Cast is a Curse

The caste system has evolved through many phases in India. From being introduced by Aryans, it went through subdivision, new laws and a big issue for India. But one of the most common things through all these stages is the use of caste system for personal benefit. The introduction of caste system was done by Aryans, so that only they can be the  king, warrior, priest and businessman of the society and if you look at the current status of the caste system in India, it’s the same case. Now caste is being used by politicians and is applied to the baseless reservation format in the education system.

There are more than 3,000 caste and more than 25,000 subcastes in India and I don’t think they are of any use. We are already categorized on so many basis (like country, state, color, religion, etc.) that adding a caste over and then segregating those small groups of caste again into subcastes makes no sense. Does your caste system guides you how to live your life? Does your caste system help you in living a better life? Does your caste system teach you lesson of equality and kindness? The answer to all these questions is a big, fat no. The most important thing regarding caste is; it has never benefited the people but has always fulfilled selfish goals of leaders.

The religious theory explains the formation of Varna (Brahmins, Kshatryas, Vaishyas and Shudras) and it is done according to the occupation of different Varna, which is as follows:-

Brahmins- Priests and Teachers

Kshatryas- Warrior and Ruler

Vaishyas- Farmers, Traders and Merchants

Shudras- Laborers

Earlier, the son of a priest was supposed to be a priest, he couldn’t be a ruler while a son of Farmer was supposed to be a farmer and he couldn’t be a teacher and everyone was ohk with that because there was nothing like job opportunity or competition at that time and also because it was thought that children carry the inheritance of their parent but do you think the system is still same. Are we bound to our caste, while choosing our profession? Obviously No. Everything has changed according to time, from transportation to living standards, from communication to job, then why we are still stuck with the old system of caste?

Let’s firstly talk about the reservation in education system on the basis of caste. This all started due the partiality done by the British Government under their divide and rule policy. The British Government separated the Indians by codifying caste between 1860 and 1920. During this period, the British government started giving administrative job and senior appointment to the upper caste (which was based on their code of caste). They also passed some inhuman laws like Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, according to which everyone who belonged to a certain caste were considered to be born with criminal tendencies. Yes, we have such meaningless roots for the origin of our caste. This law included Ahir, Gujar and Jats, but later it was extended to so called untouchables.  So at that time, you could have been arrested without doing any crime, just because you belong to a certain caste. 

Due to the social unrest during 1920, the British government started giving reservation for lower caste and they were successful with their planning while we lost the battle of national integrity. They firstly started the segregation on caste and solved it with a tool which penetrated much deeper into discrimination and we are still suffering because of this. Education should be based on the ability of a person not his caste. A hard working young student may not be able to clear exam because he belongs to a general category, while another student can clear that exam easily just because he belongs to Schedule Caste or Tribe. The wealth of Indian families can no longer be determined by his caste. You can find a Brahmin family facing the problem of everyday meal while a family from Schedule Caste may be enjoying high standards of living, so now how do you find the reservation in education system on caste basis to be justified.

Now let’s see the use of caste as a political tool in India. While many leaders (like.B.R.Ambedkar) have tried to abolish the inequality of caste system, but most of the political agendas have helped this segregation to be alive. Many Indian politicians have been using the concept of “uplifting lower caste” for increasing their vote banks and their concept has nothing to do with any welfare of the lower caste. Whether it is election in Bihar, UP or TamilNadu, caste is a major propaganda in most elections of India and after winning the election, the lower caste is left in their condition, so that it can be used for future also.

So after reading this blog, if you still think that caste is very much important to maintain humanity and equality in India, then you are either mindless or a corrupt politician. Instead of being useless, caste has been prevailing in our society from long and causing social unrest and discrimination among people, whether it is dalit student committing suicide or protest of Jat for reservation.