To date, so-called upper-caste people are very passionately arguing on the existence of God. However, they are swamped in the romantic discourse of mythology like Ramayana and Mahabharatha. When they act more intellectually, they will start to talk about feminism (not intersectional).
At another level, they go on the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. ‘Black Lives Matter’ is the new topic of discussion over their dinner table. But when they have to focus on their caste privileges, they start to stare at the beautiful sky they would have ever imagined in their leisure time. And of course, leisure is also a privilege!
Caste-blindness — not acknowledging the privileges which comes with the caste — is pervasive in the so-called upper-caste people. As a result, they ignore their caste privileges through which they can act intellectually.
Learning Casteism Through Socialization
Firstly understand this!
Gender and socialization – Gender is the expectation of society attached to females or males, and how that expectation feeds them (females or males) is socialization.
Apply this socialization process in the bringing-up of upper-caste people. We learn how they are being taught to act like so-called upper-caste people. They are trained to be inferior to the others who are not one of them. In the upper-caste family, if anyone looks different from their good criterion, they have zero shame to utter the casteist slurs. They end up saying “cha**r jaisa dikh rahe ho, bha*gi lag rahe ho” (You are looking like a cha**r, you are looking like a bha*gi).
They have immense pride because of their caste. Take the example of Ravindra Jadeja. He is explicitly showing his so-called ascribed pride on social media. And it’s an infamous example of caste pride.
Casteism And Carrying Title Pride
Title pride also shows the pride of caste. You have been consistently hearing names like Mishra Ji, Pandey Ji, Sharma Ji, Dubey Ji, etc. After this, try to observe the discreet pride on the face of these people who are called by their privileged titles. And even focus on the people who said this. Do they also belong to these so-called upper-caste title privileges?
Last year, in my college meeting, an upper-caste female journalist was called to lecture on the challenges in today’s journalism. After the lecture, there was a Q&A session. In this session, an upper-caste boy asks a very cliché question in the chat box. And the question is — Do you consider yourself a Rajput? She didn’t answer this.
But for me, questions like this are to cover the deeply entrenched caste privileges. Because if she answers that she is not considering herself Rajput, what would happen? Would her privileges end here? No, she has the generational privilege of being a Rajput. Even the very industry in which she is currently working has the monopoly of savarna people. And where she is now, caste privilege is one of the critical factors.
Alike Likes Alike!
Are you a savarna? Do you have any Dalit friends? Do you have any close Dalit friends? Do you have any close Dalit friends in childhood? If you have, are you sharing intimate relationships that you have with your savarna friends? Or Is it just a formal friendship? There’s a fair chance that you have no Dalit friends!
In childhood, the majority of so-called upper-caste people went to private schools where they met their alike. They became friends. When they encounter caste in their textbook, they end up saying — yes, there was an existence of caste discrimination, but half a century ago and now it doesn’t exist.
The amusing thing is when they have to marry; they choose their so-called soulmate from their caste. And, yet, caste-based discrimination doesn’t exist for them.
In our society, some people who desire to become advanced started to accept the love marriage. But they tend to fall in love with the people who belong to their caste. Some matrimonial websites also promote this type of love to promote casteism in the name of solidarity.
Casteism In The Name Of Secularism
Hearing the phrase, “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai – aapas mein sab bhai-bhai” (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai – All of us are brothers). What comes to your mind when you hear this? This is a way of promoting secularism, right! But when you observe this Hindu word in the above phrase, you would have an image of Brahmin. If you would not imagine, then search this phrase on any search engine. The majority of search engines show you the face of Brahmin in the name of Hindu. So can we say Hinduism is all about promoting Brahmanism?
If your curious mind hasn’t understood this yet, find a reliable source to view the NCERT book. Open class 11, ‘Political Theory – Citizenship’ (introduction photo) book and find out the institutionalized casteism there in the name of promoting secularism. And yes, it’s an implicit form of structural casteism.