India is growing and changing fast. But some traditional views are still in place. Institutions like the caste systems have been outlawed, yet caste discrimination and segregation is still prevalent. Economic data indicates in urban areas a wealth gap of 60% exists between people traditionally from the highest and the lowest caste.
So what is the Indian caste system and how is it affecting modern India?
Well, the caste system is a hereditary social hierarchy, also called the “Jati System” that has existed in India for nearly 2,000 years.
Historians think these social distinctions may be based in ancient Hinduism which delineates four major classes or Varnas.
On top are the Brahmins usually described as priests and scholars, then comes the Kshatriyas described as nobles and warriors, Vaishyas below them operate commercial businesses and then the Shudras below them are referred to as labourers or servants. And then there’s a fifth group completely ostracised from traditional Indian society “The Untouchables” now called the “Dalits”. This is the lowest caste and is relegated to undesirable jobs like cleaning sewers, toilets, etc. As they are considered impure, the Dalits have been regularly segregated from schools and religious temples. There are reports that some have even been punished for letting their shadow fall on those of the higher caste.
Experts think this hierarchy was not strictly adhered to in the region until the British claimed India as a colony and wrote the caste system into their laws. From there the system became more rigid and when India gained Independence from Britain in 1947, it was ingrained into the culture. Obviously, the Dalits got the short end of the stick in this historical arrangement, but in 1950s discrimination based on caste was outlawed and to help reintegrate the lower castes into the modern society, the government later implemented affirmative action like quotas for certain jobs and university admissions.
Designated castes and tribes were guaranteed as per Constitution not only equality of opportunity but also positive outcomes, aided by quotas for educational institutions, government jobs and even seats in legislatures.
The quotas were a small step to make good the millions of victims who had suffered daily the injustices of untouchability. Quotas were originally intended to expire after 10 years.
However, remnants of the caste hierarchy undoubtedly remained. A politician’s caste continues to be an important deciding factor for many voters, and marrying or acting outside of one’s caste continues to be taboo in many rural areas.
For India to become completely caste-free more education, government policies and social programmes may be needed.
The word “Dalit” comes from the Sanskrit root ‘dal’ which means “broken, downtrodden, or oppressed”. Those previously called Untouchables, Depressed Classes, and Harijans are today increasingly adopting the term “Dalit” as a name for themselves.
“Dalit” refers to one’s caste rather than class; it applies to members of those menial castes which have borne the stigma of “untouchability” because of the extreme impurity and pollution connected with their traditional occupations. Dalits are considered impure and polluting and are therefore physically and socially excluded and isolated from the rest of society.
How did caste come about?
Though many Hindus subscribe to the belief that one is born into a certain caste, this belief is not supported by their scriptures. The caste system in India has degenerated into a system falsely recognizing men born in Brahmin families as Brahmins, even though they don’t exhibit the qualities of Brahmins. This has caused many problems.
In Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 4, Shloka 13), Lord Krishna speaks to Arjuna as he clarifies the origin and purpose of the caste system in sanaatana dharma (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 4, Shloka 13).
cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ.
tasya kartāramapi māṃ viddhyakartāramavyayam.
“The four-fold order was created by Me according to the divisions of quality and work. Though I am its creator, know Me to be incapable of action or change.”
The four varnas are named – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. They constitute the four-fold order. The three gunas – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas – and the law of karma – these four elements were divided by Me to create the four varnas.
The emphasis is on guna (aptitude) and karma (function) and not on jaati (birth). The varna or the order to which we belong is independent of sex, birth or breeding. A varna is determined by temperament and vocation – not by birth or heredity.
According to the Mahabharata, the whole world was originally of one class but later it became divided into four divisions on account of the specific duties.
ekavarṇama idama pūrvaṃ viśvama āsida yudhiśthira.
karmakriyāviśesena caturvarṇyama pratiśthitama.
Even the distinction between caste and outcast is artificial and unspiritual. An ancient verse points out that the Brahmins and the outcast are blood brothers.
antyajo viprajātiśa ca eka eva sahodarah.
ekayoniprasūtas ca ekasākhena jāyate.
In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira says that it is difficult to find out the caste of persons on account of the mixture of castes. Men beget offspring in all sorts of women. So conduct is the only determining feature of caste according to the sages.
“Untouchability” and caste-based discrimination are purely social evils not accepted or recognised anywhere in the Hindu scriptures.
The word “caste” is derived from the Portuguese word “casta” which means lineage, race or breed.
