Castiesm ruining our society
Mohammad Saleem Kumar
Human beings are pots made from the same clay. We all have been created by one Creator. God instructs us in the glorious Quran, “All of you are equal in eyes of your Lord”. But it is the selfish nature of human beings that divides people on petty things like colour, creed, sex, religion and profession.
The most disagreeable and irksome thing among all of these is caste based discrimination. The Gods noble creation has been badly hit by this social evil. It is a discrimination which is made on various grounds like poor wealth, privilege, profession or occupation.
The caste discrimination is not only prevalent in educationally and socially backward cultures but also in advanced cultures as well. This social evil has engulfed our own valley of Kashmir.
A valley which is prominent for its sanctity, ethics, etiquette and hospitality has been a victim of caste discrimination since decades. It has subjugated the society of Kashmir in such a way that it seems to be a never-ending chapter. The castes based on different professions such as Hajjaam (Barber), Najar ( carpenters), Chopan( cattle herders), Hanji (Fishermen), Dhobi, Ganaie, Waaza etc are generally treated as lower castes in a Kashmiri society similar to the Shudras of Ancient Indian society.
On the other hand, castes like Sayyid, Fazili, Mahajan, Bukharis, Nazkis, Muftis, etc are considered to be the upper castes in our valley.
Castiesm shows its ugly face in all the fields of Kashmiri society. Our schools, colleges and universities are also not free from this disease. Schools being the springs of knowledge, sources emotional, mental and moral development act as major epicentres for caste discrimination.
A child is a blooming bud and an innocent creature which can be moulded in any direction we want. Our highly qualified teachers unfortunately lay the concept of castiesm in our children at a very initial stage of their life. It has to be said regretfully that some teachers ill-treat and devalue the children of lower caste families in multiple ways like by abusing them with awkward names, paying less attention towards their mental, emotional and moral development.
In contrast to this the children of upper caste families are always admired, prioritised and given special exposure in all academic spheres. As a result, the former class of children feel themselves emotionally tortured and mentally depressed. It has become a common problem that happens with all the children of lower caste as their morale is degraded from the beginning by short sightedness of teachers.
In addition to this, the lower caste children in schools are even discriminated during the process of evaluation. They are pushed back intentionally in results by giving moderate percentage than those of upper caste one’s. Hence they are deprived from the basic rights they ought to be given by their teachers.
This heinous crime is not just limited to our schools, colleges and universities but it has spread its web even in all kinds of recruitment processes. It indirectly leads to corruption and many more evils. The children of upper caste families are provided all kinds of possible assistance by keeping their own caste into consideration.
For instance, leakage of papers and favouritism in selection processes are the common things in operation. Thus, all the extraordinary jobs are meant for children of upper castes and the lower caste children are left with ordinary ones. However, this fact can’t be denied that majority of the gazetted officers are found in upper castes.
The boy from any lower caste hardly manages to become an officer as it is just like taking water to the mountain for him. Apart from this, caste discrimination sometimes takes the voracious shape of social ostracism in which lower caste groups are excluded within the society. This experience is mostly seen in villages where members of one caste exploit the members of other castes in the name of superiority and inferiority.
Castiesm plays a very crucial role at the time of marriages in Kashmir when endogamy i,e marriage within one’s own caste is openly practiced. It strictly restricts the inter caste marriages. It has become such a burning issue that a boy from the lower caste has to think ten times before deciding to marry a girl of higher caste.
If a boy from the lower caste surreptitiously marries a girl of higher caste, it is considered to be an indelible stain on the prestige of upper caste family. Similarly, if a girl from lower caste by any way ties a nuptial knot with a boy from upper caste, she is later emotionally tortured at her in- laws home that forces her to commit suicide which results in the loss of a precious life. This mind-set in no way allows the parents of both sides to make such marriages possible. Hence, the lower caste daughters are bound to marry within their own caste.
This caste discrimination has taken a perilous turn in our daily life. It results in drastic ill-effects and proves to be a threat to social order, stability, peace and harmony in the society. It has become a stumbling block in providing social equality and justice. The existence of castiesm in this modern period categorically depicts the nature of people being highly conservative and orthodox in thinking.
It has also badly affected the spirit of democracy as caste acts as a deciding factor in the process of elections. Our political leaders try to gain votes in the name of caste rather than their own capabilities. This results in the faulty political representation which has left our Kashmir mourning since years.
The disease of castiesm has penetrated its roots very deep into our society which are immensely difficult to uproot. As other social evils can be eliminated to some extent from the society so is the castiesm that can be put to an end if we stay rational. People can play a terrific role in reducing the influence of castiesm in the following ways:
1) Inter-caste marriages should be promoted among people as these marriages will bring two families of different castes closer to each other. This practice will automatically break the walls of castiesm down.
2) The teachers should impart value based education to children from childhood as it can solve the problem of castiesm up to a greater extent.
3) Public awareness programmes must be conducted in both rural and urban areas of the valley so as to make people familiar about the drastic consequences of this social evil.
4) People who are under the threat of caste discrimination should be uplifted economically, educationally, culturally so that there will be a parity between upper and lower caste.
At last, I would like to conclude my write-up with certain basic and rational questions as:
5) Why castiesm prevails in our Kashmiri society when we acknowledge the fact of being created by one God?
6) Why castiesm is still in operation in our society where people are highly educated and well known about this evil?
7) Why castiesm still prevails when we know that every human being whether rich or poor upper or lower caste has to die one day and rest in the same grave?
(The writer is pursuing BA Honours History, ay Aligarh Muslim University. The views expressed are his own)
