CONSTITUTIONAL LAW -II

Caste in a new Avatar

by
Prof. Vinod Dixit

Caste is considered to be a category incompatible with modern

industrial society because it is based on birth and not achievement.

However, even after more than sixty years of commencement of the Indian

Constitution, Indians' continue to identify themselves as a caste. If people

so identify themselves in a libertarian and meritarian society, it is safe to

assume that caste has not contrary the belief of the intelligentsia, yet

become redundant and that the caste in the modern Indian society still

perform some functions.

I am writing this paper with the basic promise that the functions

performed by a living institution must be compatible with the aim and

direction of a given structure. If there is substantial contractions between

the two, they cannot co-exist. First, I will show that the specificity of caste

system was compatible with the essentials of the modern Indian society. I

am asserting that caste system in the modern period in order to make itself

relevant to the modern industrial society substantially changed its

specificity. The caste system from a co-operative system, where every caste

group performed a specific social function not performed by others, in

static and status based society has substantially changed itself to a

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competitive system where every caste group endeavours to enter into

functions hither to denied to it, specially if these functions are more

rewarding and more socially prestigious, because modern industrial

society based on merit and equally of opportunity atleast formally offers all

the functions to all.

The pre-modern castes stood in a hierarchical order. They were

based on occupational specialisation. Attached with this specialisation was

the ritual consideration of relative consideration of cleanliness and

pollution. The considerations kept the members of a caste bound to their

occupations. As these castes were occupational specialisations, one

occupation was complementary to the other. The ritual considerations kept

there caste bound to the occupation specific to their castes. The hierarchy

was based on the relative superiority of social reward, importance and

prestige of the occupation specific to the caste, and of course the idea of

relative ritual cleanliness, attached to the caste on the basis of occupation

specific to the caste.

The social structure was not based on merit. All higher social,

political and economic position were given to the people of higher castes. It

was not a meritarian, and therefore, even formal liberty and equality of

opportunity was neither claimed nor given. In a non-meritarian society,

liberty and equality of opportunity have a limited role. The caste system

and the social structure were based on the same ideological principle.
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 The non-meritarian caste system which bound people only one

occupation, irrespective of merit, prohibiting occupational mobility on ritual

consideration was unsuitable in a system based on merit formal liberty

and equality of opportunity. The pre-modern caste, if not change itself

was bound to meet a natural death. But the caste system instead of dying

made its compatible to the social structure of an industrial and commercial

society.

In the modern period the caste system has substantially organised

itself on different functional roles compatible with the real or imaginary

needs of the industrial capitalist society. The modern caste system is not

hierarchical, or atleast structure formally gives level playing field to every

caste. The members of a caste are no longer bound to their occupations the

legal system prohibits discrimination on ritual consideration. Instead of

being complementary units, they are fast becoming competitive units. They

now compete with each other on meritarian considerations in a formal

egalitarian environment. The ritual, exclusively, at social level, has already

been partially broken as considerable in-roads have been made in exclusive

inter- caste dinning and inter-caste marriage relations.

Immediately after the establishment of the rule of the East India

Company, the ideology of caste, came in conflict with the ideology of the

social structure, the East India Company to establish in India.

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 The East India Company began offering official occupation on

considerations of merit alone and this recognised the liberty and equality

of opportunity to a limited extent. A large number of occupations offered

by the Company were also not specific to any caste. It was the beginning

of disconnect between the cash and the occupation and consequently,

the notion of ritual purity and impurity suffered a setback.

However, an important role of caste remains constant in pre-modern

as well as in modern period. Caste blurs class consciousness. Though, it

is highly debatable whether pre-modern India was a pre-class society or

not, the modern society without any doubt is a class society and caste to

an extent blunts the class consciousness. Often people identify themselves

as caste and not class, and therefore, in a capitalist society, considerations

of ethnicity, race and caste are important devices to divert the attention

away from class.1

The gradually evolving meritarian society forced disconnect between

the caste and the occupation but it was only after the first World War, the

Indian castes began preparing themselves for making themselves

compatible with the emerging egalitarian and libertarian society. As the

new society was formally egalitarian, a large number of subalteran castes

1
. Paul Sweezy was once asked why is it that the most important capitalist country does not have a socialist
and labour party in the 20th century? Sweezy responded that racism in America has obstructed the unity
among the working classes which gets divided between 'blacks' and 'whites' (C.P. Bhambhari, Reservations
and Casteism: E.P.W. Feb 26, 2005, P. 806)

4
began claiming status similar to those of the higher castes. These

subalteran castes made conscious efforts to uplift themselves. These efforts

made at several levels i.e. social economic, cultural and religious levels but

aimed only at making them equal to the higher castes.

