency in Gujarath or Punjab. Political parties spend too much time "manipulating castes", against each other. The most open example was V.P. Singh - he went the whole way. Unfortunately, he unleashed a caste genie that cannot be easily put back in the bottle. In other words, "Divide and Rule" is the main political device in India today. No time left for REAL work of development. Dalits WERE ill-treated is a fact. But you need to visit India to observe that the voting power of the Dalits has given them REAL power. No point in keeping 1940s and 1950s as the reference points in assessing the position of the Dalits today. The other point you are making is interesting. India is obsessed with money, movies, women and cricket. You cannot blame the advertising agencies for exploiting these obsessions.
