CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

^^Illustrates my point about castes being a big issue in South Asia and especially in India and Pakistan where Hinduism and Islam is prevalent.

Tried to find a bit more about castes, something I don't agree with at all and find abit depressing to be honest but anyways..

The different castes in India and Hinduism with the Brahmins seen as the 'elite' caste. Pariah's are seen as 'untouchables'

Also you can see examples of this even in Indian popular culture such as movies, here's a scene in Lagaan - an Oscar nominated movie from India which tackles the idea of 'untouchables' and the caste system.

In-depth article on Wikipedia basically covers everything I was looking for on castes in India, here  it also covers caste systems among non-Hindus which was very helpful and interesting. Here it is...

The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis.

The Jātis were hypothetically and formally grouped by the Brahminical texts under the four well known categories (the varnas): viz Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (kings, warriors, law enforcers, administrators), Vaishyas (traders, bankers^[1][2]), and Shudras (Artisans, labourers, agriculturists, cattle raisers, craftsmen, service providers). Certain people like foreigners, nomads, forest tribes and the chandalas (who dealt with disposal of the dead) were excluded altogether and treated as untouchables. Although identified with Hinduism, in the past (1883 year data)^{[3][Full citation needed]} the caste-like systems were also observed among followers of other religions in the Indian subcontinent, including some groups of Muslims and Christians, most likely due to common cultural elements. Theoretically, all foreigners are considered to be casteless; in the 18th century, the high-caste Brahmins avoided undertaking sea trips, as they considered the European merchants as untouchable.^[4]

Contents   [hide]  1 History 1.1 Caste and social status 1.2 Reforms 1.3 British rule 2 Modern status of the caste system 3 Caste systems among non-Hindus 4 Caste-related violence 5 Caste politics 6 Criticism 6.1 Historical criticism 6.2 Contemporary criticism 6.2.1 Caste and race 7 Genetic analysis 8 In popular culture 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

[edit]History

Main article: History of the Indian caste system

There is no universally accepted theory about the origins of the Indian caste system. The Indian classes and Iranian classes ("pistras") show similarity,^[5] wherein the priests are Brahmins, the warriors are Kshatriya, the merchants are Vaishya, and the artisans are Shudras.^[6][7]

Nair soldiers attending the King ofCochin: A 16^th Century European portrait.

From the Bhakti school, the view is that the four divisions were originally created by Krishna. "According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society were created."^[8]

Criticisms of these understandings of the caste system point out that Varna itself means a complexion, and these Varnas are nothing more than a social classification based on the activities that the individual is involved in. Restrictions to performing religious rites were more related to the profession rather than the caste in which the person is born. i.e., an individual born in a Brahmin family involved in sweeping houses would be considered a Shudra, even though a Brahmin by birth.^{[citation needed]} Such an individual would have to go through a 'shuddhikaran' (purification), a bath in the Ganges or an equivalent procedure before being eligible to enter a temple.^{[citation needed]} There are instances in the Hindu religious tales illustrating birth not determining religious restrictions (Shabri, Valmiki, and others).^{[citation needed]} However, there are also instances showing birth determining religious restrictions (Shambuka, Ekalavya, and others).

[edit]Caste and social status

Traditionally, in north Indian society, the political power usually lay with the Kshatriyas, the economic power with the Vaishyas and Shudras, while the Brahmins, as custodians and interpreters of Dharma, enjoyed much prestige and were given many advantages by society, even though they were economically poor. Practising Brahmins, were in fact prohibited from owning wealth. ^[9]

Fa Xian, a Buddhist pilgrim from China, visited India around 400 AD. "Only the lot of the Chandals he found unenviable; outcastes by reason of their degrading work as disposers of dead, they were universally shunned... But no other section of the population were notably disadvantaged, no other caste distinctions attracted comment from the Chinese pilgrim, and no oppressive caste 'system' drew forth his surprised censure."^[10] In this period kings of Sudra and Brahmin origin were as common as those of Kshatriya Varna and caste system was not wholly prohibitive and repressive.^[11]

