The Practice of Caste

The practice of caste distinction is unjust, unnecessary to the practice of the Hindu religion, and should be stopped forthwith.The problem is that there are no means of doing so- other than the agonizingly slow, but tellingly sure means of education and the creation of economic opportunities: of and for both the oppressor and the oppressed.

This is already taking place in India- and urbanization seems to be the key.( For example, read this article).

The issue of the abolition of caste barriers is often not acceptable to many upper class members of villages: probably because it affects their ability to call upon the labour of the dalits at their will. Those who defy the edict of the village elders often end up facing exemplary punishment.

To properly identify the issues involved, one needs to have as clear an understanding as possible of the three separate terms: Scheduled Castes(SC), Scheduled Tribes(ST) and Other Backward Castes(OBC).They are all different, and one must never confuse one with another.One also needs to know what the Indian Parliament has done over the years, what the Indian Constitution says, and what views the Supreme Court of India has held.For a concise overview, this excellent article by Amit Bhattacharya cannot be bettered.

It is a misconception that being a SC, ST or OBC necessarily means being poor or deprived.This is usually true for SCs, very often true for STs , and there appears to be very little correlation for OBCs.Read this article.An even more detailed article ,dealing with OBC's with special reference to South India is this one .In tandem, poverty, lack of education and deprivation exists also among the so-called "forward classes", as well as among non-Hindus.The communists in particular have argued in favour of affirmative action based on income level and not caste.

To avoid over-simplification, and to show the complexity of what is involved, I must point out that it is often the Other Backward Castes who oppress the Dalits!.

As an instance, read an account of recent atrocities on Dalits in this article. Two points are noteworthy:

1. The first two incidents refer to the torching of a Dalit settlement by Jats on the outskirts of Delhi in Haryana.Jats are recognized as "OBC(Other Backward Caste)" in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan,and are clamouring for a similar status in other states. The second refers to the intimidation of an elected Dalit woman panchayat member by a Yadav, who are one of the most rich and powerful members of the OBCs in North India.




2. Politicians are quick to enter the fray .







Continued.