Caste System in India: An Analysis


ABSTRACT 

     The Indian caste system is a system of social divisions and compulsions in India in which communities are distinguished by thousands of endogamous heritable groups known as Jatis. On the other hand, democracy means that every citizen of India must enjoy the democratic values like equality, fraternity, liberty, secularism and justice. But the striking prospect regarding social, economic and political relations circumambulate around the issues of discrimination, untouchability and inequality which wholly and solely rely on caste, class, gender and race. The controversies and strife of Indian socio- economic order remained almost constant even after 71 years of Independence. This much time is more than enough for the society to realize their flaws and mistakes that are predominant in the society that has completely shattered the social order. But even at the onset of modern age or 21st century, Indian society has not succeeded yet to resolve its contradictions and errors. Despite the endeavors taken by the Post- Independent Indian state towards the goal of equality, liberty, harmony and justice, the concept of discrimination and disharmony and inequality has not been diminished yet. The present paper unveils the issues of suppression, oppression, discrimination, exploitation over a targeted group of people namely Dalits (lower castes) who are still the backward classes of Indian society and with which Indian democracy is at stake. Thus the country of India would lose the title of being a democratic country, if the discrimination, dehumanization remain continuous.

KEY WORDS :

     Caste system, Dalit, Discrimination, Exploitation, Untouchability and Restoration

INTRODUCTION :

     In reality the socio- economic discrimination is still the pivot of Indian social order. The extreme tyranny and oppression on Dalits has now remained undefined and elusive. These marginalized sections of Indian society are not allowed to billow socially, politically, educationally and economically. All such opportunities are only offered to a particular section of society. The Dalits constitute more than 16% of the total Indian population. In order to maintain the political power in Independent India, Dalits generated a revolt against the Brahmanical order and dominance; but still could not get their social rights and thus remained suppressed and oppressed. The reason of their suppression is that almost all the higher positions are occupied by the upper class tyrants. Whenever they raised their slogans against the dominant castes, there was no one to hear them.

Dalits are those people who are subservient in all social, political, economic and educational aspects which covers the main reason of their humiliation, discrimination, dehumanization and oppression by the upper castes. SharankumarLimbale delineates the Dalits as:

Harijans and neo- Buddhists are not only the Dalits. The term describes all the untouchable communities living outside the boundary of the village, as well as Adiasis, landless farm- labourers, the suffering masses, and nomadic and criminal tribes. In explaining the world, it will not do to refer only to the untouchable castes. People who are lagging behind economically will also need to be included (Towards an Aesthetic 11).

Their exploitation and annihilation is directly associated with the Varna model which ramified the Hindu society in to four hierarchical orders i.e., the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras.  These three castes enjoyed all material comforts but the Shudras are not allowed. Shudras are subjected to perform menial work like scavenging, washing, land cultivation and shoe making. They got the tag of untouchables and are oftenly refused to eat and even not granted to sit with the members of the upper castes. This heinous and hideous condition of Dalits was felt and explored by some great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar and JotiraoPhule. They took some major steps for the upliftment of Dalits in India.  After Independence different social and political organizations came forward to rectify the pitiable circumstances of Dalits in India. For their social status and dignity two major steps were taken. Reservations in education, rights of voting and political participation were the major steps taken by the government of India to ameliorate the Dalit condition. But despite of such reservation policies provided by the government of India towards Dalits, their condition remained unchanged. In Indian constitution the term Dalit is oftenly employed as a substitute for Schedule Castes in India.

The term Dalit was later on popularized by new Buddhist activists i.e., the devotees of B.R. Ambedkar in early 1970s. Dalits are humiliated and suppressed by the upper classes in a deliberate way; treated them nasty and that is the reason of arousing caste hierarchy in Indian society. Thus according to Ambedkar the individual who is a Dalit do not believe in God, religion, rebirth, holy books, hell and heaven. He believes that all such concepts have made him a servile and serf. He only trusts on egalitarianism. The Dalit state itself discloses the torment of suffering and humiliation. In 1970s, Dalit panthers resurrected the term and implemented it on Schedule castes, poor peasants and all those who were being exploited socially, politically and economically in the name of caste and religion. Different names are given to these submissive groups like Chandala, Panchamas, Shudra, Anti- Shudras, Ashprush and Harijans. Thus Dalits are the people who represent the self- identification of a particular group of people who are conventionally treated as untouchables. They are the meek and annihilated masses of the society. The forking of Indian society generally among the Hindus is due to emergence of Varna or class system and has become the most barbarous, heinous and worst thing towards the members of the lower class. On the basis of ritual purity Indian society is divided into four sections. They are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. On the basis of ritual purity, the lower class in hierarchical order are severely humiliated and exploited.

