Sonai Massacre of 2013 is one of the horrifying cases of atrocities. As such, according to our own official reports, the atrocities are taking place during the writing of this small piece somewhere in India. Something is going on every minute somewhere in India. The caste hatred takes many atrocious forms because the caste system is built on the scale of hatred and contempt that ultimately vests powers in the hands of people sitting at the top of this social hierarchy. However, the violence is the mainstay of the caste system, it manifests concretely between the castes closer in the social distance and manifests institutionally (which is often more dangerous than the concrete manifestation as it kills generation after generation) as the social distance increases.

For example, what the Brahmin-Bania axis is capable of doing is to keep fueling the entire caste system through religious, now increasingly political and economic systems. While the OBCs having no power over the religion, and lesser control over the institutional set-up resorts to gory violence all over India. Therefore in the long term to end the caste system in India, the Brahmin-Bania axis must be destroyed. Coming back to the cases of violence that take place on day to day basis, the strict laws and strict administration of law is one of the important keys, besides that the growing interactions between the social movements coming from the socially backward classes are the key.

Sonai massacre of 2013 is a sad and painful story. A handsome young boy, Sachin Garu, was in love with the local girl, daughter of Darandale, a local Maratha. The enemy of the two lovers was caste system: the invisible codes of Manu that controls the minds of every casteist Indian. Love is human, and the caste is devilish. Sachin’s two friends Sandeep Thanwar and Rahul Kandare were killed mercilessly. The crime is so horrifying that it is difficult to write the gory details of violence and hatred. Even the animals are not killed by humans like the way these three youths were killed.

Before we think of how it happens, it is important to think why it happens at all. It natural for the human beings to interact and this interaction between the human beings is what humanness all about as it enables the breaking of barriers between them to identify their true essence. The caste system is a ban on human interactions and human intercourse at all the levels, except at the level where the people in the social ladder benefit from the controlled interaction. While the Brahmins will have access to everything and every social class, the access the people at the lower rungs is prevented by the codes of Manu.

The only option is a social revolt that must destroy the very essence of the caste system and humanize the society.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist

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