Caste In India

“Caste is not mere a symbolic issue, it is a deep structural issue”
T N Ayshvarya
Despite the efforts of leaders like Periyar, Ambedkar, the c-word caste is never likely to get a closure. You can chop down the trees, but how do you remove its roots? India and caste are inseparably linked, putting unity up in the air.
India is a place not only known for her culture but also for the complex social structure. The basic element of social structure is ‘caste’. According to definition, caste is just a social stratification. But, beyond definitions, caste is the phenomenon by which people identify themselves with, in India. This indeed became a tool for caste politics in India.
“India is heterogeneous is nature. Democratically if you see, we are

Sociologist M N Srinivas studied the village system. He says that a person needs to gain authority in order to progress in political system. Legitimized power is authority in sociology, is a scarce resource. In ancient India, a person who gets support from huge numerical strength emerges as leader. Even leadership emergence theory suggests that. At present situation, if you notice, politicians use caste as a tool to gain numerical vote. It’s called demonization. Though we are a democratic nation, in the grassroots level, either politicians divide people in the name of caste and religion or divide the people based on economic criteria. Since Indian society can be identified from the point of view of caste like how European society can be identified from class, politicians take it as a tool to divide and rule the

Perumal Murugan, famous Indian author from South India, is known for his controversy in the book, ‘Mathorubagan’ (English translation: One part of woman). This book goes by the theme of an old Indian tradition where childless women go in search of men to get impregnated. This certainly got him into controversy for the content which the cultural fundamentalists claim to be insulting a particular caste’s customs. However, Murugan won the case in the court on grounds of freedom of expression. When asked why caste is still prevalent deeply even in 21st century, he said, “Some people don’t want to let caste die because it is useful for them in so many ways. It is out of their selfish interest. You can’t see a casteless society. It may take more than 200 years to be possible.” He also regretted that media ignores lot of issues created by caste fearing that they would get into trouble. “We get hope only by hearing media students like you speaking about caste. Media doesn’t like to be a part of the caste conversation. They don’t give importance to caste related issues thinking they would get into trouble. Though we get a lot of news on caste in general, it is not possible for media to name the caste and publish the problems faced by them openly. It’s not possible even today,” he