Historical Perspective on Casteism in India | Caste Politics Part-1

Brief Overview of Current Scenario Concerning Caste Census in India 

The government of India has recently announced that they have decided as a matter of Policy not to enumerate the cast-wise population other than SCs and STs in the census. In fact, the caste enumerated census has not been conducted since India attained Independence. Every census post-independence included data on caste about the Dalits and Adivasis only.

The Census will enumerate the Caste and Tribes specifically notified as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled tribes as per the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 1950 and Constitution (Schedule Tribes) Order 1950.

The caste politics is taking centre stage as several politicians are rallying in the favour of the Caste enumerated census. Is it just an act to increase their vote bank or do they really intend to use it for Welfare and development purposes? Historically it is conspicuous that these data were used by the ruling class to further their interest and it ended up creating several factions or small caste groups.

Several state governments have passed a resolution demanding the caste enumerated census. Some of the Politicians asking for caste enumerated census also include the leaders of the current ruling government and coalition partners.

To understand the present scenario better, let's look at the historical perspective of Caste Politics or Casteism that is a major talking point in the recent past. 

The Etymology of Casteism in India

The Caste system in India has its roots in Ancient India. In fact, Caste is not even an Indian word, it is derived from the Portuguese word Casta meaning "Race, Lineage and breed". You can argue that the use of the word was made prominent as the British legacy. In India, the most approximate terms relating to Caste are the Varna and Jatis. Let's have a look at these words briefly.

Varna - The concept is derived from the Vedic age which classified people into four classes based on their occupation. The four classes are Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. It is mentioned in several ancient Indian texts. It was the trademark of the Indian Societies.

Jatis - There is no universally accepted definition for this as it is a complex social group. It can be considered as the subgroups within the 4 classes.

Having understood the terms, the question arises as to why the subgroups within the class develop into Endogamous groups. There are two perspectives in this regard.

The first being the Ideological motive behind the caste system which is rooted in the varnas. It was established thousand years ago and the socio-economic factors play no role in it. Hence the Endogamy would mean that the race, lineage and breed are pure and protected. Hence the upper castes pushed this to maintain their superiority.

Second, the being the socio-economic and political motive that has led to this complex social stratification. Several rulers used it to their advantage to consolidate and rule the empire. Indian history is full of Kings or Emperors who would legitimise their claim on the empire by patronising the religious heads and awarding several grants to give impetus to it.

Several Kshatriya rulers gave greater importance to the Brahmanical class as that would create a sense of belonging among people and bring them closer to the majority of the population. People would start recognising and respecting them as the majority of the population does the same. But, this is where this caste-based discrimination started burgeoning. Hence lower class people got pushed further into ancillary activities and little or no opportunities were given to them to be heard or live a life of respect and dignity. Thus to be heard and have an influential role in society small groups of people also started forming their own caste.

During the early Medieval, Medieval and Modern India, several ruling regimes used this factionalism in the Indian society to their advantage as a lot of people were unhappy with the prevalent discrimination based on class and caste. Hence a lot of changes were incurred in Indian society over the period of time.

By the time the Mughals came to India, the caste system was well developed. Mughals were able to convert a lot of unhappy poor, destitute and nomadic people to Islam. 
Britishers used it to their advantage and based their social policies on the existing structure and enhancing the social stratification further.

The caste system as an administrative mechanism for governance has its root in the British Raj during mid 19th Century. From 1860 to 1920, the Colonial administration started Positive Discrimination by incorporating caste in the system of governance and reserving jobs and higher posts for the minority Christians and few caste groups.
Hence they conducted the caste enumerated census to give effect to the above setup. Some of the negative discriminations inflicted by them were seeding enmity between the caste groups and promoting factionalism. Caste politics as we know it today took its shape from the British policies. 

As per B.R. Ambedkar, the Caste system in India is the result of the Origins of the Mechanism of Endogamy and a legacy of the Brahmans or the Priestly class. According to him, the Priestly class is responsible for this "Unnatural Institution" as they did not favour inter-caste marriages to maintain their superiority. Sati, child marriages and not allowing widow remarriage were some of the ill effects of the same.

Stand after Independence

Immediately after Independence India was in dire need of unity among its people to build a strong foundation. Mahatma Gandhi along with several freedom fighters had a dream of casteless and classless India, where everyone is considered equal and given equal opportunities to grow. 

Thus only Dalits and Adivasis were considered by the framers of the constitution to get the direct benefit as a result of their social status. But they did not outrightly ignore the other lower caste groups and inserted provisions empowering the parliament to make provisions to empower the lower caste groups.

But there was increasing demand for the reservation from the castes that were not notified as  SCs and STs but were suffering from poverty and lack of opportunities to come forward. Reservation was one of the major agendas on which the Janata Party won the General election. 

Hence the Mandal commission or socially and Educationally backward class (SEBC) commission was set up by the Janata government in 1979 to look into the status of several backward classes in India and suggest remedial measures. The commission estimated the total population of OBC's to be 52% based on the 1931 census. As India had no recent caste enumerated census data, the estimated numbers were unverifiable. It recommended a reservation of 27% for the OBC's. 

What is the Other Backward Class (OBC) Caste?

It is a general term used by the government of India to classify castes that are socially and educationally disadvantaged.

Present Scenario

Inequalities among several social groups still exist in India despite several efforts to reduce them via reservation or quota for the backward classes. At present SCs and STs have reservation rates at 15% and 7.5% based on their population and OBC's reservation is set at 27% based on the Mandal commission report. Any change to that number would demand a change in the reservation percentages. 

Several political parties today are ideologically based on caste and implement policies envious of their political plans. Sighting the advantages, Several dominant castes are also demanding OBC quota.

At present, the debate surrounding the census in India is revolving around filling the column titled Caste at the Nationa level. As it is never done comprehensively at the national level in independent India, the political parties are pushing for it to happen.

Affirmative action in India-

1. Article 15 (4) - Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making special provisions for the advancement of any social and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the SCs and STs.
2. Article 16 (4) - Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making special provisions for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of the weaker sections who are inadequately represented in the state.
3. Article 46 - Promotion of educational and economic interests.
4. Article 335 - Claims of SCs and STs to services and Posts.
5. Articles 330 & 332 - Reservation of seats in the House of the People and Legislative Assemblies of the State.
6. Articles 341, 342 and 342A- President to specify STs, SCs and the socially and educationally backward classes.
7. Artiles 338, 338A & 338B - Formation of National Commission for SCs, STs and Backward Classes.

We will cover the pros and cons of the caste enumerated census in the next part of this blog and also the need for the casteless society in India. Kindly let me know whether a Caste enumerated Census is required or not?