A page from the manuscript Seventy-two Specimens of Castes in India, which consists of 72 full-color hand-painted images of men and women of the various castes and religious and ethnic groups found in Madurai, India in 1837.^[12]

The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. Since British society was divided by class, the British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own social class system.^{[citation needed]} They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability.^[13] Intentionally or unintentionally, the caste system became more rigid during the British Raj, when the British started to enumerate castes during the ten-year census and codified the system under their rule.^{[citation needed]}

The Harijans, the people outside the caste system, had the lowest social status. The Harijans, earlier referred to as untouchables by some, worked in what were seen as unhealthy, unpleasant or polluting jobs. In the past, the Harijans suffered from social segregation and restrictions, in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled and had to bathe thoroughly to purge him or herself of the impurity. Social discrimination developed even among the Harijans; sub-castes among Harijans, such as the dhobi and nai, would not interact with lower-order Bhangis, who were described as "outcastes even among outcastes."

Sociologists have commented on the historical advantages offered by a rigid social structure as well as its drawbacks. While caste is now seen as anachronistic, in its original form the caste system served as an instrument of order in a society where mutual consent rather than compulsion ruled;^[14] where the ritual rights and the economic obligations of members of one caste or sub-caste were strictly circumscribed in relation to those of any other caste or sub-caste; where one was born into one's caste and retained one's station in society for life; where merit was inherited, where equality existed within the caste, but inter-caste relations were dynamic — often unequal and hierarchical. A well-defined system of mutual interdependence through a division of labour created security within a community.^[14][15] In addition, the division of labour on the basis of ethnicity allowed immigrants and foreigners to quickly integrate into their own caste niches.^[16]

The caste system played an influential role in shaping economic activities,^[17] where it functioned much like medieval European guilds, ensuring the division of labour, providing for the training of apprentices, development and protection of intellectual property and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialisation and global monopoly. For instance, producing each variety of cloth was the specialty of a particular sub-caste, but the weavers of Dhaka produced the renowned muslin that was in demand internationally. It has been suggested that the majority of people tend to be comfortable in stratified endogamous groups, as they have always been, since ancient times.^{[18][not in citation given (See discussion.)]}

Seventy-two Specimens of Castes in India, 1837.

Before the British use of Varna categories for enumerating and ranking the Jatis in the decennial census, the relative ranking of the Jatis and castes was fluid and differed from one place to another, based on their political and economic power.^[19] Sociologists such as Bernard Buber and Marriott McKim describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Other sociologists such as Y.B. Damle have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.^[20]

According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes. Flexibility in caste laws permitted very low-caste religious clerics such as Valmiki to compose the Ramayana, which became a central work of Hindu scripture. There is also precedent of certain Shudra families within the temples of the Sri Vaishnava sect in South India elevating their caste.^[20] The following is a list of changes in varna cited in Hindu texts:

• Manu eldest son [Priyavrata] became king, a Kshatriya. Out of his ten sons, seven became kings while three became Brahman. Their names were Mahavira, Kavi and Savana. (Ref bhagwat puran chap.5)
• Kavash Ailush was born to a Sudra and attained the varna of a Rishi. He became mantra-drashta to numerous Vedic mantras in Rig-Veda 10th Mandal.
• Jabala’s son [Satyakama] born from unknown father became Rishi by his qualities.
• [Matanga] became a Rishi after his birth in low Varna.

According to some psychologists, mobility across broad caste lines may have been "minimal", though sub-castes (jatis) may have changed their social status over the generations by fission, re-location, and adoption of new rituals.^[21]

Seventy-two Specimens of Castes in India, 1837.

Sociologist M. N. Srinivas has also debated the question of rigidity in caste. In an ethnographic study of the Coorgs of Karnataka, he observed considerable flexibility and mobility in their caste hierarchies.^[22][23] He asserts that the caste system is far from rigid — in which the position of each component caste is fixed for all time; instead, movement has always been possible, especially in the middle regions of the hierarchy. It was always possible for groups born into a lower caste to "rise to a higher position by adopting vegetarianism and teetotalism," i.e., adopt the customs of the higher castes. While theoretically "forbidden," the process was not uncommon in practice. The concept of sanskritization (the adoption of upper-caste norms by the lower castes) addressed the complexity and fluidity of caste relations.

