Caste among religious minorities in India

Caste among the religious minorities in India

Caste as a hereditary system of stratification is rooted in Hinduism. The Varna vyavastha (four-fold stratification of Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra), the hundreds of jaatis that operationalise the caste system in society, the out-castes or Dalits who are outside this vyavastha- all these categories of hierarchy emanate from Hindu religious texts and practices. Castes have traditional association with specific occupations, which also re-infor
ce hierarchy and are passed along the family line. Although this aspect might not be so rigid anymore for all castes, it nevertheless determined relations of patronage and tied up ideas of ritual hierarchy into economic relations. The  occupational and ritual relations of purity and impurity, while finding their legitimation in the Hindu religion, has made ways into other religions of the sub-continent as well, even if in a less ritualistic form. Therefore, many have argued that practices of Islam, Sikhism and Christianity, in the Indian and in fact in the South Asian context, reveal aspects of the caste system even if the beliefs and practices of these religions go against it (Tharamangalam; 1996, Bhatty; 1996, Nazir; 1993).

Given that people have converted into Islam, Sikhism or Christianity seeking a break from ascriptive and occupational hierarchies, among other things, the permeation of these hierarchies into these other religions demands deeper enquiry. Such an enquiry is important also, from an anthropological perspective, for developing an understanding of practices of religion that are different from ritualistic ideas. Everyday religious practices sometimes even contradict the textual, formal and ideological aspects of a religion. In that context, the socio-economic aspects of any society play as much a role in religious lives and practices as do the texts and beliefs.

Section 1: ISLAM

Islam is the second-largest religion in India. Its adherents regard it as an egalitarian religion where birth, status, etc., do not count: faith is the only criterion based on which the community of believers is formed. However, scholars have noted that Muslim society in India has had an elaborate system of stratification (Bhatty, 1996). The basic distinction is premised on genealogies of conversion: those who trace foreign descent, as in the claim that their ancestors arrived from the Arab world, which was already under the influence of Islam exercise superiority over those who converted to Islam later (New Muslims). Categories of stratification among Muslims in India are complex and elaborate: Ashrafs are the high ranking nobility, and their claims of descent are ‘from Arabs, Persians, Turks and Afghans and coverts from the upper class Hindus’. Ajlafs are ‘lower castes’ comprise of ‘village artisans’, and Arzals comprise those doing ‘leather works, (or those who) landless labourers’, etc. (Nazir; 1993:2898). Non- Ashrafs are claimed to be converted from indigenous populations and have various occupational castes. Ashrafs are further divided into Sayyads, Sheikhs, Mughals and Pathans (in that order of ranking) (Bhatty; 1996)

This elaborate system reflects the ‘division of labour’ that the Hindu caste system espouses. Operationalised through jajmani relations of service and patronage and status associated with occupations, the hierarchies among Muslims present a caste-like system, if not the caste system itself. Nazir (1993) believes that the way this system of stratification has to be analysed should come not from debating over categories but by trying to understand how Muslims understand and practise socioeconomic hierarchies themselves. In an earlier study on Muslims in the Swat region of Pakistan, Barth (1969) argues that since there was ranking among groups based on notions of purity and impurity, what locals described as ‘quoms’ were castes. Those dealing with human waste were ranked lowest, and the rigidity among these quoms was high (1969).

Similarly, in Bhatty’s fieldwork in Uttar Pradesh, she observed notions of purity and impurity and ranking based on these among Muslims. Among the non-Ashrafs, those handling impure things regularly, like night soil, dead animals, etc., were deemed ‘impure’ as a group and touching an individual from such a group was considered ‘polluting’, requiring a bath for ‘purifying’ oneself (and practised by both Ashrafs and non-Ashrafs of higher ranking). This purification by bath was prescribed even for handling polluting things such as any human secretion. Women, during their menstrual cycle, were not supposed to offer namaaz or practise ritual fasting. Although the rituals for purification after coming in contact with a ‘polluting’ substance or person were not as elaborate as among Hindus, the notion of ritual purity is very much a part of the caste system and ideology. Further, the practice of caste endogamy and disapproval for marriages across groups was persistent. Also, like among Hindus, communal eating had boundaries: Ashrafs and non-Ashrafs did not eat with each other. The terms used by people to describe social groups are ‘zat’ or ‘biradari’- patrilineal descent groups. Biradaris are kin groups that define the boundaries of a community and in Bhatty’s field, even has biradari ‘panchayats’, which took up a more political and moral role. Changes in socio-political conditions meant changes in these biradaris as well. In the case of Punjab, the divisions among biradaris or zats were hinged on notions of power and prestige, which have been reconstituted since the advent of capitalism in agriculture in Punjab.

 In UP, too, even as higher-ranking biradaris have attempted to capture political clout and direct state’s resources towards themselves, the non- Ashrafs have had material growth, and many have also left the village, leaving the biradari hierarchy altogether. More recently, the presence of caste and caste-based discrimination has been highlighted by the mobilisation of Pasmanda Muslims. Pasmanda, which means marginalised, is a common terms for lower caste Muslims who have been challenging the notion of a unified Muslim community and have poked fissures into the idea of religiously ordained egalitarianism in Islam. Starting in Bihar, the mobilisation began in response to the demands of reservation and claims of socio-economic backwardness by leaders of the various religious bodies like the Jamiat Ulema e Hind, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, etc.

 Following the divisions among Muslims as listed above, the Pasmanda Mahaz (an umbrella organisation) argues that many Muslims in India are, in fact, Pasmanda. At the same time, a few groups like Ashrafs are privileged and powerful. The groups under the Pasmanda umbrella are the occupationally lower-ranked butchers, weavers, cleaners, washermen, etc. It is claimed that their conditions are similar, if not worse, than Dalits in terms of social indicators like education, health, employment, etc. in fact, they are increasingly being called Dalit Muslims (Alam; 2009). Their marginalisation, though not ordained by Islam, is more a matter of everyday practice and politics. From calling of pejorative names to separate housing clusters to exclusion from all offices of power, the marginalisation of these groups is clearly highlighted by the control of Ashraf's overall positions of power within the community. It has been argued that this is an institutionalised form of discrimination (Alam, 2009). Questions of livelihood and reservations have dominated the demands of Pasmanda Muslims, as has their critique of the dominant class of Ashraf Muslims, which seeks to speak in the name of all Muslims. This more recent phenomenon takes us back to whether the stratification of Muslim society in India is a caste-based one. 

According to Bhatty, the approaches to understanding caste have been of two kinds- cultural and structural. The cultural conception of caste, as done by Louis Dumont (1970) and others “emphasizes the uniqueness of the caste system which is peculiar to Hindu society. The concepts of ritual purity and impurity are viewed as central to the caste system, and they are found lacking or too weak in comparable societies” (1996: 244). In the structural conception, caste is understood as a ‘mechanism for social stratification and determines social structure in terms of status groups’ (1996: 245). This approach extends the understanding of caste-based groups to other religions as well. In this regard, Nazir (1993) argued that recognising the self and the community as Pasmanda or Dalit Muslims further asks us to question if the distinction between the caste system and the caste-like system is important. Perhaps, the question here is also about what is the purpose of an enquiry. If the question is about the nature of access to power and resources, grounded in the ideology of ranks, status, endogamy, inheritance, genealogy, etc., there are echoes of the caste system among Muslims in India. However, the practice of this stratification and religious sanction around it is not the same between Islam and Hinduism.

Section 2: Christianity 

This section will look at the operation of caste hierarchies among Christians. The focus of this section will be southern India, although believers of Christianity are spread across India. Christians make up 2.6% of India’s population. The earliest community of Christians in India was that of Syrian Christians in Kerala. They are supposedly descendants of upper-caste Brahmins who converted to Catholicism (Tharamangalam; 1996). The Syrian Christians in the southern part of Kerala, especially, consider themselves superior and practise endogamy. From early on, there were elements in the church that spoke against casteist practices, and many groups of missionaries brought ‘lower’ castes into the fold of Christianity. Particularly from the 19th century onwards, protestant churches began to bring in groups of ‘lower castes’, and there were movements of mass conversion coming from the ‘restlessness’ among these groups (1996: 268).

In Kerala, there was an entirely new caste of ‘Neo Christians’ who were Dalits. Round the same time, there were conversions in Adivasi regions and the North East hill regions. Tharamangalam claims that ‘Christians in India are concentrated in certain pockets of the country and drawn predominantly from Dalit and tribal backgrounds (1996: 269). As among Muslims, many opportunities for upward mobility among Christians were taken over by upper-caste Christians (converts who were upper castes). Dalit Christians have not experienced much change in their status. Although there are some overlaps between caste and sects, they converted to, broadly, different, like in Muslims. The overlaps, wherever they are, have happened due to mass conversion movements. Many Christians retain their pre-conversion identities and function as endogamous groups.

Christians Kerala is broadly divided into three groups based on descent: the Syrians, the Latin Catholics and Neo-Christians. While Syrians claim high ranks, Latin Catholics are accorded positions lower than Syrians. Neo Christians, as mentioned earlier, convert from Dalit castes and had jajmani relations with many of the Syrians (who claim to have previously been Brahmins). Integration of Dalit Christians into churches dominated by Syrians has been difficult and has given rise to many exclusive Dalit churches. In Goa and Tamil Nadu as well, there are differences between Christians were Dalits and Christians who converted from other castes (Tharamangalam; 1996).

In terms of pollution, many practices are understood and explained as emanating from a concern for hygiene. Dietary practices are also not rigid among Syrians. However, interaction, which was highly restricted in the past, has eased up due to socioeconomic factors. Much of the interaction between Syrians and Dalits are enabled by modern-day living demands, such as working together in an office, attending school, etc. In terms of endogamous practices, the distance between Dalit and non-Dalit castes remains, even if it is not too rigid within groups. Differences in residence and dining were maintained among Christians, based on segregations that were practised before conversion. Although these have weakened over the years, instances of commensality across castes is still not a common practice.

Although missionary policies have stressed opposing caste-based practices, segregation is maintained by Syrians within the church and affiliated bodies and positions of authority like priests, bishops, and even hospitals and colleges (1996: 275). Even within the same denomination, segregation of Dalit Christians are enforced through separate churches or assigned places of sitting for them within the same church. These segregation practices also keep Dalit Christians away from acquiring important positions within the church and make access to rituals is difficult. Church politics, in fact has become a ground for assertions by upper-caste Christians and resistance by Dalit Christians, especially as much of the management has passed on from European priests to locals. Cases of a position of power within the church being circulated among those who come from groups of high status are common and have, in fact, led to many Dalit Christian groups setting up their own churches, a sort of secession where they have set up churches with new ‘Dalit ideologies’. This disillusionment also comes from the sparse opportunities of mobility (from conversion) that have come their way and the denial of advantages of being Scheduled Castes which are not available to them because of having changed their religion. There have even been instances of reconversion. Interestingly, many of these resistances have now started talking about Dalit theology, inspired by liberation theology, which ‘sees Christianity itself as a movement of Dalits and the Christian message as essentially a movement for the liberation of Dalits’.

 Many missionaries have attacked the caste system as being ‘inconsistent with Christianity’ (1996: 282-3). Christianity, to some extent, it might have eroded the notions of purity and pollution, but the collusion of caste with socio-economic power has stagnated opportunities of mobility while at the same time reconstituted the practices of caste. At any rate, Christianity took root in the system which was deeply feudal and that elements of it have certainly extended the practice of caste to Christianity as well. The Dalit Liberation Theology Movement has been trying to assert demands of social justice, decentralised church authority, more Dalit Christians as priests, livelihood opportunities for poor Dalit Christians, etc. taking the existence of caste practices in a political arena (Louis; 2007).

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