Indian society has been stratified in various well demarcated castes for around two thousand of years. Hindu India is divided into 4 castes. Brahmins are the highest caste, they are the priestly caste. Then comes the Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (traders), and lastly Sudras (menials). A fifth group the untouchables lie outside the caste system. The percentages of each of these factions are disputed and varied numbers are stated by different forums depending on the side they belong to. The caste system follows a basic precept “All men are created unequal”. This inequality results from the deeds in the in the past lives and wrong doings results in being born into lower castes by which one pays for his misdeeds.
With this basic idea let’s move to a society that we live in which still believes the caste system that is based on ideas mentioned above. The idea of rebirth is somewhat philosophical and I would leave this on readers to decide. In the modern world being born to someone or in some sect should not be considered in determining the ability of a person. It is very much possible that any person that gets the best of education and facilities will be competitive to any other person with any lineage. Consider an IAS officer who belongs to a so called lower caste has a son. This son by no means has any facility not available to him which will be available to any other person belonging to so called higher caste. On the contrary there might a remote village where irrespective of the caste everyone has a setback. I would like to ask who needs a reservation the son of an IAS officer or the son of the farmer in that village.
The time when India got independence the society was still in world where Varna System played a definite role. How long do we want to continue with this system? Caste based reservation were needed that time because then nobody had the idea that they were being exploited and oppressed for reasons that were pretty much philosophical and way off from reality. Today if we provide the same basic education, health, information and all civic amenities, the question of reservation is itself farce. But this ideal situation in a place like India will definitely take time and I feel that we are still not ready. There is a big chunk of population that has no idea that they are being exploited for all the wrong reasons not only because they were born into a caste but because the development has not been similar. It’s time that we realize that caste is not something that determines ability. Yes reservations are needed but not because someone is born to family that belongs to a caste.
Let’s not use caste reservations for easy access or shortcuts. Let’s not brand someone by his birth but by his ability. Let caste reservations be used for the purposes that it was meant for “to bring the disadvantaged people into the mainstream”.
Let’s make India a homogenous society where the second name is just a name and not a legacy.
The ideas in this article are mine and not meant to hurt any sentiments. I am open to any comments or suggestions.