Indi An Emerging Economy And A Beacon Of High Tech Modernity

The Caste system has aroused much controversy than any other feature of India’s society. Every day, Dalits are butchered, assaulted, abused, raped, lynched, shot or openly mutilated without considering any consequences of the offenders. The deaths of pregnant women who are not able to pay the bribes at government hospitals, some boys with eyes raised completely out for falling in love with a girl of a superior caste, and horrid stories of employees boiled to death because of spewing out arguments with the boss are continuously reported in mainstream newspapers. After years of democracy, the social structure stands to practice the caste system disregarding abolishment laws. Every international or national effort to abolish caste differentiation and segregation has been proven ineffective. The caste system of India is a deeply inculcated social problem requiring immense commitment domestically and internationally in understanding what has stopped the measures to get rid of this ancient system and what measures are needed to complete elimination of the system.

B. R. Ambedkar once stated, “What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other things, which conflict with our fundamental rights.” This powerful quotes illustrates how society has belittle the people with a low status and has not given a chance for those who have not proven themselves. It demonstrates that the world needs to understand that all people should be treated equally no matter what race, ethnic, or social status they inherit. Throughout the texts, “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker and “Borders” by Denice Frohman, both authors develop their text surrounding the topic of inequality by discussing how social class affects the main

The caste system has been extremely stable in India for over two thousand years. It is only since the more modern, independent state of India was formed that the system has come under any scrutiny at all. It is presently outlawed, but many of the practices, attitudes and traditions remain ingrained in Hindu society (University of Wyoming, 1997).

The relationship between cricket and politics is clearly portrayed in South Asia from 1880 to 2005 through the easing of the tension between different caste members, although the tension eased was not always from a religious aspect between the Pakistanis, Indians, and the British. The different problems that arose in South Asia was mostly class or caste systems (Docs 2, 3, 4), rivalry (Docs 1, 6, 10), and religious tensions (Docs 5, 7, 8, 9) against the different countries and cricket teams.

Katherine Boo’s book, Behind The Beautiful Forevers, portrays the “new life” the people in India live as capitalism and globalism ventures into their lives. These two systems look to promise new and improved social opportunities for all classes, not just the wealthy. However, although this makes it seem like the government of India in the 21st century is progressing towards a more fairer society for all its citizens, the reality is, they are really not progressing at all. Of course, while capitalism and globalization initially gave all citizens, especially the lower classes, hope that more opportunities would be available to them, it seems it has prevaricated it all as these opportunities have been more transformative to the elite and privileged classes than it has for the poor.

Historically, India was under British rule until 1950. Many people in India felt that during British rule they were powerless (Beteille, 2010). All of the problems in the country were blamed on this helplessness (Beteille, 2010). When India became independent and developed its own constitution, a large amount of emphasis was placed on the role of government in solving social problems (Beteille, 2010). During British rule, many customs and practices in India were based on the Hindu religion (Beteille, 2010). The British left those in place, neither making them unlawful nor supporting them (Beteille, 2010). When the new government was established, the caste system that had so sharply defined India was declared unlawful (Beteille, 2010). While this was a step in the

Firstly, the caste system reflects the inequality of Indian society. Although religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices, majority of Indian population follow Hinduism. Therefore, the dominance of Hinduism beliefs is common in India. There is a belief in caste system, as Brood said, “a system of hierarchical social organization”1. Hindu society is divided into four main classes; the priestly class, the warrior and administrator class, the producer class who is farmers and merchants and the servant class. The remaining group of people who is “outcastes” is called “untouchables” or dalit. Brodd recognizes “dalits continue to suffer terrible oppression, especially in rural communities in India”. I still could not imagine how terrible this bottom class suffers until reading Max Bearak article. All sufferings of Rohith Vemula, from the hardships of growing up poor, interactions with society in caste to scholarship revoke and suicide, happened tragically because he was born in a dalit family. This is the

Looking upon Indian society for comparison, it is seen that the primary factor of the caste system is built

The caste system also plays a critical role on Indian society as it dictates a person’s social position. I believe this to be true in more rural areas and smaller communities of Indian society. The dharma in each caste system is not always the same and the caste systems dharma can vary. This is to say that dharma is not necessarily universal

On the other hand, India has spent a majority of its history as a colony of England. It was not until 1947 that India became an independent nation state, after a grassroots nationalist movement started by Gandhi, and even then they were a one party congress. They are also an interesting case of democracy because of how many unfavorable aspects towards it they had, such as high inequality, many peasants, and many different languages and religions (Lecture). In 1956, India was broken up into states by the States Reorganization Act, that made state lines based on linguistic group. India’s founding leaders mirrored the ideas of America, in balancing states rights with a central government (Sil, 2014). They have also more recently gone through a liberalization of their economy. India is unique in the way that their social hierarchy is constructed because of the fact that they have a caste system. The caste system is a combination of religious practice and community organization that is a part of Hinduism (Sil, 2014). This system was officially demolished in the country, but in the country it is still very prevalent, and the focus on helping those who were in lower castes succeed has made people more aware of the way they institute social policies.

Although every caste in the World State is meticulously conditioned to accept the hand they are given, there are still many citizens who are dissatisfied with the quality of life available to them in society. Knowingly or unknowingly, these outliers reject their conditioning and strive for something more, whether it be adversity, danger, or passion.

World is composed of social stratification, a system which people are divided into layers based on their property, power and prestige. This stratification labels people and causes them to think accordingly within their own stratification. It can be expressed in four major groups as follows: slavery, caste system, estate, and class. Though it can be described in slavery, caste system, and estate, these are all old forms of social stratification that are not used commonly in the present. Therefore, my paper will be focusing on the description of the class system.

            The internal divisions and complexes hierarchy of the Indian society served an important social function.  The system provided each individual with a clear identity and role and offered the benefits of group solidarity and support.  Certain interactions and behaviors were appropriate only between those of equal status. The system assured that the religious, political, and financial powers were all separated into four different social classes (Bulliet, et. 2011).

A few disadvantages of India’s social system are that Religion, caste, and language are major determinants of social organizations. According to the US Department of State-Background Notes website, even though the government has declared the caste system as illegal, it still has a presence in occupational and societal hierarchies (The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, 2010).

1. The British regarded India as source of supply of raw materials and market for British manufacturers and hence, at the time of Independence, India was industrially an underdeveloped economy.