caste and untouchability

Question 1

varna system

Answer 1

• Brahmins-Priests
• Kshatriyas-Warriers
• Vaishyas-Traders
• Sudras-Service castes
• Untouchables/Dalit’s (Terms for untouchables) Depressed Class, Untouchables, Harijan (People of God), Dalit (the oppressed)

Question 2

Jati and Varna difference

Answer 2

Thousands of tiny communities who were bound by kinship ties, marriage ties, marry within community. These communities criss crossed india and didn’t really fit into the varna system.

Question 3

H.H.Risley and the satsudras

Answer 3

Satsudra, Brahmin one who takes the water, Brahmins who would not take water and asprishya Sudras (‘those whose touch is so impure as to pollute even the Ganges water’)

Question 4

hh risley - asprishya sudras

Answer 4

untouchables - (‘those whose touch is so impure as to pollute even the Ganges water’)

Question 5

untouchables

Answer 5

used in different ways by different actors
british - depressed class
gandhi - untouchable
now - dalit

Question 6

British and caste system

Answer 6

. BRITISH CATEGORISING CASTE SYSTEM, THEY ARE ALSO CATEGOPRISING YTH HINDU SYSTEM. THE CASTE SYSTEM IS PART OF BEING A HINDU.

Question 7

What does this classification do?

Answer 7

THIS LEADS THE UNTOUCHABLES TO ASK, ARE WE REALLY HINDU?

Question 8

HISTORIOGRAPHY - the untouchable writer - Kanchan Illiah. What did he state?

Answer 8

CLOSEST TO MUSLIMS WHO ATE MEAT AND THE CHRISTIANS – NOT ALLOWED TO APPROACH THE BRAHMINS OR UPPER CASTE OF THE VILLAGE. NOW FUNDAMENTALISM TRYING TO EMBRACE THE UNTOUCHABLES TO THE HINDU CHEST – THEY ARE SAYING NOT HINDU

Question 9

ANTHROPOMETRY

Answer 9

USED B/y BRISLEY- USED TO MEASURE SKULLS ETC TO CLASIFY AND CATEGORISE AND LABEL PEOPLE. USED TO SEE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRAHMINS AND UNTOUCHABLES. (HUXLEY’S TIME I SUPPOSE?) THE OTHER WAYS THE BRITISH DID THIS WAS THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL REPRESENTATION. THIS FIXING OF IDENTITY AND COMMUNITIES IS TYPICALLY BRITISH. GAVE POLITICAL REPRESENTATION THROUGH SEPARATE ELCTORATES AND GIVING A LEG UP TO THE DEPRESSED CLASSES AND GIVING MORE POWER TO MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS.

Question 10

Castes Patronised by the British

Answer 10

Through Photography
Through anthropometry
Through Political representation

Question 11

When was the term Depressed classes first used?

Answer 11

1870’s. There is a petition who are depressed classes in reading. 1933. how do we see them> what do we do with them? do we give them voting?

Question 12

1906

Answer 12

1906 depressed classes mission society formed in Bombay and depressed class mission society in madras in 1909. Muslim league founded 1906. Indian national congress founded 1885. Conscientising of other groups. Politics is coming to the forefront.

Question 13

Gandhi and untouchables

Answer 13

Politics is coming to the forefront.
Gandhi when arrives in India in 1915. Sees untouchability at the heart of the problems India is facing. He faced racism in south Africa and realises the position of the untouchables was not something to be proud of.

Question 14

terms for untouchables

Answer 14

Terms for untouchables
Depressed Class
Untouchables
Harijan (People of God)
Dalit (the oppressed)

Question 15

Why is Gandhi so upset about what is happening to the untouchables?

Answer 15

Work divided between upper caste and lower caste. Lower cast perform all menial duties, and the main duty which enshrined their works is manual savaging. Manual scavenging is cleaning shit with your bare hands. All toilets of upper caste are cleaned by lower caste particularly untouchables. Some [people die of the pollution it causes. Banned in India but still surviving in several districts still practice manual scavenging. Actively practices in great number of places in India.

Question 16

Gandhi and cleaning your own toilets

Answer 16

Gandhi makes cleaning your own toilets as symbol of revolutionary message. This is to stop the untouchables being made to do it. He sees it as wrong. Gandhi makes everyone who is with him clean their own toilets. Many untouchables found Gandhi patronising. More apparent when he calls the Harijan (people of God). Why upset them? because patronising.

Question 17

So who is going to lead the untouchables? Is it themselves or is it the congress made up of upper caste Brahmin shatrya men.

