Secularism and Religion in Multi-Faith Societies: The Case of India - Essay Example

Social system ! The Indian society is characterized on account of its historic perspective and precedence in the form of rich caste system that exists in the country and the region. The traces of the caste system do not originate from the recent centuries, rather the country and region is engulfed in the caste system since the times ancient and the society is largely dominated and the order of society is determined through the caste system. In many societies the caste systems may be only associated with the social outlook and social order determination, in the case of India, the caste system has its roots in the religious ideology and religious order determination in the form of Hinduism (Kopstein, p. 311). The caste system is based on the concepts that are originally part of the Hindu religion. Out of the many basic elements that are incorporated into the Hindu religion, the concept of reincarnation is one basic and similar concept that can be found both in the social system of castes and the religious doctrine and ideological concepts (Knowles, p38). The paper also looks at the various components within the Hindu religion manifestations which promote mobility and they may have the social caste system structured within, yet they provide for the opportunities and support in terms of the mobility that is required for an active and progressive society to develop. The caste has had an clear impact on the individuals in terms of the standing, their attitude towards the other fellow beings. The middle class compromised of the second and the third tier. They had an important part in the form of being the artisans, workers, poets, artists all were part of the middle class castes in the name of Kshatriyas. They also had the task of administering over the security of the state and security of the high ups in the society who compromised the upper elite. Broadly the caste system divides the society into four clearly drawn out lines of existence. These four lines are drawn based on the top tier of the mostly privileged against the lowest tier of the ones that are most poor and highly deprived. Their existence in the given life and the present one is based on the past events, the life spent before and the one that is to be live in the next life. According to the Hindu religious concepts the ordinary man will get to live as many as seven lives throughout the cycle. In all these cycles, the individual will get to have the share of his life, his events, his social ascription base on the kind of behavior and kind of actions he commits in the previous life. The top of the list in the caste system is the Brahmans. They are considered as the elite group and they have the power to call the shorts in terms of the social standing, social decisions and other major events and components within the society. The Brahmans earn it based on the supremacy of the family. They do not participate in the practical actions taken, they rate only administer and command the authority and decisions with regard to the social standing and social structural working. The next in line in the Hindus caste system is that of Vaishyas. According to the Hindu concepts of the religious doctrine, the four castes are created based on the derivation from the different parts of single sole in the form of the four castes with the Shudras making up for the feet, and the artisan class making up for the people of trade and other associated services rendering to the people within the community and society (Santoso, p 19). The Rig Veda explains the exact status of the society and the caste systems within. The last in the line of caste system includes the Shudras, the Shudras are assigned the task of fulfilling the actions with regard to cleaning and other affiliated works. Based on the works and tasks they perform they are called the untouchables. According to the Hindu religious believe, the individuals who are associated with the Shudras caste are treated as ones based on their past precedence in the previous life. They will get a chance to go up the ladder in the next life if they behave well and act according to the teachings which come in the form of humanity and spreading peace and humanity among the fellow beings. Treating and serving the other castes and the individuals from the society within, will also serve as the people’s duty fulfillment in the Shudras caste system. The untouchables often create issues with regard to the outer world and its response. Since the untouchables are deemed as untouchable and have little access to the resources and other basic components of the societal structure, it is therefore debated with regard to the Hindu caste system its merits and possible demerits. Impact on society: The Indian society has had a major influence over its individuals with regard to their existence in the global community. The society’s outlook in the form of social mobility and social stagnation that we see in Indian society is largely due to the caste system in the country. The last two to three centuries saw the least mobility and reduced urbanization rates. The people travelled relatively less due to the conditions set forth by the original deities with regard to the social structures. Similarly the culture of the country is also affected by it. For example under the caste system, the marriages are often defined and determined by the castes and people do not go beyond the castes in marrying. Similarly the travelling trends were little known and little common in the Hindu community which led to reduced development and reduced rates of mobility and urbanization in the society of India. Under the caste system the opportunities that may be provided to the people are uneven and based on that it can be stated that the caste system did not provide equal opportunities to the masses in terms of growth as a collective entity within the society. The modern trends: The recent times have seen a changing trend with regard to the social structure and the other progressive movements have also come up that have strongly stood against the believe of caste systems. The global human welfare and human rights entities have also raised their concerns with regard to the basic rights that should be provided to each individual. According to the rights and movements each human being has the equal right to all the basic necessities and basic requirements. Based on this, the country has declared the caste system as a discouraged trend and they have taken measures on the grass root, soft core as well as the hard core actions towards the eradication of the concepts of caste system. On state level, the caste system discrimination has been abolished (Sen and Howarth, p. 42). Owing to the overall trends, the incumbent prime minister of India affiliates from the lowest caste in the order and he has been given the seat of leader of the house as well as the party head of Bhartia Jhanta Party (Madni). This is one major development that has been seen in the recent years According to Dharma the concept of caste system may not necessarily mean strangulating the masses and providing lavish life style at the expense of the basic facilities to the other leading to disparity within the social ranks. Under the Dharma consideration the various factors include the factors of labor specialization and enabling more opportunities in terms of the social standing and opportunities in order to provide for effective outcomes in the active living. Dharma also advocated the concept of the marriage from across the segment in terms of the multi cultural existence within and enabling more mobility within the society. In the context of Veda: The teachings of veda have been studied to understand by the many historians and experts from the field of sociology and according to them, the Veda does not justify the concept of caste system with regard to the deprived and the extra privileged ones. The Veda in contrast stresses for class struggle, competition and fair opportunities with regard to the overall progress and conditions of social prosperity (Keane, p.25). With the advancements, globalization and development in the form of rural to urban migration, the differences are diminishing and it is a very positive sign. This will open up the ways for the progress in the social sphere and the other facets of the society. Secondly, it will also enable the transfer and mobility between the classes and remove the menace of ignorance and poverty that haunts the Indian society as a collective evil faced by all the castes. Similarly the concept of reincarnation is narrated by the different books in the context of an opportunity to those who are short on the basic resources of life in this life. References: Keane, David. Caste-based Discrimination in International Human Rights Law. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2013 Knowles, Heather. Passport Series: Asia. Lorenz Educational Press, 2011 Kopstein, Jeffrey. Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order. Cambridge University Press, 2000 Madni, Mushtaque. How long will it take to establish Hindu Rashtra, Mr. Chidambaram? 14 June 2012. 14 Nov 2014 http://www.milligazette.com/news/3772-how-long-will-it-take-to-establish-hindu-rashtra-mr-chidambaram Santoso, Soewito. The Centhini Story: The Javanese Journey of Life : Based on the Original Serat Centhini. Marshall Cavendish, 2009 Sen, Ragini and Caroline Howarth. Secularism and Religion in Multi-faith Societies: The Case of India. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013 Read More