views on equality,gender equality and caste system
Answers
Answer:
We live in India, the largest democracy in the world. This means that in India, there is a rule of the people, by the people and for the people. There are many important requirements for a country to truly be democratic and the most important is Equality for its citizens. This means that everybody is equal in the eyes of law, without any discrimination on grounds of race, religion, gender, caste, class or birth.
Equality is so important because it preserves the “dignity” of an individual. Dignity means self-respect and the respect an individual deserves from others for being a fellow human being. It is an essential and basic human right. However, this ideal case doesn’t exist. Even today, many forms of inequality exist in India.
Types of Inequality in India:
Casteism
The caste system is an ancient, age-old belief system that plagues India till today. It is a system that has divides Hindus into rigid, hierarchical occupational groups called “varna“. It considers some groups “pure” and some “impure”. This Varna system includes four Varnas- Bhramin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, in descending order of purity. Today also, discrimination against people of various caste groups is common in rural areas, but surprisingly, even among educated urban dwellers
Untouchability
equality and democracy
Due to the above Varna system, one of the most negative, yet unique features of India is the untouchability system. This system wrongly looks at the people from the lower castes as “impure”. Other people of higher castes used to refrain from touching them, thus calling them “untouchables“. When such cruel incidents are still seen in the news, it is an embarrassment to our country and us.
Gender Discrimination
equality and democracy
In India, traditionally, females and males were given rigid roles that they had to follow. For example, in villages, women are expected to cook, clean, bear children and raise them and men are the ones who work and earn money. The law does not allow such kind gender discrimination. Males and females are equal in the eyes of law and they must be given equal dignity and opportunities.