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Untouchables in Independent India

Brindavan Moses

 

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Introduction and Background

We have to situate the status of our scheduled castes within the context of an 'independent' India. What has 35 years of 'independence' meant for the poor and oppressed? The acid test for our developmental and decision - making processes is to see whether these processes have contributed to the attainment of human dignity, social justice and equality for the 100 and odd million scheduled castes ('untouchables'). Mere casual contacts with the lives of these untouchables are sufficient to prove the contrary. Inspite of constitutional guarantees, protective legislations and developmental programs the vast majority of the members of this community still continue to be impoverished and suffer from social ostracism and ghastly atrocities; seldom are they owners of productive resources.

No doubt significant strides have been made in the various fields of development since Independence. Agricultural output has risen consistently. There has been diversification and expansion in industrial capability, which has in its turn resulted in the growth of banking, trade and commerce. It has also increased employment and better earnings in the case of certain sections of the people. But, by and large, the beneficiaries have been the affluent sections. The weaker sections, the bulk of which comprise the scheduled castes have yet to derive tangible benefits. Sufficient proof of this is provided by an estimate of the year 1977-78, according to which, of the 290 million people living below poverty line, 160 million were below 75 percent of the poverty line and the bulk of them constitute the scheduled castes.

What is 'untouchability'? Who are these 'untouchables'? Untouchability is a basic and unique feature of the Hindu social system and order. It is fundamentally of religious and political origin. It is not a separate institution by itself but only a corollary to the institution of the caste system of the Hindu society. It is an indisputable fact that the caste system is the dominating social force in this country and was

 

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essentially devised as a socioeconomic framework with a religious and political sanction behind it. All the levels of social and individual behavior are influenced by it. Untouchability being its direct offshoot is a fundamental religious notion. The problem of untouchability is, therefore, inseparably linked to the question of caste system and the social order based on that. In short, it is an attitude on the part of a whole group of people and it is a spirit of social aggression that underlies this attitude.

There are two poles of the caste system. On the top are the Brahmins and at the bottom, 'the untouchables'. Although untouchability forms the most notorious aspect of the caste system, it is not easy to define who is an untouchable and who is not. There are many divisions even among the groups broadly defined as untouchables. Generally, even untouchable groups treat each other as untouchables. In Tamil Nadu, a state in the Indian Union, it is stated, that there are no less than eighty subdivisions among the Harijans (untouchables), with those at the top of the untouchable hierarchy regarding and treating the less fortunate untouchables, lower in the hierarchy, as 'untouchables'. These untouchable were called "exterior castes" or "depressed classes" before the 1935 Government of India Act. Ambedkar preferred the term "untouchables" and Gandhi, "Harijans". Today "Scheduled castes" (S.Cs) is widely used. The most militant of the S.Cs have begun to call themselves "Dalits" which means the down-trodden or oppressed.

How did untouchability come into practice? Just as there is no agreed definition of 'untouchability', there is also no agreement among scholars on its origin. Different versions are put forth, (including some to justify the necessity of its origin and the very practice of untouchability) but even today the origin of the untouchables is a puzzle to social, historians. This dilemma is further compounded by the fact that some sub-castes which are considered untouchables in one area are not treated as untouchables in an adjoining

 

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area. Different theories are put forward with many of them at variance with each other. But broadly three possible answers can be given as to the origin of the untouchables i.e. they were Aryan, pre-Dravidian or Dravidian. Scholars disagree only with regard to the identification of the untouchables with any of these races (i.e. three distinct cultural groups) but they all agreed on one point, namely, that they are the most ancient people of India.

The S.Cs comprised 14.6 per cent of the population of India in 1971 i.e. almost 80 million. More than half of these lived in U.P. (18.5 million), W. Bengal (8.8 million), Bihar (7.9 million), and Tamil Nadu (7.3 million). Their numbers were expected to increase to about 100 million by the time of the 1981 census. The disabilities suffered by these untouchables all over India prior to its legislative abolition (!) were perhaps the ugliest manifestation of indignation. While in other countries of the world, the disabilities and cruelty perpetrated on the low classes and slaves were either social or economic, in India they were reinforced by religion. Untouchability is deeply imprinted in the mind of Hindus by their unswerving faith in the philosophy of 'Karma'. (Karma means that one is born into a caste as a result of one's actions in the previous birth and that he/she could improve his/her caste only in the next birth by dutifulness to the caste of present birth.) As part of this religious framework untouchables believed, and many still do, that they are destined to be miserable and that redemption from misery will come to them only by the patient sufferance of their present misery. True, so long as faith in Karma lasts untouchables seek no way out of their degradation, except to lie in silent resignation with a sense of frustration.