The fact that many of the dynasties were of obscure origin suggests some social mobility: A person of any caste, having once acquired political power, could also acquire a genealogy connecting him with the traditional lineages and conferring Kshatriya status. A number of new castes, such as the Kayasthas (scribes) and Khatris (traders), are mentioned in the sources of this period. According to the Brahmanic sources, they originated from intercaste marriages, but this is clearly an attempt at rationalizing their rank in the hierarchy. Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of the Sanskrit Kshatriya.^[24] Many of these new castes played a major role in society. The hierarchy of castes did not have a uniform distribution throughout the country.^[25]

[edit]Reforms

Gandhi collecting money for Dalits, 1930s.

There have been challenges to the caste system from the time of Buddha,^[26] Mahavira and Makkhali Gosala. Opposition to the system of varṇa is regularly asserted in the Yoga Upaniṣad-s and is a constant feature of Cīna-ācāra tantrism, a Chinese-derived movement in Asom; both date to the medieval era. The Nātha system, which was founded by Matsya-indra Nātha and Go-rakṣa Nātha in the same era and spread throughout India, has likewise been consistently opposed to the system of varna.

Many Bhakti period saints rejected the caste discriminations and accepted all castes , including untouchables, into their fold. During theBritish Raj, this sentiment gathered steam, and many Hindu reform movements such as Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj renounced caste-based discrimination. The inclusion of so-called untouchables (Many untouchables converted to Buddhism) into the mainstream was argued for by many social reformers (see Historical criticism, below). Mahatma Gandhi called them "Harijans" (children of God) although that term is now considered patronizing and the term Dalit (downtrodden) is the more commonly used. Gandhi's contribution toward the emancipation of the untouchables is still debated, especially in the commentary of his contemporary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable who frequently saw Gandhi's activities as detrimental to the cause of upliftment of his people.^{[citation needed]}

In the south, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy had significantly contributed to social and caste reforms.

The practice of untouchability was formally outlawed by the Constitution of India in 1950, and has declined significantly since then, to the point of a society allowing former untouchables to take high political office, like former President K. R. Narayanan, who took office in 1997,^[27] and former Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan.^[28]

[edit]British rule

This section may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

The fluidity of the caste system was affected by the arrival of the British. Prior to that, the relative ranking of castes differed from one place to another.^[19] The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group.^{[citation needed]} The British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own class system, viewing caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability.^[13] During the initial days of the British East India Company's rule, caste differences and customs were accepted, if not encouraged,^[29] but the British law courts disagreed with the discrimination against the lower castes. However, British policies of divide and rule as well as enumeration of the population into rigid categories during the 10 year census contributed towards the hardening of caste identities.^[30]

[edit]Modern status of the caste system

**NFHS Survey estimated only Hindu OBC population. Total OBC population derived by assuming Muslim OBC population in same proportion as Hindu OBC population)

The massive 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests by higher-caste Hindus

The caste system is still socially relevant in India, even when the topic is avoided by general rhetoric. Caste has become (see Caste politics in India) an important factor in the politics of rural India, although elections in the first decade of the 21st century seem to have diminished a hold that was very much evident in the previous few decades.

The Government of India has officially documented castes and sub-castes, primarily to determine those deserving reservation (positive discrimination in education and jobs) through the census. The Indian reservation system, though limited in scope, relies entirely on quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes:

Scheduled castes (SC)

Scheduled castes generally consist of "Dalit". The present population is 16% of the total population of India (around 165 million).^[31] For example, the Delhi state has 49 castes listed as SC.^[32]

Scheduled tribes (ST)

Scheduled tribes generally consist of tribal groups. The present population is 7% of the total population of India i.e. around 70 million.

Other Backward Classes (OBC)

The Mandal Commission covered more than 3000 castes under OBC Category, regardless of their affluence or economic status and stated that OBCs form around 52% of the Indian population. However, the National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%.^[33] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India; it is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey.^[34]

The caste-based reservations in India have led to widespread protests, such as the 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests, with many complaining of reverse discrimination against the forward castes (the castes that do not qualify for the reservation).

