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May 20, 2010
Bollywood star reveals discomfiture over India's caste system
According to the Bollywood star, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, being an Indian first means not to believe in caste. That could be one great definition of being an Indian first and putting India first.
Yet when Mr. Bachchan told the census enumerators that he does not believe in caste and is an Indian first, did he unwittingly reveal the discomfiture the privileged castes feel in coming to terms with the caste issue in modern India? Surely it is the oppressed people who have the first right to determine if there should be a caste census or not. Their interpretation of present day life vis-à-vis caste discrimination needs serious consideration.
In his defense Mr. Bachchan pointed out that he was married to a Bengali, his brother a Sindhi, his daughter to a north Indian and his son to a south Indian. That qualifies Mr. Bachchan for being a pan Indian. We have not heard anyone in the Bachchan family marrying a low caste or a Dalit!
But he is right about marriage being an important indicator of caste bias. How many forward caste families in the nation can boast of marriage to a low caste or a Dalit or a Scheduled tribe? Dr. Ambedkar saw inter-caste marriages as one final way of doing away with the caste system. Are we embarrassed about the caste question in the census because there is nothing to show in our family line in relation to inter caste marriage?
For now the vision of an inter-caste married, mixed India of Ambedkar is a far away dream. We will wait and see when caste based matrimonial columns cease to exist. Till then caste enumeration should continue to protect those who are constantly humiliated and discriminated.
Read more of my article at the Spero News Forum:
http://www.speroforum.com/a/33198/Bollywood-star-reveals-discomfiture-over-Indias-caste-system
~Joseph
Posted by klajja at May 20, 2010 10:07 AM
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