They were prohibited (in many regions they are still prohibited) not only from touching the superior castes but also from approaching them within prescribed distance (paces). Even their very shadow falling on an upper caste was considered 'polluting' to the 'purity' of the upper caste. They were, and still are, also prohibited from having any

 

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social inter-course with the high caste hindus, and enjoying even elementary civic rights such as participation in social and religious functions-entering temples, utilizing the services of the priests, barbers, washermen, usage of public tanks, roads etc. In hotels they were not served in plates and in tea shops separate glasses were kept for serving tea. They were not allowed to sit in a cart when it passed through the streets inhabited by caste hindus or wear their chappals when they passed through the caste hindu village. Thus the untouchables of India were economically poor, politically ignorant, socially outcastes and religiously non-entities.

 

Beginnings of the Struggle for Dignity:

Naturally, the problem of untouchability has been the target of criticism by many a social reformer. Swami Vivekananda, the patriot monk of modern India condemned untouchability in unequivocal terms. He went to the extent of calling Malabar, (now part of the present Kerala state) where untouchability was very nakedly and intensively practized, a 'lunatic asylum'. Mahatma Gandhi took upon himself the responsibility of eradicating untouchability from the Hindu society. Though he upheld the varnashrama system, he was not in favor of the practice of untouchability which he considered as the 'greatest blot on Hinduism'. It is against such a draconian social evil, reformers such as Narayana Guru of Travancore, E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) of Tamil Nadu and Dr. Ambedkar (Baba Saheb) of Maharashtra, himself an untouchable, fought all through their lives. Owing to the ceaseless efforts of such people, expressed through various organized programs, the practice of untouchability has been legally abolished by the present Constitution of India. Untouchability was not originally defined anywhere in the Constitution and it took as many as 5 years to enact a law. This was called "Untouchability (offences) Act, 1935". The law proved teeth-less and on the persistent demand of the untouchables and on the recommendation of a

 

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parliamentary committee a bill was moved in the parliament in 1972, called "Untouchability (offences) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill". For three years the Bill lingered on. Finally the then existing Act was amended during the period of Emergency. It was renamed as "Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1975", and came into force on the 19th of November, 1976.

Earlier, during the British rule the question of removing the disabilities of 'untouchables' came before the rulers. In 1856 the Government of Bombay had to consider the case of a Mahar (a caste in W. India) boy who was refused admission to the government at Dharwar. In 1858 it was announced that "all schools maintained at the sole cost of the government shall be open to all classes of its subject without distinction". But as late as 1915, Mahar and other depressed class boys in village schools were not allowed to enter the class rooms but were accomodated outside the room on the verandah. In view of this in 1923 the Government issued a circular that grants would be paid to any aided educational institution which refused admission to the children belonging to the depressed classes. In 1925 a Bill was introduced in the Madras Legislature Council to put under statute the principle of a resolution passed in the previous session of the Council throwing open all public roads, streets or pathways, giving access to any public office, well, tank or place of public resort to all classes of people irrespective of their caste and creed. It was in Kerala that the campaign for temple entry was best organized. The 'temple entry proclamation' issued by the Maharaja of Travancore in 1936 was the pioneer in the field of reforms relating to the eradication of untouchability before Independence. In the year 1928 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar organized a satyagraha movement at Mahad in the then Bombay Presidency to establish the civil rights of the Depressed classes. Again in 1930 at Nasik, Kala Ram Temple Satyagraha was organized by Dr. Ambedkar. It continued upto 1935. The temples were closed to the untouchables and many people were sent to

 

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jails. Ambedkar was militant in his programs. He wanted separate electorates for the untouchables.

