Race, color, and religion have been discriminatory factors for the past few centuries. Society has continued to degrade those that were “different” and served as a threat. Considering what’s occurring today, caste can also be added to the list. In India, caste based violence has emerged as over 165 million people suffer cruel and degrading treatment on the basis of their status and descent. Especially in South Asian American institutions, caste discrimination ranges from slurs to physical violence and sexual assault. The inhuman treatment that people are receiving simply because of their origin is unjustifiable.
The international community remains silent on this underreported issue and we need to change that. Apart from the social and economic issues the caste system provokes, it can also affect people’s access to education. There are “caste-based reservations” depending on the person’s cultural and caste background. Many are disadvantaged with this particular disadvantage system affecting their future simply because of a flawed system. Though this biased idea still lurks in people’s minds, governments have been working on the elimination of caste systems because of the recognition and awareness that it has gained and should continue to gain.
The chart on this page corresponds to the different levels of hierarchy in the Indian system that continues to be degrading to those below. This long lasting Indian tradition of keeping the bloodline pure within the caste can continue to be problematic because discrimination will still take place. The fact that there is a level called Untouchables which fall in the lowest level of social hierarchy is already concerning. Rather than sharing values within the castes, they receive forms of degradation, discrimination, and even violence. On August 6, 2001, “an upper-caste Brahmin boy and a lower-caste Jat girl were dragged to the roof of a house and publicly hanged by members of their own families as hundreds of spectators looked on.”(HRW). Simply because of their origins, people are treated in brutal forms of discrimination which should’ve been eliminated by now.
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