Why is caste such a dominant feature of Indian social life? According to Andre Beteille, in his article published in The Hindu (“India'a destiny not caste in stone,” February 21) it is because of electoral politics and the media which keep caste alive. India's constitution may also have played a role. While creating a nation of citizens and citizenship rights it also kept caste alive. Outside of politics many changes, slow but steady, have transformed caste practices and caste consciousness in such areas as inter-dining, inter-caste marriages and caste-based occupations.
That the forces of modernisation are associated with what sociologists call a move from particularistic to universalistic forms of social relations is a generally accepted view and should come as no surprise. We saw this happen in India with the coming of the railways which simply could not provide separate coaches for different castes. So let us grant that the changes Beteille notes are taking place with the caveat that he may be over-stating the case. The fact that the more than three lakh manual scavengers of India are almost exclusively drawn from Dalit communities must provoke some serious thinking about the issue. It would also be interesting to know much inter-dining and how many inter-caste marriages have taken place in the Tamil Nadu village where Beteille did his PhD research some six decades ago.
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The problem with Beteille's argument is that it ignores some critical dimensions of caste that doggedly persist and perhaps underpin some India-specific features of the country's development path. These dimensions are sustained by a material base defined by vastly different control over resources and the means of coercion. These are now deployed, not so much to enforce rules of purity/pollution, but to restrict access to vast numbers of Dalits and Other Backward Classses (OBC) to resources and opportunities old and new. The politics of caste cannot be understood if seen outside this context and delinked from these realities.
Social indicators
A widely noted paradox about India's development can shed some light on the endemic deprivations suffered by the lower castes. Despite its high growth India fares very poorly in almost all measures of social indicators provided by major international and Indian organisations (e.g., the Human Development Index or HDI, the Multiple Poverty Index or MPI, the Global Hunger Index or GHI) in comparison with developing countries at the same or even lower levels of economic growth and per capita GDP. Its low HDI ranking (119 in a list of 169 in 2010 — compared with China's 89) is attributable to its exceptionally low indicators of basic education and health. It ranks particularly low in such measures as Infant Mortality Rates, malnutrition, underweight and stunted children and pregnant women who are underweight and anaemic. Even more scandalous is India's ranking in the GHI with a ranking of 66 out of, below even its south Asian neighbours except Bangladesh; the country is home to the single largest pool of hungry people in the world, 255 million who make up 21 per cent of its population. The MPI provides a similar scenario; 455 million making up 55 per cent of the population, are MPI poor and eight Indian states contain more MPI poor people than 26 of the poorest African countries combined.
Behind these figures are two significant facts about Indian society: first the country has an unusually large underclass, and second, prominently figured in this class are the lower castes (especially the Dalits) and the Scheduled tribes. In all the relevant social indictors the figures are considerably worse (difference of 10 per cent or more) for these groups. For example, while 55 per cent of Indians are MPI poor the figures for SCs and STs are 65.8 and 81.4 respectively. Note also that the worst performing states are generally the ones with high proportions of SCs and STs.
System of violence
The abysmal socio-economic condition of the lower castes is not a random occurrence but is embedded in historically inherited structures that have resisted radical change. India's historical failures — aborted land redistribution, neglected agriculture (except during the Green Revolution period of the1960s-70s) and a soft approach in attacking caste iniquities — have helped to maintain these structures. In this context it is interesting to look at another enigma in India's trajectory, its very poor record in primary education (e.g. in contrast to East Asia) during the same period when it made great strides in scientific, technical and other forms of higher education spawning the now famous Indian middle class. One explanation for this massive failure is that early planners pursued a misguided view that it was the latter forms of education that India needed for rapid economic development. But there is another explanation in which caste figures as a factor. A benign version of this view is that upper caste Indians, following their habits of the hearts, simply did not see the merit of educating the lower castes. A less benign version argues that the project of educating the low castes may have met with resistance from the upper castes who feared that such a project and consequent upward mobility of the lower castes would jeopardise the control and management of their low caste workers, dependents and servants. Having done fieldwork in rural Bihar and observed such dynamics at work, I see some merit in this last argument.