Before Independence, the ameliorative and welfare programs promoted by non-official agencies set up on Gandhiji's initiative were mainly related to the provision of sources of drinking water, eradication of illiteracy and inculcation of hygienic habits. With a view to change the old attitude, Gandhiji changed the old name and called untouchables 'Harijans' or 'children of God'. He sponsored the Harijan Sevak Sangh in 1933, and entrusted it to the care of the non-untouchables with the admonition that they should run it in a spirit of repentance for continuing an ancient practice and a present evil. The Harijan Sevak Sangh took up general ameliorative measures to improve the lot of the untouchables. The programs proceeded, stage by stage, starting with temple entry, education etc., and finally, two years before his assassination, Gandhiji took a vow that he would not give his good wishes for marriages unless it be between a 'touchable' and an untouchable. The climate created by Gandhiji and Ambedkar precipitated the issue and resulted in the incorporation of article 17 in the Constitution of India which laid down that abolition of untouchability and forbidding its practice in any form was a fundamental right. The Constitution of India requires the state to undertake activities for the advancement of education, removal of disabilities and improvement of the conditions of life of the untouchables as a statutory obligation. Besides these, there is the reservation of seats in legislatures, educational institutions and public services and also several programs of economic development. Undoubtedly, some efforts have been made by the organs of the State and State-supported non-official agencies to implement the programs.

 

The Situation Today:

Despite the earnest efforts of the stalwarts and their many followers and despite the presence of Article 17 of the

 

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Constitution and the Untouchability (offences) Act, the practice of untouchability still has its grip over the traditional pattern of behavior. Coupled with this has been the corresponding social sabotage by the "dark forces" of Indian society. These dark forces take on varying forms, (varying according to time and region) in sabotaging even the minimum concessions and programs of the S.Cs. The reservations and concessions sanctioned by the Constitution benefits but a small fraction of the untouchables while million of them continue to suffer in poverty and squalor. Measures like granting of land, inter-caste marriages and educational facilities are more in the nature of charity than in the way of effecting a radical change in the relations between the touchables and the untouchables. They continue to live physically segregated in ghettos and socially discriminated in day-to-day affairs of life.  The discrimination often results in denial of employment and therefore most of them remain miserably poor eking out a daily living by the most menial labor.

A large number of workers among scheduled castes are engaged in agriculture. There is a high participation rate of S.Cs (males 54%, females 17%) in the work-force as compared to the general population (males 51%, females 10%) which indicates, within the context of the country's chronic unemployment situation, that they are perforce compelled to accept for survival any work which provides them employment and for a pittance as remuneration. Further, it is seen that there is a pronounced landlessness among the S.C workers (51% as compared to only 20.20% of agricultural laborers reported in the rest of the population). According to a study made by the census organization, in 1971, 51 percent of landholdings of S.C cultivators were less than 2.4 acres compared to others in whose case the percentage was 34. The small and unproductive pieces of land cultivated by scheduled castes leads to low productivity and consequently low purchasing power. The net result is that the bulk of the S.Cs are forced

 

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to work as agricultural laborers; in mining and quarrying, tanning and currying, scavenging etc. Thus this proves that untouchables are forced to bear a twin oppression of not only untouchability but also chronic poverty and economic oppression.

Although a large number of schemes have been introduced to diversify the occupational structure of the untouchable castes, quite frequently the bulk of them remain tied down to their traditional occupation. Improvements in the economic life of the people would require strengthening the technological and economic base of occupation. Where attempts in this direction have been successful two contradictory results follow. Either the traditional association of the caste with the occupation is strengthened of it is weakened. Where the association is strengthened, it reinforces casteism and delays the transformation of the social structure. Where the association is weakened, new set of people get into the occupation and derive the benefits of improved technology; but the craftsmen belonging to the untouchable castes are thrown out. They cannot immediately take to alternative occupations with higher returns. Thus they suffer economic insecurity and get further impoverished.

Added to this rapid impoverishment of large numbers of the untouchables is the consistent perpetration of the most ghastly and inhuman atrocities by the 'upper castes' against these untouchables. Instances of burning down their huts, hacking them alive, burning them to death, shooting them at point blank range in broad day light, raping and torturing of harijan women by caste hindus and the police are reported in the newspapers everyday; this is not to speak of the inhuman atrocities and incidents of violence that are never reported.

In fact, atrocities on the S.Cs, a continuing feature even after 35 years of 'freedom' have of late been registering a perceptible rise giving cause for great concern. There are instances where the weaker sections are subjected to physical violence even while they try to exercise their fundamental

 

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right to vote in elections. Of course, a lot of noise and protests are heard whenever an atrocity is reported, several committees start probing into the incident and a few cases are registered (most often are registered on the victims – the untouchables). Seldom are the root causes properly analyzed so as to keep an effective vigil on the bases of socioeconomic tension. During 1976, 1977 and 1978 as many as 6,197, 10,879 and 15,053 cases against S.Cs were reported. (The increase in figures does not necessarily mean that during 1976 they were less, it could probably be because of the S.Cs and their support organizations were more alert in registering a large number of cases than before: nor do these figures mean the final word on the number of atrocities. These registered atrocities comprise only a small percentage of the actual atrocities committed). An analysis of some of these crimes indicates that they are a direct outcome of agrarian tensions which are not attended to promptly and then taking the shape of ugly violent incidents. These incidents also arise as a result of ineffective enforcement of Minimum Wages Act, rural indebtedness, practice of bonded labor, social disabilities lack of mobility on the part of scheduled caste agricultural labor to shift to other congenial places of work. _It is reported that often the affluent farmers who employ the landless laborers are able to draw the support of the revenue and police officials and even of politicians.

 

Education and 'Untouchables'

The picture of educational development of the untouchables is still a very deplorable one. The general illiteracy level according to 1971 census was 70.66 per cent (male 64.49% and females 81.56%) where as in rural areas, for S.Cs – it was 87.23 per cent (males 79.96% and females 94.94%). An analysis of the enrolment figures for 1977-78 shows that the All-India percentages of the relevant age groups attending schools in classes I to V and VI to VIII for scheduled castes was 75.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent as

 

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compared to 85.7 per cent and 37.9 per cent respectively for the rest of the population. In some states the VI and VIII enrolment percentage for S.Cs are as low as 9.4 in Bihar, 14.6 in Orissa, 14.8 in Rajasthan etc. At the level of class IX and above the enrolment position of the S.Cs is still worse. In ‘73-‘74 the enrolment of S.Cs to the enrolment of all children for these classes was 11 percent as against 21.2 percent for the general population. In the six 'prestigious' Indian Institutes of Technology, direct admissions to S.Cs receiving more than 50 per cent marks was possible till '78-79' in addition to the admissions through the Joint Entrance Examination. From the year 79-80 however, direct admission of S.C candidates has been stopped and they are admitted only through the Joint Entrance Examinations with the result that only 88 S.C candidates could get admission to these Institutes as against 246 reserved for them during that year. It is reported that due to the very high standard of academic performance expected from the students in these Institutes, the performance of scheduled caste students has not been encouraging, with the result that some of them were not able to complete their courses successfully; some of them were expelled from the Indian Institutes of Technology due to then-poor performance. At the same time, as a result of various educational development schemes, first generation students from numerically and educationally weak S.C communities have to face competition from comparatively more educationally advanced S.C communities resulting in the denial of employment opportunities to them. Thus at times, the shrewd and the educated among the untouchables appropriate advantages and special concessions while the masses of untouchables live in the traditional way of religious faith and social isolation.

 

CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Right to Equality

14. Equality before law. – The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection

 

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of the laws within the territory of India.

15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. – (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to –

(a)  access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment, or

(b)  the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.

[(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.]

16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. – (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office [under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a

 

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State or Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that state or Union territory] prior to such employment or appointment.

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of a appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

(5) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.

17. Abolition of Untouchability. – "Untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement  of  any   disability   arising  out  of "Untouchability" shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

 

The Constitutional Right and Reality:

The principle of reservation in services for the weaker sections of the society was a recognized practice even in years preceding Independence. The policy of reservation derives its sanction from the directory, mandatory, and enabling provisions in Articles 46, 335 and 16(4) of the Constitution of India enacted in 1950. A look at the past thirty two years does indeed show progressive crystallization of the policy of reservation; and yet the inescapable impression remains that there are still miles to go before the achievement of the goal of adequate representation can be claimed with any degree of satisfaction Constitution of India.

