Socio-Cultural Oppression To Dalit. A)Inter-Caste Marriage.

‘DNA News’ reported a news fromBundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh where a man cut off a Dalit man's nose only because he had displayed the temerity to break bread with them at a 'barat' (wedding party). Such is the viewpoint of our society towards its people where they think that that the people belonging to that caste are not even human and they can treat them in any way they want. The astonishing part is that the incident took place in a Dalit dominated

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

"In addition to these unofficial social classes, Hindus in Bhopal and throughout India adhere to a rigid caste system that further separates people into classes" (15). It is very hard to change caste to a higher standard of living and converse with a higher class. But if some individuals have the desire to change caste, they can through immense effort, talent, and luck; "…one may change caste by gaining prominence in a certain occupation" (17). The caste system offers little flexibility in village life, politics, and in marriage. Religion also plays a part in this caste; only Hindus can have caste.

Oppression in India has been happening for over a thousand years with little to no action being done to stop the caste discrimination. There has been oppression occurring in India against Dalits, people below the caste system who are also known as Untouchables, and to lower caste people because of their culture and their religion, Hinduism. In order to rid caste discrimination facing Dalits and lower castes in India, people of India must know and evaluate the history of the oppression, the current situation India is in, and what has been done, needs to be done to solve this issue.

India's Untouchables are relegated to the lowest jobs, and live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated, paraded naked, beaten, and raped with impunity by upper-caste Hindus seeking to keep them in their place. Merely walking through an upper-caste neighborhood is a life-threatening offense.

The Caste System has four different types of groups where the groups have different meanings and people don’t get to choose which type of group they want, because they are born into it. This system had a lot of people suffering, because they didn’t have any freedom to do what they want or be what they wanted. Brahmins belong to the highest caste. They are priests and scholars. Kshatryas are soldiers and warriors. Vaisyas are merchants and professionals. Sudras are the lowest cast. They are labors and

The true way to understand how Braham’s perceive poverty is to discern how the Dalit, the untouchables, are handled by the Braham’s. According to the Independence Hall Association, the Braham’s were disgusted by the Dalit’s, the fear derived from the fear of becoming unpure, this ideology ultimately stems from a social order. This can be seen from the following quote from the Independence Hall Association, “Brahmins were considered the embodiment of purity, and untouchables the embodiment of pollution. Physical contact between the two groups was absolutely prohibited. Brahmins adhered so strongly to this rule that they felt obliged to bathe if even the shadow of an untouchable fell across them.” This ultimately demonstrates how negatively the Braham’s view poverty, and proves to be quite contradicting to their role as a teacher and priest. As teachers, Braham’s should not discourage teaching the untouchables, who still are followers of Hinduism and must be

The caste system is a widely accepted form of oppression. Traditionally the oppression was unseen, with the modernization of the world in the last century the system and its oppression has come to light. While many people do see the oppression, it rarely gets mentioned due to the traditional beliefs that have been in practice for thousands of years. The modernization of not only the culture, but the Hindu beliefs, have encourage the oppression even more so than tradition with the increased political influences.

The caste system is a social system developed in India. It has a great effect of Indian society throughout the Indian history. This essay is going to introduce you about the caste system by telling you how the caste system works, where did it come from, and how does it influence Indian society. First, its how the caste system works. It divides people ranks; from high to low are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudra. Beside these general ranks there are also “untouchables” which are outside the system. The “untouchables” are the lowest in the society, usually made up of slaves or war prisoners. Your rank also influences which work you are doing. The higher the rank is the better the work is. Brahmins are the ruling class, people in this rank are usually are spiritual leaders. Kshatriyas are usually warriors and nobles; they made up the military class. Vaishyas are people like merchants and producers, they are the people we usually call the middle class today. The laborers are usually consisting of Shudras, their rank is so low that they are prohibited from the study of sacred literature call “Vedas”. The “untouchables” do the jobs that nobody wants to do, and for most of the times all the dirty works like cleaning up or deal with waste. People are only allowed to do the jobs that are allowed in their rank, if they do the wrong job, the will be punished and sometimes been killed. The communications between ranks are also limited. Usually the higher ranks are not allowed to

Within Hinduism, the caste system is another aspect that lays foundational ground for taboos. The caste system is a segregation system that separates the people of Hinduism into five types of social groups. At the top of the pyramid-like social latter are Brahmins, or the priests. Next, there are Khsatriyas, the warriors. This class is followed by the Vaishyas (landowners, merchants) then the Shudras (servants).