Most of the Indian intellectuals were not prepared to believe that the

Indian caste can change themselves to make themselves compatible with

the new liberal social and constitutional structure. As the pre-modern

caste system was based on kinship relations, ritual cleanliness, non-

meritarian occupational specialisation they believed that the system will

die a natural death as the system is incompatible with the advance political

and economic formation.

A number of sociologists and political scientists made a prediction

that the caste system in a modern society will die a natural death. But,

when it did not happen, they began saying that caste survive only because

of the constitutional provisions relating to reservations in civil services,

educational institutions, in legislatures and the Panchayats in favour of

scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the backward classes of citizens.

M.N. Srinivas is a well-known Sociologist whose contribution to

Indian sociology in general and to the caste in particular is considerable.

In one of his articles published posthumously (1) In this article 'an

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Obituary on caste as a system' he takes the disconnect between the caste

and the occupation, crucial for the demise of caste as a system. He

further observes that the caste remains alive because of the constitutional

provisions relating to reservations in facilities and in employment provided

by the state. It appears that he makes two propositions (a) The caste has

ceased to remain a system of interdependence because of disconnect

between occupation and caste. and (b) caste remains as a mark of identity

because of the provisions of reservations. C.P. Bhambhri, a well-known

Indian political Scientist says. "Linkage between reservation policies and

the growth of castiest consciousness should be examined in a dialectical

manner" and that "castiesation of politics has become a reality because

the political class has manipulated and nurtured caste versus caste

'identities'. 2
Brambri, finds continuous existence of the caste in (a) caste

based constitutional provisions of reservation and (b) Indian politics which

encourages voting on caste considerations.

I disagree with the view that caste exists because of caste based

reservations and the politics of caste and that caste has ceased to be a

system as occupational interdependence has ceased to exist. The caste

system continue to exist but the system exists not as a system of

occupational interdependence in a hierarchical setting but as a

2
. C.P. Bhambhari, Reservations and Casteism: Economic and
Political Weekly Feb 26, 2005: p. 806.
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competitive system in a formal egalitarian and libertarian industrial

society.

A free market society is different from a pre-modern agrarian society.

In a market society (a) liberty and equality of opportunity is available to

everyone (b) everyone is made to believe that one can move up if one makes

requisite effort. (c) everyone does not have resources and capacity to avail

of the liberty and equality of opportunity and (d) the society in reality is

sharply hierarchical in terms of resources and power. `a

The marginalised and the sideline seek to find real or illusory solace

in non-market symbiotic categories such as caste, race, ethnicity or even

religion. Throughout the world, where there are no provisions of

reservations, people continue to identify themselves as race, ethnicity or

religion. Inspite of the fact in many such place discrimination on grounds

of race, ethnicity and religion is prohibited.

Caste has an advantage over other groups. It gives an illusion of

togetherness among those who cut across class, wealth and power. Out of

multiple identities which an individual carries, caste become important

for the reason that it is a symbiotic groups and has a structure and logic

already familiar to and internalised by the people and associated with a

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belief that only one's brethren in terms of caste or the community could

