Caste system is one of the most ancient systems of India. It was developed more than 4,000
In dividing society, the
priests made themselves in the highest caste and menial workers or polluted
labourers the lowest caste. The caste system has probably lasted so long
because of the way the castes are assigned to people. The person's caste is the
caste of his/her mother and father. They are in the same caste because they can
only marry within your caste. The castes were basically made for the different
occupations. There were names given to
the basic castes in the caste system.
After independence,
more than 65 years have passed with the Indian politics revolving round the
caste system. The strength of caste system varies from state to state. It is
the strongest in the Hindi belt and the southern states, while it is weakest in
the north-east across the Brahmaputra.
According to Prof.
Rapson the caste system grew because of the distinction between fair-skinned
Aryans and the dark-skinned aboriginals. He based his theory on ‘Varna’ which
meant colour and caste in Sanskrit. On this basis, he said, the fair people
were further sub-divided into 3 classes – (a) Brahmins, (b) Kshatriyas and (c)
Vaishyas while the dark-skinned people become Shudras, as in Rigvedic period
the main division were Aryans and Non-Aryans. Rejecting this theory, Dr.
Vincent Smith said that ‘Varna’ means class or order and therefore the four
Varnas represent the four classes of people and not their castes. These four
classes are common in any human society as professional specialization is a
common feature of society everywhere in the world.
Caste system is no
longer a mere Hindu practice. Indian Christians and Muslims also practice the
system though in much less rigid from than the Hindus. What made the caste
system rigid was the religious sanctity given to it in the later scriptures. It
was said that Brahmins were born out of the mouth of Brahma, the Kshatriyas
from his arms, the Vaishyas from his stomach and the Sudras from his feet.
Four distinct types
of lifestyle and profession had been attributed to these four casts of the
society :-
The
Brahmana
was to study and teach, sacrifice, give, maintain celibacy and have profound
knowledge of sastras and conduct the Pujas and homas;Though the Apex judiciary
of India has observed that Anybody having the
knowledge of Sastra and rituals can be a priest and perform the rituals.[1]
The
Kshatriya was
to protect the people, take part in wars and maintain heroics;
The
Vaishya to
breed cattle, pursue trade and lend money;
and finally
The
Sudra was
to serve the other three classes.
(i)
Endogamy
and Heredity - A person born in a
caste remains in it for life, dies in it
and his children also remains in it. This provides caste system
with a rigid structure. A caste has
divisions, based on endogamy within a sub-group and is called sub-casts.
(ii)
Social
and Religious Hierarchy – In the system of social
stratification different ‘casts’ assigned superiority or inferiority over others. Brahmins are considered to be at
the top of this subordination order. Then comes Kshatriyas, then Vaishyas and
finally the lowest position is for the sudras.
(iii)
Hereditary
Occupations - Every caste claims
monopoly over some occupation and tries to restrict entry of the others in their field. Though with the
mordernisation of society and with the technological upgradation, specially
after the coming of reservation system based on Constitutional sanctions, this
has liberalized a lot. Many community
were named after their occupation, e.g., Teli(Oilman), Chamars(cobblers), Johars(Blacksmith),
Taanti(Weavers) etc.
(iv)
Taboos
– Another element of caste system are
the complex taboos by which the superior casts try to preserve their ceremonial
purity and all in general try to avoid the occurance of evils.
(v)
Untouchables
– Beyond the above four classes, exist the ‘untouchables’ or the ‘Chandals’. By the times of Gupta Empire, Chandals already
became outsiders to the civilized society and were forced to strike a wooden clapper
on entering the town.
Since independence, untouchability has been
abolished by the Indian Constitution but still now classification of casts,
Scheduled Casts and tribes and sub-casts(OBCs) exist in our society chiefly due
to the vote bank politics of our legislatures.
Honour Killing :- One of the sordid outcome of our caste system
in society is the phenomenon and
incidences of ‘honour killing’. It is the killing of a member of a family or social
group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators (and potentially
the wider community) that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or
community primarily for some caste and/or religion based issues.
The perceived dishonor is
normally the result of one of the following behaviors, or the suspicion of such
behaviors:
- dressing
in a manner unacceptable to the family or community,
- wanting
to terminate or prevent an arranged marriage or desiring to marry by own
choice,
- engaging
in heterosexual acts outside
marriage, or even due to a non-sexual relationship perceived as inappropriate,
and
- engaging
in homosexual acts. Women and girls are killed at a much higher rate than
men.
- Inter
caste or inter-religion relationships or marriages against the will of the family or
community.
This
tradition was first viewed in its most horrible form during the Partition of
the country in between the years 1947 and 1950 when many women were forcefully
killed so that family honour could be preserved.
Now, there are various reasons
why people or family members decide to kill the daughter in the name of
preserving their family honour. The most obvious reason for this practice to
continue in India, albeit, at a much faster and almost daily basis, is because
of the fact that the caste system continues to be at its rigid best and also
because people from the rural areas refuse to change their attitude to
marriage. According to them, if any daughter dares to disobey her parents on
the issue of marriage and decides to marry a man of her wishes but from another
gotra or outside her caste, it would bring disrepute to the family honour and
hence they decide to give the ultimate sentence, that is death, to the
daughter. Now as has become the norm, the son-in-law is killed as well.
Sociologists believe that the reason why honour killings continue to take place
is because of the continued rigidity of the caste system. Hence the fear of
losing their caste status through which they gain many benefits makes them
commit this heinous crime. The other reason why honour killings are taking
place is because the mentality of people has not changed and they just cannot
accept that marriages can take place in the same gotra or outside one's caste.
