The Caste System of India

December 1, 2012

The caste system in India is one of the longest lasting hierarchical systems in the world. It was first mentioned in Manusmriti or Laws of Manu, the ancient book of the Hindu code that was written around 1500 BC. Even though this book was written over three thousand years ago, it still testifies to the existence of four classes: Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaisyas, and Shudras. Brahmins are listed as priests, Kshatriya as the warriors, Vaisyas as the merchants, and Shudras as the artisans. First three classes are called Dvija or “twice born,” and they are considered sacred. Shudras are simply servants, as the verse 1.91 in Manusmriti describes: “One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudra, to serve meekly even these (other) three castes” (p. 9). The classes are ranked very distinctly: “But for the sake of the prosperity of the worlds he (the Lord) caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed from his mouth, his arms, his thighs, and his feet.” (v. 1.31, p. 4). Therefore, it is very clear that the Brahmins were the highest regarded caste, while the Shudras were equivalent to ‘feet’.
However, there is one more group that the Indian caste system does not recognize as a caste – Dalits. Dalits are called many different names: Panchamas ("fifth varna"), and Asprushya ("untouchables"). The distinction between them and the four castes is very well defined: while the first four varnas (castes) can choose their occupation, Dalits in India have been limited to the occupation into which they were born. Even though they often belong to the same religion and culture, Dalits are still ostracized and regarded as outcasts in Indian society. This human rights violation has been the topic of many books, written both domestically and around the world. One of the prominent Dalit writers, Omprakash Vamliki wrote in his autobiography Joothan how extremely painful the treatment of ‘untouchables’ was in the society while he was growing up:
“Untouchability was so rampant that while it was considered all right to touch dogs and cats or cows and buffaloes, if one [a higher-caste person] happened to touch a Chuhra, one got contaminated or polluted. The Chuhras were not seen as human. They were simply things for use. Their utility lasted until the work was done. Use them and then throw them away.” (Valmiki, 2003, p. 2).

