Author – Sunny Tawar

“If Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem”- Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

These words of Ambedkar seems to be proving true as there have been many cases since few months, that Dalits are being discriminated against at their workplace. This time, it’s not India which Dalits call their own motherland, but it seems to be undefined. This time it’s California (abroad) where a Dalit employee in Cisco company have been discriminated on the basis of the caste not by the foreigners but by their own Hindu brother so-called upper-caste. The high-caste supervisors and co-workers practised discrimination system into their own team at Cisco’ workplace. A Dalit, who enrolled at India’s most prestigious institutions i.e. Indian Institute of Technology through affirmative action, has been discriminated against on the basis of his caste. An upper-caste Indian is an Indian but a lower caste Indian is a Dalit Indian. This shows the great menace of our so-called Hindu society. Dalits have been suppressed by the upper-caste society socially, educationally and even economically for thousands of years. Even before and after the independence of India, Dr. Ambedkar tried so hard and struggled so that he can be able to eradicate and abolish the caste system in India as it was the biggest hurdle in the progress of the country, but he could not as the whole Hinduism is based on inequality and hierarchy. That’s why maybe he opted for Buddhism so as to give a message to Dalits and other deprived classes of the society.

A book on “Caste-The Origin of Our Discontents” that was recently published by Isabel Wilkerson is creating a storm everywhere except India. This book talks about the study of the caste system as a problem. The book has been sent to 100 CEOs and 400 leaders across the United States of America and when this book talks about India 136 times, then it really becomes crucial to read it. But still, India will not talk about it.

The movie- “Mr. Misunderstanding” directed by Muralidharan Chinniah has been banned in India as it talks about Brahmanism and Casteism in India. The trailer of the movie shows that the Brahmins are superior by birth and have all the rights even by birth. But further, the movie will not be available to Indians and one has to pay for it even to watch it on amazon.com, not on the Indian portal. This is how, the government and so-called upper-caste ideology do not want Indians to think about the caste system in India, as it is the only origin of it. Also, a recent movie- “Aashram” directed by Prakash Jha launched on the MX Player platform has talked about the caste system in India that takes us back to various painful incidents in India of Dalit bridegrooms being beaten up by the upper caste men because he dared to sit on a horse in his wedding procession. The movie does not directly talk about the Dalits, it just gives a message indirectly that casteism exists in India and it is the only origin. The so-called Brahmanism ideology to suppress and take the lead at every stage of the society, this movie put a nail on the board of the caste system in India. “Article 15” movie was also one of the most talked-about movies on caste and discrimination, but it also manipulates the exact reason and root of casteism in India. So, there is a need in India to talk about the caste system openly, there should be a debate on a national and international level so that the people of India shall understand that caste is not a system, it is a problem.

So, until and unless the Indians will talk about the caste system in India, the casteism ideology will keep on moving his head towards the sky. It’s a need of an hour, Indians should realize the actual progress is not living with the caste, the actual progress is living without the caste and leading to equality in the context of social behaviour.

The author is an Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering and Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, Central University of Haryana