We are all responsible for the intolerance against inter-caste marriages
HYDERABAD: It’s only my status that matters, not my daughter’s happiness. These are the words one would not expect from a father. But of course, conspiring towards the murder of his pregnant daughter’s husband too isn’t what one would expect from any human let alone a father. As we play witness to a heinous crime which shook the nation, there are arguments that crop up that have severely problematic connotations.
While the accused, Maruthi Rao, himself has no inhibitions in brandishing his pride of caste in the face of a tragedy, we as a society need to find a way to separate ourselves from such ideologies. As the justice system does its job and Amrutha Varshini leads the fight for justice, the need of the hour for every individual understand how we have been dragged into the cobweb of castes.
When does it start?
Apparently, casteism starts young. Or so says blogger and activist, Divya Kandukuri. “I remember being bullied as a child for being of a certain caste. I remember not sharing that information about me because I was scared. Children in schools even now find it important to find out the caste of their fellow students in order to create a clique. If anyone refuses to talk about it, they will go to great lengths to find out. As a result marginalization begins at school itself,” she asserts.
She also makes a disturbing observation quite rampant particularly in Telugu communities. “It so happens that there are some actors and stars who unofficially represent a certain community. The children are inadvertently fed that they are fans of these stars because of their caste. Without completely even knowing the consequence or reason behind this blind faith children are exposed to obsessive fanaticism both towards actors and through them the caste. These are obsessions that are deeply ingrained into the minds of people for generations,” she says. When films have that level of impact on the society it helps that artistes like Manchu Manoj, Ram Charan, Ram Pothineni and Chinmayi Sripada are speaking out and aggressively about the issue.
Where do we get it from?
“Human-beings are born naked without any ideas or ideologies,” says Karthik Madugula, psychologist at the Sakar Counselling Centre. He adds, “The ways of life in this world entails taking up a few identities on the way to answer the questions like ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I belong?’ Such identities are necessary because humans need a sense of belonging and a sense of self. Loneliness or a lack of belonging is a scary situation for most humans because it comes with a heavy emotional pain.” That’s where these systems enter. Madugula says there is a specific reason to cling on to these social identities.
“When humans don’t have/carve an identity for their individual selves, they become excessively dependent on these group identities for their survival and functioning through life. So much so that sometimes, a threat to the group identity leaves individuals in extreme panic. It is purely because some people are trying to protect their sense of group-identity,” he says. That seems like the same reason why there are so many disturbing comments online sympathising with the culprit and sometimes even abusing the victim.
How do we avoid this?
While some will blindly go forth and place their faith in this problematic social evil called casteism, some actively want to avoid if not renounce the consequences this may lead to. As the idea is deeply ingrained both in our psyches and in the social scenario, there might be situations we subconsciously participate in the discrimination. There are ways to avoid that as well if we choose to. Divya Kandukuri says, “Let those of other castes talk. Let them assert their identity. And mind you asserting identity is not the same as asserting dominance. Be an ally, be compassionate towards the other person’s issues, whether they are caste-based or otherwise. And it is necessary that those of the upper castes come forward to allow this.” Karthik Madugula says, “Marriages are your metric. Marriage is the way human societies have carried on cultures, rituals and identities from ages. So, when inter-caste marriage happens, caste as an identity will dissolve and dilute as time progresses.” Even the littlest inclination towards a social evil can lead to atrocities as this incident has proven. It is each of our responsibility to introspect, take the blindfold off and act against it in our own small way.
How far does it go?
“It’s the pain of a wronged father” was the reaction of some sympathisers. However, his actions didn’t seem like he was trying to get her back, but more like he was trying to get back at her. The entitlement of the culprit towards the daughter too has its roots holding deep. “The idea that ‘girls are property’ seems to pop up here. To go against the will of the father and moreover with someone from a different community makes the woman dishonourable in the view of these people. While the culprit himself feels like he has the right to ruin the woman’s life, the sympathisers too without any relationship whatsoever, feel that they are standing by some skewed morals by justifying his crime,” observes Divya.
But how does one believe that an abstract social construct is more important than a human relation? Psychologist Karthik Madugula has an answer. “If you think about it, a community and a daughter, both are two ideas in his mind-space which he has a certain belonging to. Which idea/identity a person will choose to protect in case of a conflict between the ideas is very much dependent on two factors: Level of Attachment to that particular idea and social-pull associated with each idea. In this case, we have the disastrous combination of two factors failing and a very bad outcome,” he observes.
The LAW
Article 15 of Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of caste besides discrimination on grounds of religion, race, sex or place of birth. Article 17 also incorporates abolition of untouchability. Also right against exploitation ensures prohibition of caste discrimination. SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act prohibits atrocities and thus caste discrimination. Uniform Civil Code in the Constitution is also means to prevent discrimination based on caste.