Essay on Role of Caste in Indian Political System : India has been a unique society to recognise ascriptive caste system to determine social status of people. Being a dominant influence in the society, caste started affecting the Indian political system in a major way, whose repercussions we can see in different agitations and Mandalised politics of today’s India. The term ‘caste’ has been derived from the Portuguese word ‘Casta’, meaning breed, race or kind. A caste society signifies a population with a common general culture, divided by social barriers into endogamous units, each of which possesses some peculiar cultural specificities. Caste in India may be defined as a homogeneous, endogamous social control organisation with distinctive rituals, especially those pertaining to religious purity.
Essay on Role of Caste in Indian Political System
A functional democracy has its own
contradictions and compulsions and it naturally facilitates the interplay of
various forces in the society and in the body politic. In the process, Politics
of a society sometimes take simpler or narrow form in the sense that it starts
to have a baneful impact over the total system, simultaneously influencing the
value system of the country. India has been a unique society to recognise
ascriptive caste system to determine social status of people. Being a dominant
influence in the society, caste started affecting the Indian political system
in a major way, whose repercussions we can see in different agitations and
Mandalised politics of today’s India.
The term ‘caste’ has been derived from
the Portuguese word ‘Casta’, meaning breed, race or kind. A caste society
signifies a population with a common general culture, divided by social
barriers into endogamous units, each of which possesses some peculiar cultural
specificities. Caste in India may be defined as a homogeneous, endogamous
social control organisation with distinctive rituals, especially those
pertaining to religious purity. Today, it pervades almost all strata of our
society so much so that it is found among other religious orders like the
Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.
The caste system received a shattering
blow When the British administration put an effective check on its horizontal
tendency by introducing new means of transport and communication, law and
justice and bureaucratic organisation. The civil and criminal law abolished
caste panchayats and established the principle of equality before law
irrespective of all caste considerations. But after the Mutiny of 1857, British
rulers realised that the safety of their regime was connected with the keeping
of Indian people divided on the lines of religion and caste and so, once again
caste gained prominence for the British master who knew it well that in our
society, it divided the people into small groups and, thereby, obstructed the
emergence of nationalist sentiment.
However, after independence our
forefathers wreaked an irreparable damage to caste politics by abolishing
untouchability and prohibiting discrimination on various grounds including
caste. But caste has risen from its ashes thanks to the doctrine of
“affirmative discrimination”. Today, caste has entered so deep into Indian
society as to intermingle with several other trends such as communalism,
regionalism and linguism. The reason for this lies in the fact of interaction
between caste and polities. It confirms the impression that where a democratic
polity consciously resolves to build a modern nation, the upshot is a
progressive transformation and mobilisation of various elements to suit the new
atmosphere. It is for this reason that while caste has been politicised, in the
process it has provided Indian politics with processes and symbols of political
articulation.
Caste in contemporary Indian politics
plays a very important role behind the facade of parliamentary government. The
political behaviour of people is influenced by caste considerations as is quite
evident at the time of distribution of election tickets and composition of
ministries. It is found that members of a particular caste vote in bloc for a
candidate of their own caste, if so available, or for some other candidate in
pursuance of the decision of their caste panchayat or some other candidate in
pursuance of the decision of their caste panchayat or some other body. As far
as possible and practicable, the people prefer a candidate of their own caste
irrespective of his merits and demerits. Hence, while selecting a candidate to
a particular constituency, it is foreseen whether he would be able to get the
support of his caste or not. Similar attention is paid when the list of party’s
office bearers is prepared.
Moreover, when a single party is not
in a position to have its own candidates, alliances are formed on the basis of
caste to recommend the name of person after arrangements of give and take are
made to the satisfaction of the constituents. It is only in a strife-ridden
situation that people have the unusual cause of shaking off their caste
orientation and, what is euphemistically termed, vote according to their
conscience.
But the fact remains that caste
politicisation is not at all a one-sided affair. If caste orientation involves
politics, politics in turn leaves its effect upon caste solidarity and
hierarchy. A caste conscious of the fact of social stratification strives to
better its position for the sake of modernisation the life of its members and
thereby saving itself from the onslaught of social injustice.
Believing that it is quite eligible
for participation in a representative democracy like other advanced castes, a
caste asks even for representation in government through the membership of a
political party irrespective of its position in the traditional social
stratification. A successful assertion of privileges made by a caste is in many
ways comparable to the extension of corporate liberties characteristics of the
growth of English Liberalism. For instance, the Shanans [traditionally low
caste South Indian tappers of today] had a series of riots until the feudal
potentate of Travancore conceded that their women folks could cover their
bosoms in any way, but different from the women of the upper castes.
A study of the caste politicisation in
India has a salient characteristic of its own in this regard that while it has
a major role at the local and regional levels, it is marginal at the all-India
level. It is also found that while sub-castes tend to decrease, caste groups
increase in importance at the higher levels in the political system. One more
striking feature in this direction is that while no state of the Indian union
may be said to be free from the shackles of caste politics, it has been of
maximum intensity south of the Vindhyas. But today it is North India which is
the focus of caste politics.
Indisputable is the fact that caste
has demonstrated itself as an undesirable, even harmful asset of Indian
politics. It has cultivated and invigorated the evil of caste patriotism by
putting group loyalty above merit and competence and narrow selfishness over
public well-being, all set for jeopardising the effectiveness of government’s
vital fun. ctions.
In a word, new conditions of
independent India have given a fresh vigour to the politicisation of caste as a
result of which it has begun to manifest itself as regional rather than a local
force increasingly indepdent of competitiveness in relation to other castes
rather than a natural social group. W.B. Morris Jones in his book “The
Government and Politics of India” says, -- “The central discovery is that
politics is more important to caste and castes are more important to politics
than before.” The fact remains, as long as the liberal democratic values don’t
seep through all the echelons of Indian society through constructive
negotiation of educational, social, economic and political egalitarianism,
caste shall continue to be an important factor in Indian society and politics.
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