be trusted to look after oneself. 3a

It is difficult to agree with Srinivas and Bhambhri that caste exists

because of reservations and caste politics. Actually, it is the other way

round. Reservations and caste politics is not the cause but the

consequence of caste which not only exists as a fossile but found a new role

in the capitalist society even though the new role may not be morally and

ethically compatible with ideology of a formal egalitarian and libertarian

world. In India, reservations and caste politics can explain unity of higher

caste as they unitedly oppose reservations in favour of by the intermediary

and scheduled casts and tribes. Similarly, the unity of scheduled castes,

scheduled tribes and other backward castes (constitutionally backward

classes of citizens may be explained, but reservations cannot explain face

off between individual higher castes such between Brahmins and Banias

and between Brahmins and Kayasthas. The face off between the land

owing other backward caste and scheduled caste. landless labour cannot

be explained through reservations and caste politics. This face off is

because of contradiction in the market. It is important that the Yadavs and

Kurmis, though constitutionally both belong to the same constitutional

category i.e. backward classes of citizens yet both proudly display their

different caste identities.

3
a. Caste Away: Amulya Ganguli: The Hindustan Times March 3, 2005)

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 As stated earlier, serious in-roads were progressively made in both

of the important features of the Indian caste system i.e. occupational

specialisation and concept of ritual cleanliness right from the time of the

establishment of the rule of the East India Company. Thus, the connect

between a caste and an occupation was gradually demolished. The

concept of a relative ritual cleanliness which kept the members of a caste

bound to their occupations and insisted upon exclusive inter dinning and

inter marriage relations between the members also could not survive the

forces of modernisation in as much as the modern commercial and

industrial society insists upon equality of opportunity in a formal

egalitarian and libertarian context.

After the First World War when Mohandas Gandhi dominated the

Indian political scene he successfully used the ideological weapon of

equality and liberty introduced by the British against the British colonial

rule. When Gandhi introduced the idea that no one is ritually untouchable,

it was a decisive attack on the notion of ritual purity. Right through

1920's to the present day, there have been numerous spontaneous

movement to demand equality of status. The movements were spearheaded

by relatively successful agrarian castes which stood at the intermediary

level of ritual cleanliness, but later the movement was also joined by the

former untouchable castes.

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 Upward movement was not confined to social level but expressed at

several including religious, economic, cultural and political. The earlier

stages the movement for equality and empowerment was confined to (a)

the caste which were intermediary in rank (b) materially not too poor (c)

were able to withstand resistance from the higher caste and (d) were able

to establish a real or imaginary relation to socially superior castes. Their

movement was aimed at (a) conservation of material resources i.e. ban on

wasteful expenditure specially in observance of rituals such as marriage (b)

emancipation from money lenders (c) imitation of behavioral, matrimonial

and sexual standards of higher castes. (d) They also made efforts to move

up in ritual hierarchy. In case of castes or tribes which were perceived to

be criminals or were declared criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act of

1871, the movement additionally aimed at (a) getting rid of the stigma of

criminality (b) denotification under the Criminal Tribes Act and its repeal

(c) punishment of those members of the caste or tribes who participated in

crime. 4

After the passage of the land reform legislations in Indian States, the

agrarian caste became a little more materially prosperous, though they also

became economically more stratified. The passage of denotification of

Criminal Tribes Act, 1952 also made the life of the former criminal tribes

more comfortable. But the upward movement is an ongoing process. As

4
. Dixit Vinod: Economics and Sociology of Bride Price and Dowry in Eastern Rajasthan International Journal
of Sociology of Law 1991, 341-354.

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late as 2008, according to a newspaper report 5
the tribes Bhils in Madhya

Pradesh through their non-state Panchayats (an organisation to regulate

the affairs of the tribe or caste) have enforced ban on conspicuous

consumption on death feast. They also decided that every child must go

to school. Those who do not send them would be fined by the Panchayat.

There are also attempt to reduce non-productive expenses in the

observance of rituals. According to a newspaper report introduction

meeting of muslim boys and girls for inexpensive marriage was arranged at

Bhopal in 2008 6

Cultural Level
Caste also act as self help groups. In its positive capacity it facilitates

its members to enhance their capabilities and provide welfare services.

In its negative capacity the caste become exploiter of weaker groups.

The rural caste groups, wary of urban domination resort to

repressive measure to maintain cohesiveness of their caste groups. In a

large number of cases when a girl belonging to higher caste elopes or

marries a boy of lower caste the higher caste resort to honour killing.

