India's caste system under the microscope

Joyeeta Dutta Ray, Contributor, Jakarta

Of all the complexities and mysteries of India, nothing perplexes more than the caste system.

"Caste" is a word with many connotations. Nineteenth-century colonial historians who saw only its surface rigidities often twisted the truth of the term. As a result, views have taken into account only one side of the coin.

For a greater understanding about its advent and relevance in the country today it is necessary to see the complete picture, unlocking the door of each myth.

Perception: The word comes from India

Reality: Interestingly, the word "caste" is of Portuguese origin, derived from the word casta, meaning race or lineage. During the colonial rule, the term "caste" was used by the British to describe the Indian community. The elite were collectively classified as the "higher caste"; laborers were the "lower castes" or backward classes.

In Sanskrit, the word for caste is varna which has several interpretations, the primary one being color. Even then, varna was used more for descriptive purposes than discrimination.

Eventually varna came to signify an endemic group, members linked by heredity, marriage, custom and profession.

Today, the Indian word that defines caste is jati or jat. In modern India, the English term refers to both jat and varna.

Perception: Caste is a product of the ancient religion of Hinduism

Reality: Perhaps the only truth in this statement is that Hinduism is ancient. Contrary to popular belief, Hinduism evolved not as a religion but as a way of life.

Hindus were simply people who resided by the banks of the river Indus, called Sindhu -- then a race that embraced the local Dravidians and the foreign Aryans who arrived from south Europe and north Asia. The pre-biblical Greeks who couldn't pronounce "s" turned Sindhu into Indu and the people from thereabouts became "Hindus".

The nomadic Aryans disregarded local cultures. Around 1200 BC, they organized themselves into groups outlined by their occupations for greater socioeconomic stability.

It was a new way of life revolving around governance and order, defense and conquest, learning and trade, laborers and artisans. The roles were defined to help focus on specialization.

Despite other mythical and religious stories about the origin of the system, the caste system was nothing but a stratified and hierarchical organization of society based on profession. It helped maintain judicial order, stability and status quo in society.

Perception: The caste system was divided into four groups

Reality: Originally the varna involved only four major groups. They were: Brahmins (spiritual and judicial guides), Kshatriyas (warriors, aristocrats), Vaishyas (merchants, traders, peasants) and Shudras (laborers and artisans).

At that time, each group could be identified by the color of their skin. In a verse from the first millennium epic, the Mahabharata, the wise sage Brigu remarks, "Brahmins are fair skinned, Kshatriyas are reddish-brown, Vaishyas are yellow and Shudras are dark".

The sociohistorical theory behind this could well be that before the Aryans entered India, each of the Mongoloid, Negroid and Dravidian races contributed their skills to society, forming distinctive groups discernible by the color of the skin.

In its formative stage, shifting from one group to the other was permitted. Children were allowed to take on professions other than their father's and were identified with the new group.

Gradually, the Brahmins, wielding the baton of law and order, procured immense powers that they began to misuse. They imposed the caste system as a rigid framework with no mobility in profession permitted.

One was born into a caste and died behind its bars. This ensured that power stayed in the fist of the privileged and race remained "untainted".

Over time, a fifth group, Panchama, sprung up from the caste of the Shudras. They were the menial laborers whose tasks involved scavenging, toilet cleaning and garbage removal, all things considered unhygienic and polluted.

Thus, the Panchamas were heralded untouchables and were not allowed equal rights as the others. They even had separate wells from which to drink water.

People who did not fall into any of these categories were considered outcastes, or Malechas, such as nomads and tribal folk who had their own set of religious beliefs.

As increased industrialization produced new occupations, the caste system adapted rather than disintegrated. Each group became further subdivided into numerous communities called jat or jati.

Today there are over 3,000 castes and 25,000 subcastes, each related to a specific occupation.

Perception: The caste system involved Hindus. Foreigners were barred from the hierarchy

Reality: Anyone who did not belong to the four varna was an outcast or untouchable. That included all foreigners and non- Hindus. That did not mean they were excluded from the system.

Many foreign invaders of ancient India such as the Greeks, Huns, Scythians and Kushans adopted Hinduism and integrated into the community as Brahmins or Kshatriyas.

The light-eyed, fair skinned Konkanash Brahmins of west India are one such example believed to be of non-Indian descent.

There were also three main Jewish communities in India. The Bene Israels, Cochinis and Baghdadis. No intermingling, sharing of food or intermarriage was permitted within the three groups.

The Muslims who arrived in India were far too militarily powerful to be treated with contempt. In turn, they attempted to convert Indians to their religion.

The Indians who converted to Islam in most cases remained in the same social status as they had before their conversion.

Hence Hindus from the lower castes, who thought they could come out of the system by converting, were unable to do so.

Different Christians were treated differently in different parts of India. The European Christians were untouchables to the Hindus. The Syrian Christians of Kerala, South India, had a higher status.

Later on, with the British rule in India, it was the upper caste Hindus who adopted the European democratic philosophy that all are equals.

Perception: Lower castes are the deprived, discriminated classes in modern India

Reality: Cases vary. Today, the untouchables have evolved into a strong and organized political force who call themselves dalit. Government programs have attempted to raise their status by reserving places in the legislature, schools and colleges.

The reservation of quotas for the group has been a question of great debate. The special privileges sometimes encourage the scheduled castes to cling on to their identity.

This change came about slowly starting form the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1920s, Babasaheb Ambedkar, a crusader of social justice from the Untouchable community who drafted the Constitution of India, attempted to improve the condition of his community by granting them rights that they were earlier deprived of.

Since then, occupational barriers among Indian castes have been breaking down. But social distinctions have been more persistent. Attitudes toward the Untouchables only began to change in the 1930s under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi led the movement by renaming the Untouchables Harijans -- meaning children of god. He freely mingled with them, ate their food and inspired millions of other Indians to follow suit.

Although untouchability was declared illegal in 1949, resistance to change has remained strong, especially in rural areas.

In 1990, then prime minister of India VP Singh introduced the Mandal Commission that granted 49 percent reservation of government jobs for scheduled castes and tribes.

All hell broke loose then. The sudden blocking of nearly half of the seats seemed patently unfair to the student community in North India. Anti-Mandal protests took on the form of attacks on public property and attempted self-immolation by students.

What was a major forum for dissolving caste differences became a verdict of gross injustice. The passionate protests ended when the Supreme Court granted a stay on the implementation of the Mandal commission report on Oct. 1, 1990.

Conclusion As India marches toward a high-tech dynamic world, her centuries- old traditions often drag her back in time.

In the words of the revered saint Swami Vivekananda, "The caste system is opposed to the religion of the Vedanta. It is simply a crystallized social institution, which after doing its service is now filling the atmosphere of India with its stench."

About the future, one cannot tell. There will always be a foot trying to wedge open the door of discrimination. Other than that, caste is a way to preserve identity, social order and culture. In a nation with a billion people, jat gives each one a face.

The difference is, the colors now come in mixed shades.