These Dalits, besides existing, have done nothing wrong to other higher-caste Hindus yet are literally treated like dirt. Untouchable children are also mistreated at school:

The upper caste population identified with Dalits as the callous strata of the populace. They “othered” people from the lower castes by continuous oppression, turning this oppressive behavior into a hegemonic process. They identified with them as the dark skinned, though the irony lies in the fact that most Indians are fair skinned Arian stock thus giving rise to the whole Dalits race debate. Gradually, amongst all the debate, the society welcomed with much comments, the printed version of Ambedkar’s speech known as The Annihilation of Caste (1936). The speech is a discussion about what exactly caste is, catering to questions like, is caste about occupation and rigidity, restriction of marriage and dining and so on. Due to the rising classification of caste and growing untouchability, the country saw various movements. The Dalit Aesthetics movement being one of them. The association was a self-respect movement. It was a rejection of the brahminical aesthetics, a denunciation of the Brahmin idea of beauty. Increasing number of works by Dalit writers was a silent protest on the invented supremacy of the brahminical social order that treated the ‘low castes’ worse than animals. It was movement to break down the dogma of eternal oppression that the pyramidal structure followed, where Brahmins at the top and the Shudhras managed to get the bottom most layer of the pyramid. It was a pietistic system where the higher castes molded the rules according to their benefits to keep up with their socio-cultural, economic and political privileges. A fine example of twisting the rules according to one’s own needs can be seen from works like “Deliverance” by Premchand and “Untouchable” by Mulk Raj Anand. In Deliverance, the priest makes the poor soul work in his courtyard all day while he himself was taking rest. Here the priest does not have a problem if a dalit is

The caste system is a form of differentiation wherein constituent units of a system justify endogamy based on assumed biological differences which are semaphored by ritualization of multiple social practices. The idea of purity and pollution has had a very serious impact in the Indian society and the fates of people have been decided on this very notion almost forever now. B.R Ambedkar, the father of our constitution, in his book The Annihilation of Caste has made several strong points on why India as a country should abolish the caste system. When one comes to think of it, each and everything he has mention in that book needs to be given a very serious thought, for a country like India to develop and move forward.

India is being considered as ‘Tiger Economy’ and emerging as a big power on the global map, but in the same country millions of Dalits (broken people) and Tribal (native people) are living in subhuman condition. One of the egregious examples is manual scavenging; according to Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) projection 1.3 million people in India are involved in manual scavenging work. This is unbelievable and unacceptable in any civilized society, but people are forced into manual scavenging work across India. These people are called ‘Untouchables’ and they are Dalits within Dalits in India and their conditions are disgraceful and unparalleled in the world. This is of great significance in my life because I’m a Dalit and was born in the slum of a big city (Ahmedabad). Since an early age I have been experiencing and observing discrimination in the name of caste (social hierarchical structure).

Anand Patwardhan’s documentary “Jai Bhim Comrade” is about Dalit movement and struggle for recognition of their identity and acceptance of their existence within socio-politico-economic milieu. The three hour long movie covers the time period of fourteen years, incorporating layered, personal narratives of Dalits, their aspirations and their desire to achieve what Ambedkar said in his one of the most radical texts “The Annihilation of Caste”, to dismantle the caste system. The film provides an insight into the cruelty and discrimination against Dalits, which has been ‘naturalized’ and institutionalized within our so-called progressive Hindu society. Patvardhan is trying to situate various personal narratives within the larger narrative of Dalit resistance and struggle. I personally found the movie extremely strong, which renders the audience literally speechless. It shakes one’s entire belief system and forces one to interrogate various pockets of society which collectively form the society as it is. The movie turns the notion of