Honour killing is more prevalent among the agrarian castes which are busy

in wresting political and social power from the urban higher castes. 7

5
. Nav Duniya (Hindi) Bhopal 25.8.2008 p.5.
6
. Ibid.
7
Ragini Nayak, whose honour they are protecting by killing their children? The Hindu, New Delhi 4.7.2010
P.12 more Khaps endorse Jeans bans for girls, the Times of India 9.1.2011 p.16.

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 Inter-caste Relations

Castes no longer insist on exclusive inter caste dinning and marriage

relation. K.L. Sharma, an eminent Indian Sociologist has found in his

study of a number of villages in Rajasthan over to ten years that the old

concept of exclusive inter-caste relationship specially between higher and

lower castes is no longer insisted upon. Though, inter-caste marriages

are still not common but they are accepted or atleast tolerated except

among perhaps the rural agrarian castes for reasons stated earlier.

Upward movement of the caste since 1920's at cultural level is also a

means to gain material advantages which earlier were denied to them for

cultural reasons. The cultural connotations of castes, which tied its

members to law ranking occupations can be upgraded by a caste only at

cultural level so as to cope with culturally higher level occupations.

(i) Urban Rural divide: Jats Politics

Caste unity is specially useful in projecting the interests of rural

people as interests of urban people. Jats of northern India, who represent

and articulate the response of the farming sector as against the ever

increasing dominance of urban commercial sector specially in the context

shifting sand of India politics of coalition governments. 8b

8b Jats have

successfully organised themselves on caste lines cutting across class,

occupation and urban rural divide. They are a well organised group,
8b8b
. Bhaskar Roy: Study Jats could tip the scales sharply: The Times of India March, 19, 2004)

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integrated at all India and local levels. Interest of Jat farmers is projected

as interest of all Jats. Other agrarian castes are not the part of this unity,

though there may be an occasional alliance with Jats suspicious of urban

dominance not only demand more reservations at educational and

occupational levels 8c
8c but also take steps to consolidate caste cohesion.

They vigorously tend to 8d

8d control the sexuality of Jats specially girls.

In a number of cases of honour killings Jats have brutally murdered the

girls who dared to marry outside the caste. 8e

8e

Jat desire to uplift economically is associated with desire to uplift

culturally and ritually. Till a few decades ago in Rajasthani the Jat were

not permitted to carry arms and ride horses 8f

8f. In this list sacred thread

must be added. Jat could become dominant caste in certain parts of north

India only after they realised that without social cultural and ritual

upliftment, they would not be able to compete in modern Indian society

where equality of opportunity would be given to everyone without

consideration of status. In 1920's and 1930's Sir Chhotu Ram, a Jat

Leader, created awareness of the importance of the collective strength

among the Jat peasantry in Punjab, Western U.P. and Rajasthan. After

1950's, when land reforms were undertaken on a large scale, Jats, one of

8c8c
. Ravinder Kaur: Khap Panchayats, sex ration and Female Agonay: EPW.5.6.2010 P.14.). The author
narrate control of goods sexually by Jats and honour killings.
8d8d
. More Khaps endorse Jeans bans for girls in Muzaffar Nagar Times of India, Mumbai 9.1.11 paper reports
that Jat council have disallowed Jeans for Jats girls
8e8e
. Ragini Nayak infra note 6
8f8f
. Bhaskar Roy infra note 8 b quotes Dipankar Gupta.

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the principle agrarian castes of north India, became a little more

prosperous, the desire for empowerment became more intense and

articulated. Upwardly mobile Jats joined the race to secure access to the

levers of power and patronage. In 1999, All India Jat Mahasabha met at

Jaipur and demanded that they be declared backward for the purposes of

constitutional reservations, so that they can fulfil their social political and

economic aspirations.8g8g Periodically, the demand for constitutional

reservations has been successfully articulated by Jat.

ii. Kurmi Politics

The story of the Kurmis, an intermediary agrarian caste of

north India, is of special interest as it illustrates how an intermediary caste

empowers itselves culturally and politically to become more competitive. In

1894, the Kurmis formed their first association at Lucknow to give birth to

its protest against British decision to reduce their numbers in police force.