Many people still fail to see that the caste system was never an integral part of Hinduism, it was just created for structural purposes. The classification (varna) embodied the mindset of a person. The Brahmins are supposed to be wise and well-read who understood the scriptures, who had the mindset of a seer. The Kshatriya varna had the mindset of a master, a Vaishya had a mindset of a trader and someone from the Shudra varna had the mindset of a follower.
It is crucial to note that in the Vedic times the classification was also transferable, a Brahmin could become a warrior and a Shudra could become a sage and vice versa. Sage Valmiki, was a robber who wrote Ramayana, sage Vishwamitra was once a king, sages Dronacharya & Kripacharya taught archery to the Pandavas.
The caste system neither enhances the Hindu philosophy nor is it essential to it. It is fundamental to understand that all of us have a choice in choosing our varna based on our inclinations.
The rituals in the Vedas ask the noble or the king to eat with the commoner from the same vessel. Hindu philosophy emphasises equality of all mankind.
ajyeṣṭhāso akaniṣṭhāsa ete sam
bhrātaro vāvṛdhuḥ saubhagāyaa
No one is superior, none inferior. We are all brothers, marching forward to prosperity.
Rg Veda (5.60.5)
Historically, many of the revered rishis were Dalits. The authors of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Maharishis Valmiki and Vyas respectively, were Dalits.
The following example illustrate that the Varna System of the Vedas was based upon one’s aptitude and natural capabilities.
*Sage Vyasa, a Brahmin sage and the most revered author of major Hindu scriptures, was the son of Satyavati, a low caste woman. Vyasa’s father, Sage Parasara, had fallen in love with Satyavati, a fisherwoman, and had married her. Vyasa’s deep knowledge of the Vedas later determined the caste of Vyasa as Brahmin sage, and not his birth to a low caste woman.
*Sage Valmiki, the celebrated author of of the epic, the Ramayana, was a low caste hunter. He came to be known as a Brahmin sage on the basis of his profound knowledge of the scriptures and his authorship of the Ramayana.
*Rishi Vasishta was the son of a prostitute, but honoured as a sage.
*The Kauravas and Pandavas were the descendants of Satyavati, a low caste fisherwoman, and the sons of Sage Vyasa. Vyasa’s father was the Brahmin Sage Parasara, the grandson of Sage Vasishtha. In spite of this mixed heredity, the Kauravas and Pandavas were known as Kshatriyas on the basis of their occupation.
*Chandragupta Maurya was from the Muria tribe, which used to collect peacock (mor) feathers.
*Samrat Ashok was the son of a daasi.
In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira defines a Brahmin as one who is truthful, forgiving, and kind.
“A Shudra is not a Shudra by birth alone, nor a Brahmin is Brahmin by birth alone. He, it is said by the wise, in whom are seen those virtues is a Brahmin. And people term him a Shudra in whom those qualities do not exist, even though he may be a Brahmin by birth.”
He clearly points out that a Brahmin is not a Brahmin just because he is born in a Brahmin family, nor is a Shudra a Shudra because his parents are Shudras.
“It is asserted by the wise, in whom are seen truth, charity, forgiveness, good conduct, benevolence, observance of rites of his order and mercy is a Brahmin.”
Therefore, those that are wise have asserted that character is the chief essential requisite.
Adi Shankara had stated that by birth every human being is a Shudra. It is by education and upbringing that he or she becomes ‘twice born’, that is, a Dwija.
The Upanishads clearly states that the soul, whether of a Brahmin or a Chandal, is divine.
(Source: http://www.thehinduhub.org/blog/caste-system-the-bane-of-hinduism; http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/gita_castesystem.php; http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Caste_System6.htm; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35650616)
Quota in jobs and education:
India’s Constitution has banned discrimination on the basis of caste, and in a bid to correct historical injustices and provide a level playing field to the disadvantaged, the authorities announced quotas in government jobs and educational institutions for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in 1950.
How does caste work?
The upper and lower castes almost always lived in separated colonies, the wells were not shared for water, the Brahmins would not take food or drink from the Shudras, and one could marry only within one’s caste.
Traditionally, the system granted many privileges on the upper castes while sanctioning repression of the lower castes by the elite.
Despite the obstacles, Dalits and other low caste Indians such as B R Ambedkar who authored the Indian Constitution, and K R Narayanan who became India’s President, have risen to hold important positions in India.
During V P Singh’s government in 1989, quotas were extended to include a grouping called the OBCs (Other Backward Classes) which fall between the traditional upper castes and the lowest.
Jat community members are upset at the caste quota system, as they say it puts them at a disadvantage in government jobs and at state-run educational institutions.