Answer 17

Out of this emerges B.R. Ambedkar

Question 18

B.R. Ambedkar

Answer 18

Who is he?
• 1891-1956
• Untouchable Mahar caste
• Key to rise was education and British did allow this even though it was mediocre. Educated – British allowed them to have a basic education as they had a village school and untouchables could not be banned from it. Less than 1 per cent of his caste were literate yet he achieved a ba in Bombay and a PhD in Colombia a DsC London and passed bar at greys inn in London – a lawyer.
Father worked in army and helped with upward mobility
• Leading indian scholar and trained in law.
Starts the Organisation of the Depressed classes
• Delegate at Round Table conference 1931
• Debate on separate electorates - untouchables vote for untouchables - ambedkar
reservations - untouchable seats and everyone votes for them - gandhi
• Communal Awards and Gandhi’s Fast

Question 19

separate electorates

Answer 19

British looking for untouchable leaders to give them some form of recognition. They invite Ambedkar to give evidence in the southborough committee when the govt India act of 1919 being debated. 1909 morley-minto reforms, 1917 Montague reforms, 1935 govt India act. Ambedkar talks about creating separate electorates. Where untouchables vote for untouchables seems to be the way to get ahead. Can’t do that through reservations where everybody votes.

Question 20

separate electorates.

Answer 20

In the case of separate electorates, the voting population of a country or region is divided into different electorates, based on certain factors such as religion, caste, gender, and occupation. Here, members of each electorate votes only to elect representatives for their electorate. Separate electorates are usually demanded by minorities who feel it would otherwise be difficult for them to get fair representation in government. separate electorate for Muslims means that Muslims will choose their separate leader by separate elections for Muslims

Question 21

Reservations

Answer 21

India’s constitution, adopted in 1950, inaugurated the world’s oldest and farthest-reaching affirmative action programme, guaranteeing scheduled castes and tribes - the most disadvantaged groups in Hinduism’s hierarchy - not only equality of opportunity but guaranteed outcomes, with reserved places in educational institutions, government jobs and even seats in parliament and the state assemblies.
These “reservations” or quotas were granted to groups on the basis of their (presumably immutable) caste identities. The logic of reservations in India was simple: they were justified as a means of making up for millennia of discrimination based on birth.

Question 22

1909 morley minto act

Answer 22

The Indian Councils Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7 c. 4), commonly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms [or as the Minto-Morley Reforms], was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that brought about a limited increase in the involvement of Indians in the governance of British India.

Question 23

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms

Answer 23

The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more briefly known as Mont-Ford Reforms were reforms introduced by the British Government in India to introduce self-governing institutions gradually to India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Samuel Montagu, the Secretary of State for India during the latter parts of World War I and Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy of India between 1916 and 1921. The reforms were outlined in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report prepared in 1918 and formed the basis of the Government of India Act 1919. Indian nationalists considered that the reforms did not go far enough while British conservatives were critical of them.

Question 24

govt india act 1935

Answer 24

The most significant aspects of the Act were:

the grant of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces of British India (ending the system of dyarchy introduced by the Government of India Act 1919)
provision for the establishment of a “Federation of India”, to be made up of both British India and some or all of the “princely states”
the introduction of direct elections, thus increasing the franchise from seven million to thirty-five million people
a partial reorganisation of the provinces:
Sindh was separated from Bombay
Bihar and Orissa was split into separate provinces of Bihar and Orissa
Burma was completely separated from India
Aden was also detached from India, and established as a separate Crown colony
membership of the provincial assemblies was altered so as to include more elected Indian representatives, who were now able to form majorities and be appointed to form governments
the establishment of a Federal Court
However, the degree of autonomy introduced at the provincial level was subject to important limitations: the provincial Governors retained important reserve powers, and the British authorities also retained a right to suspend responsible government.

The parts of the Act intended to establish the Federation of India never came into operation, due to opposition from rulers of the princely states. The remaining parts of the Act came into force in 1937, when the first elections under the act were also held.

In this act The federal type of Government was selected but when the Act was given then the Indian National Congress opposed it because they wanted the unitary Government.

Question 25

ambedkar constitution

Answer 25

Upon India’s independence on 15 August 1947, the new Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation’s first Law Minister, which he accepted. On 29 August, he was appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write India’s new Constitution.[56]

Granville Austin described the Indian Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as ‘first and foremost a social document’. … ‘The majority of India’s constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its achievement.’[57]

Question 26

Key things when entering politics and trying to get the untouchables to improve status.

Answer 26

• Viakom Satyagraha in 1921 to force caste Hindus to open temples to untouchables - (cannot enter within 20 ft of a brahmin or brahmin has to have bath therefore no way enter a temple) They try and force temples to provide open entry to untouchables
• Ambedkar’s rejection of Hinduism and the Mahad satyagrahas where Hindu texts like the Manusmriti was burned in 1929 – Ambedkar does this to try and force wells to be opened for all castes.
• Round Table conference in London 1931 that only self rule could end inequality and that no class could rule over another.
• The Poona Pact 1932 where reservation of seats for untouchables raised from 78-148
• Public marches to open water resources. They were never to share water or food with upper caste. Upper caste used the lower caste women for sex. They are able to separate sexually repressing women but wouldn’t share food or water.

Question 27

gandhi and ambedkar

Answer 27

It is all of this which brings him into conflict with Gandhi. Invited to second round table conference and pushes for separate electorates and Gandhi fiercely opposes.

Question 28

quote gandhi 1931

Answer 28

The untouchable to me is compared to us really a Harijan-a man of God and we are Durjan men of evil. For whilst the untouchable has toiled and moiled and dirtied his hands so that we may live in comfort and cleanliness, we have delighted in suppressing him.