            In Rigveda there is the amalgamation of different castes or groups with their own occupation and duties. Thus the Varna system treats the lower caste as filthy and impure and this ideology is highly prevalent in Hindu culture. The four classes and their culture and occupation are discoursed as:

The Brahmin occupies the first serene, sheeny and highest position among the four Varnas. He treats himself as Lord and God of the universe and demands reverence, respect and worship from others. He is simply a dominant person socially and culturally. Each Varna has its own specified occupation. Brahmins are treated as elite, ken and intellectuals of the society. They are always busy in gaining the highest religious knowledge and are associated to different branches of Vedas. Thus Brahmins treat their Varna most suave, cognizant and pedantic Varna of all Varnas. 

Among the four Varnas, Kshatriyas occupy the second position in Hindu hierarchical model in India. Kshatriyas are also called as a military caste. The traditional function of the Kshatriya is to protect society by fighting in wartimes and governing in peacetime. Apart from their governing and war fighting inheritance they have a very rich culture from centuries. The Kshatriya community is propagating rapidly and even in modern world they are following their culture and traditions in a modern way. The pivot of the Indian culture lies in the Kshatriya culture. There is uniqueness in their festivals and marriage ceremonies and their rituals are completely dissimilar from other Varnas. Kshatriyas are the people who possess the blood of warriors in their veins.

            Vaishya is a Sanskrit word which means settler or settlement. This varna occupies the third highest position among the four Varnas. They are aroused from the Brahma’s belly. Lord Krishna says in Bhagwat Gita that this Varna has the special bounty of God upon them and their brains are naturally embedded with professional knowledge and specialization. Usually they belong to the merchant class and are also shopkeepers, halwai etc. Apart from merchandizing they also play a vital role in the emergence of Indian culture.

            Shudras lies at the bottom of the hierarchical system and are usually engaged in performing the menial jobs. Conventionally they are peasants, cobblers, scavengers, servants etc. They are treated as smutty and filthy and are considered as inferior in rank from other three Varnas. They are also called as servile or subalterns. The term Shudra is magnificently constructed by Ambedkar as:

The Shudras were one of the Aryan communities of the solar race; there was a time when the Aryan society recognised only three varnas, namely Brahmin, Kshtriya, Vaishya. The Shudras did not form a separate vena. They ranked as a part of the Kshatriya varna in the Indo- Aryan society. There was a continuous feud between the Shudra king and the Brahmins in which the Brahmins were subjected to many tyrannies and indignities. As a result of the hatred towards Shudras generated by their tyrannies and oppressions, the Brahmins refused to perform the Upanayan of the Shudras and owing to the denial of Upanayana, the Shudras, who are actually Kshatriyas, became social degraded and fell below the rank of the Vaishyas and thus came to turn the fourth varna- class (Who are Shudras? 11-12).

It is because of the emergence of caste system that leads the Shudras to live a worst life like animals. Shudras are exploited, humiliated and divided on the religious basis and gave them the name of untouchables. The worst thing is that they are not granted to enter any village without permission and also forced to fetch water fromthe separate wells. Their worth is not more than the dogs and hogs. They eat food in broken utensils and their touch and shadows are considered as polluted. They are discriminated in every aspect and were believed to take birth for the purpose to serve the upper class people. Thus it becomes clear that it is only because of the emergence of caste system that is responsible for the ontogenesis of Dalits and Untouchability in India. In order to understand the background of Dalits and Untouchability, it is mandatory to comprehend the egression of caste system in India which reflects the hideous picture of untouchability. The Indian social order has adopted an important position in the world only because of its caste system.

