Caste in modern India

- A review by M .N. Srinivas

In this paper published by M.N. Srinivas he elaborates his views about caste system.

The author in the first paragraph of the paper talks about the influence of caste system in the past

century or more in modern India. The transfer of powers from the hands of the British to the

Indians made the caste system to assume political functions. Constitutional safeguards provided

to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes gave a new stimulus to the obsolete caste system.

This was unnecessary in a country in which the political parties as well as the constitution

provided for the formation of a classless and casteless society. Even the Indian national congress

was very much relying on the formation of a secular country.

In the pre British era, the political frontiers determined the extent to which there was effective,

social functioning of a particular caste. The clashing of political as well cultural frontiers was a

principle that was very much explicitly recognized in the report of the states reorganization

commission; this event opened a new chapter in Indian history.

The natural consequences imposed by the political system on the caste system gave a stimulus to

the castes living in an area to co operate with each other. Occupational specialization very much

stressed on the importance of caste interdependence and strongly believed in the fact that

different castes need to depend on each other to survive. The establishment of paz Britannica
relieved the castes free from the territorial limitations that were very much dominant in the pre

British political system.

The author next brings into light the effect of the advent of British in India. He states that the

Britishers introduction of penal codes took away considerable power from the hands of the caste

panchayats , their legal as well as judicial system was based on the fact that everyone was equal

in the eyes of the law and the caste of the criminal never mattered while determining the verdict.

The development in infrastructure including the advent of roads, railways , telegram , postal

services , etc gave an opportunity for the castes to organize themselves like never before.

Postcards telegrams and railways enabled the gathering of the members of a particular caste in a

more effective and instant manner which in turn led to better organization of caste structures.

however, it must be noted clearly that the introduction of a classless judicial system did not

completely weaken the caste system even today it is very much prevalent in many parts of the

country. The introduction of economic forces b the British into the society mobilized the caste

system to greater extent . the newly elevated castes wanted to increase their power in the system

rather than completely abolish it. In a broad study conducted on a village in Orissa the creation

of opportunities for economic development of two lower castes led to disruption in the balance

of economic power that was previously existing in the village . in this case the name of the

village was bisipara, in Orissa and the two conflicting castes were boads and ganjams

respectively while the powerful upper castes where the warrior class. As the economic power of

the lower castes increased this led to increase in social mobility and sanskritisation of the newly

elevated lower castes prevented them from revolting against the caste system. These events
clearly proved the fact that sanskritisation mitigated the scope of revolution among the lower

castes against the caste system.

In certain circumstances, it is very much clearly noted that the rigidity of the caste system

prevented different castes from benefitting from the economic opportunities .however there is

other side o this coin if we consider the fact that the higher castes were very much benefitted by

the advent of westernization . the upper castes were very much benefitted by the western

education system that many of the members of their household were lawyers , doctors ,

schoolteachers. However, the creamy layer of the society has enjoyed the benefits of the

economic opportunities. The bulk of the intelligence is mainly composed of members from the

three upper castes . this resulted in the bulk of the leaders of the national movement coming from

these castes. The Britishers who were very well aware of the situation used the policy of divide

and rule in order to gain the support of the lower castes.

Therefore, because of which the burden of the national movement fell on the members of the

upper castes. During the first war of Indian independence the main bulk of the revolting

members were from the higher castes ., because of which the British government ordered the

reorganization of the British army such that the number of higher caste members was

considerably reduced.

The non-Brahmin movement in peninsular India was much more vigorous than those in northern

India. This was mainly contributed to the western liberal ideologies to which the revolutionaries

were exposed to. The first major anti Brahmin movement was first launched by jyot rao phule a

social reformist who belongs to the gardener caste. He was the founder of satya shodak samaj,
which was formed inreder to eliminate discriminiation based on caste. He layed stress on the

destruction of the concept of sanskritisation and education to the underdeveloped sections of the

lower castes. Phules concepts on non-Brahmin equality soon became the motto of non-Brahmin

parties in Bombay and madras . he was also the first person in our country to advocate for special

representation on the behalf of the suppressed classes in the local body elections.though his

efforts went unheeded at first they were later realized in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Because of his movement, special reservation became a part of the Montague Chelmsford

reforms . as the movement against the Brahmins continued , as the movement became more

extreme the justice pary suffered defeat at the hand of the congress after the moderate non

Brahmins joined the congress party and started to dominate it. Meanwhile the extreme class of

anti Brahmin elements joined the dravidar kazhagam under the leadership of e.v.r periyar who

turned the organization into an anti north Indian anti Hindi ant Brahmin and atheist outfit. Later

an offshoot from the DMK called the dravidar munnetra kazhagam was formed and it gave itself

a moderate image against the Brahmins unlike its parent organization and portrayed itself as a

progressive party. As a result of the movements by anti Brahmin political parties the political as

well as the administrative powers slowly slipped into the hands of the non Brahmins in many

places as this happened the non Brahmins showed the Brahmins no mercy and started to harass

those who were working under them . this became very much widespread throughout the nation

mainly in peninsular India . the movement against the Brahmin domination became highly

violent and to make things worse the assassination of mahatma Gandhi made things go from bad

to worse. There were widespread riots against Brahmins all over India , shops factories , presses

and every other form of business owned by Brahmins were mercilessly attacked .
The author later explains the transfer of owner from the ruling class to the public, which led to

the increase in strength of the caste system . the main reason behind this the constitution o India

that devolved the power of adult franchise to every adult . the non-Brahmin movement launched

by phule was not progressive in nature . his movements later led to the Montague Chelmsford

reforms for communal rights.

The author extensively talks about the concepts that are discussed in the article caste and politics

in Maharashtra . it talks about the three dominant castes the Brahmins , mahratha and maharsin

the politics of Maharashtra. The brahmans were the the only western educated caste at that time

in the state of Maharashtra . the early political leaders at that time in Maharashtra were mostly

konkanastha Brahmins . though the Brahmins constitute only 4% of the population , they were

the most educated population of the lot and they were the most economically affluent

community. The rest of the castes were mainly composed of people who served in the army

during the world war one . in the year 1948 a large block of the Maharashtra congress deflected

to form the the peasants and workers party .the formation of this party regarded as a move

against the influence of capitalism . the recent political movements in the state led to the

unification of the Marathas under the pretext of sons of the soil. However, the person who stood

up against this was abider who said that a monolithic Maharashtra would be detrimental to its

citizens, as it would allow the Marathas to dominate.

The author has also analyzed the socio political conditions in the state of Andhra Pradesh based

on which a paper titled caste and Andhra communist's .it clearly explains the rigidity of the caste

system in south India . he also speaks about the communists of Andhra who belong t a particular
caste known as karmas , whereas the rival landowning reddis dominated the congress. The

rivalry between the two castes is a well-known affair. However, interestingly both the

communities have had similar origins , they both served as warriors under the Andhra kings and

later some turned in to landowners and peasants leaving the Brahmins out of the picture.

However, when it came to anti Brahmin uprising both the castes had very similar views and both

rise up against the Brahmins. The kammas concentrated on the fertile delta regions of Andhra

whereas the reddies where found in the five rayalseema , therefore they came to be known as

kamma rashtra and reddiseema. As abyss passed by the two rival castes where introduced to

western education and this in a way increased their mutual rivalry . at the end of the world war,

the kammas gained dominance over the communist party whereas the reddies gained control

over the congress party.

However, the author does not find the rivalry concept between the two agrarian castes not very

convincing