The Kurmis also included other agrarian castes such as Patidars, Kappus,

Reddys, Naidus and Marathas in its fold to make them more assertive. By

1910, the Kurmis began wearing sacred thread, symolising their newly

assumed higher ritual status. They traced their origin to Kush, the son of

the legendary incarnation of God, Ram, thus, claimed the status of

Kshatriya (warrior caste of high ritual status). In 1933, they included

Yadavs and Keoris, other agrarian castes of north India, to strengthen

their unity. However, by 1994, they formed their own party i.e. Samata
8g8g
Nonica Dutt: Backward Caste Movement.

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Party, as Yadavs began asserting that they are the natural leaders of the

backwards (the intermediaries). 8g

8g

Caste Conflict and Competition

(1) Urban rural face off

In pre-modern India, agricultural was the dominant mode of

production and the bulk of the population was rural. But during the

colonial period urbanisation began at a faster face, opening up new

avenues of employment and enterprise which were merit based. Higher

castes, which had monopoly over resources and education grabbed bulk of

these new urban positions. The trend became more marked during the pre

and post constitutional period. But the idea of merit gave hope and

aspirations to the deprived intermediary and lower caste also. Merit based

occupations acted as a catalyst for competition on caste lines.

Apart from economic competition, the caste conflict had also a

political angle. In the post constitutional period, share of rural agriculture

in the overall G.D.P. lilted in favour of urban industrial sector giving them

economic and political advantage. This resulted in urban and rural face off

and was converted into a competitive caste conflict.

The conflict has two district axes. The first was in the sphere of

politics. The backward castes sought to contest the pre-eminence of higher

8g8g
Akshay Mukul: Mighty Kurmis of Bihar. The Times of India March 12, 2004.

15
castes, who historically enjoyed a monopoly of over education, resources

and politics 8j8j. This conflict between the intermediaries and higher castes

was analysed by M.N. Srinivas, through Sanskritisation, at cultural level

alone 8k
8k, this conflict should be examined at other levels also. The

social kernel of anti-feudal economic movement (the refusal to do unpaid

labour, refusal to sell below market price, is lost sight of in this analysis.

Sanskritisation from another point of view was a means to end economic

and social 8l
8l. Sanskritisation was also a means to empowerment

enabling a caste to participate in formal libertarian and meritarian society.

Dalit Empowerment
Modern society also saw another type of caste conflict between the

intermediary caste who are mostly land owners in rural India and the

lower, former untouchables, who are mostly landless labour. In India of

yesteryears, there was no overt conflict between the higher and

intermediary castes on the one hand and the so-called lower untouchable

castes on the other because both of them have firmly internalised their

respective superiority and inferiority and in the status based society no

one was allowed to get out of the station ascribed to him. But the modern

access to equality of opportunity aspired all of them for empowerment.

According to Ramchandra Guha, besides a dispute regarding wages and

working conditions, it is also a dispute about dignity. The intermediary

8j8j
. Rama Chandra Guha: India After Gandhi 2009Macmillan Oxford.
8k8k
. D.N. Dominant Castes Rulling classes and the state EPW. Nov. 10, 1990).
8l8l
. Hetukar Jha: Lower caste peasants and upper caste zamindars in Bihar- an analysing Sanskritisation and
contradiction between two groups Indian Economic and Social History Review 1977 Oct-Dec.

16
castes often behave like higher castes and commit atrocities against

them8h8h. However, the expansion of education, and space opened up by

political representation, meant that the younger generation no longer is

ready to put up with contempt, abuse, beatings and other forms of insults

which were accepted by the earlier generations as a matter of course. 8i

8i

Our constitution system and claim to equality and liberty for all made it

possible for them to have access to all occupations and they make this

assertion through caste organisations.

Caste Politics

The face off between the intermediaries and the so-called lower caste

at economic and cultural levels makes their unity at political level to

oppose the pre-eminance of the higher caste very difficult. Either they do

not unite at political level or their unity if effected proves to be short-lived.

