This article is written by Aditya Ojha and Raisha Bansal.
“What is important is that we make sure to work together, that we understand our strength comes from unity and not division”- Barack Obama
Table of Contents
Introduction
A human beings’ nature of thought (Guna) decides what caste he or she belongs to as defined under the Holy Bhagavad Gita. A humans’ habitual nature of thought is defined to be “tamasic”, To fulfill his materialistic needs a person acquires a “Rajasic” nature of thought. Having satisfied his wants, a human enters a “Sattvic” nature of thought after which he can peacefully die and attain ”Moksha”.
The historical backdrop of the caste system has always been very feudal and daunting. It depicted the division of humans into four categories from the elitist to the foragers. The Hindus were very rigid about the same and desired enough to persuade or propel each person to tail it. As many believed it originated from the Hindu divine forces’ creation. The Aryans were the ones to follow it. The primary goal with which Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas on 12 October, 1492 was to find slaves which started off a race war that has lasted for centuries. From the slave trades in the 19 th century to the police brutally killing black citizens for “looking” like a threat, deep rooted racism has become more rampant in the United States of America than the ongoing pandemic.
The Communist Party came to power in China in 1949. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, one of the government’s goals was to create economic stability. Which got in the divide and rule policy of The Hukou System which would effectively limit the amount of rural-urban migration and support preferential treatment and access the population to higher paying jobs. Along with the language barriers and Uyghur Muslim feuds that China considers a mental disease china too faces ethnocentrism. The patricentric profession is evaded with a lot of ethnocentricity. Since the educational bias got a rift to the wit of people it has led them to have a dogmatic approach towards life and stopped them from the true raptures of what today’s world terms ‘togetherness’. The females are further vandalized by the upper caste men who are conjectured to manifest a great beginning to the world. The world still perceives the same notion until today.
Meaning
Casteism is one of the country’s social issues, which is impossible to miss to the Indian society. Indian culture is a nation of different religions. Every religion is sub-isolated into various positions and these stations again into sub-standings. The way of life of every position shifts however they all have a place with one religion. Among these standings, certain are given a high status and others a low status, contingent on their position occupation.
In such a general public, there is each opportunity for position clashes to happen. These contentions have their inception in casteism, which alludes to the scorn of one station by the other, or the endeavours made by the individuals from one rank to increase individual focal points to the impairment of interests of the other position individuals. In a nutshell, casteism alludes to uneven devotion for a specific rank. Casteism drives the individuals from one station to misuse the individuals from other standing for their own personal stake for the sake of predominance or mediocrity.
Tenets of a divided India
- Casteism increments, when a specific gathering will in general improve the status of its own position. So as to accomplish such status, the individuals even embrace the most ill-advised techniques to upgrade the esteem of their rank.
- Conjugal principles, for example, endogamy, i.e., marriage inside the gathering is another factor. Under the station framework, which permits casteism to sustain, such limitations put on marriage powers a person to wed inside his own rank gathering, which achieves union inside the gathering, accordingly expanding casteism.
- Correspondence among country and metropolitan zones turned out to be simple through urbanization. The sentiments of rank were effectively brought through the individuals from country regions to metropolitan regions through movement. The individuals from the rank need to confront different issues and therefore, a need to give security on a communal premise was felt. This factor of requirement for security additionally energizes casteism.
- Simple admittance to the methods for transport and correspondence is another factor, which adds to the development of casteism. Individuals from a similar rank, who were beforehand very little in contact with one another, are presently ready to set up close connections. The spread of the sentiment of casteism turned out to be simple through broad communications, for example, papers, magazines, and so on. The effect of casteism on society is extreme. Directly from the person to the entire country, it influences the general public overall.
Reservation System
The Poona Pact was a document written in a quasi-legal style which came into existence after a long-drawn debate between M.K. Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar, the stalwarts of the Indian Independence movement. The act contained nine points laying out the manner and quantum of representation of the depressed classes.
Reservation system regarding educational services
In State of Madras vs Champakran Dorairanjan, under a Madras Government ordered the appropriation of seats between various castes according to their numerical strength for admission into Government medical and engineering colleges in a prescribed ratio but it was struck down by the apex court for being in clear violation of Article 15(1) of the constitution.
To overturn the aforementioned decision clause (4) was inserted in Article 15 of the constitution by the 1 st amendment in 1951 which “enables states for making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the scheduled castes or the scheduled tribes”.
