how did caste system chamged in modern democracy
Answers
In India, the caste system developed and is prevalent since ancient times and it remains as a great thorn and mystery in the flesh of Mother India.It is believed to have been adopted by the Brahmins to express their superiority and to maintain it. Then the Aryan races swept into India from the North and they wanted them to be superior to the insiders and so they maintained the prevalent caste systems. Gradually the caste system became formalized into four major groups, each with its own rules and regulations and code of conduct.
The caste system finds its origin in functional groupings, called varnas, which have their origins in the Aryan society. In their creation myth, four varnas are said to have emanated from the Primeval Being. "According to the Rig Veda hymn, the different classes sprang from the four limbs of the Creator. The Creator’s mouth became the Brahman priests, his two arms formed the Rajanya (Khastriyas), the warriors and kings, his two thighs formed the Vaishya landowners and merchants, and from his feet were born the Shudra (Untouchables) artisans and servants. It was meant to show that the four classes stood in relation to the social organization in the same relation as the different organs of the Primordial Man to his body. Together they had to function to give vitality to the body politic.”
"A person’s worth is determined by his knowledge and capacity and the inherent qualities which mark his conduct in life.” The four fold division of castes’ says the Creator in the Bhagavad Gita, “was created by me according to the apportionment of qualities and duties.” “Not birth, not sacrament, not learning, make one dvija (twice-born), but righteous conduct alone causes it.” “Be he a Sudra or a member of any other class, says the Lord in the same epic, “he that serves as a raft on a raftless current , or helps to ford the unfordable, deserves respect in everyway.”
This caste system became fixed and hereditary with the emergence of Hinduism and its beliefs of pollution and rebirth. The Laws of Manu (Manusmitri), refer to the impurity and servility of the outcastes, while affirming the dominance and total impunity of Brahmins. Those from the “lowest” castes are told that their place in the caste hierarchy is due to their sins in a past life. Vivid punishments of torture and death are assigned for crimes such as gaining literacy or insulting a member of a dominant caste. Among the writings of Hindu religious texts, the Manusmitri is undoubtedly the most authoritative one, legitimizing social exclusion and introducing absolute inequality as the guiding principle of social relations.
How did caste system affect:
The religious leaders of Hinduism created the oppressive caste system as an essential component of the religion.
It does not allow for upward mobility in society. If a person's family comes from the lower economic strata, in a society based on a caste system, that person would need to remain within that restricted level.
However so long as a caste system is designed on he basis that people placed in a given caste have the appropriate skills and disposition for their a caste it improves efficiency as over time people in a given caste will become more specialized at fulfilling the duties of their caste. This however is often not the case and castes are more often based solely on social and economic power, not the actual suitability of the given people's abilities to their caste.
In my opinion, the caste system affects the society by making the people more exposed to prejudice, stereotyping and other things. These differences in rankings often cause disputes within the society. However, how it affects the society depends on how you see it.
Caste system is filled with inequality and injustice. There is no point in calling casteism as a system or a process, rather it is an evil. Indian society is cast ridden. The people of one caste don’t like to mix with others. This division of society into so many religions, castes and sub-castes comes in the way of the unity and integrity of the Indian nation. People vote on the basis of caste and religion and do not take the merits of the candidate into consideration. Democracy itself has become a mockery owing to this evil.
Social reform movements emerged, many of which demanded a reduction or end to inequalities based on caste. The growth of mass politics and associational activity increased the political participation and to a lesser extent the political representation of the middle castes. Some leaders of the Indian nationalist movement and the Congress Party, the strongest political forces of the late colonial period, promised to reduce or eradicate caste-based inequalities once India became independent. However, forces to defend caste privilege remained strong both in society and in the Indian nationalist movement.