In India the emergence of caste system has become most controversial facet of Indian life and conscience. Since from the time of British rule both historians and anthropologists treated India as a society of caste. Caste is also referred as a conduit of force and tyranny upon Indian people. In this regard Dr. Susan Bayly suggests: “Caste is not the essence of Indian culture and civilization. It rather a contingent and variable response to the enormous changes that occurred in the subcontinent’s political landscape both before and after the colonial conquest” (Paswan, Dalits and Practices 1). Caste includes the ancestral traits or genetic traits. Bateille says: “caste is a small and named group of persons characterised by endogamy, hereditary membership and a specific style of life which includes the pursuit by tradition of a particular occupation and is usually associated with a more or less distinct ritual status in a hierarchical system” (Caste, Class and power 46).

The term caste is taken from a Portuguese word Casta, which means race. Caste is usually used to define two concepts that are completely associated to one another i.e., ‘Jati’ (birth group) and ‘Varna’ (colour, class, order or kind). Caste is the only reason of people’s segregation. Rigveda and Pursasukta hymns are regarded as the first literary traces regarding the evolution of caste system in India. The division of Indian society in to various castes appeared in the age of Simritis and Sutras. They couched arduous and different rules in terms of marriage, occupation and religion. This age is responsible for the emersion of untouchability in India. Untouchability is the most horrendous and baneful aspect of caste system. Varna actually means ‘colour’, which is the pivot in the development of hierarchical system and distinguished people in to higher and lower ranks on the basis of ritual purity. It is the caste system that checks and governs the social, political, economic and educational life of Indians. The division of Indian people in to diverse groups is highly ascertained by their birth group. An individual’s birth in a particular caste determines his/ her success or failure. Thus the caste system emerged during the Purusasukta of Rigveda in about 500 B.C. The oppression and exploitation of the lower class is their destiny and their occupation is determined by God himself on the basis of moral values. In this arena Manu, the lawgiver says:

The principle of caste as a universal law of nature. The key principle of ‘caste Hindu’ thought is understood the code of duty, religious laws and right human conduct which defines the path of virtue (Dharma) and spiritual fulfillment for all mankind. The source of this Dharma is the will of the Divine creator who gave each of the four human archetypes or varnas a distinct moral quality, and a calling to follow. God the ‘Lustrous one’ made ‘separate innate activities’ for the different orders of humanity. He called these, ‘varnas’ and laid down their duties and responsibilities so as to make life in society comfortable and meaningful (Paswan, Dalits and Practices 3).

The advent of caste system in India has aroused the curse of untouchability in Indian society. The emergence of untouchability has entirely shattered the life of Dalits and subalterns. Untouchability snatched from them the rights of freedom, education, economy and political participation. Their destiny and destination remained only to the levels of scavenging, shoemaking and latrine cleaning. According to B.R. Ambedkar: “The distinction between the Hindus and the untouchables in its original form, before the advent of untouchability, was the distinction between tribes men and ‘broken men’ from alien tribes. It is the broken men who subsequently came to be treated as untouchables” (Michael, Dalits in Modern India 18). There are two reasons for the appearance of untouchability in India. First, Brahmanical hatred and envy against the depressed and exploited people who were converting themselves to Buddhism. Secondly, the depressed and broken men did not give up the habit of beef eating after it had given up by the others. There are also other reasons in the egression of untouchability in India. The reasons are stated by Manu as:

Untouchability is the punishment for miscegenation between a member of a high caste and that of a low caste or an outcaste. The children of such an unequal pair become Untouchables and the greater the social gap between the two parents, the lower the status of their children. The consequences are also more severe if the mother is of a superior caste. Thus, the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Shudra mother is called Nishada; the child becomes a fisherman. The offspring of a Shudra father and a Brahmin mother is called Chandala; he is the most degraded of all mortals. A degraded occupation is not the cause of untouchability, rather untouchability condemns a person to a low and impure occupation (Michael, Dalits in Modern India 17).

In the later times miscegenation or racial amalgamation was regarded as nasty. Due to the intensification of practice of untouchability the condition of Dalits became worst like animals and was drawn towards the lowest or bottom of the social order by the Aryans. Thus the arrival of Aryans is responsible for the segregation of Indian society. In order to comprehend the emersion of untouchability and Dalits in India, it is important to throw light on the historical background of ancient Indian society and Vedic period. By analysing these two aspects a clear picture is reflected in front of us regarding the emergence Dalit and untouchability in India.

