(First published in Small World Ezine on 28 July 2003)
In a caste system, a person normally belongs to a caste by
birth and will be there for his/her life.
In India, caste system (varna) has been practiced since
before time. There are 'Brahmans' (the priests/teachers),
'Kshatriyas' (the warriors/rulers), 'Vaisayas' (the
merchants), and 'Sudras' (the labourers). Each varna still
contains hundreds of sub-castes -- also with higher-lower
orders.
The fifth verna, which no-one does not want to talk about,
or count as a varna, is the 'Achuta', or 'Untouchable' in
English. They are the people considered impure or polluted
because of the job their ancestors did -- cremating and
burying the dead, cutting umbilical cords, removing dead
animals from roads, sweeping gutters, cleaning latrines,
and such. Since this thing is hereditary, the descendants
within this caste would have to do the same things forever.
Trying to upgrade to another caste is not acceptable.
Changing caste is impossible (and punishable).
As if this is not enough...
Discriminations arose because one day, thousands of years
ago, somebody (of course -- from the highest varna) wrote
a book telling how people of each varna group should behave
-- what to eat and wear, etc. And according to them, since
the untouchable are considered polluted, touching them or
sharing facilities with them also pollutes you.
If you are a 'Dalit' (Untouchable), you cannot drink or use
water from the same well as others (you will be assigned to
the poorest quality one), your kids have to sit at the back
of the classroom, and very few doctors agree to treat you
even though you have the money.
The jobs you can do are only the ones assigned to your
caste. Or you will have to serve only your 'people'. There
are also a few scholarship and school/university quota
spaces for the Dalits. But it is not easy to get one. In
1981 mobs rioted for 78 days in one province only because a
high-caste student was denied entry to a medical school to
make space for an Untouchable... Oh this is however, much
better than the time before WWII -- when an Untouchable
would be punished if his shadow touched the shadow of
somebody in a higher caste.
On August 6, 2001, in the north Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh, an upper-caste Brahmin boy and a lower-caste girl
were dragged to the roof of a house and publicly hanged by
members of their own families as hundreds of spectators
looked on because they refused to end their inter-caste
relationship (HRW).
This practice against the Untouchables is now illegal in
India. And the Indian government denies its existence. Yet,
it is still practiced by many people... and more intense
in certain areas. According to National Geographic's Tom
O'Neil -- in his article 'Untouchable' -- " During the
winter I spent in India, hardly a day passed that I didn't
hear or read of acid thrown in a boy's face, or a wife
raped in front of her husband, or some other act whose
provocation was simply that an Untouchable didn't know his
or her place." (NGM, June 2003)
Not only the law has not been well-enforced, but the
government itself often shows the prejudices... During the
2001's big earthquake in Gujarat, the Untouchables were
also given worse shelters and facilities than the
upper-castes.
If you are a Dalit, you will look and dress like others, but
somehow you cannot hide where you are from. People (who
practice this) won't feel comfortable making any contact
with you if they don't know you family background.
Nowadays... Thanks to globalisation and the International
Human Rights Treaties -- Untouchables received better
education. There are Untouchable's representative in India's
Parliament. There are Untouchable doctors -- M.D. and Ph.D.
There are Untouchable journalists, teachers, etc. People in
the world have heard more about them. And one day we hope
the practice will vanish. Caste system is not bad if it
does not come with discrimination.
References:
Human Rights Watch on Untouchables
National Geographic Magazine, June 2003 -- Read about it...
http://nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306
Oh do you know that this caste system also exist in Japan?
Similarly, this is a group of people called 'Burakumin',
whose ancestors used to do jobs others considered dirty
(such as cleaning the toilet and sewer system) centuries
ago. They are also considered polluted and dirty. If you
are a Burakumin, you cannot apply for a job in companies
(most of them hire private investigators only to check the
family background of applicants). If you attempted to cover
your background and get a better job or marry someone, you
will be socially condemned and divorced or fired. Thus,
Burakumins live in poverty, less education and hope.
One of my friends who used to live in Japan told me that
there was no privacy there. Anyone can retrieve you family
backgrounds or find out where you live easily. Authorities
give your information to anyone who ask for it. Local police
knows who else lives in your household... You will be safe
but not privacy-protected. If you have been to Japan, you
won't believe this exists as everyone acts as if it didn't.
More:
Not only in these two countries, caste system also exists
in many places in the world... Asia, Middle-East, Africa...
With the research I have found too many of them that I did
not know how and where to start. So I just write about the
two groups I know best about.
Let us teach our children about equality and how we should
treat others right. Caste system is not too bad if the
people from different classes are treated equally. I think
the original purpose of this system might be just to
classify people or assign them to their responsibilities to
the society. But through time, priests and preachers put out
more and more rules until it turned out this way...
If you want to take action, Check these sites...
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/caste/index.htm
International Movement Against All Forms of
Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
http://www.imadr.org/tokyo/ishikawareport.html
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