The government is carrying out caste census for 2011.^[35] It will help in verifying the claims and counterclaims by various sections of the society about their actual numbers. It would also help the government to re-examine and even undo some of the policies which were formed in haste likeMandal commission and bring more objectivity to the policies with contemporary realities.^[36] Others believe that there is actually no social stigma at all associated with belonging to a backward caste, and that because of the huge constitutional incentives, in the form of educational and job reservations, a large number of people will falsely declare themselves to be from a backward caste, to avail of the benefits. This will not only result in a marked inflation of the backward castes numbers, but also lead to enormous administrative and judicial resources being devoted to social unrest and litigation, if such dubious caste declarations are challenged.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Caste systems among non-Hindus

Main articles: Caste system among South Asian Muslims and Caste system among Indian Christians

Christians

In some parts of India, Christians are stratified by sect, location, and the castes of their predecessors,^[37] usually in reference to upper class Syrian Malabar Nasranis. Christians inKerala are divided into several communities, including Syrian Christians and the so-called "Latin" or "New Rite" Christians.

Kerala

Syrian Christians derive status within the caste system from the tradition that they are converted High caste Hindus such as Namboodiris, Nairs and Jews (Israelites), who wereevangelized by St. Thomas.^[38] Writers Arundhati Roy and Anand Kurian have written personal accounts of the caste system at work in their community.^{[39][40][41][42][43]} Syrian Christians, especially Knanaya Christians, tend to be endogamous and not intermarry with other Christian castes.^[39] This is because they wish to preserve their Jewish heritage.

The Latin Rite Christians were among the scheduled castes in the coastal belt of Kerala, where fishing was the primary occupation. They were actively converted by missionaries in the 16th and 19th centuries. These missionary activities were carried out by Western Latin Rite missionaries who did not understand the significance of the caste system in India; none of the Syrian churches had participated in such activities among the scheduled castes of India because they were aware of the prejudices of the caste system.^{[citation needed]} The government of India later granted this group OBC status. Very rarely are there intermarriages between Syrian Christians and Latin Rite Christians.

Anthropologists have noted that the caste hierarchy among Christians in Kerala is much more polarized than the Hindu practices in the surrounding areas, due to a lack of jatis. Also, the caste status is kept even if the sect allegiance is switched (i.e. from Syrian Catholic to Syrian Orthodox).^[44]

Goa

In the Indian state of Goa, mass conversions were carried out by Portuguese Latin missionaries from the 16th century onwards. The Hindu converts retained their caste practices. The continued maintenance of the caste system among the Christians in Goa is attributed to the nature of mass conversions of entire villages, as a result of which existing social stratification was not affected. The Portuguese colonists, even during the Goan Inquisition, did not do anything to change the caste system. Thus, the original Hindu Brahmins in Goa now became Christian Bamonns and the Kshatriya became Christian noblemen called Chardos. The Christian clergy became almost exclusively Bamon. Vaishyas who converted to Christianity became Gauddos, and Shudras became Sudirs. Finally, the Dalits or "Untouchables" who converted to Christianity became Maharas and Chamars, the latter an appellation of the anti-Dalit ethnic slur Chamaar.

Muslims

Despite Islam's clear prohibitions against a caste-like system, units of social stratification have developed among Muslims in some parts of South Asia.^[45][46] Sources indicate that the castes among Muslims developed as the result of close contact with Hindu culture and Hindu converts to Islam.^{[45][46][47][48]} The Sachar Committee's report commissioned by the government of India and released in 2006 documents the continued stratification in Muslim society, though stratification is not as rigid as the Hindu system, nor is it condoned by Islam.

