Caste Away - The Modern Institutionalised Cateism

The  Caste Inequality of discriminating people on the basis of origin or caste which was  based on the established caste system or caste hierarchy is still the most prevalent social evil in the "Modern India".

The many dalits , people from scheduled and marginalised communities are still snatched from their rights . we can see many cases of people at the low level of this" caste system hierarchy "to be not able to enter temples and are still not given equality among the other people .

The efforts were made to demolish the caste system .The system of reservation was established . Rajarshi shahu ,the Maharaja of the princely state of kolhapur ,introduced reservation in favour of non -brahmin and backward classes ,which came in to force in 1902 .It allows the Indian government to set reserved quotas or seats, which lower the qualifications needed in exams, job openings etc. for "socially and educationally backward to enhance their social and educational status in the sense to be better than previous one until it becomes equal to that enjoyed by an average member of other communities .

It was a way to mitigate lost opportunities due to the practice of caste discrimination in India .

But  lead to rise of the modern forms of casteism  .But this comes in price of atrocities ,boycott and harassment against these marginalized communities in the institutions by their peers .The new forms of caste prejudices were evolved in urban spaces .It  diluted even the small amount of progress made by Dalits and Adivasis.

 There is a massive protest against the reservation  policy across the country. they argue about  the notions of merit and efficiency  that students who come through quota are not meritorious at all . The cases of lack of empathy ,boycott, and harassment against Dalits and Adivasis have also arisen,  because their peers think that they have asserted their presence through reservations and other schemes. It impacts their psychological well-being, dreams, aspirations, and most importantly, their ability to survive in such an environment.

Allotment of hostels based on entrance marks, asking for the marks of Dalit students publicly to humiliate them, making a mockery of their English and physical appearance, stigmatising them are the few of the torture  they have faced . They are classified as inefficient. Also the system and the people in higher positions are  not acting on incidents of caste-based harassment and abuses and  not providing a support system .The students have also experienced  reducing or stopping of  their fellowships. These are all the forms of modern casteism in urban area. 

These have resulted ,in  the suicides of a number of Dalit and Adivasi students. One of the case is of  Payal Tadvi in 2019, who died because of  constant discrimination, bullying, humiliation, abuse, and boycott .

The suicide of Rohith Vemula, a PhD scholar from the Dalit community, five years ago on January 17, 2016, due to institutional apathy and boycott was another  such moment of the caste prejudices in the minds of the  peers  which has lead to discrimination and emotional and psychological harassment  faced by him.

  The  moral institutional liability must, therefore, be put on the institutes of eminence, private universities and companies, media organisations, the legal profession, and the higher judiciary. Also where  the reservation is not applied , these institutions should be required to include SCs ,STs as they  cannot avoid the question of providing representation.

India needs to move beyond the tokenism of having one Dalit chief justice or two Dalit presidents, and ensure adequate representation to its Dalit and Adivasi citizens in all fields. People should be  aware about the academic discrimination against the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes which is a part of  modern forms of casteism .