India is not caste structured

NOEL G DE SOUZA delves into the history of casteism, and its diminishing relevance in today’s world

AAt the recent UNESCOsponsored World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), some Scandinavian countries made attempts to equate casteism in India to racism; and to declare India’s lower castes, like the Dalits, as being indigenous. Most Indians belong to the same race. If there are any indigenous people in India, they would be some of the tribals. India was caught unawares by what was an attack on its annals, by reinventing India’s history and the origin of its peoples. There was a similar attempt in 2001.

An Indian Professor, Dr Andre Béteille (awarded the Padma Bushan) says, “Interested parties within and outside the UN would like to bring caste discrimination ….. within the purview of racial discrimination. The practice of untouchability is indeed reprehensible … but that does not mean …..(it is) a form of racial discrimination. The Scheduled Castes of India taken together are no more a race than are the Brahmins taken together.”

Castes are found in most countries whether they are called as such or not, like royalty, aristocracy and serfs. Much misinformation and misinterpretation prevails about India’s castes (jati or varna), Indians themselves having to shoulder much of the blame because no serious attempt has been made to set the record right. Many Indians have acquiesced to what has been said. For example, it is often presumed that India is structured on the caste system. Is it?

“System” implies an organised structure where each individual plays a designated role and where everyone is interconnected to enable the organisation to function. This resembles the central processing system of a computer, each item inside it having an explicit role. Are members of India’s castes joined together into a system? Are all Brahmins expected to be priests and scholars of scriptures, all Kshatriyas to be kings and army personnel, all Vaishyas to be merchants and only Sudras to be workers? Certainly not! Scholars, army personnel, businessmen and workers come from all castes and all religions. This has been happening for centuries, but particularly so since the nineteenth century. The Bhagwad Gita refers to only three castes – Brahmins (scholars), Kshatriyas (warriors) and Sudras (workers) based upon the gunas (qualities of life). It attributes the harmonious and enlightened satva guna to the Brahmin, the dynamic rajas guna to the Kshatriya and the unenlightened tamas guna to the Sudra. The Dhammapada defines a Bramana as an enlightened person who has developed certain qualities. The Bhagwad Gita and the Dhammapada focus on personal development irrespective of origins of birth.

Interestingly, the Goan Catholics use the Bhagwad Gita type of three-fold caste classification despite 450 years of Portuguese rule. They zealously cling to their original castes and wear their caste badges with pride. Remarkably, the Greek philosopher Plato also speaks about a threefold system made up of philosopher-kings (scholars), protectors of society (warriors) and a productive group (workers).

Commonly four castes are talked about in India, the fourth being the Vaishayas [merchants]. The Vaishaya does not fit in the Bhagwad Gita scheme. This four-fold grouping is replicated in Bali. Several large groups in India do not belong to this fourfold caste system such as the Lingayats, a Hindu group mostly found in Karnataka, founded by a Brahmin named Basavanna in the twelfth century. This is also the case with reformist religions which sprang from Hinduism such as the Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. The Mahajan Commission listed 3,743 scheduled castes!

Castes and tribals are ethnic groups like Italians, Greeks and Aboriginals in Australia. Castes in India become important when choosing marriage partners because most people tend to marry within their groups; ethnics in Australia do likewise.

Those who wish to equate caste with Indian society ignore the fact that India has been undergoing a quiet revolution since the establishment of modern universities in 1857. Higher education removed knowledge from the hands of a few and made it widely accessible. This enabled the beginnings of industrialisation and modernisation.

Industrialisation created a new set of workers who were unlike those of the old agricultural society. Urbanisation promoted a cosmopolitan society where people work and mix together, irrespective of caste or religion. Further spread of higher education prepared the ground for the advent of independence in 1947.

The voluminous Indian constitution had as its architect, Dr Ambedkar, who was a “low caste” lawyer. The one-person-onevote democracy gave numerical advantage to large groups and this included the lower castes. This gives them electoral clout in many Indian states. In addition, the reservation of seats, educational places and jobs for disadvantaged groups has turned the old caste structure literally on its head.

It is a tribute to the Indian ability for compromise and common sense that India has, by far and large, been able to accommodate its large variety of peoples –castes, religions, sects and tribals – into a workable democratic system.