4 ms·

I know caste is for historical reasons, but is there some constitution amendment in India to do away with Caste for the whole country? considering India claims

by ausjke 6y ago

I know caste is for historical reasons, but is there some constitution amendment in India to do away with Caste for the whole country? considering India claims to be the largest democratic country on earth, if Caste is not strongly forbidden it can last forever and yes, it will be here in USA where more Indians are either working here, or acting as management roles these days. It's bad.

princevegeta89 6y ago
There is not one yet afaik. The problem is the majority of people aren't ok with the removal - they want special rights, reservations, and treatment. The sheer power of all these people combined will overthrow any decision made by the government in that direction. These people aren't stupid but just uninformed/uneducated. It then goes into politics - the leaders are way too dumb or just don't care. They fail to spread awareness to anyone whatsoever.
- l8again 6y ago
  To be clear, Article 15 and 17 absolutely prohibits any discrimination based on caste and abolishes untouchability respectively. [1] The issue is that the culture still imbues caste system. All you have to do is peruse the matrimonial or see the popular netflix show Indian Matchmaking to get an idea. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064301/http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/coi-indexenglish.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064301/http://lawmin.nic...
  - samspenc 6y ago
    Thanks for clarifying, this lines up with what I heard from my Indian friends as well -- that caste discrimination is legally prohibited by the Indian constitution, but it is still embedded in the culture due to historic reasons.
- publicola1990 6y ago
  I think it is not about reservations or benefits majorly, but rather about the symbols that the Upper Castes are reluctant to let go of, like using caste names as surnames, and wearing of symbols, even the manner/affectations of speech, that they use to keep themselves distinct from the other Castes. And also the stigma the Upper castes, (often very subtle) exhibit towards the lower Castes. And also the fact the higher social strata comprising of top most government officials and industry executives still seems to be majorly drawn from the upper Castes. Sometimes I'm amazed at the skill some have to infer another persons caste, from the subtlest of hints/clues... As long as people keeping doing this, it is going to remain a problem.
rtx 6y ago
Caste based discrimination is illegal. We have many programs which give preference to students and job applicants from historically oppressed castes. Though people prefer to stay in their own groups (caste), you cant really ban that.
signal11 6y ago
Negative discrimination on the basis of caste is already banned in India (since 1948).
notsureaboutpg 6y ago
People will deny and hem and haw about this, but caste is there for religious reasons. And it won't go away for the same reasons. Hinduism is not a religion with orthodoxy of any kind. In fact it is a collection of separate rituals, gods (and their devotees), and books/preachers. However in enough of those books and from enough of these preachers you hear about how caste is not so bad or the true secret ancient wisdom behind caste (it's just like how Westerners have last names like Carpenter and Smith). At the end of the day caste is a religious idea. And as long as it is in those books there will be preachers who defend it and people who defend it. It's an uphill battle indeed.
l8again 6y ago
The constitution bans any discrimination based on caste. However, casteism is imbued in Indian culture today. As an Indian, I know this for a fact. All you have to do is see the matrimonial ads. Also, one way to sniff out casteist behavior is when Indians start making an apologetic claim of it "made sense in the ancient times". It made as much sense as slavery did in the ancient times.
- bluGill 6y ago
  How is casts different from slavery in ancient times? I don't know India, but I know historically other cultures often didn't really have the concept. There might be slaves that were more free than others, but the concept was slave.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
bluGill 6y ago
Doesn't matter. Here in the US blacks have had equal status. However right in my neighborhood someone put anti-black literature right on the mayor's door just a few weeks ago. Anonymous of course, they are too cowardly to do this openly (I'm reasonably sure the majority of this town would socially outcast them if it was known who they were, but it only takes a couple in a million to cause harm)

by ausjke 6y ago

princevegeta89 6y ago

There is not one yet afaik. The problem is the majority of people aren't ok with the removal - they want special rights, reservations, and treatment. The sheer power of all these people combined will overthrow any decision made by the government in that direction. These people aren't stupid but just uninformed/uneducated. It then goes into politics - the leaders are way too dumb or just don't care. They fail to spread awareness to anyone whatsoever.

l8again 6y ago
To be clear, Article 15 and 17 absolutely prohibits any discrimination based on caste and abolishes untouchability respectively. [1] The issue is that the culture still imbues caste system. All you have to do is peruse the matrimonial or see the popular netflix show Indian Matchmaking to get an idea. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064301/http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/coi-indexenglish.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064301/http://lawmin.nic...
- samspenc 6y ago
  Thanks for clarifying, this lines up with what I heard from my Indian friends as well -- that caste discrimination is legally prohibited by the Indian constitution, but it is still embedded in the culture due to historic reasons.
publicola1990 6y ago
I think it is not about reservations or benefits majorly, but rather about the symbols that the Upper Castes are reluctant to let go of, like using caste names as surnames, and wearing of symbols, even the manner/affectations of speech, that they use to keep themselves distinct from the other Castes. And also the stigma the Upper castes, (often very subtle) exhibit towards the lower Castes. And also the fact the higher social strata comprising of top most government officials and industry executives still seems to be majorly drawn from the upper Castes. Sometimes I'm amazed at the skill some have to infer another persons caste, from the subtlest of hints/clues... As long as people keeping doing this, it is going to remain a problem.

rtx 6y ago

Caste based discrimination is illegal. We have many programs which give preference to students and job applicants from historically oppressed castes. Though people prefer to stay in their own groups (caste), you cant really ban that.

signal11 6y ago

Negative discrimination on the basis of caste is already banned in India (since 1948).

notsureaboutpg 6y ago

People will deny and hem and haw about this, but caste is there for religious reasons. And it won't go away for the same reasons. Hinduism is not a religion with orthodoxy of any kind. In fact it is a collection of separate rituals, gods (and their devotees), and books/preachers. However in enough of those books and from enough of these preachers you hear about how caste is not so bad or the true secret ancient wisdom behind caste (it's just like how Westerners have last names like Carpenter and Smith). At the end of the day caste is a religious idea. And as long as it is in those books there will be preachers who defend it and people who defend it. It's an uphill battle indeed.

l8again 6y ago

The constitution bans any discrimination based on caste. However, casteism is imbued in Indian culture today. As an Indian, I know this for a fact. All you have to do is see the matrimonial ads. Also, one way to sniff out casteist behavior is when Indians start making an apologetic claim of it "made sense in the ancient times". It made as much sense as slavery did in the ancient times.

bluGill 6y ago
How is casts different from slavery in ancient times? I don't know India, but I know historically other cultures often didn't really have the concept. There might be slaves that were more free than others, but the concept was slave.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

bluGill 6y ago

Doesn't matter. Here in the US blacks have had equal status. However right in my neighborhood someone put anti-black literature right on the mayor's door just a few weeks ago. Anonymous of course, they are too cowardly to do this openly (I'm reasonably sure the majority of this town would socially outcast them if it was known who they were, but it only takes a couple in a million to cause harm)