Among Muslims, those who are referred to as Ashrafs are presumed to have a superior status derived from their foreign Arab ancestry,^[49][50] while the Ajlafs are assumed to be converts from Hinduism, and have a lower status. However, this may be more accurately described as ethnocentrism, since no prohibitions or rules are imposed on Aljafs, or their mingling with Ashrafs. In addition, the Arzal caste among Muslims was regarded by anti-caste activists like Ambedkar as the equivalent of untouchables, due to their low socioeconomic status.^[51][52] In the Bengal region of India, some Muslims stratify their society according to 'Quoms,' though this is a description of their menial labour, and is not a rigid strata of society in strictly the same manner as a caste.^[53] While many scholars have asserted that the Muslim "castes" are not as acute in their discrimination as those of the Hindus,^[48][54] some like Ambedkar argued that the social evils in Sub-continental Muslim society were "worse than those seen in Hindu society", which maybe due to the influence of Hindu society in which they dwell.^[51][52]

Sikh

The Sikh Gurus criticized the hierarchy of the caste system. While some castes were widely perceived as being better or higher than others, they preached that all sections of society were valuable and that merit and hard-work were essential aspects of life. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, out of 140 seats, 20 are reserved for low caste Sikhs. However, the quota system has attracted much criticism due to the lack of meritocracy, since merit is considered the single most important component of winning a seat.^[55]

Buddhists

The Buddha specifically denounced the caste system and there was no practice of caste amongst his immediate followers. So the rest of this section has a questionable status. The Buddhists also had a caste system. In Sri Lanka, the Rodis might have been outcast by the Sri Lankan Buddhists due to the absence of ahimsa (non-violence), a central tenet of Buddhism, among their beliefs. The writer Raghavan notes, "That a form of worship in which human offerings formed the essential ritual would have been anathema to the Buddhist way of life goes without saying; and it needs no stretch of imagination that any class of people in whom the cult prevailed or survived even in an attenuated form would have been pronounced by the sangha (i.e. the Buddhist clergy) as exiles from the social order." Savarkar believed that the status of the backward castes (e.g. Chamar) that performed non-violence^{[clarification needed]} only worsened.^[56] When Ywan Chwang traveled to South India after the period of the Chalukyan Empire, he noticed that the caste system had existed among the Buddhists and Jains.^[57]

Jains

Jains also had castes in places such as Bihar. For example, in the village of Bundela, there were several "jaats" (groups) amongst the Jains. A person of one "jaat" cannot intermingle with a Jain or another "jaat". They also could not eat with the members of other "jaats".^[58]

Baha'i

The Baha'i Faith has grown to prominence in India, since its philosophy of the unity of humanity attracted many of the lower castes.^[59]

[edit]Caste-related violence

Main article: Caste-related violence in India

Independent India has witnessed a considerable amount of violence and hate crimes motivated by caste. According to a UN report, approximately 110,000 cases of violent acts committed against Dalits were reported in 2005.^[31] Various incidents of violence against Dalits such as Kunbis Kherlanji Massacre and Jats Mirchpur killings in 2010, have been reported from many parts of India. Many violent protests by Dalits, such as the 2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra, have also been reported.

An exception to the norm is the Ranvir Sena, a caste-supremacist fringe paramilitary group based in Bihar, which committed violent acts against Dalits.

Phoolan Devi, who belonged to the Mallah lower caste, was mistreated and raped by upper-caste Thakurs at a young age. She became a bandit and carried out violent robberies against upper-caste people. In 1981, her gang massacred twenty-two Thakurs, most of whom were not involved in her kidnapping or rape. Later, after an amnesty scheme, she became a politician and Member of Parliament.

[edit]Caste politics

Main article: Caste politics in India

B. R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru had radically different approaches to caste, especially concerning constitutional politics and the status of untouchables.^[60] Since the 1980s, caste has become a major issue in the politics of India.^[60]

The Mandal Commission was established in 1979 to "identify the socially or educationally backward" and to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redresscaste discrimination.^[61] In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law, whereby additional members of lower castes - the other backward classes - were given exclusive access to another 27 percent of government jobs and slots in public universities, in addition to the 23 percent already reserved for the Dalits and Tribals. When V. P. Singh's administration tried to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission in 1989, massive protests were held in the country. Many alleged that the politicians were trying to cash in on caste-based reservations for purely pragmatic electoral purposes.

