Racism in Asia - India

India

See also: Dalit, British Raj, Indo-Aryan migration, Aryanism during the British Raj, Indian Caste System, and Ethnic relations in India

The earliest rejection of discrimination spiritually, was made as far back as the Hindu sacred text of Bhagavada Gita, which says that no person, no matter what, is barred from enlightenment. Even early Hindu texts such as the Rig Veda discourage the abuse of outcastes. The text reads, "Indra, you lifted up the outcast who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame." (Rg-Veda 2:13:12). The caste system was equivalent to division of labour and a Shudra's son (the lowest caste) could become a Brahmin. But later this system became hereditary and a Shudra's son would remain a Shudra. During the British Raj, racist views against Indians based on the systemic scientific racism practiced in Europe at the time were popularized. Views include dividing linguistic groups into ethnic "classes" (see Historical definitions of races in India). The first Prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote

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"we in India have known racialism in all its forms ever since the commencement of British rule. The idea of a master race is inherent in imperialism ... India as a nation and Indians as individuals were subjected to insult, humiliation and contemptuous treatment. The English were an imperial race, we were told, with the God-given right to govern us and keep us in subjection; if we protested we were reminded of the 'tiger qualities of an imperial race'.

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It is claimed by some activists that casteism practised in India is a form of racism, but this is debated by those who believe that casteism has nothing to do with physical attributes, unlike racism. At the UN world conference on racism (August 31 - September 7, 2001) the Indian Government opposed the discussion of caste in the conference, saying that "the caste issue is not the same as racism".

Allegations that caste amounts to race were addressed and rejected by B.R. Ambedkar, an advocate for Dalit rights and critic of untouchability. He wrote that "The Brahmin of Punjab is racially of the same stock as the Chamar (Dalit) of Punjab, and that the "Caste system does not demarcate racial division. Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",

Such allegations have also been rejected by many sociologists such as Andre Béteille, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsense" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He writes that "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination". In addition, the view of the caste system as "static and unchanging" (which would indicate a form of racial discrimination) has been disputed by many scholars. Sociologists describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India. According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.

Sociologist M. N. Srinivas has also debated the question of rigidity in Caste. For details see sanskritization.

Pakistani-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal also rejects these allegations. In her book, "Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia", she writes that "As for Hinduism, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."

Historically, many Hindu reform movements have actively combated casteism and the practice of untouchability (segregation of the lower castes). In order to curb the practice of caste-based discrimination, numerous laws, including constitutional laws, have been passed in India outlawing casteist discrimination.Special quotas are provided to the lower castes in access to schools and jobs. Lower caste political parties have achieved increasing prominence in the Indian political landscape since India's independence. The public practice of casteism has diminished significantly among the large urban and cosmopolitan classes in India. Nonetheless, the fight to end casteism is an uphill struggle, especially in rural areas where education and modernity are scarce, and numerous hate crimes have taken place in India that have been attributed to Casteism.

India's treatment of its lower-class Dalits has been described by UNESCO as "India's hidden apartheid". According to Rajeev Dhavan, of India's leading English-language newspaper The Hindu, "casteism is India's apartheid which will continue in its most vicious and persistent forms for decades to come." In the Indian caste system, a Dalit, often called an untouchable, is a person who lay outside the Indian Caste System. Historically, Hindu Dalits were forbidden to worship in temples and Muslim Dalits forbidden in mosques, Dalits who converted to Christianity are frequently discriminated against by upper-caste Catholic priests and nuns. The majority of rural Dalits still live in segregation and experience atrocities to the scale of 110,000 registered cases a year according to 2005 statistics.

However, such allegations of apartheid are regarded by academic sociologists as a political epithet, since apartheid implies state sponsored discrimination, and no such thing exists in India. Anti-dalit prejudice and discrimination is a social malaise that exists primarily in rural areas, where small societies can track the caste lineage of individuals and discriminate accordingly. Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman, Angela Bodino, while being critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice any "apartheid" since there is no state sanctioned discrimination. They write that Casteism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes and are enjoying greater political power."