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Caste Tags: What is in the name?

I cannot just stop thinking about how people easily say that there should be no caste tagsas people belonging to higher castes take pride in their class hegemony by using caste

tags to their names. Is it that easy? Does removing a Caste tag means they have totally

shunned their urge to perpetuate their domination. If any thing is as easy as removing aband aid in one fast quick motion so there is no pain then the world would have been a

great place to live in. It is foolish to think that a traditionally perpetuated, genetically

ingrained caste consciousness could easily be taken away and there would never be casterelated groupism and divisions. Why is it not possible? None of the Hindu scriptures

endorses caste-based discrimination, and the Indian Constitution has outlawed caste-

based discrimination, in keeping with the secular, democratic principles that founded the

nation. Nevertheless, the caste system, in various forms, continues to survive in modernIndia. The following are the reasons:

Ancient India

According to the ancient Hindu scriptures, there are four "varnas". The Brahmins

(teachers, scholars and priests), the Kshatriyas (kings and warriors), the Vaishyas(agriculturists and traders), and Shudras (service providers, laborers). All those who did

not subscribe to the norms of the Hindu society, including foreigners, tribals and nomads,

were considered contagious and untouchables. So the society by large accepted thesenorms for them to survive or to be part of the system and take its benefits. So caste

system as a social practice was prevalent since time immemorial.

Before Independence

Misinterpretation by Colonial Rule:

Manusmruti was widely regarded as a work which was to be referenced by Brahmins

especially in North India. It was totally unknown in the south. But administrators from

the colonial era incorrectly regarded the Manusmriti as the "law book" or a religious tenetof the Hindus like the Bible or the Koran, and thus concluded that the caste system is a

part of Hinduism and a religious belief. Prior to colonial rule, the relative ranking of

castes differed from one place to another. The castes did not constitute a rigid descriptionof the occupation or the social status of a group. The British attempted to equate the

Indian caste system to their own class system, viewing caste as an indicator of

occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability written in Manusmruti. British

policies of divide and rule as well as enumeration of the population into rigid categoriescontributed towards the hardening of caste identities.

Prevalence after Independence:

Caste is one among the major factors in politics of India. Independent India has seen

intense debates over reverse discrimination, caste-based quotas and reservations

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The Government of India has officially documented castes and sub-castes, primarily to

determine those deserving reservation (positive discrimination in education and jobs)

through the census. The Indian reservation system, though limited in scope, relies entirelyon quotas. The Government lists consist of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and

Other Backward Classes.

Mandal Commission

The Mandal Commission was established in 1979 by the Janata Party government underPrime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally

backward". The Commission was set up to consider the question of seat reservations and

quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and

educational indicators to determine "backwardness." In 1980, the commission's reportaffirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower

castes (known as Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes and Tribes) were given

exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities,

and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%. A decadeafter the commission gave its report, V. P. Singh, the Prime Minister at the time, tried to

implement its recommendations in 1989.

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