Finally, it is important to note that this structure is maintained not just by ideology and pollution rules but also by considerable violence. It is indeed a system of structural violence manifested by constant threats and periodic outbursts of physical violence employed by land owing upper castes threatened by changes in established relationships and also by the lower castes who dare to resist or retaliate. “Atrocities against Dalits” — ranging from murder, rape and arson to such humiliating practices as parading Dalit women naked in the village and making the victims consume human excreta, are reasonably well documented. India's parliamentarians regarded these as serious enough to enact the “Atrocities against Dalit Act” in 1989. While the effectiveness of the act is disputed, Dalit activists insist that the act cannot be implemented without political pressure from below.
In the wake of recent patterns of economic growth that are further marginalising rural dwellers and agricultural labourers, concerned activists and scholars such as Amartya Sen (whose famous studies on Indian famines have noted the disproportionately high numbers of Dalits victims in Indian famines) have called for the building of “countervailing power” through better political organization of underprivileged groups.
What, then can we make of Beteille's suggestion that caste would simply have disappeared if only it had been kept out of the domains of politics and the media? To be sure, he has an important case about the misuse of caste by self-serving politicians and media persons. But the prescription for depoliticisation of caste is surely a non-starter. Perhaps a better route would be the one traversed by Kerala where the political mobilisation of the lower castes was integrated into broader rational-legal and universalistic forms of organisations across caste, community and religion into modern forms of trade unions and parties.
Yes, we have abolished untouchability, the need today is to abolish the material base of the system that sustained untouchability, now spawning newer forms of discrimination and violence.
(The writer, professor Emeritus of Sociology at Mount St. Vincent University, Halifax, Canada, is currently Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.)
Keywords: India caste system, caste politics, manual scavengers, caste-based occupation, atrocities against Dalits, caste discrimination, Andre Beteille on caste, Debate at The Hindu
Once more, we have a multicultural multiepochal, segmentary society.
Unity in diversity can not be forcibly imposed from above. Our
democratic constitution has provided all of us an opportunity to get
organised for articulating and safeguarding our interests. When the
elites get united and the masses fail to do so, they themselves are,
partly, responsible for the prejudice and discrimination against
them. and poverty.
Once more, we have a multicultural multiepochal, segmentary society.
Unity in diversity can not be forcibly imposed from above. Our
democratic constitution has provided all of us an opportunity to get
organised for articulating and safeguarding our interests. When the
elites get united and the masses fail to do so, they themselves are,
partly, responsible for the prejudice and discrimination against
them. and poverty.
If only Mandal commission and reservation issues are the modern catalyst in continuing division of the Hindu community, I wonder how many upper caste Hindus (who resent these to the extent of being offensive about it) actually blame OBCs (who by the way, enjoy a much higher share than SC/STs) and take offensive actions like depicted above against them.
I think caste is a misunderstood concept.
Caste @ its present relevance must be equated with community. It provides an ideal foil for brotherhood & bonding among groups of people, preservation of culture & ultimately as a unifier. Caste endogamy in marriages ensures there is continuity of the ideals, culture of a people. Caste is a social asset that seeks to enhance society at large if it allows appreciation of other peoples (i.e. castes). Caste in its present sense does'nt serve as a barrier to friendship & intermingling with other people. Even historically it has played no such role among the general population except in the case of intermingling with the erstwhile untouchables & tribals. However this situation is being corrected. Inter-Caste clashes @ local levels existed due to the turbulence of 2 different peoples (groups) who inhabited the same area, it had not much to do with respect of class (upper/lower) though it has been brought to believe so by historians.
Mr Baiteile is anti dalits and known for his bias towards the dalits and other OBcs.when he was the professor in delhi he rfused to answer whether he is going to teach the Ambedkar thought on india and on dalits.Mr Atal Bihari government had hired him to prepare the documents for Darban conference.Dalits and Obcs must understand he is a pseudo professor created by Hindu medias.
Our Country has had the Mahatma, visionaries and great leaders. The change that we all expect with regard to a caste-less, secular, language-barrier-less India - is definitely possible. What we lack is the willingness and open-mindedness to usher in the change. It begins with each one of us practicing it, in our lives. We don't need politicians and their broken-policies to implement such changes. A case of pigmentation, ancestry shouldn't differentiate us.
Caste conciousness owes its provenance from the historical and soco-economic set up of the society.No one can expect that this age long discriminatory practise would be eradicated within a night.But even after six decades of our independence the scenario is still critical.It indicates a serious lacuna in the methods adopted by different governments to address this issue.It also signyfies the utter failure of our social and political system to bring fore the concept of equality and justice enshrined in our constitution.It is the sacred responsibility of our leaders,social activists,politicians and educated class to inculcate the conciousness of indianness instead of caste conciousness among the people.
