Dear Readers,
It is a new story in the press every single day. The latest brouhaha to catch my attention and pick on my nerve is that of Sakshi Misra. The daughter of a BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh, has struck headlines recently after she married a man from the Dalit background. Personally, I see two people wishing to spend the rest of their lives together, regardless of their caste, faith and religion as their personal choice and conforming to our culture. However, I was mistaken. The larger chunk of our society saw two people from separate castes coming together in an alliance in a way where they did not follow basic rules.
Today, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify a few common misconceptions. The Manusmriti, one of Hinduisms many Dharmasastras is often misquoted and used out of context. The whole division of Hindus into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishhyas, and Shudras is believed to be hereditary. However, that is not the case. I have read pieces of Manusmriti and know for a fact that the division of castes was merely based on occupations, and was karma-based. I believe the four castes were not bestowed upon people as per the families they were born in.
In fact, no vedas or upanishads have ever mentioned God or the much-talked about caste system. They only speak of values and morals. As per my humble knowledge, after the 11th to 12th century, when India first became acquainted to Afghan and the Muslim population, attempts of religious conversion of people became rampant. The caste system was used by Gurus and Hindu leaders then to help people. And in a way, it even did.
Caste has mostly remained an outline of how certain spiritual and other leaders wanted the general public to live. It hasn't necessarily meant that ALL of them followed the guidelines. It is evident in the Puranas too. So much has been written on Rishis who were not Brahmins and kings who were not Kshatriyas. There is a Guru in Maharashtra who is by caste, a Vankar. Back in those days, caste worked as a shield. But times have changed now.
The new, progressive, global India does not need such suffocating notions. The caste-based society is binding our population into a concrete box. The system is of no importance to Indians within the country and overseas. It is only those people with their vested interests who use it as a crutch and every so now and then, use it to push other people down.
BR Ambedkar's wife was a Brahmin and they lived a long happy married life. Be it Kabir or Sai Baba, neither believed in caste and saw beyond it and the effect they had on so many lives now remains alive in history.
What I am trying to say here, is that it's an unnecessary arrangement that is creating confusion. It is confining the community and hindering growth, not to mention that its especially cruel on the young. In the last 70 years of Indian independence, caste has managed to permeate in a person's day to day life despite Ambedkar's best of efforts. What do you think reservation is? It is purely caste-based politics.
No political party in India has any shame in exploiting the system. Their leaders are so used to resorting to caste to appeal to the public that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward class seemed worth opposing to them. In this day and time, if India wants to develop as a nation and explore democracy then secularism, inclusiveness, and unity are paramount. However, that seems to be the least of the priorities to several political gundas.
Sooner the caste-based social fabric is buried, the better. This is in no way related to the common good. But most importantly, it gives India a negative image- an intolerant image.
One shining example of defying the caste system is of a man whose legacy is unfortunately not very well-known. Ambubhai Patel was in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprisings. He used his experience as an Indian freedom fighter to take an active role in attaining freedom for Kenya. Patel had worked closely with Jomo Kenyatta and even took in his daughter Margaret into his home when Kenyatta was detained.
There is one incident that draws the difference between Kenyatta and Ambubhai. The two were once in car in Nairobi when Ambubhai became critical over Kenyatta's exploitation of people. The latter made the driver stop the car and ordered Ambubhai to get down. Ambubhai later went to India and resided in Anand, Gujarat. His daughter Lakshmi presented her intentions to marry a harijan. The ever so progressive-thinking man, he readily made arrangements and printed wedding cards that stated his daughter is marrying a harijan and guests are invited to come in and give the couple their blessings.
Even in the 1960s, there were people who took such bold steps and did their bid in changing the society. It is about time. The nation needs to wake up.
