Caste and Tribe – Systems Justifying and Perpetuating Inequality

The Caste System as a Discriminatory System

The caste system is a distinct Indian social institution that does more than just divide society — it actively legitimises and enforces discrimination against people born into particular castes. These practices are humiliating, exclusionary, and exploitative. Historically, the system classified people by both their occupation and their status. Every caste was tied to a specific occupation, which meant that a person born into a particular caste was also born into that caste's occupation — they had no choice in the matter.

More importantly, each caste also had a fixed place in the hierarchy of social status. Roughly speaking, not only were occupational categories ranked by social status, but there could be further ranking within each broad occupational category. In strict scriptural terms, social and economic status were supposed to be sharply separated. For example, the ritually highest caste — the Brahmins — were not supposed to amass wealth, and were subordinated to the secular power of kings and rulers belonging to the Kshatriya castes. On the other hand, despite having the highest secular status and power, the king was subordinated to the Brahmin in the ritual-religious sphere.

However, in actual historical practice, economic and social status tended to coincide. There was a fairly close correlation between social (caste) status and economic status — the high castes were almost invariably of high economic status, while the low castes were almost always of low economic status.

In modern times, particularly since the nineteenth century, the link between caste and occupation has become much less rigid. Ritual-religious prohibitions on occupational change are not easily imposed today, and it is easier than before to change one's occupation. The correlation between caste and economic status is also weaker than it was a hundred or fifty years ago — rich and poor people are to be found in every caste.

But here is the key point: the caste-class correlation is still remarkably stable at the macro level. As the system has become less rigid, distinctions between castes of broadly similar social and economic status have weakened. Yet between different socio-economic groupings, the distinctions continue to be maintained. Although things have certainly changed, they have not changed much at the macro level — it is still true that the privileged (and high economic status) sections of society tend to be overwhelmingly upper caste, while the disadvantaged (and low economic status) sections are dominated by the so-called lower castes. Moreover, the proportion of population that lives in poverty or affluence differs greatly across caste groups.

In short, even though there have been major changes brought about by social movements over more than a century, and despite changed modes of production as well as concerted attempts by the state to suppress its public role in independent India, caste continues to affect the life chances of Indians in the twenty-first century.

Untouchability

Untouchability is an extreme and particularly vicious aspect of the caste system that prescribes stringent social sanctions against members of castes located at the bottom of the purity-pollution scale. Strictly speaking, the untouchable castes are outside the caste hierarchy — they are considered to be so impure that their mere touch severely pollutes members of all other castes, bringing terrible punishment for the former and forcing the latter to perform elaborate purification rituals. In fact, notions of distance pollution existed in many regions of India (particularly in the south) such that even the mere presence or the shadow of an untouchable person is considered polluting.

Despite the limited literal meaning of the word, the institution of untouchability refers not just to the avoidance or prohibition of physical contact but to a much broader set of social sanctions. The three main dimensions of untouchability — exclusion, humiliation-subordination, and exploitation — are all equally important in defining the phenomenon.

Although other (touchable) low castes are also subjected to subordination and exploitation to some degree, they do not suffer the extreme forms of exclusion reserved for untouchables. Dalits experience forms of exclusion that are unique and not practised against other groups — for instance, being prohibited from sharing drinking water sources or participating in collective religious worship, social ceremonies, and festivals. Moreover, untouchability is almost always associated with economic exploitation of various kinds, most commonly through the imposition of forced, unpaid (or under-paid) labour, or the confiscation of property.

Untouchability is a pan-Indian phenomenon, although its specific forms and intensity vary considerably across regions and socio-historical contexts.

The so-called untouchables have been referred to collectively by many names over the centuries. Whatever the specific etymology of these names, they are all derogatory and carry a strongly pejorative charge. Many of them continue to be used as forms of abuse even today, although their use is now a criminal offence. Mahatma Gandhi popularised the term Harijan (literally, children of God) in the 1930s to counter the pejorative charge carried by caste names. However, the ex-untouchable communities and their leaders coined another term, Dalit, which is now the generally accepted term for referring to these groups. In Indian languages, the term Dalit literally means downtrodden and conveys the sense of an oppressed people. Though it was neither coined by Dr Ambedkar nor frequently used by him, the term certainly resonates with his philosophy and the movement for empowerment that he led. It received wide currency during the caste riots in Mumbai in the early 1970s. The Dalit Panthers, a radical group that emerged in western India during that time, used the term to assert their identity as part of their struggle for rights and dignity.

State and Non-State Initiatives Addressing Caste and Tribe Discrimination

The Indian state has had special programmes for the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes since even before Independence. The Schedules listing the castes and tribes recognised as deserving of special treatment because of the massive discrimination practised against them were drawn up in 1935 by the British Indian government. After Independence, the same policies have been continued and many new ones added. Among the most significant additions is the extension of special programmes to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) since the early 1990s.

The most important state initiative attempting to compensate for past and present caste discrimination is the one popularly known as reservations. This involves the setting aside of some places or seats for members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in different spheres of public life. These include:

• Reservation of seats in the State and Central legislatures (state assemblies, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha)
• Reservation of jobs in government service across all departments and public sector companies
• Reservation of seats in educational institutions

The proportion of reserved seats is equal to the percentage share of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the total population. For the OBCs, this proportion is decided differently. The same principle is extended to other developmental programmes of the government, some of which are exclusively for the Scheduled Castes or Tribes, while others give them preference.

In addition to reservations, there have been a number of laws passed to end, prohibit, and punish caste discrimination, especially untouchability. One of the earliest such laws was the Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850, which disallowed the curtailment of rights of citizens due solely to change of religion or caste. The most recent such law was the Constitution Amendment (Ninety Third Amendment) Act of 2005, which became law on 23rd January 2006. Coincidentally, both the 1850 law and the 2006 amendment related to education. The 93rd Amendment is for introducing reservation for the Other Backward Classes in institutions of higher education, while the 1850 Act was used to allow entry of Dalits to government schools.

In between, there have been numerous laws, of which the important ones are the Constitution of India itself, passed in 1950, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989. The Constitution abolished untouchability (Article 17) and introduced the reservation provisions mentioned above. The 1989 Prevention of Atrocities Act revised and strengthened the legal provisions punishing acts of violence or humiliation against Dalits and adivasis.

The fact that legislation was passed repeatedly on this subject is proof that the law alone cannot end a social practice. Cases of discrimination including atrocities against Dalits and adivasis continue to take place all over India today.

State action alone cannot ensure social change. No social group, however weak or oppressed, is only a victim. Human beings are always capable of organising and acting on their own — often against very heavy odds — to struggle for justice and dignity. Dalits too have been increasingly active on the political, agitational, and cultural fronts. From the pre-Independence struggles and movements launched by people like Jyotiba Phule, Iyotheedas, Periyar, Ambedkar and others, to contemporary political organisations like the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh or the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti of Karnataka, Dalit political assertion has come a long way. Dalits have also made significant contributions to literature in several Indian languages, especially Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.

The Other Backward Classes

Untouchability was the most visible and comprehensive form of social discrimination. However, there were a large group of castes that were of low status and were also subjected to varying levels of discrimination short of untouchability. These were the service and artisanal castes who occupied the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy.

The Constitution of India recognises the possibility that there may be groups other than the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes who suffer from social disadvantages. These groups — which need not be based on caste alone, but generally are identified by caste — were described as the socially and educationally backward classes. This is the constitutional basis of the popular term Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which is in common use today. …