Many political parties in India have openly indulged in caste-based votebank politics. Parties such as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party and the Janata Dal claim that they are representing the backward castes, and rely on OBC support, often in alliance with Dalit and Muslim support, to win elections.^[62] Remarkably, in what is called a landmark election in the history of India's most populated state of Uttar Pradesh,^{[by whom?]} the Bahujan Samaj Party was able to garner a majority in the state assembly elections with the support of the high caste Brahmin community.

[edit]Criticism

There has been criticism of the caste system from both within and outside of India.^[63] Criticism of the Caste system in Hindu society came both from the Hindu fold and without.

[edit]Historical criticism

Both Buddha and Mahavira preached people to break the bonds of the caste system, and severely criticised untouchability, that was prevalent throughout the society. Many bhakti period saints, including Meerabai, Guru Nanak, Kabir, Chaitanya, Dnyaneshwar, Eknath, Subramanya Bharathi, Ramanujan and Tukaram, rejected all caste-based discrimination and accepted disciples from all the castes. Many Hindu reformers such as Swami Vivekananda believe that there is no place for the caste system in Hinduism. The 15th century saintRamananda accepted all castes, including untouchables, into his fold. Most of these saints subscribed to the Bhakti movements in Hinduism during the medieval period that rejected casteism. Nandanar, a low-caste Hindu cleric, also rejected casteism and accepted Dalits.^[64]

Some other movements in Hinduism have also welcomed lower-castes into their fold, the earliest being the Bhakti movements of the medieval period. Dalit politics involved many reform movements; these arose primarily as a reaction to the advent of Christian missionaries in India and their attempts to convert Dalits, who were attracted to the prospect of escaping the caste system.

Untouchables of Malabar, Kerala (1906)

In the 19th Century, the Brahmo Samaj under Raja Ram Mohan Roy actively campaigned against untouchability and casteism. The Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand also renounced discrimination against Dalits. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his disciple Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission that participated in the emancipation of Dalits. Upper-caste Hindus such as Mannathu Padmanabhan participated in movements to abolish untouchability against Dalits; Padmanabhan opened his family temple to Dalits for worship. Narayana Guru, a pious Hindu and an authority on the Vedas, also criticized casteism and campaigned for the rights of lower-caste Hindus within the context of Hinduism.

The first upper-caste temple to openly welcome Dalits into their fold was the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, erstwhileTravancore in the year 1936; the move was spearheaded by social reformer Ayyankali. In 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore proclaimed that "outcastes should not be denied the consolations and the solace of the Hindu faith". Even today, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple that first welcomed Dalits in the state of Kerala is revered by the Dalit Hindu community.

The caste system has also been criticized by many Indian social reformers. Some reformers, such as Jyotirao Phule and Iyothee Thass, argued that the lower caste people were the original inhabitants of India, who had been conquered in the ancient past by "Brahmin invaders." Mahatma Gandhi coined the term Harijan, aeuphemistic word for untouchable, literally meaning Sons of God. B. R. Ambedkar, born in Hindu Dalit community, was a heavy critic of the caste system. He pioneered the Dalit Buddhist movement in India, and asked his followers to leave Hinduism, and convert to Buddhism. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, based on his own relationship with Dalit reformer. Ambedkar, supported the eradication of untouchability for the benefit of the Dalit community.

[edit]Contemporary criticism

Some activists consider the caste system a form of racial discrimination.^[65] At the United Nations Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa in March 2001, participants condemned discrimination based on the caste system and tried to pass a resolution declaring caste as a basis for segregation and oppression a form of apartheid. However, no formal resolution was passed.^[66]

Threshing/winnowing people in a Dalitvillage near Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The alleged maltreatment of Dalits in India has been described by some authors as "India's hidden apartheid".^[67][68] Critics of the accusations point to substantial improvements in the position of Dalits in post-independence India, consequent to the strict implementation of the rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution of India, as implemented by the Protection of Civil rights Act, 1955.^[69] They also note that India has had a Dalit president, K.R. Narayanan, and argue that the practise had disappeared in urban public life.^[70]