Question 29

gandhi and caste system

Answer 29

Gandhi paid a lot of lip service to untouchables but wanted to preserve the caste system as sae it as essential to Hinduism. If caste was to disappear something that keeps society together would disappear.

Question 30

gandhi and separate electorates

Answer 30

ANYWAY separate electorates were approved by the British and Gandhi was deeply unhappy with this. So went on one of his many fasts. Some would see fast as blackmail and Gandhi said he would fast to death unless the separate electorates revoked. Achieves great support which forces Ambedkar to compromise and says if Gandhi dies there will be a communal riot and bloodshed. So this is when the Poona pact comes in - The Poona Pact 1932 where reservation of seats for untouchables raised from 78-148

Question 31

ambedkar on gandhi

Answer 31

• Ambedkar starting to think hindu and gandhism the same thing – ‘what is gandhism but not Hinduism?’ his alienation from Hinduism takes the form of a book he writes in the 1940s. what congress and Gandhi have done to the untouchables? He realises he has exposed untouchables to a future in India where they will forever remain repressed and fights against Gandhi. Criticises and lambasts Gandhi in this.in the draft constitution in 1948 he moves away for this Gandhi idea of the village…. What is the village but a stink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism? I am glad that the draft constitution has discarded the village and adopted the individual as its unit. Embracing the idea of RIGHTS NOT THE COMMUNITY, RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDULA.

Question 32

SITUATION OF DALITS TODAY

Answer 32

• Today, Dalit’s make up 16.2% of the total Indian population, but their control over the resources of the country is marginal – less than 5%.
• Close to half of the Dalit population lives under the poverty line, and even more (62%) are illiterate. Among the Dalit’s, most of those engaged in agricultural work are landless or nearly landless agricultural labourers.
• The average household income for Dalit’s was 17,465 rupees in 1998, just 68% of the national average.
• Less than 10% of Dalit households can afford safe drinking water, electricity and toilets, which is indicative of their deplorable social condition.
• Moreover, Dalit’s are daily victims of the worst crimes and atrocities, far outnumbering other sections of society in that respect as well.
• Between 1992 and 2000, a total of 334,459 cases were registered nationwide with the police as cognizable crimes against Scheduled Castes. (Cognizable offence and non-cognizable offence are classifications of crime used in the legal system of India. Cognizable offence means a police officer has the authority to make an arrest without a warrant.)

Question 33

Mayawati’s rise

Answer 33

In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, the Dalits have a strong political presence and are a powerful influence in the forming of the state government. In May 2002, the leader of the low-caste dominated Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Mayawati Kumari, was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. For the first 40 years of elected governments in Uttar Pradesh, every single chief minister belonged to upper-castecommunities

She broke the, mould. Became chief minister in 2002. One of the most corrupt ever. Wanted to be crowned, wearing diamonds, wanted chocolate cake on her birthday. Criticised

Question 34

HISTORIOGRAPHY 3 SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT CASTE

Answer 34

he caste issue has had a very close concomitance with the Aryan Invasion theory, especially since the European Scholars got entangled with Indian History. Many eminent native Indian scholars have also embraced this theory, at times in totality, at times only partially and yet in other times totally rejecting it. No matter what, every serious reference to the society in the Early Vedic period has pre-supposed the Aryan invasion/migration theory. It would suffice to note here that there have been mainly two branches of scholarship on Invasion/migration issue. There were (and still are) the ones who claim that the Aryans were a different race and their home land was India. The other school claimed that the Aryan race had its home land in the North Pole (or usually some other place in Europe) and Invaded India. Both these schools comprised of native and foreign scholars rather equally. These theories held their sway in international scholarship mainly until the end of the Second World War. There has thankfully emerged a third school, which completely rejects this nonsense and that too since the end of the Second World War. Romila Thapar has rightly pointed out that the Aryan theory ‘’…is perhaps the biggest red herring that was dragged across the path of Historians of India’’[ii].Therefore, even in our survey; we cannot help but refer to and analyse the invasion/migration issue as a sidekick to our issue of caste.

Question 35

1. How did the colonial authorities construct a notion of untouchability?

Charsley, Untouchable whats in a name

Answer 35

o Sir Herbert Risley to understand what the caste system was had census commissioners to get info about what castes and how many were in each province. The understanding of untouchable was dirty, ate beef.
Many were unsure of what caste was but with the colonial authorities questioning etc. it brought a stronger awareness and people became more educated in the caste system this making the cast system stringer

Question 36

4. ‘From untouchable to Dalit’ Has there been an empowerment of Dalits from the colonial to the post-colonial period?

Charsley, Untouchable whats in a name

Answer 36

o In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, the Dalits have a strong political presence and are a powerful influence in the forming of the state government. In May 2002, the leader of the low-caste dominated Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Mayawati Kumari, was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. For the first 40 years of elected governments in Uttar Pradesh, every single chief minister belonged to upper-castecommunities
· Gandhi 1931 The untouchable to me is compared to us really a Harijan-a man of God and we are Durjan men of evil. For whilst the untouchable has toiled and moiled and dirtied his hands so that we may live in comfort and cleanliness, we have delighted in suppressing him.