Prejudice of Caste Discrimination
Have we been able to unturn even a single pebble in fighting against caste discrimination so far…?
Caste Discrimination is something which is profoundly engraved in our minds from it’s very genesis. Even if a child is not aware of how he has to eat food independently, he shall be aware that he has to maintain a distance from those children who do not belong to their class or status. I think no one could be blamed here because people tend to behave in a way they have been subjected to throughout their upbringing which has resulted in curation of water tight boundaries in their brains with respect to social status. These boundaries have been so tightly fastened that there is almost no space left for empathy, realization or compassion towards the suppressed. Moreover, it’s quite ironic that the people who rarely tend to showcase togetherness (people belonging to different religions, languages, etc.) on any crucial issue are apparently standing with each other to maintain that line of caste distinction.
The recent case at Uttarakhand school marks the severity of the caste discrimination which has gripped the minds of not only discrimination perpetrators but of those young minds as well, on whose shoulders rest the future of the country. It came as a stark reality on our efforts to decimate caste discrimination when the students of a class collectively denied to have food prepared by the Dalit cooker. The situation got exacerbated when the school authorities expelled the lady cook and hired a chef belonging to a higher class for the role. However, the tussle did not end here as subsequently, the Dalit students became provocative and boycotted the meals prepared by the newly hired chef.
What does the above incident reflect? Well, it’s definitely a breach of all the values and morals which are taught to us. Above all, the most questionable thing in the said scenario is the silence of everyone. Why all the powerful people who portray themselves as the flag bearers of constitution, institutions or people who teach us to accompany the footprints of those great leaders who depicted the rare traits of abandoning this discrimination, tight lipped?
Caste discrimination is one of those many areas where one’s conscience loses and fall prey to fallacious instinct. Maybe, this justifies why the school management did not took any apt action and just bowed in front of caste injustice. This is not the end of it. There are multiple incidents like this which remain unnoticed but due thanks to the upcoming elections for unveiling this eye opening incident.
We have to understand that this bad social practice of caste discrimination inflicts a very serious, negative impact upon the society at large especially on young minds. They are strenuously made to digest this hard pie of caste discrimination which became ardent and imperishable with time and turns out to be a bad apple for others.
Hence, to prevent this kind of caste polarization, the mindset of people needs to be changed. The elitism approach of looking at society through a status lens has to be abandoned if we are to do some good for the country or society in general. Therefore, it’s high time now for all of us to come and stand together in order to uproot this age old evil prevalent in Indian society if none of us want to be evident of any other movement like #Dalit Lives Matter!#
Thoughts?