The honourable Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney vs Union of India, a case famously known as the “Mandal Case” capped the reservation limits up to 50% of total seats for reservations for backward classes’ concept of the creamy layer was introduced. However the court permitted reservations beyond 50% for far flung areas.
In T.M Pai foundation vs Union of India, the apex court held that the state cannot make the reservations of seats in admissions in privately run educational institutions
In P.A. Inamdar vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court reiterated its position. To overturn these decisions the parliament in 2005 added clause (5) in Article 15 by the 93 rd Amendment. This clause enables the state to make any special provisions, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the state, other than the minority educational institutions referred to clause(1) of the Article 30.
In Ashok Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India Ors., the Supreme court held that for implementation of the impugned Statute creamy layer must be excluded. There must be periodic review as to the desirability of continuing operation of the Statute. This shall be done once in every five years. The Central Government shall examine as to the desirability of fixing cut off marks in respect of the candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Reservation framework, a guaranteed winner for legislators?
A system that was initially meant to be in place for just 10 years has been dragged on for decades due to political compulsion and delusion of authority. Politicians use it as it as a personal weapon for their vote bank, preying on the mind of people who are uneducated not because they belong to a certain caste but because of these “leaders of today” who have at every step plundered and looted all the grants and made a mockery of the “yojnas” that have been put in place to uplift them. To have a reservation policy is useless if the people for whom it was brought into existence cannot even read and write.
A caste-based reservation system in the 21 st century is moot as poverty is not defined by a specific caste, creed, religion or gender. An economic-based reservation system will be the bedrock for a new India where those who in reality need these concessions can opt for them and get an education which has been granted under the constitution to each and every citizen of this country.
Remedies provided by the Government
Five-year plans have been provided for the SCs and STs as a significant target of improvement strategy by both union and state government usage of the sardar sarovar task will perceive status of booked positions and planned clans through the constitution (booked castes and scheduled tribes) Order(amendments)Bill 2002 The defensive segment of this technique incorporates the authorization of those legitimate arrangements that make up the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the Booked Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 These defensive measures are checked by the National Commissions for Booked Castes and Scheduled Tribes (set up compliant with Article 338). The advancement measures for the instructive, social, and financial upliftment of booked positions are controlled by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Article 14 was initially included in article 15 until a revised draft constitution in 1950 made it a standalone article which explicitly mentioned ‘equality before law’. As explicitly mentioned in the Article 15 ‘The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. No citizen will be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment’. Having been explicitly mentioned in 1949 this article was put forth in the constitution to counteract a 200year imperialistic virus which had been deeply rooted in the minds of our ancestors. Article 16 gives every citizen an ‘equal opportunity in the matters of public employment’.
Article 17 annulled the ‘untouchability’ and made its training a culpable offense. Article 35 (Article 35(a)(ii)) enabled the Parliament to make correctional laws for the offenses referenced under sub-clause (ii) of the article. The government has tried a full-fledged regulating system for the upliftment of the backward classes although it has suffered from minor technicalities which can be resolved with further trial and error. It very well may be seen from the different arrangements of the constitution and resulting established changes and enactments that the legislature is attempting to utilize reservation as an instrument for the upliftment of in reverse.
Caste related feuds
The crimes primarily take place where modernisation has not sown its seeds. There is major discriminatory wretched behaviour that takes place with these people. There have been several instances from the independence era till date wherein the social stigma is faced by the people on the pretext of their occupation and descent. Castes are mainly in hierarchy through the housing, marriage, employment and general social interactions that take place.
In 2018 in Tamil Nadu The Dominant Indian caste the Hindus were “enraged” that the Dalits did not present sanctuary praises to an upper-standing family who were selling marijuana around the temple area from the neighbouring village. A posse of predominant standing individuals struck the Dalit town around evening time assaulting individuals unpredictably killing three and harming six.
The honour killings that occur on a customary standstill are fundamentally random and only small wrongdoing can trigger it and wreak havoc. Honour killings are the most tenacious forms of crimes currently pertaining to sexuality and caste-based marriages. They occur on a colossal basis and our conflations on both men and women. Honour killings not only perceive first hand killing but also are a major option one holds after rapes due to inter caste marriages.
They hold a major role on women’s autonomy and prohibit their freedom in a way that can cause detrimental outcomes to their well-being. In Lata Singh vs State of U.P. another 18, the court held We sometimes hear of “honour” killings of such persons who undergo intercaste or inter-religious marriage of their own free will. There is nothing honourable in such killings, and in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful acts of murder committed by brutal, feudal-minded persons who deserve harsh punishment. Only in this way can we stamp out such acts of barbarism. They are a form of the feudal nature of a person that he cannot come to terms with and is just a barbaric trait one possesses and hence, is considered wrongdoing it is no one’s business to adjudicate a situation and give an outcome to it which is known as honour killing.
