To be born a Hindu in India is to enter the caste system, one of the world's longest surviving forms of social stratification. It has lasted for in India for the past 1500 years. The Indian caste system follows a basic idea that all men are not created equally. The Hindu society has divided its people into different groups called varnas which emerge from a primordial being.From the mouth come the Brahmans—the priests and teachers. From the arms come the Kshatriyas—the rulers and soldiers. From the thighs come the Vaisyas—merchants and traders. From the feet come the Sudras—laborers. Each varna in turn contains hundreds of hereditary castes and subcastes with their own pecking orders.A fifth group describes the people who are achuta, or untouchable. The primordial being does not claim them.
These people are considered as outcasts. They are considered as too impure or polluted or to rank as worthy beings. They are often shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher caste homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in public places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and gunned down. This ancient belief system overpowers modern law. Even when India's constitution forbid caste system, Hinduism which is followed by 80% of the Indian population still governs daily life with its principles and rigid social codes. Under this idea , an Untouchable parent gives birth to an Untouchable child which is condemned as unclean from its first breath.
But at the same time they don't look different from other Indians. They walk the same streets and attend the same schools. They have same skin color and they are not covered with sores.In Untouchable villages, women sweep their dirt yards and wash the family clothes. Children play cricket,Men bend to their work.But despite their normalcy , they are still treated as outcasts or untouchables.
Untouchables perform society's "unclean work"—work that involves physical contact with blood, excrement, and other bodily "defilements" as defined by Hindu law. Untouchables cremate the dead, clean latrines, cut umbilical cords, remove dead animals from the roads, tan hides, sweep gutters.These jobs and 'Untouchability' status is passed down for generations. Even then they are paid lowly for these 'unclean jobs'.The 1950 constitution mandates a quota system that reserves seats in the federal legislature equal to the Untouchable share of the population: 15 percent. In legal and administrative parlance Untouchables are now known as the Scheduled Castes. Reserved spots extend to positions in state legislatures, village councils, civil service, and university classrooms.
But for all the laws and regulations on the books, the hard heart of caste remains unmoved. There are 160 million Untouchables in India—'a country that trumpets itself as a model for developing nations: the world's most populous democracy, a modern power outfitted with software industries and plants for making nuclear energy and nuclear bombs'is a very sad truth. But even still One hundred sixty million Indians serve this horrible life sentence.
BY
NAME: JABEZ TOM CHACKO REG NO: 1540406
These people are considered as outcasts. They are considered as too impure or polluted or to rank as worthy beings. They are often shunned, insulted, banned from temples and higher caste homes, made to eat and drink from separate utensils in public places, and, in extreme but not uncommon cases, are raped, burned, lynched, and gunned down. This ancient belief system overpowers modern law. Even when India's constitution forbid caste system, Hinduism which is followed by 80% of the Indian population still governs daily life with its principles and rigid social codes. Under this idea , an Untouchable parent gives birth to an Untouchable child which is condemned as unclean from its first breath.
But at the same time they don't look different from other Indians. They walk the same streets and attend the same schools. They have same skin color and they are not covered with sores.In Untouchable villages, women sweep their dirt yards and wash the family clothes. Children play cricket,Men bend to their work.But despite their normalcy , they are still treated as outcasts or untouchables.
Untouchables perform society's "unclean work"—work that involves physical contact with blood, excrement, and other bodily "defilements" as defined by Hindu law. Untouchables cremate the dead, clean latrines, cut umbilical cords, remove dead animals from the roads, tan hides, sweep gutters.These jobs and 'Untouchability' status is passed down for generations. Even then they are paid lowly for these 'unclean jobs'.The 1950 constitution mandates a quota system that reserves seats in the federal legislature equal to the Untouchable share of the population: 15 percent. In legal and administrative parlance Untouchables are now known as the Scheduled Castes. Reserved spots extend to positions in state legislatures, village councils, civil service, and university classrooms.
But for all the laws and regulations on the books, the hard heart of caste remains unmoved. There are 160 million Untouchables in India—'a country that trumpets itself as a model for developing nations: the world's most populous democracy, a modern power outfitted with software industries and plants for making nuclear energy and nuclear bombs'is a very sad truth. But even still One hundred sixty million Indians serve this horrible life sentence.
BY
NAME: JABEZ TOM CHACKO REG NO: 1540406
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