Caste system is steadily losing ground
Caste order is, perhaps, the longest surviving system of oppression and social exclusion in the country. No other social class has suffered as much as the Dalits have. The sad part is that there is no end to their suffering. In many parts of the country, they continue to do so even today. Even on the humiliation index, Dalits have suffered the most. It is for this simple reason that the caste order needs to end in India.
One has to understand that a system that impacts the social fabric needs to end at the earliest. For thousands of years, the caste order has been assigning an occupation to Dalits that is considered to be impure. So vicious is the circle that it dictates the kind of food that they must eat. The caste hierarchy even determines the kind of clothes and jewellery it must wear. It also determines what kind of musical instrument it can play.
But the most humiliating aspect of the caste order has been that it kept the Dalits from the mainstream society. Because of this exclusion, the Dalits had their own tiny settlement just outside the village with their own water source. It is fact that almost everybody in the country is aware of. The fact that they couldn’t draw water from the well of the upper caste is also a known one.
Another fact is that India’s caste order is not a material object that can be targeted and broken into pieces. It is a social system and even within that there are graded inequalities. Even within Dalits there are sub-classes. But since untouchability is a common factor, all sub-groups form an instant solidarity.
To break the caste order, Dalits need to do everything that they are stopped from doing. If the caste order prohibits the Dalits from amassing wealth, Dalits must start accumulating wealth. The only way to get rich is to become entrepreneurs — every Dalit must start his own business. But the big question is — will the caste-ridden society allow Dalits to start their businessIJ And it is not just about allowing them to become businessmen, will the caste order allow Dalits to succeed as wellIJ
A Dalit entrepreneur in Pune, who manufactures hydraulic pumps and employs dozens of workers, tells you that he can’t say that he is a Dalit. “They will burn my factory if people came to know that I am a Dalit and doing business,” he tells you. It took me more than an hour to explain to him that the upper caste is so caught up in their own problem to bother with him. But the businessman was not convinced. He told me that he is an Ambedkarite and attends many cadre camps and conferences on Dalit movements. The one thing that he has learnt is that Brahmins are unbeatable.
Here, I will have to agree with him. I, too, have attended several Dalit conferences in the past. Not even a single person at these events ever said that the Brahmins are weak and that it is easy to break the shackles of the caste system. Instead, the audience is told how strong the Brahmins are and how difficult it is to break the caste order.
A survey done by a Hindi news channel revealed that a majority of security guards in the Capital were are Brahmins, Bhumihars and Thakurs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Another study done in three shopping malls in Delhi revealed that a majority of cleaning staff is non-Dalit.
The point that I am trying to make is that if the Brahmins are so powerful why have they been reduced to doing work that is associated with the lower classIJ And if the caste system is that rigid how is that hundreds of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DICCI) members are doing so well in businessIJ
Meanwhile, the Dalit think tank in Delhi which did a study on Dalit taking to business said that Dalits can’t do business beyond opening a small grocery shop. The study also said that there were very few Dalit businessmen. The conclusion — it is very difficult for Dalits to succeed in business. Contrary to this study, another study talks about how Dalits in Delhi are running hospitals and restaurants. There are Dalits who are supplying spare parts to Hero and Bajaj Pulsar Bikes. There are Dalits manufacturing transformers and heavy duty cranes that can lift weight up to 125 metric tonnes.
Now, a question arises — which story to tell the Dalit youthIJ One where the caste system is so rigid that a Dalit can’t grow beyond a grocer. Or to tell them that one can’t deny that the caste order is rigid and and strong but you (Dalit youth) is much stronger than the caste system. And like many DICCI members, the caste system can be beaten and a Dalit can also become a successful businessman.
Telling the Dalit youth that they are stronger than the caste order, will not only boost their confidence but also their self-esteem. With this newly found energy, the Dalit youth can make a success story of his life. The Dalit movements and intellectuals must stop portraying a grim picture to the Dalit youth. India is changing and the caste system is losing its grip.