Indian Political Discussion
- Thread starter Parul
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Something like this below - Such arguments have been known for long in academic circles. While there may be some validity in the nature of the classification of social groups, however there are individuals who have extended this argument and argued that it was the raj which played a role in stratification of this system and making it rigid.
'Caste system created by British'
Ancient caste system worked well, ICHR head says
In kerala we have NSS - Nair Service Society, a community organization for upper caste Nairs. All though it is exclusively for Nairs and by Nairs, because of their low numbers even Namboodiri Brahmins get assistance from the NSS.
Why should church investigate cases of sexual abuses. We have competent law enforcement and investigation agencies to do it. However something has to be said about the incompetent of the police investigation. In the infamous rape& murder of sister Abhaya case, the police investigation was so messed up and inefficient that even a CBI probe is proving to be difficult to get a conviction against the prime accused.
Why indeed.
Of course there has been many cases where the police f**cked up. But it shouldn't mean someone else is to do the job of the Police. We ought to look at ways of improving the judicial and police systems in our country and not hand over such powers to people with vested interests.
Sexual abuse is not a religious matter and no religious org is competent enough to independently probe a criminal offense. Its not that our local law enforcement is completely incompetent, although like in the infamous Arushi murder case where incompetent police messed up primary evidence gathering, but they are mostly hand maidens if the of ruling party and political interference in police investigation is now too routine.
Threre is a dire need to make the CID ,of the local enforcement, as a competent team to investigate serious offense like homicide and rape, with reasonable degree of autonomy from political interference. But who is interested in police reforms.
Unfortunately our system of politics favours the status quo mindset over a reformist mindset. Unless of course when the reform brings votes either immediately or in the long run, nobody will invest too much time or effort into police reforms or judicial reforms. The policemen won't take steps that will create too much of an improvement, they need govt. support.
The less said about the judiciary the better. The learned judges, eminent intellectuals of our society, the very embodiment of fairness, truth and honour. Even they won't do much to rock the boat, lest they create inconveniences for themselves or their fellow judges. Thousands of cases pending and they merrily take multiple vacations a years. Who cares about the inconveniences caused to the people ?
Frankly, this notion among sections of the upper castes that caste was a British invention is bunkum. That said, in their eagerness to classify and codify the British may have unwittingly contributed to have exacerbated the case. Then again faced with a bewildering maze of sub castes where a particular sub castes in one section of a province may not have the same socioeconomic standing in another section of an adjoining province certainly didn't help matters.
It brings up the case of the Bhumihars in eastern UP & Bihar in pre independent India. Initially castes as Shudra, they mounted a massive campaign to be included in the upper castes namely as Brahmins which in turn had a section of the Brahmins up in arms arguing with the British that the Bhumihars were in fact shudras. Now it's widely accepted that Bhumihars at some point of time in history emerged as a separate castes group born as they were from marital relationship between Brahmins & Kshatriyas. They were the janeu and were known to read the Vedas - important markers for the upper caste. In many ways it bears similarities to the Sambandham between Namboodari makes & Nair Females in Kerala except the Sambandham by itself didn't constitute a marriage & the off spring of such a union carried the caste of his / her mother. Then again, Nairs like quite a few communities in Kerala & coastal Karnataka follow the Aliyasantana / Marumukkatiyam system of matrilineal families.
The RSS's notions of caste are a bit weird although they can be seen as transitionary only if the next steps are visible. I recall an impromptu interview carried by NDTV immediately after the UP state election results were announced and YA was declared to be the CM designate. In that impromptu interview lasting a few minutes, YA said to Dorab Sopariwala & Prannoy Roy that "Jaati theekh hain, Jaatiwaad nahin". You can take this as axiomatic of what the RSS thinks on the subject.
I see this as a long journey and it's something which Sanaatan society began less than 150-200 years ago in the modern era. We've come a long way. We've a much much longer journey to cover.
So long as Jati exists, Jaativad too will persist. To be honest even if the upper caste are ready to move on, the lower caste have strong institutionalized memory of the unjust system and now with caste politics in play, they have lesser reason to move on. I once believed rapid urbanization, or perhaps migration of caste groups from the places of historical locations, will force caste to become irrelevant. However in this age of internet and free information its quite easy to inquire learn about the social status of any group. Moreover the reasons cited above also appear to instill a strong sense of group identification of social groups in the new social context,more so when they trans-locate to new social settings or if they face social pressure from exposure from intruding social groups.
My colleagues in Kerala often comment that the Nair identification is more pronounced among Nairs who live outside Kerala, like in Bangalore, than those who are in Kerala. Affluent Nairs have been in recent years responsible for the revival of many defunct Nair customs, festivities and ceremonies. In my own case, while our relatives in Kerala looked on with bemusement, some of the members, including yours truly, got together, gathered donations , consulted architects and few years back helped restore a Sarpa Kaavu( sacred grove) and build a new temple in the Kaavu and organize monthly Poojas at the temple. Our relatives often pronounce that the Bangalore based relatives are suffering from virulent form of Nostalgiatitis. But i think this is more than just nostalgia. This is strong resurgence of a social memory and this is unlikely to fade away anytime soon.
P:S - I was not aware of any upper caste community in Canara regions practicing Marumakkathayam. I think the Bunts may have practiced in the past. However they appear to be socially related to Nairs of Kerala. Are there any other group that practiced this system ?
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The Hindu (@the_hindu) Tweeted:
JUST IN| NCP chief #SharadPawar also named along with nephew Ajit Pawar by ED in connection with an alleged Rs. 25,000-crore scam, reports @deveshpd ( )
This is what I've always suspected. The Central Government is waiting for the elections in Maharashtra to conclude post which they'd go hammer & tongs after the NCP. And deep down Sharad Pawar has long been aware of this.
JUST IN| NCP chief #SharadPawar also named along with nephew Ajit Pawar by ED in connection with an alleged Rs. 25,000-crore scam, reports @deveshpd ( )
This is what I've always suspected. The Central Government is waiting for the elections in Maharashtra to conclude post which they'd go hammer & tongs after the NCP. And deep down Sharad Pawar has long been aware of this.