According to William A. Haviland, however:

Although India's national constitution of 1950 sought to abolish caste discrimination and the practice of untouchability, the caste system remains deeply entrenched in Hindu culture and is still widespread throughout southern Asia, especially in rural India. In what has been called India's "hidden apartheid", entire villages in many Indian states remain completely segregated by caste. Representing about 15 percent of India's population—or some 160 million people—the widely scattered Dalits endure near complete social isolation, humiliation, and discrimination based exclusively on their birth status. Even a Dalit's shadow is believed to pollute the upper classes. They may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes, drink water from public wells, or visit the same temples as the higher castes. Dalit children are still often made to sit in the back of classrooms.^[71]

Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman and Angela Bodino, while critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice apartheid since there is no state-sanctioned discrimination.^[72] They write that casteism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes and are enjoying greater political power." The Constitution of India places special emphasis on outlawing caste discrimination, especially the practice of untouchability.^[73]

[edit]Caste and race

Allegations that caste amounts to race were addressed and rejected by B.R. Ambedkar, an advocate for Dalit rights and critic of untouchability. He wrote that "The Brahmin of Punjab is racially of the same stock as the Chamar of Punjab. The Caste system does not demarcate racial division. The Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",^[74]

Such allegations have also been rejected by Indian sociologists such as Andre Béteille, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsensical" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He states, "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination".^[75]

The Indian government also rejects the claims of equivalency between caste and racial discrimination, pointing out that the caste issues are essentially intra-racial and intra-cultural. Indian Attorney General Soli Sorabjee insisted that "[t]he only reason India wants caste discrimination kept off the agenda is that it will distract participants from the main topic: racism. Caste discrimination in India is undeniable but caste and race are entirely distinct".^[65]

Many scholars dispute the claim that casteism is akin to racism. Sociologist M. N. Srinivas has debated the question of rigidity in caste.^[22][23] Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India.^[20] According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.

In her book Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia, Pakistani-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal writes, "As for Hinduism, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."^[76]

In India, some observers have concluded that the caste system must be viewed as a system of exploitation of poor low-ranking groups by more prosperous high-ranking groups.^[77] In many parts of India, land is largely held by high-ranking property owners of the dominant castes, including the politically privileged other backward classes (OBCs), who economically exploit low-ranking landless labourers and poor artisans.^{[citation needed]}

Matt Cherry claims^{[weasel words]} that karma underpins the caste system, which traditionally determines the position and role of every member of Hindu society. Caste determines an individual's place in society, the work he or she may carry out, and who he or she may marry and meet. He states that Hindus believe that the karma of previous life will determine the caste an individual will be (re)born into.^[78] Also see Karma in Hinduism.

On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness".^[79] However, the Supreme Court later upheld the reservation.^[80]

[edit]Genetic analysis

There have been several studies examining caste members as discrete populations, examining the hypothesis that their ancestors have different origins. A 2002–03 study by T. Kivisild et al. concluded that the "Indian tribal and caste populations derive largely from the same genetic heritage of Pleistocene southern and western Asians and have received limited gene flow from external regions since the Holocene."^[81] Some studies point to the various Indian caste groups having similar genetic origins^[82] and having negligible genetic input from outside south Asia.^[82] Because the Indian samples for this study^{[clarification needed]} were taken from a single geographical area, it remains to be investigated whether its findings can be safely generalized.^[83]

An earlier 1995 study by Joanna L. Mountain et al. of Stanford University had concluded that there was "no clear separation into three genetically distinct groups along caste lines", although "an inferred tree revealed some clustering according to caste affiliation".^[84] A 2006 study by Ismail Thanseem et al. of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (India) concluded that the "lower caste groups might have originated with the hierarchical divisions that arose within the tribal groups with the spread of Neolithic agriculturalists, much earlier than the arrival of Aryan speakers", and "the Indo-Europeans established themselves as upper castes among this already developed caste-like class structure within the tribes."^[85] The study indicated that the Indian caste system may have its roots long before the arrival of the Indo-Aryans; a rudimentary version of the caste system may have emerged with the shift towards cultivation and settlements, and the divisions may have become more well-defined and intensified with the arrival of Indo-Aryans.^[86]

