Annihilation of caste: Truth versus myth
Caste is a social group based on birth; it can be best perceived as a social hierarchy which passes down through families or which is inherited in hereditary manner and determines the profession in which a person can work in as well as the kind of social life one can live including the social group in which one can marry. The peculiarity of the caste system is that it does not change in the lifetime of the individual. However, there are certain homogenous processes such as Sanskritisation which do bring in changes in the vertical mobility of the caste groups.
Though the caste system happens to be synonymous with the Varna system, there are marked differences. The Varna grouping in India includes loosely-defined occupational categories which divide the Hindu society into four hierarchal strata like Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. On the other hand, some people were kept outside the Varna grouping and used to be ostracised socially and were called as untouchables or Chandals. However, they find place in the lowest stratum of the caste hierarchy.
Unfortunately, during the later Vedic period, the Varna system transformed into caste groupings which were eventually viewed as tightly-defined hereditary groups distinguished by degrees of ritual purity and pollution and people were given ascribed statuses. Accordingly, the traditional roles and occupations took the shape of one of the permanence. Thus, a Brahmin learned Vedic Shlokas and chanted the hymns even if he was disinterested or reluctant to do that. On the other hand, a cobbler could not even think of chanting the Vedic mantras though he might have all the qualities and curiosity to learn and practise that. This had been the system till the British arrival when the caste groups were made more complicated and also manipulated by the British for their own benefit of governing by dividing the society.
In the post-Independence period, however, the caste system has undergone tremendous changes following rapid urbanisation, growing literacy and occupational mobility. Currently, the village social structure, which was a predominant preserver of caste system, is on the verge of a gradual collapse. Today, the cases of inter-caste marriages don’t remain very uncommon and have become a comparatively-acceptable social reality in comparison to the past. Also, inter-dining and commensalism have become the norm of the day.
One of the key features of caste systems, i.e., the ‘Jajmani’ relationship, where the upper caste groups receive services from the lower caste groups and they in turn are supported financially or in kind or both is losing its ground due to the unavailability and reluctance of the lower caste service providers, who have now shifted to open practice of various occupations by virtue of the Constitutional guarantees and prohibition of caste-based discrimination and abolition of untouchability under Article 17. As a corollary, a cobbler can now have a bookstore selling the Vedic books and self-learning too, while a Brahmin can open a shoe store or salon or serving the person/persons of any caste or class, religion or religious denomination.
Besides, with access to open occupation and a comparatively open society, we are gradually entering into a class system as opposed to the traditional caste-based system, which is largely based on financial and educational accomplishments. Hence, instead of an ascribed caste status, we are prioritising an achieved status on the basis of personal achievements and financial gains. Apart from this, various government schemes like incentivising inter-caste marriages with financial rewards, positive discriminations, reservations in education and services have played a vital role in caste mobility.
But it will be largely misplaced to conclude from the changes as above that the caste barriers have collapsed or there is an annihilation of castes. Although this tempts some of us to suggest the structural presence of caste system while it has functionally collapsed, but is it the reality? The hard facts ‘for the motion’ and ‘against the motion’ unravel the enigma covering the ‘truth versus myth’ debate in this context. And unfortunately, the caste system, though it has weakened a bit, has remained both structurally and functionally operational till today.
Even though the practice of inter-caste marriage has grown steadily, it has not replaced the system in such a way that caste mobility can be called as very flexible. In the villages, where around 60 per cent Indians live, one can be lynched for marrying beyond his/her caste. In matrimonial sites, one can notice quite disturbing, paradoxical statements in advertisements like “caste no bar, but except SC/ST”. This shows a very regressive kind of social psychology ailing us.
According to a Press release of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment dated December 14, 2021, “The Atrocity Cases in the year 2018 have decreased approximately by 11.15% from the year 2017, but have increased by 11.46% in 2019 and 8.6% in 2020 from the previous year.” The same report cites the conviction in cases of crime against Scheduled Castes in 2016 to be 3753 and in cases of crime against STs to be 602 which has sharply fallen in 2020 in cases of crime against SCs to be 3241 and in cases of crime against STs to be 347. According to the NCRB, cases registered for crime against SCs rose from 42,793 in 2018 to over 50,000 in 2020 and of crime against STs from 6,528 to 8,272 in the same period.
Even after the enactment of the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, it has shown little impact on the ground. Some people still live with the sick mentality of possessing the right to expect another fellow human being to clean their waste and excreta even though it endangers their life and health.
The undelivered speech of Dr Ambedkar, titled ‘Annihilation of Caste’ (1936) has turned 87, but caste in India is still a reality. We need to understand that the caste system divides society and decelerates the economic growth as it undermines the worth, dignity and capabilities of members of some caste groups as against others.
(Jyotiranjan is an Addl. Central Government Standing Counsel and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Media Studies, School of Mass Communication, KIIT University. Prof Sahoo is an Asst. Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, FM Autonomous College, Balasore. Views are personal)