Rural India less obsessed with caste than urban India: expert

Chennai:

People living in rural India are less obsessed with caste than those living in urban India, according to an expert.

Delivering the lecture ‘Caste in Contemporary India’ at the Theosophical Society here on Thursday, noted sociologist Prof Andre Beteille said while there has been a change in rural areas with a decline in rituals, the urban areas are obsessed with caste as they use it to curry favours in education and employment.

He said prevalence of caste could still be seen in traditional industries where upper castes still hold creamy posts while the lower castes are still doing the menial jobs. “But things are changing with a new kind of occupation in information technology which is free of the caste divide,” he added.

The professor said while there has been a steep decline in the caste rituals, it is politics which is reviving it. He blamed the media for sensationalizing of such poltical news and giving undue importance. However, he added that identity politics is stronger in India than any other country.

He said the varna system, which is a language on social order, can’t be changed but it has now become obsolete. However, jatis or communities has become a legal entity.

Now, there has also been a shift in people identifying them not with varnas but with divisions like forward, backward and most backward in contemporary language of social justice, the professor added.

He also said the laws framed by the government has removed the stigma attached to inter-caste marriages.