Here I am going to tell you all a simple secret on how to abolish caste system. But before that, let me ask you all one question "Do you support caste system?". I am sure more than 50 percent of you will reply with a stern "NO". When more than 50 percent of us are hating the caste system, why is it that we still can't abolish it?
Most of you will say the reason is because politicians are playing major role for votes. Some of you will hope in our next generation, people will be well civilized and educated and hence caste system will be abolished. But we can't blame the politicians fully, because what they do is for votes and if they are getting the votes, that means people are supporting it. So the politicians are doing it because that is what people like and want.
If you think in our next generation the caste system will not exist then just visit orkut or facebook and search for a caste name. You can find lot of communities with thousands of members. In those communities, those supposed to be well civilized and educated people, will be expressing how proud they are being part of that caste and how their caste is superior than others. You will also see dirty fights between people supporting their caste.
I will classify people who hate caste system into two. One, people who hate because they are affected by the quotas and reservations. For these people if quotas and reservations are removed they will be fine. Two, people who hate others being treated badly just because of their caste. These are the people who want everyone to be treated equally. These are the ones who really want caste system abolished.
If you are of first category then I have to tell you, I support quotas and reservations. I support it because it made people dislike caste system, who wouldn't have disliked it otherwise. Not just that, I support it because I feel it is needed. If you feel angry that, for 50 years people are given reservations just because of their caste, then think how people would have felt when they were not even allowed to enter schools just because of that same caste, that too for hundreds of years.
I am not supporting it just for the sake of taking revenge on people, for the sins committed by their ancestors. Reservations are needed to give a choice for the people who were suppressed for decades. If you are not understanding it, let me give an example. Consider a family where both the parents are well educated. The chances of their kid not having a proper education is very slim. Even if their kid is not good at studies they will make sure he/she will complete some graduation. This is because the parents know the importance of education.
You will know the importance of something only when you experience it. When a whole community has not experienced education for decades, you can't expect them to understand the importance of education. So we need reservations at least for some more time, at least until the reservation seats doesn't go unfilled.
So finally coming back to the secret which I promised initially, its very simple. Just stop telling people what caste you belong to and also stop asking people about their caste. If someone ask you if you are a vegetarian, you don't have to say your caste. You can just say you are a vegetarian. Lets create a society where asking someone's caste is considered as uncivilized act.
What will you gain by asking someone about their caste? Will their caste decide on how you will treat that person? If someone ask you about your caste, tell them frankly you don't want to say. Make sure they will not ask that question to anyone else.
This is not some complicated procedure you have to follow, neither does it require others help. If you are determined and want to abolish caste system then you can do this. Everyone can do it and if all of us stand by this simple rule, we can make a big difference. We can finally hope for a society without caste inequality. As someone rightly said change has to come from within. Lets bring change.
The world will be a better place when you are identified only by your name and not by your skin color, money, caste, religion or country.
If you think in our next generation the caste system will not exist then just visit orkut or facebook and search for a caste name. You can find lot of communities with thousands of members. In those communities, those supposed to be well civilized and educated people, will be expressing how proud they are being part of that caste and how their caste is superior than others. You will also see dirty fights between people supporting their caste.
I will classify people who hate caste system into two. One, people who hate because they are affected by the quotas and reservations. For these people if quotas and reservations are removed they will be fine. Two, people who hate others being treated badly just because of their caste. These are the people who want everyone to be treated equally. These are the ones who really want caste system abolished.
If you are of first category then I have to tell you, I support quotas and reservations. I support it because it made people dislike caste system, who wouldn't have disliked it otherwise. Not just that, I support it because I feel it is needed. If you feel angry that, for 50 years people are given reservations just because of their caste, then think how people would have felt when they were not even allowed to enter schools just because of that same caste, that too for hundreds of years.
I am not supporting it just for the sake of taking revenge on people, for the sins committed by their ancestors. Reservations are needed to give a choice for the people who were suppressed for decades. If you are not understanding it, let me give an example. Consider a family where both the parents are well educated. The chances of their kid not having a proper education is very slim. Even if their kid is not good at studies they will make sure he/she will complete some graduation. This is because the parents know the importance of education.You will know the importance of something only when you experience it. When a whole community has not experienced education for decades, you can't expect them to understand the importance of education. So we need reservations at least for some more time, at least until the reservation seats doesn't go unfilled.
So finally coming back to the secret which I promised initially, its very simple. Just stop telling people what caste you belong to and also stop asking people about their caste. If someone ask you if you are a vegetarian, you don't have to say your caste. You can just say you are a vegetarian. Lets create a society where asking someone's caste is considered as uncivilized act.