The Varna system was developed by the Aryans for their well- being and pleasant life and this is the reason they segregated society in to four Varnas or classes. In terms of the early Vedic period there are meagre testimonials regarding the practice of untouchability. It is widely acknowledged that early Vedic period was free from the curse of untouchability. This age is marked with the generation highly embedded with compassion, sympathy, generosity and philanthropy. It was only the illegal entry of exotic Aryans who changed all the system of aboriginal society. Thus for the sake of blissful and hedonistic life, Aryans disintegrated Indian society in to four folds. Aryans developed their own culture which was not genetic. The mirror of the Rigvedic period reflects the period of liberty, honour and freedom and an individual’s free will of migrating from one Varna to another Varna without any halt. Aryans had completely different culture from the untouchables. Untouchables treated as outcasts, developed their own culture in order to differentiate themselves from the barbaric and cunning Aryans. Untouchables cannot hear the Vedas, cannot enter any temple and any village.

The rules, regulations and codes framed by the Aryans for their benefits were pictured by Manusmriti. Manusmriti is of the opinion that the untouchables should not be treated as humans, but as boars. The purpose of Manusmriti was to disintegrate the established social order and balance and to hold grip on the social order in order to supress the lower class. The atrocity and dehumanization of Manusmriti is presented as: “According to Manu, they were to be the hangman who were to be prohibited entry in to the villages and towns during day time, were to be stamped with some marks and were to serve as the undertakers for unclaimed corpses” (Sivaprakasam, Dalits and Social Mobilisation, 5). The rules and laws couched by Manusmriti for lower class; emphatically drew untouchables to abject adversity. Later on, the emergence and propagation of new rites and class system became genetic and the untouchables were not even allowed to listen to vedas. In class system, the untouchables are forcibly hurled in to the bottom of the varna system and obviously were linked to perform menial and defiled work.  They had to perform the menial jobs and thus got the tag of ‘out- castes’. The aboriginals of India were well mannered and well cultured. It was only because of the successive invasions of Aryans that resulted in the submission of the lower classes. They were forced to accept the new Aryan culture and to perform nasty and filthy work like scavenging, saddle repairing etc and left them meek generations after generations.

CONCLUSION:

     From the foregoing analysis it is now crystal clear that it was the Aryans that grabbed the social, political, economic and educational aspects and left nothing but only dehumanization and exploitation for lower classes. Their introduction of varna system transferred the well dignified and respectable life of aboriginals in to the life full of adversity and calamities. They are also responsible for the emersion of untouchability and hence Dalits in India. The Varna system or caste system imposed by Aryans in India is still the predominant concepts applied and adopted by the modern man, which resulted in the meekness and backwardness of lower classes in almost every aspect like economic, educational, political and social spheres of life. This would be a biggest threat to Indian democracy because this will not enable India to become a developed country. Until and unless the caste conceptions in India are not diminished, it will never run on a smooth track. Besides that fraternity, equality amongst all caste people would also enable this country to reach the pinnacles i.e., smooth democracy.

REFERENCES :

1.      Ambedkar, B.R. The Untouchables: Who were they? And why they became Untouchables. New Delhi: AmritBooks, 1848. Print.

2.      Who were Shudras? Dr. Ambedkar’s Writings and Speeches. Bombay : Government of Maharashtra, 1990. Print.

3.      Beteille, Andre. Caste, Class and Power- Changing Pattern of Stratification in a TanjoreVillage. Berkley: University of California Press, 1965. Print.

4.      Limbale, Sharankumar. Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature: History, Controversies and Considerations.Ed. Alok Mukherjee. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2004. Print.

5.      Massey, James. Dalits in India: Religion as a Source of Bondage or Liberation with Special Reference to Christians. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1995. Print.

6.      Paswan, Sadanand. Dalits and Practices of Untouchability. New Delhi: Adhyayan, 2011. Print.

 

AUTHOR:  Asif Ali Malik, Research Scholar, Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Madhya Pradesh

 

CITE THIS:

Malik, A. A. (2018). Caste System in India: An Analysis. Praxis International Journal of Social Science and Literature, 1(1). https:/www.pijssl.com 

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