When it comes to speak on caste, why is reservation (an opportunity)
is always on attack? Aren't we a bit civilized to understand that
atrocities caused over thousands of year on some particular section of
society cannot be wiped out by just giving them reservation (political
privilege)? If we are still thinking that reservation is the major
cause keeping caste system alive than we need to think whether
atrocities (rape, murder, land grabbing) by so called upper caste can
be stopped permanently by removing the reservation from the
constitution. If so is the case than India will become the role model
for the world and all credit will go to the Upper caste for being open
minded having, a big heart by enabling the dalits to lead a dignified
social life they deserve.
Author seems to be one of countless those who come
to India on the pretext of doing extensive ground work (to secure grants for their so called 'research') and their extensive-ground-work
in practice is limited only to meeting and talking to representatives
of xyz NGO who have their own agendas. I for one can shoot thousand
holes in author's theory of 'caste in politics is linked to lived
reality'.
And for please stop putting baseless, malicious allegations (that
would tantamount to an act of racism in most civilized countries
including Canada) on all 600 millions "upper-caste Hindus"!! There are
millions of poor, uneducated and exploited upper caste Hindus.
But oh, well!!
It can also be argued in exact opposite way: Consequence of Caste-
based politics is continuing Caste-ism in social life.
The fact that Dalits will ALWAYS vote for Mayawati, however
inefficient and corrupt her government might be, is a potent precursor
for mis-governance.
Also malicious is the author's benign (apparently) argument "upper
caste Indians, following their habits of the hearts, simply did not
see the merit of educating the lower castes". Is it the responsibility
of so called upper-caste Hindus to educate Dalits? Isn't it the
responsibility of the government to provide education to Dalit and non-
dalits (a government in which Dalits have equal stake by virtues of
right of vote and reservation of seats in parliament)!?
As a matter of fact, in most Indian states, there are special schemes
(scholarships and other incentives) ONLY for SC/ST kids to educate
themselves.
Can the author cite any 'protest (as a symbol of resistance)' by
upper-caste Hindus against these 'schemes'??
Of course caste must ultimately be eliminated, no doubt.
But caste can be overcome only when there is open talk and acknowledgement of crimes/injustices/inequalities committed and being committed against the Dalits and others.
Only when Justice and equality is served to the affected people, caste can be overcome -- not by gagging talk against caste-discrimination in the name of a caste-less society.
Just for the record, please note that there are extremely powerful caste associations belonging to the mighty rich and powerful to silently forward their financial and political interests in most parts of the country -- this is the ground reality. And the very very bright youngsters belonging to these powerful castes silently condone such associations for obvious benefits even as they ironically show their disgust against policies like affirmative action.
Sadly! people are often immune to logic or have no interest in reform. Even the most
educated people from higher castes will resort to absurd and openly discriminatory
arguments such as "they are truly inferior" and worse, genuinely convince themselves
of it. Our inability to free ourselves from this caste complex is one of our greatest
failures. Sadly, it is a change which will still take generations. In the meantime, the
injustice meted out to the oppressed is a ticking time bomb, threatening to erupt.
When it does, then our carefully constructed upper caste middle class facade will be
blown away.
The caste in India is a highly crystallized form of social
discrimination in various forms, including the selective use of
religion and ideology. The biological basis of caste is one of the
most inhuman inventions of social tyrants. Actually all socially
deprived classes of poor and indigent form a single caste. The ruling
classes are all brahmins irrespective of what surnames they bear.
Every scavenger is a dalit even if he is born in a family bearing a
higher caste in social hierarchy. Since hypocrisy is deeply built in
all our social institutions and conduct we remain tied to outmoded
ways of thinking. We need a radical reappraisal of our historical
burden and legacy in the form of works like Manusmriti so that we can
launch a new civilizational effort at the total re-engineering of our
social institutions and economic models.
I agree with Jaspal that caste needs to be politicised and also as
author mentions that, with out political pressure from the below SC,ST
Atrocities Act, may not implemented properly. political power need to be
come into their hands who are subjected to discrimination.
Ah, another writer conflating OBC and SC/ST status.
Let's admit the ST's are the true underclass of India. They are also vanishingly small as a %ge of population.
