CASTEISM AND CASTE CONFLICTS

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SOCIOLOGY PAPER 2 – Part C – Challenges of Social Transformation – Chapter 7 – Caste conflicts.

GS 1 MAINS – Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India; Effects of globalization on Indian society Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.

 

Crimes against Dalits increased by 6% from 2009 to 2018.The report, titled ‘Quest for Justice’ was released by the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) – National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights. The report also flagged the rise in violence against Dalit and Adivasi women. According to the Annual Crime in India Report 2019 published by the National Crimes Records Bureau, a crime against Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribe has been recorded an increase of over 7% and 26% respectively in the year 2019. 

 

CASTE SYSTEM

  • The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old.
  • The caste system in India is a system of social stratification.
  • Varna may be translated as “class,” and refers to the four social classes which existed in the Vedic society, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
  • Jāti may be translated as caste, and refers to birth. The names of jātis are usually derived from occupations, and considered to be hereditary and endogamous, but this may not always have been the case. The jātis developed in post-Vedic times, possibly from crystallisation of guilds during its feudal era.

 

CASTEISM – CONSEQUENCES

  • Casteism perpetuates the practice of untouchability.
  • Obstacle in providing social equality and justice.
  • Threat to social order, stability, peace and harmony.
  • Prevalence of casteism shows that the people are tradition-bound, conserv­ative and orthodox in thinking.
  • Ten­sions between various segments hinder the development of the nation and growth of nationalism.
  • Political disunity
  • Caste politics and increased demands for reservations. 

 

CASTE-BASED VIOLENCE

  • These groups have remained target to the crimes and atrocities at the hands of the upper caste people mainly on account of their-low caste identity in the form of rape, abuse by police personnel, harassment, illegal land encroachments, forced evictions and so on.
  • Customs are at times manifestations of violence. As part of village custom, Dalits are made to render free services in times of death, marriage, or any village function. During the Marama village festival in Karnataka state, caste Hindus force Dalits to sacrifice buffalos and drink their blood. They then have to mix the blood with cooked rice and run into the village fields without their chappals (slippers). The cleaning of the whole village, the digging of graves, the carrying of firewood, and the disposal of dead animals are all tasks that Dalits are made to perform
  • As reported by Human Rights Watch “Dalit women exist at the lowest end of gender’s class, caste hierarchies, and therefore upper caste men have used sexual violence as a tool against Dalit women as a means to inflict “political lessons and crush dissent and labour movements within Dalit communities”. 
  • The shaky social and economic conditions of the victims often force the victims to remain ‘silent sufferers’ rather than confront powerful perpetrators and indifferent administration.
  • In case of group violence, several mechanisms are used by the dominant caste perpetrators to impose and enforce social boycotts on victims’ families, having wider
    consequences on their social life. 
  • The dominant caste perpetrators purposefully inflict collective violence to defeat opponents in course of investigation and court trials with the ultimate motive to keep subordinate caste groups under suppression, exhibit dominance, and strengthen the caste norms.
  • The collective involvement of dominant caste members in perpetuating violence against the subordinate caste is much higher in case of heinous crimes like physical assault, murder, destruction of property, and even sexual assault (as evident from increased number of gang rape cases against SC women).

 

CASTE POLITICS

  • Right from his birth an Indian citizen inherits a caste and grows up as a member of particular caste group. Caste values and caste interests influence their socialization.
  • In India, there are so many caste-based political parties which try to promote and protect the interest of a particular caste. The regional political parties, in particular, stand predominantly influenced by the caste factor. DMK and AIADMK are examples.
  • There are so many caste based pressure groups in India.
  • While nominating their candidates from different constituencies the political parties keep in mind the cast of candidate and cast of the voters in that particular constituency.
  • Caste-based violence often finds its way into politics.

 

SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEM OF CASTE CONFLICTS AND CASTEISM

  • Providing value-based education to children.
  • Responsible reporting by mass media.
  • Encourage inter-caste marriage. 
  • Provision of cultural and economic equality among different sections of the society.
  • Ensuring that reservation benefits the most poor and downtrodden. 
  • Banning caste and khap panchayats.
  • Fast trials and strict penalties for crimes against Dalits.