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A victim of Hindu bigotry
Posted: Sunday, June 10, 2001

By Dr. Iniyan Elango

Hinduism espouses the division of people into hierarchically placed groups called "castes". These castes are placed in a stepladder of ascending superiority and descending inferiority. People who are born into these castes should follow the ordained caste professions and marry only within their caste through arranged marriages. The beneficiaries of this system were the various Brahman castes who by virtue of their birth were free to follow intellectual pursuits at the advent of British colonial education making them modern India's intellectual, scientific, and bureaucratic class.

The various "Vysya" (trading) castes, placed below the Brahman castes and the Royal ("Kshatriya") castes, have enjoyed the monopoly in trading activities for centuries, by virtue of their birth, thus becoming modern India's corporate and business class.

The "Shudras" are the various lower castes in the hierarchy who are considered as Hindus and members of caste Hindu society.

The "Dalits" (meaning "broken people) are the "outcasts" and "slaves" of the Hindu society of hierarchical castes. That is why the Dalit people are considered untouchable and made to live in segregated colonies outside the towns and villages where the caste Hindus live. More
 

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