Virus CASTE,deadlier than H1N1 & HIV!

We come across various viruses in our day to day life like H1N1, HIV, Trojan Horse, Bugbear and Hepatitis B to name a few. Now each of these viruses affects our lives, rather disrupts our lives to some extent or the other. Though some of them are deadlier than others, there are some which we treat as part of our lives and we hardly foresee any threat from them. One such supposedly innocuous virus which all of us have accustomed ourselves to in our routine life is CASTE. Howsoever educated, rich or high profile life we may lead, but almost every one of us is infected by the caste virus. So for all those who are criticizing the government’s move to include caste also in the census should question their own stand on this highly contentious and sensitive issue.

We have this knack of talking big when ever the issue of caste crops up, everyone of us behaves as if we are the most secular people around and we are the ones who fall in the bracket of so called broad minded people by virtue of our education, upbringing or high thinking. But is this actually the truth? On a macro level may be YES because we have friends from all the castes, we visit to diverse places of worship, our favorites range from shahrukh KHAN, sachin TENDULKAR to michael JACKSON and various other similar reasons. But on a micro level things aren’t the same otherwise why do mothers keep separate utensils for their domestic maids? Why are some parents still more worried about the last name of there son’s girlfriend rather than her qualifications and mannerisms? Why do we form preconceived notions about a new colleague with the last name Gupta(bania), that he is surely a big time miser? Why do we hesitate to rent our house to a Dalit tenant? Why matrimonial ads in newspapers and websites are classified caste wise, Brahmin seeking for Brahmin and a Bania seeking for a Bania? Can’t we have ads like ‘seeking a prospective groom who is a BE MBA and say, 6 feet tall etc etc’, why it has to start with ‘seeking a Brahmin guy…’. And trust me these are not the views and ideas endorsed by the parochial and so called narrow minded people, we the broad minded high society people endorse them even more religiously. Following ones tradition is a good thing, but taking a call on a certain issue based on an aspect which the individual has no hand in deciding (read caste) is nothing less than a crime. We do hundred such things and take thousands of caste based decisions day in day out without even realizing the stupidity behind them and all this while our MBA degrees, MBBS tags and self proclaimed secularist alter ego goes for a stroll.

So when the Union Government decides to include caste also in the census, criticism from various corners was bound to come. Our country is already tottering with various communal disturbances and upon that a greater emphasis on caste is not going to do any good to our nation. Though the government officials are backing this move by a rationale that a caste based census will help the government in taking some key decisions and formulating various policies on caste based reservations. But the question is do we really need reservations of any sort at this point after almost 65 years of independence? I personally feel we need it, but we need it for the physically challenged people (read handicapped) because they are deprived of certain important faculties to accomplish their goals, we need it for the freedom fighters and their dependants as a token of acknowledgment for their services and sacrifices for our nation but we certainly don’t need it on a caste basis. We can certainly help the poor section by providing them the amenities to come at par with the well to do section of the society, we can certainly help the vibrant women of our nation by providing them the adequate security so that they don’t feel afraid of pursuing their goals because of a constant fear of assault of any sorts. So a question of reservations based on caste and creed shouldn’t ever arise, all sorts of reservations should be done logically because more often than not the benefits of a caste based reservation system or a community based reservation setup are being reaped by the richer segment of those so called backward classes, the poorer ones never get to avail them and the talented ones don’t seek to depend on such favors.

Hence, unless we get away with this caste virus and eradicate it from its roots we shouldn’t even dream of graduating from a developing nation to a developed one. But it’s easier said than done because if such a thing happens 90% of our politicians with get jobless, as a huge chunk of political parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, Telugu Desam Party, Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena, Samajvadi Party etc are formed on the caste based politics and are surviving on the sentimental ups and downs of these highly volatile strata of people. Hence these shrewd politicians will never let this caste based division get diluted, after all they have very well learned the lesson of Divide and Rule from their previous rulers. But if leave aside the macro economics of national politics and talk of individual level dynamics, truth of the fact is unless we change our parochial mentality on an individual level we can't even dream of living in a harmonious environment and for that we surely need to move above these caste based cynical prejudices. After all the Babri Masjid demolishers aren't the sole criminals for being involved in the inhuman barbarian act of caste based violence, rather all of us are also equal partners in crime for making preposterous assumptions and decisions based on somebody's last name, community or caste. Because at the end of it we all belong to a common caste called HUMANITY and for those who are further obsessed with the nitty gritties of caste-ism, our subcaste happens to be INDIAN :)!

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