Caste System

                          Caste System

Castes refer to as rigid social groups which are characterized by hereditary transmission of life style, occupation and life style. In Indian context, the word ‘caste’ is not an original word but now it is widely used both in english and in Indian languages. In India, the caste was determined or portrayed through the ‘varna’ and ‘jati’ system which dates back to the ancient times from where it was further transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern and modern India, especially the Mughal and the British Raj. In a nutshell, whatever the word is be it caste or varna or jati, the meaning is same that is it differentiates among individuals on the basis of race, lineage and breed.

In India, it takes a very stringent form when it comes to caste or varna or jati system because this is something which is inculcated in people by birth. Since it is in the lives of people from the very beginning, they are not able to differentiate between right or wrong and the ones who are able to differentiate do not want to go against the society or sometimes their own family members. They fear that they will be secluded and left alone to fight for the cause which has been initiated and even sometimes forced to back off from that by the loved and dear ones.

But more or less situation and circumstances are changing day by day. Now, people do understand that it is a very wrong concept and should not be entertained in any manner. Not only has it brought social inequality but also economic inequality which is proved to be dangerous for a country’s development. It holds back people and their potential which can be very fruitful for a nation’s development because there people are judged on the basis of their caste not their skills. If they belong to upper caste then they are promoted and given a job and if they belong to lower caste then they are simply rejected on the basis of their jaat. But like other things, this has also been changed. Now, in the corporate sector people get jobs on the basis of their merit and skills and not on their ‘jaat’. 

Apart from the people, government of this country also realized this and now they want to build this social gap. They want that now no more people should be secluded based on their ‘jaat’. Although politicization has taken place on the basis of that like requesting vote from a particular caste and giving them the perks, but still there are so much reforms which has taken place socially by the individuals to get rid of that. Some of them are: Basava, Jyotirao Phule, Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar and KK Sarachandra Bose. They are the people who actively took part to eradicate this generations-old custom of varna and jati system. Their common thought that it not only differentiates between individuals on the basis of something which is not controlled by them but also take it forward and deny them their rights. The right which every human being has in order to live peacefully. It distraught them to the very core.

Therefore, in this regard reservation system was also introduced so that the lower caste people or backward class people are given an opportunity to succeed in life and make a better living and place for themselves. Now, they should not made to feel bad about their caste or jaati.