Last year the Patel community led agitations in Gujarat demanding access to caste quotas. Both Jats and Patels are prosperous and politically dominant communities, but they support their demand for quotas by saying a huge number of people in their communities are poor and suffering.
Quota was meant to be a temporary affirmative action plan to improve the lot of the downtrodden. However, it has now become a vote-grabbing exercise for many a politician.
KHAM votes
Veteran Gujarat Congress leader and ex-Chief Minister Madhavsinh Solanki had stitched the KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) alliance before the 1980 election that completely shifted the balance of power from Patel-Brahmins-Baniyas to OBCs, Dalits and tribals in the caste constellation of the prosperous Gujarat state.
Madhavsinh, a four-time Chief Minister who rode to power on the KHAM coalition, managed to alienate upper castes in the state.
It was under Madhavsinh’s rule in 1985, when as a result of the KHAM effect, the Congress got a landslide in the state assembly with 149 seats out of 182.
In Gujarat the parties recognise the electoral importance of this section.
Mandal Commssion Report:
On January 1, 1979, the Morarji Desai government chose B P Mandal, a former Chief Minister of Bihar, to head the Second Backward Class Commission. Mandal submitted his report on December 31, 1980. By then, the Morarji Desai government had fallen. It remained in deep freeze during Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure.
On August 7, 1990, then Prime Minister V P Singh announced in Parliament that his government had accepted the Mandal Commission report, which recommended 27% reservation for OBC candidates at all levels of its services. With the implementation of the report, Other Backward Classes made its way into the lexicon of India’s social justice movement.
Soon protests against the OBC quota began in Delhi. In September, Rajeev Goswami, a Delhi University student, immolated himself, sustaining 50 per cent burns. He survived the immolation bid, but soon a number of youths followed suit.
Doctor and the Mahatma:
The conflict between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr B R Ambedkar began a long time ago but it came head-to-head in the 1930s when India was still a British colony. Ambedkar was really Gandhi’s nemesis. He challenged him intellectually, politically and morally.
Dr B R Ambedkar was a beloved figure, particularly among the Dalits or people who are formally known as Untouchables i.e. people right at the bottom of the caste ladder.
Ambedkar left a complicated legacy. He was a revolutionary leader, newpaper editor, politician and eventually helped in the drafting of the Indian Constitution. He was the chairman of the drafting committee. He was very unhappy with the Constitution when it came out. In some way it left out the passion, the anger and the rage that drove Ambedkar and this was a fight against the caste.
The Annihilation of Caste:
The Annihilation of Caste was a text of a speech Ambedkar never delivered. It was written in 1936. He was invited by a Hindu reformist privileged caste organisation called the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal. He gave the text in advance when they asked him to and when they read it they realised Ambedkar was going to use their platform to denounce the sacred texts of Hinduism and to call upon the Untouchables to renounce Hinduism and embrace any other religion that does not discriminate against human beings in this way. As a result, the invitation to him was cancelled. Then he published the Annihilation of Caste as a text. Gandhiji responded to that text. And Ambedkar responded to that response.
Today 100 million people are counted as Untouchables.
Untouchables were not allowed to use public roads used by the privileged class, not allowed to drink from the common well, not allowed into Hindu temples, not allowed to privileged caste schools, were not allowed to cover their upper bodies, were only allowed to wear certain kinds of clothes and jewellery.
Some castes like the Mahars, the caste to which Ambedkar belonged, had to tie brooms to their waist that would sweep away their ‘polluting’ footprints, while others had to hang spittoons around their necks to collect polluted saliava.
Men of privileged caste had undisputed rights over the bodies of Untouchable women. In many parts of India all this continues to this day.
Ambedkar called Hinduism a chamber of horrors – for the Untouchables it’s a chamber of horrors. He says: “There cannot be a more degrading system of social organisation than the caste system. It is a system that deadens, paralyses and cripples people from helpful activity.”
Gandhiji disagreed. He believed caste represented the genius of Indian society. In his Gujarati journal Navjeevan in 1921, he wrote: “I believe that if Hindu society has been able to stand it is because it is founded on the caste system. To destroy caste and adopt the Western European social system means Hindus must give up the principle of hereditary occupation which is the soul of caste. The hereditary principle is an eternal principle. To change it is to create disorder. I have no use for a Brahmin if I cannot call him Brahmin for my life. It will be chaos if everyday a Brahmin is changed into a Shudra and a Shudra is changed into a Brahmin.”
Gandhi campaigned against untouchability. But caste is about entitlement, access to resources, right to study, access to water and land. These things Gandhiji never questioned.
