I am living in Swiss for the past two years and I should admit that right from the day when I encounter fellow swiss collegues who are interested in knowing more on India and its culture, the first question they ask me "Is caste system still prelavent in India" , " Do Indian people disrespect some of their own fellow citizens" .
I usually evade such questions as I am not very clear on this issue and the history behind the caste system. Also, I grew up in a city and I have never encountered any people who discriminate others, whether be it in school or in college, so I pretty much beleived that it is just the history which still haunts us and nowadays the caste system never exists. This conclusion can be a result of my ignorance as I never lived for a long duration in a village, where many people say caste is still prevalent.
I sometimes think, if caste exist what are the reasons for its exesistence. I strongly beleive that the caste system can be viewed as a huge economic disparity across the various sections of the Indian society and this disparity is projected as the caste system.
This conclusion needs proof and a rational reasoning. Caste system as it is beleived originates from Hinduism, in various Hindu scriptures there are different mentioning of caste system whether it is Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana or various other Hindu philosophical scriptures. I am no expert in Hinduism but nevertheless many people are of the view that the Caste system mentioned in scriptures are shown out of context. I dont second it neither do I reject it.
After saying this, let us ponder over other religion Islam, Islam is an egalitarian religion, it doesnt discrimate people who follow Islam. But there was an interesting article in Indian Express on Indian Muslims. In this article the author brings out the fact that there are varoius sub-sections within Indian Muslims based on their richness. He gives stastical evidence from the Mandal commision and from the Sacchar Commitee. Due to this he wants a separate quota for the lowest strata for the Muslims, which he calls as Dalit Muslims ( PS: they are not converted from Hinduism to Musilm, they are poor Muslims).
Hence to conclude I feel that though the caste system is originated from religious teachings (needs proof :) ), the present scenario is due to the economic disparity among various sections of the society, as the caste system is also prevalent in Indian version of Islam.
I usually evade such questions as I am not very clear on this issue and the history behind the caste system. Also, I grew up in a city and I have never encountered any people who discriminate others, whether be it in school or in college, so I pretty much beleived that it is just the history which still haunts us and nowadays the caste system never exists. This conclusion can be a result of my ignorance as I never lived for a long duration in a village, where many people say caste is still prevalent.
I sometimes think, if caste exist what are the reasons for its exesistence. I strongly beleive that the caste system can be viewed as a huge economic disparity across the various sections of the Indian society and this disparity is projected as the caste system.
This conclusion needs proof and a rational reasoning. Caste system as it is beleived originates from Hinduism, in various Hindu scriptures there are different mentioning of caste system whether it is Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana or various other Hindu philosophical scriptures. I am no expert in Hinduism but nevertheless many people are of the view that the Caste system mentioned in scriptures are shown out of context. I dont second it neither do I reject it.
After saying this, let us ponder over other religion Islam, Islam is an egalitarian religion, it doesnt discrimate people who follow Islam. But there was an interesting article in Indian Express on Indian Muslims. In this article the author brings out the fact that there are varoius sub-sections within Indian Muslims based on their richness. He gives stastical evidence from the Mandal commision and from the Sacchar Commitee. Due to this he wants a separate quota for the lowest strata for the Muslims, which he calls as Dalit Muslims ( PS: they are not converted from Hinduism to Musilm, they are poor Muslims).
Hence to conclude I feel that though the caste system is originated from religious teachings (needs proof :) ), the present scenario is due to the economic disparity among various sections of the society, as the caste system is also prevalent in Indian version of Islam.
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