Opinion

Time to eradicate ‘caste’ term from Indian vocabulary

BJP urged to replace 'caste' with 'denominations' in government records, aligning with global religious terminology

October 10, 2024

Political parties misuse foreign term ‘caste’ to target Hindu society

Recently, RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat made a call for Hindu unity; ‘Unity Call versus Vote Jihad’, and UP CM’s clarion call “If we are divided, we will be destroyed”, and “If we are divided, those dividing will celebrate”. Why is it that Hindus are an amorphous entity and not a cohesive group like in other religions? Critics often point out that the ‘caste’ system is to be blamed, for the lack of Hindu unity.

Why is it that since our political Independence, in 1947, there has been a strong and growing emphasis on using the term ‘caste’ to castigate only Hindu society? History teaches us that from 712 AD to 1947, Bharat reeled under the tyrannical rule of fundamentalist foreigners. In the ancient and medieval world, there was never any concept of voting or rights for the general population, anywhere in the world. Under Cleisthenes, what is generally held as the first example of a type of democracy in 508–507 BC was established in Athens. Cleisthenes is referred to as “the father of Athenian democracy”. He came to power with the support of the Athenian people and reformed the constitution to create the beginnings of a nascent democracy that the world had ever seen. George Washington is regarded as the father of modern democracy, and today, like in sports, the winner is determined simply by the number of goals, or, the number of runs, that the competing teams can make. There can even be a victory of just one run in sports, similarly, in democratic elections, the winner can be decided by a single vote. It was in the 1910 election in New York’s 36th Congressional one vote influenced the outcome of the 1910 election in New York’s 36th Congressional District. Democrat Charles B Smith earned 20,685 votes, one more than Republican De Alva S Alexander‘s total of 20,684! In India, there have been at least two occasions when a person was elected as an MLA after securing just one more vote than the rivals. In the 2004 Karnataka Assembly elections, a candidate won by just one vote. Rajasthan Congress chief CP Joshi lost the 2008 Assembly elections by one vote. How far such hairline victories can be treated as a verdict by the majority of the voters, is highly questionable? But, as of today, this is the pattern in all democracies in the world. Another factor is that the electorate is often swayed by emotive issues. In every election, there is a single emotive issue that determines the fortunes of political parties. In the just concluded J&K election, Article 370 generated a heated debate. Shri. Ram Mandir issue held sway for a considerable span of time, giving a lively momentum, that gripped the hearts and minds of Hindus across the country. To forge Hindu unity, for the next upcoming elections, and the 2029 grand finale, BJP needs to find a new emotive issue, that will appeal to millions of Hindus. Congress party has already stoked a debate by instigating a new theme of ‘Caste Census’, which is stirring a hornet’s nest.

Each community in Hinduism, denotes a super specialty, either in the field of science, arts, architecture, astrology, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, commerce, and warfare. Even religious duties were a subject of specialization. Extreme specialization was built purely on the platform of family profession, and community cooperation. An agriculturist never vied to do priestly duties or take up arms to fight. Conversely, the priest did not seek to desire to do commerce. Every community performed its destined Dharma. When the Industrial Revolution took place in Great Britain, and formal education, as is understood today, made its advent, and they made it accessible to all their communities, the same pattern was introduced in India by various missionary outfits. This British pattern of education eulogized only their history, religion, language, customs, and traditions, and all things Indian were denounced as mythology and superstition. Consider the arrogant words of Thomas Babington Macaulay “A single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.” The demonic zeal to convert the Hindus faced one major impediment. All the key knowledge of Hindu mantras, prayers, and esoteric rituals was in the Sanskrit language and a close preserve of the priestly Brahmanical community. The fundamentalist missionaries could not gain access to the massive Hindu prayer literature and exclusive rituals, which were closely guarded intellectual property and copyright of the priestly Brahmin community, safeguarding Sanatana Dharma scriptures and prayers. This deadlock could not be breached, and resulted in a vicious campaign, against Hindu society, using the Portuguese term ‘Casta’ which became ‘caste’ in English. This colonial tirade continues but is taken over by politicians, media, foreign religion practitioners, and foreign-funded NGOs.

Now is the ripe time for the BJP to propose a revolutionary proposal for deleting the term ‘caste’ from Indian vocabulary, lock, stock, and barrel. The term ‘caste’ is derived from the foreign ‘Casta’, which is an Iberian word (existing in Spanish, Portuguese, and other Iberian languages since the Middle Ages), meaning ‘lineage’. The Portuguese ‘Casta’ gave rise to the English word ‘caste’ during the early modern period. The term Sistema de Castas (system of castes) or Sociedad de Castas (“society of castes”) is used to describe the social hierarchy based on race, with Spaniards at the apex. Initially, the Portuguese applied this term to distinguish the offspring born from the intermingling of their men with the Hindu women of Gomantaka or Goa, who were raped and abducted, by the Portuguese pirates. However, the term ‘caste’ was wrongly applied to the entire Hindu society, across Bharat, and carried a strong negative connotation, later assiduously propagated and reinforced by Christian missionaries, while effectively camouflaging the similar deep stratifications in their religion.

Christianity abounds with a variety of castes like Catholics, Roman Catholics, Latin Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Pentecost, Anglicans, Baptists, Episcopalians, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Antioch Ian Orthodox, and many more. All these stratifications, like in Hindu society, do not intermingle and have separate beliefs, customs, rituals, hierarchies, and practices. But, Christianity, intelligently uses the innocuous term ‘Denomination’ instead of Caste, to camouflage their stratification pattern.

Consider Islam, which has three main castes – Ashraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal. This is apart from the two major classifications of Sunnis and Shias.

The Ashraf (Noble), is sub-divided into:

Sayyad (descendants of Prophet Muhammad)
Sheikh (claim Arab or Central Asian ancestry)
Pathan (Pashtun ethnicity)
Mughal (descendants of Mughal emperors)
Mirza (nobles or officials)

The Ajlaf (Non-Noble) comprises of:

Ansari (weavers)
Julaha (weavers)
Kunjra (vegetable sellers)
Hajjam (barbers)
Mochi (cobblers)
Dhobi (washermen)
Darzi (tailors)
Qassab (butchers)
Fakir (mendicants)

The Arzal (Outcaste) comprises of:

Bhishti (water carriers)
Halalkhor (sweepers)
Lalbegi (scavengers)
Abdal (mendicants)

All the above are discreetly referred to as ‘Sects’, though it has all the trappings of the ‘Casta’ defined and practiced by the Portuguese.

In addition to the above castes, both Islam and Christianity, have now created a new addition called ‘Dalit Muslims’ and ‘Dalit Christians’. Is there any scriptural authority for creating this new class? Nothing whatsoever, except the greed to convert.

The moot question is why is the Government of India, and various State governments, media, and political parties using the foreign term ‘caste’ to denigrate only Hindu society? There is no legal or Scriptural authority for using the foreign term ‘caste’. This writer is of the considered opinion that the term ‘caste’ needs to be eliminated, and the BJP needs to create a public debate to get an endorsement, from all Bharatiyas, for the same. The UP CM’s clarion call “If we are divided, we will be destroyed” is a warning about how anti-national forces are using foreign terms to divide Hindu society, and his perspicacious warning that “If we are divided, those dividing will celebrate” implying that those demanding caste census, are out to destroy India. The BJP should take the wind out of the sails of the Opposition political parties, by proposing deleting the term ‘caste’ from all government records, manuals, and notifications, and instead adopting the universal term ‘Denominations’, used by every other religion globally.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.