“It is not my argument that the consciousness of caste is dying out and will cease to exist in the next 50 or even the next 100 years. But the growth and expansion of a new middle class, attendant on demographic, technological and economic changes is altering the operation of caste.
“Life chances are very unequally distributed in India. The reproduction of inequality is a fact. But individual mobility is also a fact. The two tendencies operate simultaneously. When we see how well people who start with certain advantages at birth preserve those advantages, we tend to ignore examples of downward mobility. But downward mobility does take place in a rapidly changing society as well as upward mobility. There are people from various castes moving into superior non-manual occupations. There are also people from peasant and artisan castes moving into business, and occasionally succeeding in it. As an example of this kind of movement, I may refer to Harish Damodaran's book India's New Capitalists (New Delhi: Permanent Black 2008).”
(The writer is Professor Emeritus of sociology, Delhi University, and National Research Professor.)
Keywords: Caste politics, Andre Beteille
Caste is important for Indian politicians for 2 reasons:(1)Divide and
rule while muslims will vote en bloc Hindus must be prevented from doing
so it is important to keep them divided on caste basis(2)Most of the
previous generation politicians cannot talk on any issue except
caste,language and regional interest.People like to hear that they are
not responsible for their plight but their caste which has been kept
"suppressed" by the so called upper castes.It is easy to stoke the fires of jealousy and hatred.
The issue is not just "still persisting "It is something more than that. Since ours is a developing democracy, things like casteism are bound to happen.The problem is that it is now linked with identity and not merit. A reservation on economic basis is understandable but it's hard to comprehend why a well-off family needs it. More over, it is now a dice used mostly during elections. Unfortunately, so far, caste is an identity and pride issue rather than something being out of once control.A person moving up the ladder will still be deeply rooted with the caste. The so called social acceptance probably still makes it a thing to die and kill for. Some politicians find it easy to tempt people by merely appealing to their title (which greatly resembles caste) I still believe, with the passage of time and providing equal chances, this menace can be treated.
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