Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

PEOPLE

Kannada Vokkaliga boy marrying a Telugu Reddy bride from Andhra, or a Malayalee Ezhava groom entering into wedlock with a Kannada Idiga girl (both belonging to the toddy-tappers caste) are not uncommon. Expansion of the middle class may result in blunting the edge of caste rivalries. The concept of Hindutva being popularised from political platforms may also have a similar effect. But expansion of caste-based social services and educational facilities may make people to continue caste loyalties. Every caste, of late, is trying to have a Gurupeeta (Matha ) with a pontiff from its own caste, thus trying to strengthen the caste's base, but the educated and the rationalist groups are indifferent to such arrangements. The changes likely to be seen by the close of this century will be marginal, though the trends towards secularisation are bound to be articulate. Most of the religious leaders, especially those connected with the bhakti (intense devotion) movement, have tried to condemn the caste restrictions or segregation of castes. Some of the leaders of the bhakti movement like the Shaiva saint, (Nayannmar) Appar, were non-Brahmins, but were highly ven- erated by the Brahmins. Acharya Ramanuja, the founder of Srivaish- navism, was educated by a non-Brahmin scholar, and Ramanuja per- suaded his orthodox followers to make a beginning in the emancipa- tion of the untouchables by calling them as "Tiru-Kulattars" (of holy lineage) and permitting them to enter temples at least three days in a year. Basaveshwara (founder of the Veerashaiva cult) from Karnataka condemned caste differences severely. Many Vaishnava saints in Maharashtra preached an egalitarian set-up and many of them were of the lower castes like Tukaram who was a vani (merchant), Namdev, a tailor ( shimpi), and Chokhamela, an untouchable. In the North too, Raidas was a cobbler and Kabir, a devotee of Rama, was a Muslim. Kanakadas in Karnataka was a shepherd ( Kuruba ). The efforts of these saintly men and the bhakti movement considerably blunted the edge of severity of caste differences. Still it persisted due to a variety of reasons mentioned above. S.U.K SELECTED REFERENCES Mahadevshastry Joshi (Ed), Bharateya Samskriti Kosh (Marathi) Vol III, Pune 1965. Srinivas Murthy H.V and Kamath S.U Studies in Indian Culture, Bombay 1973. Dube S.C., Indian Society, New Delhi 1990. Srinivas M.N., Caste in Modern India and other Essays. The Constitution of India specifies safeguards to protect the interests of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These safeguards include reservation of seats in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and the Legislative Assemblies of the states. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have also job reservations in the Central and state services and in educational institutions. The list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes pertaining to each state is given on pages D7 - D11. QUOTES "Caste system outcome of trust, tolerance, co-operation, con- solidation - later became an institution of discrimination, segrega- tion repugnant to the very spirit of Hinduism. "Dharma keynote of Hindu social organisation gave way to Artha and Kama "Inequality is the official doctrine of Brahminism and the sup- pression of the lower classes aspiring to equality has been looked upon by them and carried out by them without remorse as their bounden duty". B.R. Ambedkar

differences have not vanished. The National Movement and the efforts of Gandhiji and Ambedkar tried to blunt the edges of caste differences and forge social unity and eradicate untouchability. But the post- Independence democratic process and elections have strengthened the caste feelings by creating vote banks. The reservation policy in appointments and entry to educational institutions has again made eve- rybody to remember one's ‘assets’, the caste of one’s birth. Marriage between converts coming from two different castes is not common. Even the converts of Indian origin to Islam try to have honorifics like Sheikh or Sayyad, which are actually groups of Ara- bic origin involving some status. The caste system appears to be an inseparable part of Hindu society. It was not created only by the Vedic religion. It was found in the pre-Vedic society of the Dravida (Tamil) country as amply demonstrated by the Tamil classics of the Sangam Age. So long as Indian society remains divided on the basis of caste and religion, it will not achieve the social cohesion necessary for achieving national unity and public peace and tranquillity. Formerly there used to be challenges to the law and order situation due to religious processions or marriage processions being taken out in a particular area or street. There were violent incidents among the so-called right-hand castes or left-hand castes in the South. Lin- gayat gurus being taken in a procession riding a palanquin was objected to by Brahmins. Many such issues not only gave rise to an outbreak of riots, but caste rivalries being taken even to law courts including the Privy Council during British rule. Muslims objecting to playing of instrumental music in front of or beside mosques when the Hindus take a religious procession is common even today leading to riots. Now, communal outbreaks among the castes are caused mostly by land disputes and petty personal disputes and the Dalit SCs who were till now at the receiving end have organised themselves into resistance groups and their retaliatory acts have led to many conflagrations. Castes have organised their own community benefit pro- grammes like co-operative societies, hostels, trusts offering scholarships, co-operative banks, marriage halls etc., and their efforts to secure a political position by aligning themselves with various political parties as in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala are well known. The major group of a caste aligns itself with a party. The Yadavas (traditional cowherds) in Bihar identify themselves with the Janata Dal and Christians and Muslims in Kerala have formed their own separate parties and bargain for spoils with the party in power. But the growth of the middle class in urban areas has been changing, the social scene. The educated higher castes undergo 'Westernisation'; and the lower castes 'Sanskritisation' (taking to Vedic rituals and other forms of brahmanical life including even naming their children), as pointed out by M.N. Srinivas. They visit holy places, go on pilgrimage and perform various traditional rites, by inviting Brahmin priests, which their own parents had not per- formed. Different castes in towns and cities have become secular in their social interactions with each other and those who can afford a non-brahmin 'servant' for household jobs have become liberal enough to admit him even to the kitchen. Such a development indi- cates how the ritual practices of purity and pollution are slowly changing. Besides, caste people largely in cities are found to accept inter-caste (and inter-regional) marriages for obvious reasons. Castes based on profession, though differing from one another due to regional or language differences among various Brahmin groups, had become quite common by the time of Independence, and now a