A 2001 study (published in Genome Research) by researchers from India, Europe, and the U.S. found that "Analysis of these data demonstrated that the upper castes have a higher affinity to Europeans than to Asians, and the upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are the lower castes" ^[87] In other words, members of higher castes are more closely related to Europeans than are the lower castes.^[88][89]

According to the The Indian Genome Variation Consortium (2005),^[90] the population of the subcontinent can be divided into four morphological types: Caucasoids in the north, Mongoloids in the northeast, Australoids in the south and Negritos largely restricted to the Andaman Islands; however, these groups tend to overlap because of admixture. The majority of genetic differences among Indians appears to be distributed along caste lines, rather than along ethnic lines, although genetic differences do exist between predominantly Indo-European-speaking northern and predominantly Dravidian-speaking southern Indian populations, as was also observed by Reich in a recent 2009 study.^[91]

In 2008, the Indian Genome Variation Consortium produced another study, this time emphasizing the significant genetic differentiation which exists between Dravidian-speaking, Indo-European-speaking, Tibeto-Burman-speaking and Austro-Asiatic-speaking populations. The researchers write: "Thus, although there are no clear geographical grouping of populations, ethnicity (tribal/nontribal) and language seem to be the major determinants of genetic affinities between the populations of India. This is concordant with an earlier finding based on allele frequencies at blood group, serum protein and enzyme loci (Piazza et al. 1980)." The authors further observe that "it is contended that the Dravidian speakers, now geographically confined to southern India, were more widespread throughout India prior to the arrival of the Indo–European speakers (Thapar 1966). They, possibly after a period of social and genetic admixture with the Indo–Europeans, retreated to southern India, a hypothesis that has been supported by mitochondrial DNA analyses (Basu et al. 2003). Our results showing genetic heterogeneity among the Dravidian speakers further supports the above hypothesis. The Indo–European speakers also exhibit a similar or higher degree of genetic heterogeneity possibly because of different extents of admixture with the indigenous populations over different time periods after their entry into India. It is surprising that in spite of such a high levels of admixtures, the contemporary ethnic groups of India still exhibit high levels of genetic differentiation and substructuring."^[92]

A 2009 genetic study published by David Reich et al. analyzed half a million genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 ethnic groups from 13 states in India across multiple caste groups. This 2009 study, based on the the presupposition that the modern Indian population was descended from two ancient lineages, Ancestral North Indians (ANI), who are most related genetically to Central and West Eurasian populations, and Ancestral South Indians (ASI), who are most related to the Negritos of the Andaman islands, concluded that: "By introducing methods that can estimate ancestry without accurate ancestral populations, we show that ANI ancestry ranges from 39-71% in India, and is higher in traditionally upper caste and Indo-European speakers." The study authors further note that: "ANI ancestry is significantly higher in Indo-European than Dravidian speakers (P=0.013 by a 1-sided test), suggesting that the ancestral ASI may have spoken a Dravidian language before mixing with the ANI. We also find significantly more ANI ancestry in traditionally upper than lower or middle caste groups (P=0.0025), and find that traditional caste level is significantly correlated to ANI ancestry even after controlling for language (P=0.0048), suggesting a relationship between the history of caste formation in India and ANI-ASI mixture."^[93]

Genetic variations with phenotypic effects are seen between castes. For example, many members of the Arya Vaisya Chettiyar clan are fatally allergic to some anaesthetics such asSuxamethonium, also known as Scoline.^[94]

[edit]In popular culture

Mulk Raj Anand's debut novel, Untouchable (1935) based on the theme of untouchability. Hindi film, Achhoot Kanya (Untouchable Maiden, 1936) starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Raniwas an early reformist film. The debut novel of Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (1997) also has themes surrounding the caste system. The novel became controversial over a scene in which an untouchable and a touchable have an affair with eachother, despite the fact that the novel also features incest and molestation of a young child.^[95]

Notes

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