Inter-marriages can reduce caste tensions, says court Â
Context: Educated youngsters are showing the way forward to reduce caste and community tensions in India by tying the knot in inter-marriages, the Supreme Court said in a recent judgment.
Background:
- India's caste system is perhaps the world's longest surviving social hierarchy.
- A defining feature of Hinduism, caste encompasses a complex ordering of social groups on the basis of ritual purity.
- A person is considered a member of the caste into which he or she is born and remains within that caste until death, although the particular ranking of that caste may vary among regions and over time.
- Differences in status are traditionally justified by the religious doctrine of karma, a belief that one's place in life is determined by one's deeds in previous lifetimes.
- Traditional scholarship has described this more than 2,000-year-old system within the context of the four principal varnas, or large caste categories.
- In order of precedence these are the Brahmins (priests and teachers), the Ksyatriyas (rulers and soldiers), the Vaisyas (merchants and traders), and the Shudras (laborers and artisans).
- "Untouchability" is reinforced by state allocation of resources and facilities; separate facilities are provided for separate caste-based neighborhoods.
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