Unlike racism and apartheid, caste is not colour-coded. It is not easy to see. Caste is not the same as race but casteism and racism are both forms of discrimination that target people because of their descent. To support caste is very much like supporting racism or apartheid.
When Ambedkar called upon Untoucables to give up Hinduism, Untouchables were about 44 million at that time.
During the Mughal reign, hundreds of Untouchables had converted to Islam, later to Chritianity and Sikhism to escape the scourge of caste.
Who will represent Untouchables?
The question was who will represent the 44 million Untouchables? Hindu reformists Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Ram Krishna Mission all spoke out against untouchability but not against caste. The whole idea was to bring these 44 million into Hindu fold but to keep them in servants quarters.
Ambedkar was against caste. He lobbied for Untouchables to represent themselves or form their own political constituency. This is what Gandhiji and other privileged caste reformers did not want. It is this battle of political representation that was at the core of conflict between Gandhiji and Ambedkar.
Ambedkar led Mahad Satyagraha on 20 March 1927 to allow Untouchables to use water in a public tank in Mahad (currently in Raigad district), Maharashtra. Dalits marched through the town to insist that Dalits should be allowed to drink water from a public tank. They drank water from the public tank. The Brahmins purified the tank by pouring cowdung. Gandhiji did not support the Mahad Satyagraha.
Speaking in the same year in Lahore, Gandhiji said Untouchables should try to get their way by sweet persuasion because when they do Satyagraha it actually amounts to ‘Duragraha’.
In 1930 the first rountable conference was held in London. The British government called this conference in order to devise a constitution for home rule. There were representatives from Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and for the first time the Untouchables represented by Ambedkar. The Congress party run by privileged caste Hindus, Brahmins, Baniyas were boycotting it because of the salt Satyagraha (Dandi). That was when Ambedkar developed this brilliant proposal for double vote. He said Untouchable people should be allowed to vote for their own representative and then they should be given another vote to vote for a general representative for a period of 10 years until they can develop themselves into a constituency. The British and every one there accepted that.
Then there was a second rountable conference in 1931 when Gandhiji was nominated by the Congress to represent them. It was at this conference that Gandhiji and Ambedkar had their first confrontation. But before the official confrontation the two met. Ambedkar was a vociferous critic of the Congress party which according to Gandhiji amounted to being critic of the home land. Ambedkar told Gandhiji that “I have no home land. No Untouchable worth his name would think of this as his home land.”
And then at the conference where Gandhiji said: “I in myself in my own person represent India’s 44 million Untouchables.” He refused to acknowledge that Ambedkar could have a voice or could ask for this separate constituency. He agreed about Muslims, Sikh, Christians but Untouchables will not have a separate constituency.
Ambedkar believed Brahminism and capitalism were the real enemies of people. Caste is not a division of labour but division of labourers.
Who are the Jats, and what are they demanding?
Jats are an agricultural caste group in Haryana, and seven other states in North India, notably Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Haryana, they are the predominant caste, and therefore politically influential. The Jats across Haryana are demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions under the OBC category.
Patidars in Gujarat:
On July 6, 2015, Hardik Patel, 22, started an agitation under the banner of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti to demand the inclusion of Patidars in the OBC list. A huge rally in Ahmedabad on August 25 led to caste riots. At least 9 Patidar youths and one cop was killed.
Patidars, who are farmers, are counted among Gujarat’s wealthiest communities. They have nearly 14% of the vote share. They have applied to the Gujarat OBC commission seeking OBC status.
Kapus in Andhra
On January 31, sidelined former TDP leader Mudragadda Padmanabham called a meeting of Kapus to demand the TDP government fulfil its poll promise to include Kapus in the BCs list. The crowd turned violent, set a train and vehicles on fire. The government has been dragging its feet in giving guidelines to the K L Manjunath Commission constituted to recommend the inclusion of Kapus in the BC list without disturbing the existing quotas. Kapus constitute 23.4% of the population of AP.
Legal issues involved in granting reservation to Jats:
On March 17, 2015, the Supreme Court quashed the UPA government’s decision to extend the OBC quota in central government jobs to Jats, refusing to accept that Jats were a backward community. As a result, the reservation introduced for Jats in Haryana and in Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Bharatpur and Dholpur districts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was set aside. In April 2015, the NDA government filed a review petition in the Apex Court against the March 17 verdict. A decision on it is pending.
Jat Reservation Background
While the Jat community wants their much-awaited reservation quota, the Haryana government has said that the Jats will be granted reservation in the coming assembly under special category. Many think the Jat reservation is not justified as they are not low caste.