One of the major feuds though not exactly a feud is surrogacy. When it comes to discourses around a woman’s labour there are many aspects that come into picture. Caste purity and family lineage is supposed to be carried on by surrogacy. In order to carry forward the paternal family name men would use concubines to get children through surrogacy if the wife failed to do so. This would also be the case if the wife was unable to produce a male heir for the dominant upper caste husband, however when the upper caste male was associated to a Dalit woman, children born to her were considered impure and hence were not legitimate inheritors of the family lineage. Hence since modernity crept in the concept of polygamous relationships although not marriage, an upper-caste woman was considered a surrogate to a legitimate heir.
The upper caste woman bargain with patriarchy and have legitimate heirs to the family lineage whereas Dalit woman who are exploited by the upper caste men neither have a normal motherhood nor social respectability let alone legitimate inheritors. Which makes surrogacy questionable, whether it is really an aid to the mothers or just an exploitative facility that is actually harassing the authenticity of motherhood and a birth of an individual who does not have the right to take birth as indicated by his original lineage. The up and downside of casteism:
- Casteism propagates the act of distance and turns into an impediment in giving social equity and equity.
- Casteism ends up being a danger to social request, strength, harmony and agreement, in the general public.
- Casteism brings about political disunity and influences the smooth and fruitful working of multi-party popular governments like India.
- Casteism has become an instrument in the possession of political pioneers. Numerous political pioneers, during decisions, attempt to acquire votes on mutual and standing premises, instead of their own abilities and capacities. This outcomes in the appointment of under-serving up-and-comers, who don’t stop for a second to advance their own position enthusiasm at the expense of regular greatness. In this way, casteism ends up being an impediment to the majority rules system.
The commonness of casteism shows that the individuals are convention bound, conservative and customary in speculation. It might make an obstacle to the upliftment of ladies due to the absence of support from rank cognizant gatherings.
Conclusion
The preamble of the constitution surfaces the fact that it is there to govern the discriminatory nature of a person. But the mere existence of equality in the constitution does not mean that it plays a sufficient role in the individual’s development of a social change. The humanitarian grounds should be set furthermore, in order to instil the mindsets of people with an attitude of equality towards each other as well as cure the repercussions of the ethnocentric nature of people that one goes through. The positive requirement for redressal and improvement of government strategies that were surrounded from the constitution some time back ought to have an update as most of these schemes though introduced to help the ones in need end being the feat that makes it difficult for the backward castes to succeed. The point of giving reservation to a retrogressive individual is to let him have a chance to ascend in his social and monetary status.
Dalits are a meagre part of the predominant culture in India which further wants to be narrowed down only to the upper hands ruling synarchy. Although, the country is in a self-created social degradation, there have been humanitarian rights as well as people looking out for justice through the schisms of traditional approach just like independence was sought. There will be a day, where this self-righteous clan will be looked upon and an era where no parochialism will prevail.
References
- http://legislative.gov.in/actsofparliamentfromtheyear/protection-civil-rights-act-1955
- https://tribal.nic.in/actRules/preventionofAtricities
- http://constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/special_provisions_relating_to_certain_classes/articles/ Article
- http://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/14/articles/Article%2014
- http://constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/15/articles/Article%2015
- http://constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/16/articles/Article%2016
- http://constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/17/articles/Article%2017
- http://aalilegal.org/judgements-right-to-choice/lata-singh-vs-state-of-up-air2-006sc2522/
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1703363
- https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/caste-patriarchy-and-surrogacy-market-india-95006
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/know-your-rights/honor-killing-a-major-offence-in-india- 5248/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48619734
- Projectpartner.org/poverty/hukou
- yourarticlelibrary.com/caste/casteism-meaning-causes-solution-and-suggestion/3499
Case references
- State of Madras vs Champakran Dorairanjan, 1951 (AIR 1951 SC 226)
- Indira Sawhney vs Union of India, 19th November 1993 (AIR 1993 SC 477)
- T.M Pai foundation vs Union of India, 2003 Writ Petition (civil) 317 of 1993
- P.A. Inamdar vs. Union of India, 12th August 2005 Appeal (civil) 5041 of 2005
- Ashok Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India Ors.,10th April 2008(Writ petition (civil) 265 of 2006)
- Lata Singh vs State of U.P. & another (2006) 5SCC 475
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