A study by ‘Indian Democratic Women’s
Association’ shows the number of honour killing that took place till date
throughout the country is as high as 1200, amongst which Punjab, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh together have the count above 900. Ascending to survey
done by the Delhi based Indian population statistics survey (IPSS) in mid 2007,
In India almost 655 homicidal cases have been registered as honour killings,
while in Punjab and Delhi is 32% and in Muzaffarnagar, the worst affected
district of UP, 25% honour killings have registered so far. Around 700 females
are killed every year in honour killings incidents. Union home minister P.
Chidambaram on July 28, 2009 said that caste panchayats which aid and abet such
killings, are equally guilty and should be treated as murder accomplices.
In Lata
Singh v. State of UP AIR 2007 SC, the apex court held that "we
sometimes hear of honour killings of such persons who undergo intercaste or
inter religious marriage of their own free will. There is nothing honourable in
such killings, in fact they are nothing but barbaric and shameful out of murder
committed by brutal, feudal minded persons who deserve harsh punishment. Only
this way we can stamp out such acts of barbarism. The bench of justice Ashok
Bhan and Markandey Katju said that" In our opinion, such acts of violence
of threats or harassment are wholly illegal and those who commit them must be
severely punished. This is a free and democratic country and once a person
becomes a major, he or she can marry whosoever he/she likes. If the parents of the
boy or girl do not approve such inter caste or inter religious marriage, the
maximum they can do is that they can cut off social relations with the son or
daughter, but they cannot harass the person who undergoes such inter caste or
inter religious marriage.
Another very important
link related to honour killing in India is the ‘Khap Panchyat’. Khap is a
cluster of villages united by caste and geography.It is as old as 14th century
started by upper caste jats to consolidate their power and position.The main
rule is that all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings.
Khap
panchayat governs the khap formed by same gotra ( clan) families from several
neighbouring villages. Khap panchayats are prevalent in Haryana,western Uttar
Pradesh and Parts of Rajasthan.Love marriages are considered taboo in areas
governed by Khap panchayats. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to marry in
the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village. Many young couples
have been killed in the past defying khap rules.
Khap
panchyat imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases
end up either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide.All this is done
in the name of brotherhood and its honour. It is due to the inherent weakness
of democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions, Khap panchayats have
been powerful. Even the government has not done much to control their power.
The
10-15 men who constitute a Khap settle disputes and control the lives of young
people. Many village people also defend these caste panchayats as they deliver
the verdict in one sitting whereas court cases drag for years.According to them
,in many cases innocent people get harassed in the court and by police.Here as
everyone is known so they cross check everything to ensure neutrality.[2]
Some facts of khap
panchayat
:
1.
A Khap Panchayat is usually a collective of at least 12 or more village
panchayats.
2. The Five Biggest khaps in Haryana are Palam, Sonipat, Hisar, Jharsa, and
Jhajjar each of them has 360 villages under it.
3. Large Khap Bodies such as the Palam one, are made of smaller khaps such as
the Meham khap which has 24 villages and the Dalal khap which has 84 villages
under it.
4. The Khaps are active in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab states
with a sizeable Jat population.
5.
There is One sarv khap in the country which includes all the khap panchayats.
6.
The Pradhan of each khap is elected in an informal meeting held by the elders
of a particular khap. There is no formal election.
7.
Jats Believe That khaps were constituted during the regin of King Hrshvardhan
in the seventh century to assist him with managing his empire.
8.
The Khaps are different from village panchayats, which are legally elected
under the Panchayati Raj system. Technically, each village has two panchayats-
the legal panchayat and the other, an informal pancahyat, whose members go on
to represent the village in a khap panchayat.
In some Haryana villages, the young
girls are routinely threatened, abused and killed all under Khap verdicts. It
is acceptable for the families to feed pesticide pills to the teenage girls and
then dispose off their bodies by burning them without any police records. The
entire onus of siblinghood rests on the girl. She is the keeper of village
honor. Sometimes rules are bend for the boys but a girl is never allowed to
bend the rules. If a couple run away then the families risk the boycott and
hefty fines in lakhs of Rupees. Even the
other women of the house can suffer abuse.
In keeping with the khap rules
,older villages try to keep the young people apart. Some schools are also
forced to have separate timings for the boys and girls. Fearing their daughters
would go astray, many parents marry them off at an early age. People have
unquestionable faith in the justice of khap. The question of rights for women
does not exist any where in the territories ruled by Khap panchayats.
In Bhagwan
Dass Vs. State (NCT of Delhi) [3] , The Supreme
Court of India came down heavily on the system of honour killing and the
perpatrotors in general. The Court said - "In our opinion honour
killings, for whatever reason, come within the category of rarest of rare cases
deserving death punishment. It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal
practices which are a slur on our nation
"This is necessary as a deterrent for such
outrageous, uncivilised behaviour. All persons who are planning to perpetrate
'honour' killings should know that the gallows await them," the court added.
Conclusion and Suggestions : Since our hard earned independence from British Raj we have traversed a lot and it is high time
that we should come out of this reprehensible systems and taboos of our
society. Be it caste system simplicitor and/or honour killings. If we can not
do away with the root cause of them then the fall out are obvious. In my
opinion, the narrow minded vote bank politics is the highest stumbling block to
eradicate this evil from society. All reservations in educational institutions
and jobs be based on economic criteria only and not on caste basis. Caste based
constituency reservation should immediately be done away with and perpetrators
be brought to justice and punished without showing any mercy. Public awareness
programmes and large scale free education as per constitutional mandate (Right
to education) should be implemented on war time basis.
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[1] Sri Adi Visheshwara of Kashi ... vs State of U.P. And Ors on 14 March,
1997 1997(2)
SCR 1086
[2]
http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/khap-panchayat-in-india.html
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