http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/i-had-told-my-son-to-stay-away-from-maratha-girl-says-slain-dalits-mother/article5963722.ece
India in the 21st century -
A dalit boy talks (not even enters into a relationship), just talks; to an "upper-caste" (whatever that is) girl. For this heinous crime, he is beaten up, dragged to a brick kiln for privacy, tortured and then strangulated. But since this incident involves an "upper-caste" community that has privileges, no one will take action.
We've drawn these boundaries - Brahmins, Marathas, Dalits and other nonsensical words and concepts. The problem, as I keep repeating; is not the political class. It is us. We have allowed it to happen. We are the criminals. We allow castes to exist. In our own normal day-to-day lives, we are the barbarians who practice casteism. A Brahmin father will only search for a Brahmin man as a son-in-law (and vice versa), A Maratha man will not look beyond his caste for a match for his progeny and so on and so forth. We instintively bond with our own caste and we instinctively think they are the same culture and hence they must be "the right sort". Utter rot.
We are all casteist and racist. Until we live lives (and by that I mean practice true humanism in our private lives) that are free AND DEVOID of caste, creed and even religion; we cannot hope to make progress.
India in the 21st century -
A dalit boy talks (not even enters into a relationship), just talks; to an "upper-caste" (whatever that is) girl. For this heinous crime, he is beaten up, dragged to a brick kiln for privacy, tortured and then strangulated. But since this incident involves an "upper-caste" community that has privileges, no one will take action.
We've drawn these boundaries - Brahmins, Marathas, Dalits and other nonsensical words and concepts. The problem, as I keep repeating; is not the political class. It is us. We have allowed it to happen. We are the criminals. We allow castes to exist. In our own normal day-to-day lives, we are the barbarians who practice casteism. A Brahmin father will only search for a Brahmin man as a son-in-law (and vice versa), A Maratha man will not look beyond his caste for a match for his progeny and so on and so forth. We instintively bond with our own caste and we instinctively think they are the same culture and hence they must be "the right sort". Utter rot.
We are all casteist and racist. Until we live lives (and by that I mean practice true humanism in our private lives) that are free AND DEVOID of caste, creed and even religion; we cannot hope to make progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment