The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Caste & development

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Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009
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Caste & development

There is nothing in S. Gurumurthy’s article (“Is caste an economic development vehicle?” Jan. 19) to suggest that the economic activity he describes would not have occurred had there been no caste system. Second, if caste was just an economic differentiation (like the trade guilds of medieval Europe), there would be no need to oppose it. But it is based on discrimination — you are inferior or superior to someone from another caste. Should we be prepared to put up with such a system for the economic benefits that supposedly exist?

S.R. Gandhy,

Pune

Unfortunately, the caste system in India has acquired several dimensions. Any work on it, therefore, conveniently overlooks the aspects other than what it intends to showcase, as Mr. Gurumurthy has done. He has argued, with statistics, that caste is a vehicle of economic development. He has also cited the progress of a few backward castes. But are not the castes mentioned by him negligible in number, given the number of castes that exist in India? Why is the link between the castes he has referred to and others conspicuously missing? The missing link points to the social face of the caste system.

V.K. Baladhandapani,

Coimbatore

Mr. Gurumurthy overlooks the fact that the caste system has alienated a majority. While he cites the development among Patels, Nadars and Goundars, he fails to mention the plight of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes whose occupation has always been deemed lowly. The success of Nadars, who were once treated badly, is due not to their caste network, but to their business. Moreover, relationships and networks that exist today are intra-caste. The worst thing about the caste system is the relationship among the people of different castes. Looking down upon a few is one of the evils of the caste system. Any analysis of caste without factoring in this aspect is meaningless.

P. Varan,

Bangalore

Casteism is a scourge and curse India has inherited. No society calling itself civilised can have its people divided, segregated and stigmatised in the name of caste. There is no need to patronise the caste system saying it is a vehicle of economic development.

A.N. Kandasamy,

Chennai

Extolling the imaginary virtues of caste, which is the most enduring, divisive and oppressive institution, represents a Brahminical view of things. Neither conventional wisdom nor objective research can buy the argument that caste transcended local limits and networked the people across. It was, and is, a static and exclusionary structure which severely constricted the mental universe of the Indian personality.

True, modernity is clueless about how to handle caste. Modernity is soft on caste. It should have been ruthless in suppressing it. Perceiving caste as an engine of growth and social capital is a dangerous formulation which not only glorifies the retrogressive institution but also belittles the role of heterodox sects, Islamic and British regimes and the Constitution of India, the greatest inclusive document, in rendering social justice.

K. Sekhar,

Visakhapatnam

Mr. Gurumurthy is right in pointing out that caste has provided a basis for social networking that has been valuable to many entrepreneurial groups. While there may be advantages in organising industrial clusters along caste lines there are negative aspects too, the exclusion of groups that cannot compete with others being one of them. Another is the way in which caste is used to exercise control over labour. Caste is used for exploiting the SCs and the STs.

Judith Heyer,

Chennai

One cannot sing the praises of the caste system just because certain castes have been successful in building industrial clusters. The caste system has made a mockery of our democracy. But one cannot wish it away. The only remedy is universal education, which will lead to the elimination of the bad aspects of the system.

H.K. Seshadri,

Bangalore

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