While assessing the progress, it would be pertinent to note the position of representation of these classes as existing today. What has actually been achieved as against the fixed

 

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percentage of 15 per cent of reservation in services for S.Cs? Only mere 4.75 per cent in class I (group A), 7.37 per cent in class II (group B) and 12.59 per cent in class III (group C) in central services for the S.Cs were filled as on 1.1.1979. In the services under Public Sector undertakings the representation of S.Cs in class I, class II and class III was 2.03, 3.53 and 16.30 per cent respectively. The data for the public sector financial institutions and the Nationalized banks reveal that the percentage of scheduled caste officers was only 2.12 and among the clerks 11.69. Besides, during this period after 'Independence' occupational opportunities in trade, commerce and industries in the private sector have increased considerably. But few from among the untouchable castes have been able to reach administrative, ministerial and supervisory positions in these concerns.

On the one hand, these reservations have conditioned the educated elites among the untouchables to look upon the administrative bureaucracy as their reference group. Psychologically they orient themselves towards it. When they cannot get into it they feel excessively frustrated. At the same time, they can hardly take any entrepreneural role in trade, commerce and other arenas. On the other hand, there is also a growing realization among some sections of the untouchable elites that it is not always desirable that Government service should absorb their best talent solely because of the facility of reservation. As a government servant, polities is taboo, and this rules out the potential of competent leaders among them.

Thus, reservation in the services has, by and large, yielded diminishing returns to the untouchable castes. The picture that emerges indicates that progress towards adequate representation has been at a snail's pace. It is obvious that so long as the deficiency in representation continues, the policy of 'special opportunity' distinct from mere 'equality of opportunity' will have to be continued. In fact, it is already unjustifiably demanded for in certain quarters of vested interests, terming themselves as 'oppressed castes', (who

 

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compromise mainly the forward castes) that the reservation policy be scrapped or at the least, be revised.

 

The Nature of the Struggle Today:

On the eve of Independence, it was thought that through the instrumentality of law the problems of untouchables could be solved. Several harijan leaders themselves did place tremendous faith and hope in the newly 'Independent' India to provide solutions to their community's age old miseries. It was thought that measures like legislative reforms, enforcement of minimum wages, settlement of surplus land with harijans, reservations of jobs, educational concessions etc. would usher in an era of social, political and economic equality. They were soon disillusioned. After several years of Independence there was a realization that these measures were grossly inadequate. Further, a powerful landed lobby of upper castes was up in arms against the strict enforcement of these measures. The harijan community was turning to other paths for their liberation.

The first wake of protest by untouchables against their suffering came in the early fifties. The central issue of protest was the refusal of the untouchables to render forced services like removal of carcasses, carrying death news from one village to another, palanquin bearing, digging burial pits, beating of drums at funeral processions, scavenging etc. They were subjected to all sorts of harassment. They were boycotted and denied employment opportunities by the owners of land when the untouchables attempted to free themselves from the bond-age of the age-old traditions. Their houses were burnt and often they were physically tortured. There were several local setbacks but, in the long run, the untouchables were successful in asserting their civil rights — their very fundamental right to be treated and respected as a human being — to a great extent. Even where they continue to render traditional services there has been a quantitative change. Economic relationship rather than social coercion has been the important determining factor.

 

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The second wave is gaining momentum currently. It relates primarily to the movement of the agricultural laborers   and sharecroppers to establish the implementation of the Minimum (Agricultural) Wages Act and their right over the lands cultivated respectively. The failure to implement the Minimum Wages Act and land reform measures successfully through normal administrative actions has aggravated the situation. As the bulk of the agricultural laborers and share-croppers belong to the untouchables and other castes of low ritual status, the ethnic dimension is added to this movement of the essentially rural proletariat. In some parts of the country particularly where intensive cultivation and multiple cropping have augmented the employment opportunities of the agricultural laborers, they are also fighting for higher wages. The implementation of the crash employment program or guaranteed employment program has also strengthened their hand. The massive assertion of their rights by the 'mute' millions of history has naturally caused consternation among the landlords, rich peasants and other vested interests in rural society. They also find it to their advantage to dilute the socio-economic character of the movement and project it as 'social arrogance' on the part of the untouchables. This helps the propertied sections to mobilize the support of the poor sections of their own caste or at least to neutralize the castes of the middle ritual status, who are generally small and medium farmers. The rural landed interests are on the war path. Through terrorizing the untouchable castes and other poor they want to nullify even the half hearted measures of socio-economic programs attempted by the government for the S.Cs.