Dalits’ oppression in general is often discussed; however it is not well known that Dalit women’s oppression was even worse and disproportionately higher than men’s. The reason for this lies in the fact that women are traditionally in charge of keeping up the household, therefore suffering more from the lack of access to water and sanitation. Bela Malik, an independent researcher, points out in her essay Untouchability and Dalit Women’s Oppression that Dalit women are refused basic resources for survival, such as water and sanitation facilities. At the Convention against Untouchability and Dalit Women’s Oppression held in 1998 in Delhi, Dalit women shared their stories about the way they are treated in India daily. Malik writes: “The grim reality of untouchability appears inescapable. It is there in schools, in tea shops, while labouring, while walking on public roads. The fear of indignity, humiliation and rape is always present.” (Rao, 2005, p. 104). The refusal to touch Dalits in order not to get contaminated is often contradicted in the field of labor or sexual abuse. In her essay, Malik illustrates this problem very vividly: “When it comes to taking water from a hand pump, notions of ritual purity are involved, when it comes the extraction of labour in the field, it does not matter at all that the seed is planted, the crop tended and the grain harvested by the same untouchable. The same applies in the case of rape as social revenge/punishment/coercion. By a curious quirk, the untouchable becomes socially touchable in more ways than one.” (p. 104). Unfortunately, most of the time the cases of rape or abuse were not reported and if they were, convictions are almost non-existent. Therefore, socially oppressed women organized politically to claim their equal rights and protect themselves. This resulted in the slight improvement of their quality of life.
It is also important to understand how a person becomes a member of a specific caste. In India, this is simply determined from birth, based on what caste an individual was born into. A member stays within that caste until death. Theoretically, any movement from one class to another is forbidden, but in reality it happened often. Historically, there where two concepts of movement among the castes: Sanskritisation and Westernisation. During the colonial period, the Brahmins aspired to get closer to British rulers by imitating the way they dress, look, or behave. They started thinking of themselves as superior. Parallel with this process of Westernisation, the process of Sanskritisation describes how lower castes moved up, adopting some of the practices of the higher castes. However, with these two processes happening at the same time, the gap between the lower and the higher caste widen even more. The Government of India Act passed in 1935 tried to solve this problem. It introduced the Schedule Castes that consist of groups that were historically discriminated. The purpose of the Schedule Castes is to enforce equality and provide preferential treatment in getting jobs or education through affirmative action. However, this did not solve the problem. After the Constitution of India became effective in 1950, it declared that: “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them" (Article 15,1), but the problem was not lifted. Instead of protecting against discrimination, The Schedule Castes only “heightened the awareness of difference” (Yadav, 2006, p. 54). The significance of castes was increased and the Dalit community continued to be a subject of socio-economic and cultural oppression.
In the 1970s, violence against Dalits increased. Due to agrarian development in the country, the lower level castes became wealthier and started imitating the upper caste landlords. They now expected Dalits to show the same type of obedience to them as they did to the Brahmins. When this did not happen, their reactions became more aggressive and their punishments more violent. Agrarian rich class gain economic and political power which in return created arrogance. This led to intolerance to any form of resistance from Dalits. Between 1980s and 2000s, the quality of life of Dalit population became much better. Access to drinking water, housing, health care, and education has increased drastically. Dalits became more present in the government, judicial, and political organizations. In 1997, India got its first Dalit-born president, K. R. Narayanan. However, in the book Gender, Caste, and Class in India, Neelima Yadav highlights that the caste system is still present in the modern India: “although members of the lower castes have achieved eminence in various callings and professions, they are still labeled as lower caste and cannot escape that categorization” (p. 54). It is important to note that throughout the history, the dominant social classes consciously refused any changes that would emancipate the laboring classes. Any resources that were available to the high ranking caste were used to suppress the growth of the low ranking one. On the other hand, many philosophers made it their life’s goals to fight the discrimination and make all castes equal. The most prominent one was Gandhi. He renamed the untouchables: harijans or “children of God”. He went on numerous fasts with the final goal to convince Hindus to tread Dalits as equal and admit them into their every day lives. Another philosopher, born as Untouchable, was B. R. Ambedkar. Even though his work complimented Gandhi’s, they did not always agree. While Gandhi tried to include Dalits into the Hindu society, Ambedkar’s goal was to remove them completely and convert them to Buddhism. In 1935 he made his famous statement: “It is an unfortunate fact that I have been born a Hindu: it was not in my power to oppose or change that. But I can promise you this. I will not die a Hindu.” (Rao, 2009, p. 99). In 1956, Ambedkar and 500,000 his supporters converted to Buddhism, thus escaping from the Hindu society as his way to fight the caste system.
In order to understand how caste-base hierarchy in India persisted for so many years, it is important to understand how lower caste population rationalized it. In the book “Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline”, Farah Godrej explains that the ‘uncleanness’ is viewed as “the result of past karmic debts” and it is the untouchables’ “dharma to be humble, obedient and discreet” (Godrej, 2001, p. 64). Therefore, the status is justified by a belief that the caste was determined by karma, or one’s deeds in previous lifetimes. On the other hand, dharma is defined “the law” or “the duty”. Many Indians believe that it is their obligation to focus on group goals and ideals in order to spiritually develop as individuals. This concept helps them accept their status that they would normally consider as unjust. Instead of complaining, they tend to accept their position hoping that if they perform their duties well, they would improve their status in the next life. This shows that both religious and philosophical systems were developed around this issue, which is one of the reasons why this social system has persisted for so many years. Even though the caste system was established as a way to organize work among different groups thousands years ago, it ended up as being discriminatory once higher ranking groups assumed superiority over others. Many years later, the issue of the caste hierarchical system in India is still not resolved. Struggles for equality, rights and recognitions are constant. The system was legally abolished in the 50s, but its invisibility is a myth. It is still firmly rooted in the modern Indian society and the country’s politics has to deal with it daily. References:

Valmiki, O. (2003). Joothan: An Untouchable’s Life. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Yadav, N. (2006). Gender, Caste and Class in India. Delhi, IND: Pragun Publications.

Rao, A. (2005). Gender and Caste. London, ENG: Zed Books.

Godrej, F. (2001). Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline. New York, NY: Oxford Press.

Manusmriti. (1500 BC). Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/7189037/Manu-Smriti-Sanskrit-Text-With-English-Translation