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Indian Caste

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Casteism: Essay on Casteism in India
According to Kaka Kalelkar, “Casteism is an over-riding blind and supreme group loyalty that ignores the healthy social standards of justice, fair play, equity and universal brotherhood.” In the words of K. M. Panikkar, “Casteism is the loyalty to the sub caste translated into political. This is unavoidable as long as the conception of sub-caste exists, for that is the one permanent loyalty that the Hindu has inherited. In fact, no organisation of society on the basis of equality is possible so long as the sub- caste exists.”
According to D.N. Prasad, “Casteism is a loyalty to the caste translated into politics. In general, Casteism may be defined as a phenomenon by virtue of which persons belonging to a certain caste group are either discriminated against or shown favour regardless of their merits and demerits, just on the basis of their caste.
Casteism exhibits a number of characteristics. They are as follows:
1. Casteism signifies blind caste or sub-caste loyalty. It either ignores or does not care for the interests of other castes.
2. For a casteist “My caste man and my caste only, right or wrong” is the principle.
3. Casteism goes against the spirit of democracy.
4. It submits one’s sense of justice, fair play and humanity to the interest of his own caste.
5. It is against the lofty ideal of the constitution.
6. Casteism is a big hurdle in the way of nation-building and national integration.
7. Casteism creates caste solidarity to the extent that: (a) one caste seeks to dominate over others, (b) higher castes exploit the lower castes, (c) elections are contested and won on caste basis, and (d) inter-caste conflicts increase in society.
8. Casteism is essentially a rural phenomenon. Its role in the urban areas is negligible.
Several factors contribute to the growth and spread of Casteism. They are as follows:
1.

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