When the Mandal commission was implemented in August 1990, the Jat community was not included in the Other Backward Classes list. Surprisingly, the Jat leader Devi Lal was the Deputy PM in the V P Singh government that had implemented the Mandal Commission recommendations, still the Jats were left out.
Seven years later, Jats in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh demanded that the Jat community should be included in the central list of Other Backward Classes. However, the demand was turned down by National Commission for Backward Classes.
A year later after the protest, National Commission for Backward Classes recommended the Jat quota reservation under the OBC category. However, the I K Gujral government in the late 1990s didn’t pay any heed to it.
In 1999, during the Rajasthan elections, Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised OBC status to the Jat community in Rajasthan. The promise paid rich dividends and the party won 16 seats out of 25.
The BJP government under A B Vajpayee delivered its promise and granted the Jats the OBC status in Rajasthan except Bharatpur and Dholpur. This encouraged the Jats of other states to demand the OBC quota.
The political parties knew the weak point of Jats in Haryana by now and so nearly all the parties promised them reservations under the OBC category. Congress’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda too had promised Jat reservation, but the Congress government after winning the elections didn’t keep its word. This led to protests and Jat agitation, but at a lesser scale.
Four years later, the Jats finally formed a committee to fight for their demand. Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti was born whose main work was to organize protests and rallies. This is when the violence started when they started destroying public property.
Almost all the states in India with a substantial Jat presence started demonstrations in their states. However, when the demands were not met, they organized bandhs, halted trains and burnt public property.
In 2014, just before the assembly elections, the Hooda government in Haryana okayed the Jat reservation a day before the national election along with other 4 castes under Specially Backward Class quota. However, the Apex Court and National Commission for Backward Classes refused the Haryana government’s quota recommendations.
After the 2014 elections and prior to Haryana elections, even the ruling BJP government supported Hooda’s decision. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court turned down the Hooda government’s plea to give the Jats a 10% reservation.
After the violent Jat agitation in Haryana this year with death toll rising to 19 and 200 people being injured, the Manohar Lal Khattar government has agreed to give Jats a reservation under special provision.
Ideally the Jats cannot demand reservation on the basis of their caste.
So why do Jats still want what they want?
A simple answer to this would be unemployment. They need quota not because they feel their caste is backward but because India's economy has not been able to provide sufficient job opportunities to the youth. Hence, their caste has become a reason for them to wreak havoc for quota.
Who is responsible for the current impasse?
The accountability for the current impasse squarely rests with some of the past and the present political leadership. The problem is India has a good political tradition of first giving a cause to people, making tall and false pre-poll promises, and then failing to keep the word once the elections are over.
Rohith Vemula suicide:
“The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind.”These were the departing words of Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula. Vemula’s suicide on January 17, 2016, has revived the caste debate across the country.
If India wants to change – then both caste discrimination and reservation system based on caste have to be taken off from Indian schools and the mindset of people in India.
The biggest faultline in the provisions of the Indian Constitution, however, well intention it may have been, which gives politicians both advantage and disadvantage by taking a correct stand on the question of quota and reservation which has proved to be counter-productive and divisive – a serious threat for the well-being of a nation.
(Guided by CB Patel)
How did a Portuguese word Caste become so inextricably linked with Hindus of India?
It turns out that it is a British invention. The idea of Hindu Castes is based on third hand information contained in a manuscript titled Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies bought by Lord William Bentinck (Governor General of India 1828 to 1835) from a Frenchman Jean-Antoine (Abbe) Dubois. The Hindu Caste System was invented by colonial bureaucracy of the British Raj in order to deal with the Hindu majority who they defined as 'having no religion – heathen' because Hindus did not identify themselves as Christian, Muslim or Jewish. Because Hindus were the majority, this introduced the concept of 'minority religions' in India that had to be protected. For Hindus, Caste meant occupation because you had to have an occupation so that the British Raj could collect revenue (taxes). In cases where a relevant occupation could not be allocated, an ancestral occupation was invented. Those who did not fit in or comply with this system were allocated the designation of Criminal Caste. Thus this bureaucratic system became the prism through which everything to do with Hindus (as indigenous people of India), was dissected, examined and then reconstructed to fit in with the European idea of not who, but what a Hindu was i.e. a Caste designation. The Caste designation was then used as a yardstick to decide whether or not a particular Caste group (not individual) 'measured up' to the European Caste mindset. For Hindus what this meant was that without a Caste designation you could not work and if you did not work you were designated Criminal Caste.
(Source: The European Caste Mindset – Anjana N Patel)
