I was deeply disturbed reading a news item in The Hindu titled 'Stripped and beaten by in-laws, a tribal woman fights back', which appeared on the 17th of this month.
The issue was of harassment of both the son and the daughter in-law by none other than the boy's parents because their son had married a girl from a 'lower caste'. The brutality of the act was such that the boy lost his consciousness. The girl was then striped off her clothes, and both of them were tied on to a tree just in front of their house, for public viewing. May be the parents wanted the youth of the village to understand that no different would be their fate if they dared to commit such an act, and also probably they were trying to teach the parents in the village how their children are to be handled upon committing such acts.
The fact that, some days later, the newly wed couple approached a social organization and the latter brought out this case in the public, assuring the security of the former, is definitely commendable. The job of such organizations can never be down played. Let's also look at means to 'prevent', besides the 'cures'.
It is inter-caste marriages that can aid end the caste problem substantially because it is only in a marriage that two families unite. A union of two families will have a wider effect than a union of two individuals. Having food together, playing together, working together, etcetera are all union of two (or more) individuals and are fine but they are only momentary. There is union only for a limited period of time. One that lasts longer and forever is the institution of marriage, and it, besides uniting two individuals, unite their families, too. Our focus should be on keeping at bay the issue for the maximum possible time and later to eradicate it completely, and to this effect marriage as an institution can play a cardinal role. Though there may be some initial friction, its effect can soon be negated. More and more people opting for this will surely help remove the taboo that now hovers over such marriages and soon make it an act of normalcy, and later probably, a norm.
I find no mistake in inter-caste marriages. Save mistake, I don't even find an issue worth enough that it should be raised in our age. Castes, in the past, were created for a purpose. The purpose was to prevent any particular profession from being extinct. The people belonging to a particular caste did a particular job. Sadly, over the years, the dimensions of caste took dangerous turns and evolved in an unjust manner. Isn't it then the duty of we, the intelligent people to undo the errors? Or are we that naive or so submissive that we act strictly according to what our past had demanded of us? Of course, we neither are naive nor are we submissive. It is not that many of us do not understand all this. It is simply that we make ourselves oblivious to these. We prefer status quo and none wants to be branded a gadfly by doing anything that is against popular, albeit not logical, societal practices. Let's have have the courage to stand up for what is just and legitimate.
Along with organizations that fight for the cases of affected couples, there should be a similar set of organizations steadfastly professing inter-caste marriages in a society like ours which abhors any linkage between two castes placed in different levels in the caste ladder. Social organizations like these exist but their works need to be supported and brought to the fore. More importantly, the educated and affluent youth should prefer marrying out-of-their-caste in order to give an impetus to this drive. They should be the torch bearers in this. Once the urban India does it, the rural will definitely follow suit. Let like in the instances of fashion, technology and trend; the urban youth begin. Let this be the harbinger of a total social evolution.
The issue was of harassment of both the son and the daughter in-law by none other than the boy's parents because their son had married a girl from a 'lower caste'. The brutality of the act was such that the boy lost his consciousness. The girl was then striped off her clothes, and both of them were tied on to a tree just in front of their house, for public viewing. May be the parents wanted the youth of the village to understand that no different would be their fate if they dared to commit such an act, and also probably they were trying to teach the parents in the village how their children are to be handled upon committing such acts.
The fact that, some days later, the newly wed couple approached a social organization and the latter brought out this case in the public, assuring the security of the former, is definitely commendable. The job of such organizations can never be down played. Let's also look at means to 'prevent', besides the 'cures'.
It is inter-caste marriages that can aid end the caste problem substantially because it is only in a marriage that two families unite. A union of two families will have a wider effect than a union of two individuals. Having food together, playing together, working together, etcetera are all union of two (or more) individuals and are fine but they are only momentary. There is union only for a limited period of time. One that lasts longer and forever is the institution of marriage, and it, besides uniting two individuals, unite their families, too. Our focus should be on keeping at bay the issue for the maximum possible time and later to eradicate it completely, and to this effect marriage as an institution can play a cardinal role. Though there may be some initial friction, its effect can soon be negated. More and more people opting for this will surely help remove the taboo that now hovers over such marriages and soon make it an act of normalcy, and later probably, a norm.
I find no mistake in inter-caste marriages. Save mistake, I don't even find an issue worth enough that it should be raised in our age. Castes, in the past, were created for a purpose. The purpose was to prevent any particular profession from being extinct. The people belonging to a particular caste did a particular job. Sadly, over the years, the dimensions of caste took dangerous turns and evolved in an unjust manner. Isn't it then the duty of we, the intelligent people to undo the errors? Or are we that naive or so submissive that we act strictly according to what our past had demanded of us? Of course, we neither are naive nor are we submissive. It is not that many of us do not understand all this. It is simply that we make ourselves oblivious to these. We prefer status quo and none wants to be branded a gadfly by doing anything that is against popular, albeit not logical, societal practices. Let's have have the courage to stand up for what is just and legitimate.
Along with organizations that fight for the cases of affected couples, there should be a similar set of organizations steadfastly professing inter-caste marriages in a society like ours which abhors any linkage between two castes placed in different levels in the caste ladder. Social organizations like these exist but their works need to be supported and brought to the fore. More importantly, the educated and affluent youth should prefer marrying out-of-their-caste in order to give an impetus to this drive. They should be the torch bearers in this. Once the urban India does it, the rural will definitely follow suit. Let like in the instances of fashion, technology and trend; the urban youth begin. Let this be the harbinger of a total social evolution.