All this cruel plight of the untouchables is not a peculiar feature of rural India alone; the untouchables, both educated and uneducated living in the big cities, and also in the towns, do face social oppression and humiliation from the upper castes, though the forms of social, political and economic oppression in the urban areas takes on subtle forms. The

 

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most glaring fact to prove that, heridatory occupation – a fact of caste – has changed very little for the untouchables even in the urban areas is to note that a high percentages of sweepers, rickshaw pullers, scavengers, peons, ward boys, lower level clerks, daily wage earners, construction workers and other manual workers in the urban areas hail from the untouchable castes. Urbanization, industrialization, modernization, westernization, higher education etc, have had only minimum impact on the caste solidified mind of the urban Indian. The recent violent agitation in the state of Gujarat, in the heart of its city, against the reservation of the Scheduled castes, launched by doctors, is a pointer of how castes feelings in the urban area can be whipped up by upper castes, political and economic interests. Whether in temples, churches, educational institutions, employment or marriage, the untouchable is still an untouchable. The whole anti-reservation agitation itself has a fairly strong base among urban educated middle class sections. This is not to mention the subtle theories, articles and pamphlets churned out consistently by the upper castes either in the newspapers, magazines, various academic and political meetings etc., refuting claims that the harijan is still a weaker member and hence deserves special concessions and reservations. Of course all this is ably engineered by the various caste associations in rural and urban India. Further, often the political parties and trade unions of the establishment and rightist forces whip up caste difference especially against the scheduled castes so as to alienate them from the mainstream of workers thereby dividing the workers along caste lines; often disrupting the persevering work of the progressive forces to build unity along class lines.

A second probable confusion must be sorted out. It is difficult to accept the view that economic factors alone are responsible for the struggles of harijans today. In many cases economic issues like redistribution of land, enforcement of minimum wages, more jobs for harijans are not the only real issues of struggle. Harijans in many places

 

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of the country are fighting also for dignity, status and against persecution and torture. Religious conversion, more particularly, the recent embracing of Islam by hundreds of harijans is a form of protest not merely for economic gain. It was a protest against constant persecution, humiliation, discrimination, ill treatment of their women, etc. It was a struggle for basic human dignity, for status, for respect – for the right to be treated as a person; not as an untouchable and a sub-human being.

 

In Conclusion:

What is really disturbing about the Indian situation is the tendency among the masses themselves towards mutual caste violence. Some of the lowest castes have been the most common targets of such violence whether it be in Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat or Andhra Pradesh. The caste system and the entire ideological, cultural and psychological super-structure is extraordinarily tough and deep rooted. It is a peculiarity arising from the specifics of Indian historical development. Hence, the extremely complex nature of it. There can be no simplistic and short-cut solutions to solve this problem. It is this depth and strength of the seeming caste divisions, which have led some to argue that in addition to 'class' division, there persist caste divisions in Indian society implicitly meaning that caste divisions are outside the pale of class divisions having their roots in peoples' consciousness. However, those who claim an interest in the progressive emancipation of the people of this country need to be clear about the nature of caste – its material base in history and in the present and the reasons for its continuing use in the conduct of politics by those who control that politics. This is not to make out a case that mere changes in production (economic) relations will automatically do away with caste. It is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition. Caste divisions with its heredity, ritual, cultural, pollution – conscious practice, and quasi-religious sanctions and prohibitions will have to

 

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be fought alongside the economic struggles. Proof of this is seen in the fact that there are numerous struggles of harijans, which are not merely for improved economic standards but also for basic human dignity and respect. Especially, the younger generation of harijans are bent on struggling for this cause, Unwilling to make any compromise with the castiest power lobbies. It is definitely a new mood, a new awakening and a new thrust — a thrust never to accept submissively as mute slaves the exploitation and humiliation perpetuated on them for ages. And this will in turn lead to renewed, intensified and broad-based conflicts and struggles.

 

References:

1.   Thapar, Romesh (ed.). Change and conflict in India, The Macmillan Company of India Limited, 1978.

2.   Government of India, Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Twenty sixth Report), 1978-79, Part – I & II.

3.   Government of India, Department of Social Welfare,   Report   of the Committee on Untouchability,   Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled castes and Connected Documents, 1969.

 

 

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Taken from Praxis Nos. 3-4, 1982.