The higher caste, the intermediaries and the so-called lower caste all

know that in electoral politics none of these them can come to power on

their own and therefore, they compete with each other at political level in

various combinations.

In 2002, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Samajvadi Party representing

the interest of the intermediaries and Bahujan Samaj Party representing

the so-called lower castes, shared between them a spectacular 60-70%

8h8h
Ramchandra Guha India after Gandhi p.533-35, 2007 Macmillan Oxford .
8i8i
. Sachidanand: Bihar's experience Seminar Nov. 1979.

17
votes. But the parties would not combine, though both represent soaring

such-alteran ambitions and both spoke for the downtrodden. The cultural

and economic face off would not allow them to combine. Interestingly,

three years later when U.P. was again in electoral mode, the Bahujan

Samaj Party, in order to oppose the Samajvadi Party representing the

intermediaries preferred to join the Brahmins the highest caste in terms of

rituals. If the first half of the last decade of the 20th century saw political

power shift from the higher castes to the intermediaries and the lower

castes, the second half of the decades, the movement progressed to the

next logical step with lower caste political power posing a formidable

challenge to the intermediary power.

Caste and Religious level

It is a well-known that the former untouchable castes were not only

discriminated at social level but also at religious level. Their entry at the

hindu temples was of strictly prohibited and even now at some places their

entry is frowned upon. The forever untouchable lower castes asserted

their autonomous religious identity through classical tradition that

opposed the caste system. The legendry author of the sanskrit epic

Balmiki, rightly or wrongly indentified by most of the people as belonging

to the former untouchable caste of sweepers (who used to remove human

excreta from dry latrines) Raidas (now know as Ravidas) was one of the

three hindu saints of medieval Benares. By birth he belonged to the

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former untouchable caste of cobblers. The dalits, in order to assert their

autonomous identity capable of participating in formal egalitarian and

meritarian society had two choices. "The first was conversion to other

religions. The second path has been to look for indigenous egalitarian faith

tradition that emerged in opposition to the system of caste hierarchy" 8.

'Ravi Dasis have emerged as strong and autonomous caste religious

community an outcome of vibrant dalit identity. 9

The assertion of

autonomous dalit identity was also supplemented by economic prosperity

as well. "By early 1990's dalit diasporas had also experienced

considerable economic mobility.... when they came they also brought with

them money for the religious deras". 10

During the period of aforesaid

religious renaissance many former untouchable castes established their

owner religious congregations. Balmiki and Ravidas became rallying

deities. Establishment of their own religious temples and congregations

were specially useful to assert emancipation from religious monopoly

exercised by the higher castes. It was a successful attempt to get rid of

religious subordination.

Conclusion

Pre-modern India was a status based feudal (different from European

feudalism) society in which occupations were distributed not on

8
. . Surinder Jodhka: The Ravi Dasis of Punjab: Global contours of caste and religious strife. Economic and
Political weekly June 13-19, 2009, page 79 at 82.
9
Ibid at P. 79.
10
. Ibid at P.84.

19
consideration of merit but on birth. Caste organisations were occupational

specialisations, standing in hierarchical, position because of ritual

consideration of purity and pollution. In pre-modern society even formal

equality and liberty could not be claimed as a right. People were bound to

the occupations specific to their caste. No one was expected to be equal to

others and no one was free to do what he liked.

Pre-modern caste organisations were completely unsuitable for a

commercial and industrial society. A commercial and industrial society on

considerations of merit, and therefore, every one atleast is given formal

equality of opportunity to prove his merit and everyone is given formal

liberty to acquire the requisite merit.

In this egalitarian and libertarian structure, the pre-modern caste

did not have any role to play. It either would have withered away or must

change itself to have a role in the new environment. So, people were

familiar with only one symbiotic organisation i.e. caste, they used it to

form, articulate and agitate for the implementation of their new

aspirations in response to a new emerging market society. Their demands

for more powers in a competitive society were and are being expressed

through their caste organisations. It is not possible for me to assert, if

caste system would wither away in future but as long as inherent

20
contradictions in the market are not addressed, there appears to be no

possibility of caste becoming redundant.

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