Caste System: A Blot on Human Rights

In times when basic rights violations are at it’s peak with examples like the Citizenship Amendment Bill in India & Xinjiang Reeducation Camps in China, caste Discrimination takes a jab in it’s most nascent form this International Human Rights Day.

International Human Rights Day is observed globally on the 10th of December every year. This date was chosen to fete The United Nations General Assembly’s proclamation on the 10th of December, 1948. It was the first body which worked towards the recognition of Human Rights as a vital means of basic survival, the enunciation of human rights was probably a humongous take at developing a subtle form of life by The United Nations.

“The rights of every man are diminished if the rights of one man is threatened.”

Living in a society, where we encounter people from various spheres, trying to cope with their lives, trying to make ends meet with utmost efforts and diminutive resources, we are bound to reflect the fact that Human Rights are still not a piece of cake for every living individual. The deprivation of Human Rights is a factor which is very evident in our very own country. A country, known for its diversity, regionalism and secularism, shows this bereavement wearing a mask and being prevalent in every nook and corner. The filthiest form of human rights abation is the baby of the infamous caste system of the country.

The caste system in India is the most pristine form of Human Rights violation which has been widely accepted and recognized by the people of the country since the very beginning. According to it, the people of a particular society were divided into various groups, one being on top of the other, and the lowest of them would be at the sake of the ones above them. The system is so rigorous that the sect which lies at the bottom of this establishment are considered untouchables and are not even regarded as human beings.They are not allowed to sit with the upper caste people and not allowed to visit or enter religious places. They are expected to lower their gazes while talking to someone from the upperhand community. Their daily earnings come from jobs which a civilized human cannot think of performing. They are forced to live an inhumane life, a life they don’t ask for.

Recently a movie named Article 15, starring the prominent actor Ayushman Khurrana depicted the struggles of people belonging to the lower faction. The movie was a clear representation of the negligence and the hypocrisy showed by the government as well as by the civilians when it comes to the maladies suffered by these people.The prevailing caste system has been so ramrod that it has devoid human beings of their rights to justice, to freedom, to speech and even to live with dignity. It’s persistence is an engraving on a tombstone. Something that is very difficult to get rid of.

It is a blot on the society and the Society wears it with pride.
“Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean,
man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives.
Man’s life is independent.
He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self too.”
-Dr. B.R Ambedkar

Hadiqua Jabeen
B.Sc., Jamia Millia Islamia