An article on 'Caste system, a hindrance to progress
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RTUNES OF INDIA:A government decision to conduct a caste census next year has sharpened the debate on the place of caste in India's fast-changing society, writesMARY FITZGERALDin IndiaSUNITA JATAV never imagined that something as innocuous as feeding some leftover chapatti to a local dog would incur the wrath of her village council.Nor did she expect elders to impose a fine of 15,000 rupees (€245) – an enormous sum for any villager.Her crime? Sunita is a Dalit, a categorisation that puts her on the lowest rung of India’s millennia-old caste system. According to the dog’s upper caste owner, the animal had beenrendered “untouchable” by the simple act of taking food from her.The incident, which took place in the central state of Madhya Pradesh last month, is one of the more bizarre manifestations of an ancient social hierarchy which remains stubbornly prevalent in India’s fast-changing society.India’s 1949 constitution abolished caste and introduced a system of quotas in areas such as education to encourage a levelling of the inequalitiesformed by it. But caste’s continuing shadow over a modernising India reveals itself in many ways: from the hundreds of caste-related crimes, including murder, rape and arson, recorded each year; to the caste-obsessed matrimonial ads in newspapers and matchmaking websites; and the practice of separate cups for Dalits that prevails in many rural tea shops.Despite the advent of a burgeoning middle class, sociologists say the castesystem, which was originally based on occupation, remains the biggest obstacle to social mobility.Given that less than 5 per cent of the country’s 1.2 billion people are upper caste Brahmins, and more than 70 percent derive from lower castes, enduring caste divisions present a formidable challenge to India’s future prospects.But the answer to the question of how much caste matters in India today changes as you travel from the impoverished states of India’s north to its prosperous south. For several reasons, including a traditionally strong emphasis on education, the grip of caste has loosened to a far greater degree in southern India. The region boasts several successful entrepreneurs who have emerged from the lower castes. In the north, however, progress has been hobbled by political parties that have exploited caste identity as a way to mobilize voters. Such is the power of caste in the politics of northern India that, as the hoary expression puts it, people don’t cast their vote; they vote their caste.
Answer:
Indian caste system
During the time of the Rigveda, there were two varnas: arya varna and dasa varna. The distinction originally arose from tribal divisions. The Vedic tribes regarded themselves as arya (the noble ones) and the rival tribes were called dasa, dasyu and pani. The dasas were frequent allies of the Aryan tribes, and they were probably assimilated into the Aryan society, giving rise to a class distinction. Many dasas were however in a servile position, giving rise to the eventual meaning of dasa as servant or slave
India’s caste system is a social structure that divides different groups into ranked categories. Members of “higher” castes have a greater social status than individuals of a “lower” caste. Indian law prohibits discrimination by caste, although caste identities remain of great significance at the local level, especially in relation to marriage. A survey in 2005 found that only 11 per cent of women had married a man of different caste.
1) Brahmins
2) Kshatriyas
3) vaishyas
4) shudras
5) Dalits
The caste system is the bane for the Indian society. It divides the Indian society into sectarian groups and classes. Even today, it plays a predominant role in our society despite the growth of culture and civilisation.
The people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, referred to as ‘untouchables’ form one-sixth of India’s population or 160 million; they endure discrimination and segregation
Article 15 of the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on caste and Article 17 declared the practice of untouchability to be illegal. In 1955, India enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act (renamed in 1976, as the Protection of Civil Rights Act). It extended the reach of law, from intent to mandatory enforcement. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was passed in India in 1989
A caste system is a way of dividing a society into differently ranked tiers of people. Lower castes were denied access to basic healthcare and education and often shunned entirely from society, left to do jobs considered 'unclean' such as waste disposal, toilet cleaning and cremation: