If you think that casteism in India doesn’t exist anymore, you’re wrong. Over 160 million Indians today are considered “Untouchable”. Think of what this means. Just because a person is born in a certain community, are they impure, or subhuman?
Many argue that conditions and rights for them have improved. However, there is not even a pretense of equality. The difference in privilege is glaring.
There is a dangerous misconception that casteism is a thing of the past. Dalits (now a generalized term for many minorities that have been discriminated based on caste) are being murdered, raped, spat on, denied entry into shops, and denied education. Yet, India’s mainstream media gives negligible attention to discrimination against such marginalized communities–especially scheduled castes/tribes and Muslims.
These crimes are just the tip of the iceberg. The entire structure is oppressive–it begins with simple biased attitudes, but manifests into something much more dangerous. Feminisminindia.com splits casteism into five tiers: biased attitudes, biased acts, discrimination, bias-motivated violence, and genocide.
(I’d just like to point out that there’s a fine line between casteism and racism. They have different histories, but the repressive system applies to both.)
1. Biased attitudes.
This consists of basic stereotyping, insensitive remarks, non-inclusive language, and screening out information. Where it all starts.
Here’s an example: “This is my friend. By the way, she’s a Dalit.”
While terms like ‘Dalit’ are often used as terms of empowerment by scheduled castes themselves, it is offensive if someone else arbitrarily points out that a person is of a certain marginalized group.
Another example: ‘You’re the smartest Dalit I’ve ever met!’ This feeds into the stereotype that Dalits are not smart. Understand that this stereotype stems from the denial of education for Dalits.
2. Biased acts.
These include bullying, ridicule, social avoidance, slurs and offensive jokes.
There is no excuse for using a derogatory term like ‘Harijan’. Though Gandhiji originally coined the term to mean ‘Children of God’, its usage has changed over time. The Dalit community itself has shunned the word–it categorized them as part of the Hindu community, diminishing their sense of identity.
3. Discrimination.
Economic, political, employment, housing and educational discrimination. Segregation. Criminal law discrepancies.
Dalits live in constant fear of being publicly humiliated. Brahmin and Hindu supremacists are the main perpetrators. They believe they have some kind of divine authority to oppress Dalits because of their religious teachings (the very foundation of the caste system!).
Today, Indian police, village councils, and government officials support the caste system. Thus, many crimes go unreported in fear of intimidation, inability to pay bribes demanded by the police, retaliation, or the fact that they’ll probably get ignored.
People of scheduled caste/tribes are bluntly denied access to education. Because of this, they do not have too many career options. It’s become a vicious cycle. Now, they are made to work menial jobs (minimum wage) just because ‘that’s what they are meant to do’. Technology could be leveraged to democratize society. Instead, it is being used to marginalize and separate Dalits. Many cannot attend online school.
In India, 90% of the poor population and 95% of the illiterate are Dalits.
4. Bias-motivated violence.
Murder, rape, threats, assault, vandalism, arson and terrorism.
There is one thing that we don’t hear about at all–bondage labor. 40 million Indians (mostly Dalits) are being illegally forced to work to pay off debts from generations ago. 15 million of these bonded workers are children. They work in slave-like conditions, having to haul heavy rocks or work in fields and factories for less than 60 rupees a day.
5. Genocide.
Scary word, right? A genocide is defined as ‘the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group’.
Like the Holocaust, genocide against Dalits and Muslims (by Brahmin/Hindu Vigilantes) are ritualistic acts meant to instill terror and supremacy. Just look up ‘Khairlanji massacre’.
All our biases and the subtle casteism in our day-to-day speech lead up to this.
Currently, high office in India is filled with supremacist sympathizers who believe they have protection and immunity. Laws to protect Dalits are too relaxed or nonexistent in many regions of India.
While this cannot be picked apart in one day, we need to start by acknowledging the problem. Talk to your friends and family. Call out problematic speech and mentality. Help your local Dalits in any way possible. This could be through donations to grassroots programs involved in providing aid and education. Raise awareness on social media. This issue NEEDS to get attention, so get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We’ve got a long way to go.