India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is the world’s sixth de facto nuclear weapons states and has a hugely successful film industry. Since Gandhi led India to its independence some 60 years ago and a new constitution was passed deeming India a secular, democratic state it seems to have come a long way. Yet a recent spate of so called ‘honour killings’ in the Northern state of Haryana has uncovered once again a side of Indian culture that has been continually brushed under its political carpet.
Murder condoned
In September 2010, in Nimriwali village, Haryana, a girl and her lover were found hanging, exhibited in her parent’s house. Shockingly the murderers are found to be close family, ashamed by their offspring's attempt to shun traditional courtship ideals. Their actions have been condoned, even respected by the local ‘khap panchayats’ (unofficial councils) although under official Indian law, every person over the age of consent has the right to marry who they wish.
Violent killings such as this make up one of 900 such like killings each year and all are a result of young couples trying to marry or elope outside of their own caste. The dead bodies of Monika and Rinku act as a warning to others and a reminder to us about just how deeply entrenched this idea of caste is in Indian society.
India's caste system
The concept of caste or ‘Varna’ dates back to Vedic period where ancient Hindu scriptures describes four ‘varnas’ – Brahmins, (warriors, merchants and priests), the Kshatriyas (Rulers, nobles, and warriors), the Vaishyas(Bankers and business), and Shudras (Artisans and labourers).
Essentially, it is a system of hereditary social hierarchy and classification which(according to the Bhagavad Gita) is determined by karma. According to the traditional Varna system, one unfortunate group; ‘Dalits’ exist out with classification, formally known as ‘untouchables’ but now referred to as ‘Scheduled Castes’ by the government.
Traditionally, these ‘Untouchables’ were left with occupations deemed too polluting or unsavoury for the upper castes; waste disposal, butchery, clothes washing, leatherwork. Outcasts in every sense, Dalits were not allowed to associate in any way with the upper castes.
In 1950, the practice of untouchability was officially outlawed in the Indian Constitution and steps were put in place to encourage equality (reservation of seats in parliament, government jobs etc. for the Scheduled Castes). Where in many of the big Indian cities, modernization is prevailing and one can even occasionally see young couples holding hands in public; in rural areas (which account for 72% of the population) tradition is held strong by the overwhelming fear that the government is trying to turn India into Europe.
Caste-related violence
Caste related violence is not restricted merely to ‘improper’ relations but encompasses all manner of brutal discrimination. In April this year an elderly man and his disabled daughter were burnt to death in their home in Mirchpur, Hisar district as they failed to flee quickly enough after an arson attack by the upper caste (Jat) members. Another one hundred and fifty of the Dalit community had to run for their lives.
In 1999, a handicapped Dalit woman was paraded naked through the streets of her village by members of the local khap panchayat. In January 2006, Dalit labourer Bant Singh, seeking justice against the people who gang raped his daughter, was beaten so severely that he had to have both arms and one leg amputated. In 2007 a Dalit woman, 55 years of age was stripped and tied to a tree, displayed and ashamed publicly because her nephew had eloped with a girl from the same ‘gotra’ (hereditary group/ community)
Throughout the mid to late 1900s, Phoolan Devi, of the lower ‘mallah’ (boatmen) caste, affectionately known as ‘ the Bandit Queen’ committed violent robberies on members of the upper castes in retaliation to being gang raped and beaten repeatedly as a young girl by upper caste men.
Her Robin Hood-like escapades gained her fame and respect and she became a politician in the 1980s before being assassinated in 2001 by Sher Ringh Rana who claimed to be avenging the deaths of Kshyiartas who had been massacred by her gang in 1981.
India's hidden apartheid
At the UN conference against racism in Durban in 2001; this divisive system was condemned as ‘India’s hidden apartheid’ and in 2006, Prime Minster Singh was the first to acknowledge the continuing practice of untouchability, describing it as a ‘blot on humanity.’ India’s past is littered with horrific stories of caste related violence and one has to wonder how plausible it is that things will change when the problem is not just a social convention but also one that is deeply rooted in ancient Hindu culture.
Source:
India: Hidden Apartheid of Discrimination Against Dalits, (New York, February 13, 2007) Human Rights Watch.
Unreported World: Love on the Run, Series 2010, episode 18.
Join the Conversation