Breaking down caste distinctions

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment oversees the interest of the Scheduled Castes, and intervenes in critical sectors through various schemes. One such scheme is the Schedules Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) that ensures the flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from all the general sectors of development for the benefit of Scheduled Castes. In this way, States and Union Territories earmark resources to implement a Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes. Besides the implementation of acts that protect the civil rights of the Scheduled Castes, the Ministry has also developed the affirmative action strategy known as reservations.

With frequent news regarding atrocities towards Scheduled Caste members, honour killings, and the recent suicide of a Dalit student in a university in Hyderabad, the media constantly reminds us of the presence of caste discrimination. According to the 2011 Census of India, Scheduled Castes/Dalits, who, historically, have been the most disadvantaged section of the community, constitute 20% of Tamil Nadu’s 72 million population.

The Indian Caste system is historically one of the main ways that socially differentiates people through class, religion, region, tribe, and language. This closed system of stratification dictates that a person’s social status is defined by which caste he or she is born into. This became the basis of unequal access to income.

Traditionally, India has four castes, also called varnas. The Brahmins, who were priests and scholars, are at the top, followed by the Kshatriyas who were political rulers and soldiers. Next were the Vaishyas, or merchants, and the fourth were Shrudras, usually the labourers, peasants, artisans, and servants. At the very bottom are those that were once looked upon as untouchables and outcastes, a practice that is now outlawed under the Indian Constitution. In the Constitution of India, this group of historically-disadvantaged people has been given an official designation which is termed Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, and have also been given a Reservation Status that guarantees their political representation. The various disadvantaged groups fall into one or the other of the two categories, Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. The term ‘Dalit’ is commonly used to designate a group of disadvantaged people that fall in the Scheduled Caste category.

Because it is not obvious in our immediate surroundings, it is easy to forget that this quiet segregation based on caste differences is a salient feature of many people’s lives around us. In our bioregion as well, although members of the relatively higher castes now share many occupations, in most cases members of the lowest caste continue to eat separately from the rest, as well as reside in separate settlements. Dalit settlements in our surrounding villages are situated in the low-lying areas, and they have their own temples and water tanks. Importantly, despite not being permitted to be part of the mainstream village community, Dalit people offer services that are essential to the health of a community, such as garbage collection. When it comes to our area, only Dalits kill and sell beef.

Although discrimination based on caste has been outlawed in India, practically, caste distinctions are a part of daily life. When buying a house in Pondicherry, real estate brokers will advise or warn a higher caste purchaser about the areas where Dalits are numerous. Marriage invitations also often print the fathers’ names with the caste status attached. Besides occupational restrictions, another familiar characteristic of case segregation is endogamy: in other words, every member of a caste or sub-caste is required to marry within their own caste. Any violation of this traditionally results in excommunication from one’s family and caste.

As a consequence, over time it became normal that members of different castes no longer interacted with each other, and besides the occasional inter-caste love story gone wrong, any hardships suffered were suffered in silence.

Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) exchange programmes

As mentioned earlier, in Tamil Nadu backward classes have a certain safety net in the form of reservations. This measure attempts to ensure that members of the lower castes have an equal chance in school, college or professionally, but it does little to integrate the segregated communities. In a state in which caste distinction is commonplace, Auroville Village Action Group is one of the Auroville outreach organisations that has done a lot of work to break down hostility between different castes. As such, since 1995, the Auroville Village Action Group (AVAG) has been building solidarity among women, in spite of differences based on caste, religion, or economic status. During seminars and cluster meetings in AVAG, women from different villages already worked on understanding and getting to know each other. Building on this, AVAG started to plan exchange programmes between different caste groups. At such exchanges, people who previously would never share a common space, let alone a meal, interact with each other and actively break down barriers.

In 2014-2015, AVAG organised 34 exchange programmes, and such programmes continue today. The exchange programmes are planned in such a way that participants get the opportunity to visit something new and unfamiliar. In order to bring understanding and create solidarity between these different groups of people, the most important element of the exchange programme is that the groups who visit each other belong to different castes. For example, members of a caste from a coastal village will visit a different caste in an agricultural village. Dalit members visit higher caste groups, and these groups take them to all the meaningful places in their village, including the temple. They cook and eat together – something that normally would never happen – play games, and see the projects undertaken by the women in the village.

Anbu, the co-director of AVAG says: “In one exercise they pair up, take some time to get to know each other and then introduce each other to the rest of the group. Even after such a small exercise, the women begin to call each other “sisters”, “mothers”, and “aunties” and begin to form friendships. By sharing their perspectives, some of them better understand the challenges that the lower castes face on a daily basis. Afterwards, they continue to maintain the relationship over the phone.” She adds: “Before mobile phones, they used to write letters to each other and our staff used to take them. There was even a special post box on the AVAG campus for this.”

Glimpses of success

In the late 1990s, a boy and girl from two different castes fell in love, a story which led to violence and even murder. After that, the two villages had no interaction for many years. In 2004-2005, two groups of women from these two different caste groups became part of AVAG’s outreach work. The two groups of women hadn’t sat next to each other for five years. After a few years, the higher caste came forward and suggested to participate in a programme with a Dalit group in a neighbouring village of Auroville. The staff of Village Action remained sceptical about any potential success, and even planned a backup programme in case of a failure. However, when the higher caste visited the women of the other caste, Anbu recalls that, to everyone’s surprise, both groups participated with full commitment and enthusiasm and subsequently even organised their own exchange programme in their own village.

In another village, AVAG also arranged an exchange programme between a caste group and a Dalit group. Under normal circumstances, members of another caste cannot visit a temple that is restricted to one caste group. On that occasion, one of the Dalit women asked to visit the temple. No one refused and for the first time in their lives, Dalit women entered another caste group’s temple.

Lakshmi, a woman who has participated first-hand in many exchange programmes, shares: “Exchange programmes between castes have become special, almost like a function. On these occasions we wear new sarees, garlands, and put flowers in the hair. When we get into the bus to visit another village, it’s full of dance and songs. We eat together, we learn the best practices from each other, and take up activities to improve the villages. At the end of the day, we exchange phone numbers. There are also cases when we separate that we start crying. Even though the women are from a different caste than mine, after a programme we became friends.” If you ask her whether she is still in touch with her new friends she answers: “Yes, and we even attend each other’s family functions!”

Mangai, who has organised several exchange programmes as part of AVAG’s outreach work mentions another aspect of exchange programmes: “If we are from the same caste in one village, we may be reluctant to share our issues with each other, so it is a relief to express them to another person. Although we are of a different caste, we become open to each other. Then we show the special features of our village, like the banyan tree and ponds. At the end of the day, we get each other’s phone number and use it, for example, to wish each other happy birthday.”

As a proof that a friendship really has been formed between women of different caste groups, during the recent floods the AVAG field staff received many inquiries from women about how other villages were affected and whether their new friends were safe. Regardless of caste, the new friendships have flourished. Along with this, questions have been raised about why these groups were segregated in the first place.