The Case Of The Narmada Bachao Andolan Project

This group of activists, advocates, donors, lawyers, students, academics, politicians and ordinary citizens have developed an awareness of untouchability as an issue of civil and human rights law. This group of people have brought a major change in our society over the last few years and the caste system has been removed from many places because of which there has been a dramatic change in the viewpoint of society. Instead of treating a particular caste group differently, people have taken a new approach to understand each other and adopt a society where there is

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.

The caste system was and continues to be a terrible reality for people in Europe and Asia. Even though it is not as prominent now as it was before it was abolished, it still affects many people all around the world. To be born into a status, one that you can never leave or outlive is a great tragedy. How does one come to terms with knowing that a choice was never an option? It doesn’t matter if all the laws changed today, the fact remains that the human race is habitual: people will continue to operate based on what they have done for years. The abolition of slavery and the caste system didn’t mean that people would stop doing it but merely meant that it was no longer legal to do

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).

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

Untouchability as claimed by the Indian government is said to be abandoned 60 years ago, however still 40% of Dalits are illiterate (Around 70 million). This tells us that the caste system unfortunately still exists. The caste system is a system of class and hierarchy, it divides people in terms of classes called castes which usually determines their status in the community and therefor their livelihoods. The caste system still exists and if not constitutionally definitely socially. The caste system presence keeps different communities separated, lowers national GDP (Economic activity/development), discriminates against those of the lower caste, slows the development procedure and creates unlimited social consequences.

As stated early how Americans abuse power of status over minority groups, it is not the same in countries such as India where racism occurs between those who supposedly how the same status but instead the levels of status of the people is the demonstration of racism. For example, in the India’s inhuman practice of manual scavenging and untouchability video colors the picture of the life those describe as untouchables in India. These untouchables are the scavengers of their country and are deemed as so low on the totem pole they are regarded as less the people and thus named the “untouchables”. This racism is carried through generations by marriage, someone born into the family of untouchables cannot marry outside of their class, as well when married into the family of scavengers that is your job for the rest of your life and there is basically no

India’s caste system originated when the Aryans arrived. The Aryans had a social system where the warriors and priests where the ones with power. When these people encountered the farming society of India, the Aryans assumed power over the darker skinned Indians. The Indian people were then oppressed and forced to do the lower, less desirable jobs. This created the basis of the caste system. The idea of different jobs based on economic functions created an upper and lower caste. Throughout history, the caste system has stayed in place and impacted citizens of India today despite the eradication of law that enabled the caste system. Hinduism has played a large factor in the strengthening of the caste and is one of the reasons of the

I think the caste system is slowly starting to fall apart. In a couple years, I think the caste system will no longer be around in

Panchayat system is a local institution of conflict settlement that draws its legitimacy from traditional practice of tribal elite justice; whose unchecked power was reinforced by colonial rule on the lives of poor people. The feudal nature of the society, where tribal political elites and Biradari leaders want to strengthen their position or to deepen their hold through such informal structures; makes this parallel justice system widely acceptable amongst the masses. The honorable men of the society head the informal justice forum and suggest solutions that are binding on the parties involved focusing on restoration of societal equilibrium rather than individual human rights (National Commission on Status of Women).

In any case, the way to transcend caste is not to close our eyes to it, but to look at it very closely, identify and neutralize its relationship with disadvantage and discrimination, and to discover how caste relates to other social divisions such as gender and class. That is what necessitates a caste-based census. Supporters of caste enumeration tend to argue the opposite, namely that by collecting data on the caste-inequality link, the Census could become a promoter of progressive social change, chiefly by strengthening the case for compensatory discrimination policies across the land.

Ever since the religion of Hinduism was founded in 2800 B.C., India has upheld a social caste system that later evolved in its order and strictness. The caste system began when Aryan newcomers arrived in India, bringing with them a discriminatory mindset of racial separation. From this, varna, the Sanskrit word for caste, was born. Varna, also meaning color, placed the lighter-skinned Aryans at the top of the social pyramid and darker-skinned indigenous Indians at the bottom. Later, the Untouchables, or Dalits, were added to the system as outcasts and were immediately treated with nothing but distaste and inhumanity. These

Castesism (a word that I will be using frequently in my writing) is not new to any of us. Since childhood we have always been asked to maintain a distance with chamars and bhangis

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).