However, using that token population, the "social scientist" casteists drive discredited Soviet-era Communist policies and keep alive caste divisions & caste politics in India
They are the best friends of caste driven political parties and help keep caste based differences alive.
So far on Debate of caste. this write up by Joseph Tharamangalam on Caste brought out the pragmatic and real elements into light. Its first and foremost to understand at the gross root level and to tackle it. Thanks for the practical analysis.
Caste system is something which is upheld by the Indian Constitution indirectly in the name of 'Reservations'. Let all the caste/religion based profiling of the Indian citizens be taken-off the records and the Government systems have only the economic profiles of the citizens.
There is no denying the fact that caste has always been present in
Indian society. But post Mandal era, it has found a predominant
presence in political landscape with the rise of party's based on
identity politics specially in Hindi-heartland. Rise of electronic
media has sometimes been negative and has further perpetuated the
differences between various sections of the society. While caste is
becoming less relevant in public sphere with onset of modernisation &
urbanisation, but the population pressure and the ensuing struggle for
resources (political, social, capital) further deepens divisions of
caste, community, religion, region etc which are already present in
our minds. Equitable economic development, education, and empowerment
of underprivileged sections of society is a way forward to make caste
less and less relevant in coming times.
As the writer has put, the politics and media still play a very important role in keeping the caste flame alive. Why media has to project about caste every time a candidate is elected? why they have to put a pi chart and show which caste is majority in that constituency? Who is so called upper caste? Are they branded as forward castes by government for reservation? When a violence happens, let the media and politician name the individual and tell who is behind violence. Half of the issues will be resolved. It is the individual who creates issues not caste. Lets start naming them and let the media be aware that they are not doing a favour to society. Otherwise we will continue to debate for next 6 decades.
Very informative piece! Actually i disagree Andre Beteille's concept "it is because of electoral politics and the media which keep caste alive". We have done some research work on Class-Caste and social marginalisation in Pakistan where the media never touched the caste issue. Thought politicians realize the caste issue in Pakistan but never put this issue for policy discussion. Pakistani politicians and media persons feel stigma to speak about caste based social exclusion and marginalisation. In Pakistan Land Alienation Act 1900 has not been repealed and it is being used in Punjab to suppress low caste kinship group.
Caste and religion continue to play a very large role in our elections. This is true in the Northern States as has been proved time and again. The recent results in UP are also as a result of the vote banks that supported the Samajwadi Party from the Muslims and OBCs and some dalits who were disillusioned with Mayawati. The issue in UP was not development as may have been the case in some other States The role of caste in elections is also very keenly seen in Karnataka where the several groups under Lingayats, Vokkligars, and other minority groups called AHINDA is very significant. Despite all that successive Govts have done in the Centre and in the States, caste continues to dominate the scene. But this has resulted in regional parties getting to the Centre and resulting in giving their support and losing the national perspective! ALAS!
Given such a position, we are going to see that national parties will be a disadvantage in local election.
The society in India is only partially organised. Politics is elite
competition. The masses are not politicised. From place to place and
time to time, the elites mobilise the masses for bringing their own
chestnuts out of the fire, in the name of anything that works for the
time being. Soon thereafter the former ignore and neglect the latter.
Commercialisation of educational facilities is hindering affordability
and accessibility to opportunities for acquiring education, better
jobs and higher income. This limits social mobility and stabilises the
traditional structures like caste. Politicisation of the entire society
is the way out, not depoliticisation.
Retired Professor of Sociology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Perfectly said Vivek..I accept..
The only thing which we(indians) need to change, is the way we understand other caste people, in cities this differences are less but still these differences are still available in rural india, proper awareness will resolve this differences to some extent, but it will reduced to great extent as community expands.
Better education, empowerment of women, inclusive economic growth and equitable policies of redistribution will be the most powerful weapons against caste. Accelerated urbanization and a youthful population are also helping to speed up the process.
Finally, caste is a social and not a biological construct, so there is no fundamental problem in overcoming it. Despite all the propaganda to the contrary, there are very strong genetic links amongst Indians. Travel outside India reveals how similar we are to each other and how minor our differences are when we compare ourselves to other types of human beings (European whites, Chinese, Arabs, Africans).
Consider that Europeans were at each others throats for centuries; today they cooperate and do not consider other Europeans "outsiders".
This is a feeling which we have to strengthen. We as Indians, are one people, no matter the region, religion, caste or community, and must unite to build a better future for ourselves and our children.
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