What is the meaning of "Political Mobilisation"?
Answers
Caste in Indian society refers to a social group where membership is decided by birth.[1] Members of such local group are endogamous, i.e. they tend to enter into marital relationships among themselves. They often have related political preferences, similar to the racial preferences for the Democratic and Republican parties in the USA.[2]
For political/government purposes, the castes[3] are broadly divided into[4][5]
Forward Castes (about 15% of population)Other Backward Classes (OBC) (about 41% of population)Scheduled Castes (about 20% of population)Scheduled Tribes (about 9% of population)The Indian Muslims (13.4%), and Christians (2.3%) often function as castes since they too marry among themselves.
Official lists are compiled by states recognizing the OBC,Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The dividing lines can be ambiguous, several castes have demanded a lower rank so that they can avail the privileges offered. The termUpper caste also refers to Forward castes, when news reports refer to the Scheduled castes in relation to the two upper groups.