What will you gain by asking someone about their caste? Will their caste decide on how you will treat that person? If someone ask you about your caste, tell them frankly you don't want to say. Make sure they will not ask that question to anyone else.
This is not some complicated procedure you have to follow, neither does it require others help. If you are determined and want to abolish caste system then you can do this. Everyone can do it and if all of us stand by this simple rule, we can make a big difference. We can finally hope for a society without caste inequality. As someone rightly said change has to come from within. Lets bring change.
The world will be a better place when you are identified only by your name and not by your skin color, money, caste, religion or country.
- RED REBEL
The most wonderful quote ... I am really proud of you for writing such a good note ... You are right about the secret ...:-) hope ppl learn from this right ... to be honest even me :-) all the best see rebel
ReplyDeleteThe thoughts were really nice. Name a operation which we will spread to kill someone who asks for caste :P
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts are appreciated Mr. Rebel. Do you think the concept of sin and penance exist?
ReplyDeleteNie to read and good thought process..
ReplyDeleteBut will you refuse to say you caste when its asked for your visa stamping by an govt. authority? without which you won't be able to go to some ABC country?
What will you do?
I like the name red rebel ranga.. its like some rajini kanth's movie ain't it bro?
Very Nice..
ReplyDelete"You will know the importance of something only when you experience it. When a whole community has not experienced education for decades, you can't expect them to understand the importance of education." very true !!
What about marriage ?
Will you ask which Caste and marry or will you let your parents confirm it for you ?
Imagine, You marry a Girl of different caste and your kid will be wondering which caste he/she belongs to... This is known secret for years but not followed by many..
There is one subtle piece of missing information, that is needed while discussing caste system. For the purpose of this discussion, let's remove the tainted bad influence that we have on the caste system. I'm not saying caste is good, but keep a neutral view until you're done reading this comment.
ReplyDeleteThe inception of the problem came from classification of people based on jobs. But, if that was all, it wouldn't have been a problem. Why not, since we are classified and identified by our job positions ( intern, senior surgeon, project manager ) in our company. Scientists classified and grouped all animals and plants ( into genus and species ) for having a better understanding. So, classification is a useful tool and is in general good, if they're not misused.
The actual problem came from the fact, that people were discriminated based on their class. Now, this is a real problem, because when somebody says that I can't do something because I belong to a particular class, it pretty much affects my confidence, which in my view is a crime. These kind of problems existed in higher proportions in the past, and have reduced considerably nowadays. But, they still exist. Now there are 2 ways to approach the problem, either the way as discussed by "Red Rebel Ranga", or we could change the basis of the whole idea.
My point is that everything regarding classification of people is fine, except for 1 thing:
* It cannot be hereditary, and it's an individual's choice.
A person can change, and we all know it, and we see it in our daily life. And when he changes, he is a different person, with different perception, attitude and views, which could be much different from that of their parents. This has been a topic of much debate nowadays, only it's termed "generation gap". Now, I'd say the attributes that represented their parent's were now broken, and the person has established a class of his own ( maybe it doesn't have a proper classification name ), but he is different, which proves one fact. In a family, 3 siblings can be of different caste. This is pretty much true in the truest "caste" sense. This has been made possible considering the rate at which things have changed, and keep changing, and the encouragement and inspiration to change oneself positively nowadays. The legacy group which formulated and promoted caste, wouldn't have expected things to change at this pace, and were too ignorant, for they underestimated the power of change. So, in a way their idea of classification is legacy / stale / outdated, and the honest truth is, it's not applicable nowadays.
Now, that doesn't mean we cannot classify people. Indeed, classification is still possible, but I bet that even "MIT human behavior analysis" experts will feel the challenge, and have their heads scratching trying to solve this problem. It's not a simple problem to solve. Heuristic experts may come up with some classification similar to horoscope ( yes .. that's a harmless classification ... think about it ), which pretty much no one understands, but coming up with a real classification is non-trivial.
So, have this idea and spread this view. People of this generation scrutinize everything now that they have information at their hands, and will accept things which makes sense. I guess this view is more rationally true, to be ignored.
Fantastic article. I have seen so many ppl who have made a duplicate caste certificate- stating that they are SC or ST to avail all the concessions and scholarships given to them. If their is nothing called as Quotas or difference in caste system why ppl will hide their caste and do this. First we should abolish the Quota system indirectly caste system will also be abolished.
ReplyDelete