Caste refers to a broad hierarchical institutional arrangement | Mains

Caste refers to a broad hierarchical institutional arrangement along which basic social factors like birth, marriage and food sharing etc are arranged in a hierarchy of rank and status. These divisions have been linked to occupations and decide the social relations between people belonging to various castes.

The division of people into various castes was based on the distinction between „purity‟ and „pollution‟. While the manifestation of the hierarchical order has changed to a large extent in recent times, the caste system itself has not lost its relevance in today‟s multicultural society.

Example: Even though untouchability and caste based discrimintaion are barred in the constitution, manual scavenging is still practiced by the lower caste.

The caste system has assumed new forms and identities:

A. Political form: Various castes today assert themselves by forming political associations.
Example: Bahujan Samaj Party.

B. Economic Identity: Development policies targeting the backward classes like OBCs, SCs, STs etc have cemented the caste identities. The castes which do not benefit from such welfare policies have mobilised based on their caste identity and have been demanding reservations.

Example: Dominant castes like Marathas, Patidars and kapus have been demanding reservation.

C. Inter-caste marriages: Today, the strict codes of some caste marriages have been diluted and more and more inter caste marriages are taking place daily. Caste groups like khap panchayats have also been brought under the scrutiny of the judiciary. However, the caste based identity has not completely vanished and it has assumed more subtle forms.

Example: Matrimonial advertisements in newspapers based on communities and caste. D. Class divisions: Instead of division on the basis of castes, the class, access to luxury and privileges, standard of living etc. divides the society into different classes.

E. Division on the basis of education: People prefer engaging themselves with those having equal intellect levels so as to have a better and meaningful conversations where interests and thoughts interact.

Considering that the caste based divisions offer a sense of solidarity and belonging to various marginalised sections, the caste based identity will be difficult to be erased.