| This is a false equivalence though. Ideally it would be a non-thing. It has been a part of Indian society for a very long time, going back millennia, but it was codified in its modern form by the British. For instance: "Nicholas Dirks has argued that Indian caste as we know it today is a modern phenomenon as caste was fundamentally transformed by British colonial rule. According to Dirks, before colonial rule caste affiliation was quite loose and fluid, but colonial rule enforced caste affiliation rigorously, and constructed a much more strict hierarchy than existed previously, with some castes being criminalized and others being given preferential treatment." [1] Preferential treatment in this case means educational opportunity, administrative jobs, etc - essentially avenues of upward socio-economic mobility. Since then, it has almost become ingrained in Indian culture. So much so, that people think that one caste is "better" than the other, marrying into another caste would bring disgrace to the family and community, and so forth. Another factor to consider is affirmative action. There are few good public universities and jobs in India, and a certain percentage of them are reserved for groups who have been historically discriminated against. This kinda rubs upper-caste people the wrong way since some of them believe casteism no longer exists and that even if reservations are required, they should be based on the socio-economic status as opposed to one's caste. Overall, as you can tell by now, it's a pretty tense matter. Things are improving but by no means is it a non-thing. |
My question is why would you be asked or, if asked, tell your caste?