The hypocrisy of caste

When Arjun Singh announced the increase in reservations for OBCs to 27% in educational institutes like IIMs, IITs etc.; it created a furore. People were angry; some joined Youth for Equality protesting the politically motivated divisive policy of the UPA government while some premier institutes like AIIMS held demonstrations against reservations. I was amongst them who were against this increase based on the 1931 census. I didn’t like it when the policy was given a green signal minus the creamy layer in April 2008 as I wasn’t sure how the “creamy layer” would be excluded. On top of that the government in its order on 13th October 2008 raised the income criterion from Rs. 2,50,000 to Rs. 4,50,000. It is mainly these creamy layers who continually benefit from the reservations and the poor oppressed lower caste people remain so. The Supreme Court had observed, “Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness.” A few days ago, the apex court asked the government to explain the change in criterion, which virtually excludes everyone from the creamy layer and defeats its earlier ruling. But there is something else that also frets me in this issue.

During the protests I saw many people saying things like “Reservations should be banned”, “Caste system should be eradicated from the society”, “Only meritocracy should be followed”. While some might be genuinely espousing these thoughts, I really wonder how many of these people actually follow their words in totality. You would find the same people who say these words following casteism in their personal lives.

In Mumbai there are colleges having quotas for north Indians, south Indians, sindhis, gujratis, muslims, etc. When the Indian Constitution supports reservations for lower castes, it can be questioned; then why not when it supports linguistic minority based quotas in educational insititutes. At least reservations based on caste hold some weight that they have been oppressed for hundreds of years but what weight do linguistic quotas hold? Surely they haven’t been underprivileged! People who say that reservations should be banned when it’s given to the OBCs also willingly take admissions in these colleges with the help of reservations based on linguistic quotas!

Caste system still exists in the Indian society because people make it alive. Even today there are many parents who wouldn’t allow their children to be married to a lower caste. Some might not believe in the caste system from their heart but would give in to the demands of the society. It is especially difficult for families of upper caste women to accept inter-caste marriages. While one should pay heed to what the public may say about you, there are certain issues where one should be willing take a bold stand. Although the instances of inter-caste marriages are seen more now, they are still few and are between and it is still widely seen as a taboo today. This phenomenon exists not only in rural India but also in the urban society, which can be seen from the matrimonial columns which are sectored on the basis of caste. Even today many urban youth have prejudices against the so-called ‘lower caste mentality’ and would never think of marrying them. They even join the communities of their caste on orkut. The same people who said that caste system should be eradicated when it came to reservations for OBCs!

Sheer Hypocrisy! The caste system is bad when it is against you and it is fine to follow it when it favours you! It is fashionable to be anti-reservations and make the aforementioned statements but it is a different thing altogether to practise it in your life.

The western world criticize Hinduism for the caste system which is unfair because the Vedas subscribe to caste system based only on deeds and occupation and not by birth. Also there have been only few cursory references of castes in the Vedas. However it is a reality today that Hinduism is contaminated with gross misinterpretation of the caste system based on birth. There were Hindu reformist organizations setup like Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj who denounced totally the caste based discrimination. More such efforts are required to get rid of this social evil.

There are those who feel that the current caste system must be eradicated by practising caste by occupation. But even if interpreted by occupation and not by birth, the issue of hierarchy in the caste system would not go. In a recent news, it was said that RSS was striving to reform kids from the lower caste converting them from Shudras to Brahmins by teaching them Vedas. While it is a welcome step, it doesn’t help solve the problem of hierarchy. The word “reform” suggests that Brahmins > Shudras and those kids should be apologetic towards them being Shudras earlier. This superiority complex is unfortunately there in many so-called upper castes. Don’t know how many Brahmins would like to do the work of Shudras or would be willing to be converted to Shudras! Even amongst the lower castes, there is constant infighting on which caste is superior over the other. The hierarchy has been set in over hundreds of years, which makes even the original interpretation of caste system unthinkable.

We may think that the times are changing and people are beginning to move over caste. But even today there are several instances of discrimination at workplace. Lower caste people even resort to hiding their surnames to avoid exploitation. Poor lower caste people are susceptible to be converted to Christianity or Islam for money. Some Christian and Muslim elite also encourage the caste system as it helps them to develop ethnic superiority over these lover caste converts as well. I won’t support the missionaries who convert them but one can’t blame the people who get converted if their life improves financially by being converted. Organizations like Bajrang Dal and VHP would do better to concentrate on achieving equality of castes so that the lower caste people don’t fall prey to conversions than targeting these missionaries. The missionaries at least do a good job providing high quality education. I have done all my schooling in a missionary school and I am certainly proud of it.

Reservations seem to be a necessary evil today but is not a permanent solution and cannot be allowed to exist forever. The effectiveness of reservations can be questioned on whether it really goes to the needy and also whether it helps to improve their social class. Politicians thrive on caste-based vote-bank politics and will never allow the current caste system to go away from India. But instead of always blaming the politicians and the social system, think about yourself first whether you have been casteist in any way. The society being free from casteism, where there are no “upper” or “lower” castes seems to be a utopian world now! But we can make individual efforts to mitigate the effects of casteism in the Indian society by not being casteist ourselves. This will certainly help weaken the argument for reservations so that it can be eliminated once and for all. Maybe not today, but our future generations may not have to fill their caste in school forms. Till then people will be born in India, either to rule or to be ruled.