Hathras rape incident is not new to us and for the greater society it might not be shocking either. In India, the cold-blooded reality is the occurrence of rape every 15 minutes. This is as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. What is usually overlooked in the statistics is the Dalit Women who are usually considered as the Untouchables by the Indian society are preferred to be raped by its men. It seems the taboo not to touch the Dalits thereby ensuring Untouchability momentarily fades when the lust of the Indian men ascends.
There were 107 cases in which 108 women of SC/ST communities were allegedly raped in Gujarat alone in 2019. Of these 41 victims were adults while 67 were minor girls. While Dalit women are the easy victims of Rape, in the matters of marriage this society is acutely dictated by the strange stigma called Unmarriageability which is nothing but the conjugal expression of Untouchability. While the violation of this custom is attracting gruesome Dishonour killings the struggle to lead a normal life by the inter-caste couples is even more daunting:
Ravindra and and Shilpa Bhartiya, an inter-caste couple from Saurashtra, have been on the run since they got married five years ago. Ravindra, a Dalit from Surendranagar, who married Shilpa, an upper caste woman from Bhavnagar, does not have a stable job – not because he cannot get one. Rather, it is to avoid a predictable routine which could lead them to being lynched, say the Bhartiyas. Equating their vagabond lives with those of gypsies, the couple say they live in constant fear of being located, and shudder to think of what would happen if they were ever found. In 5 years, the inter-caste couple has changed 25 homes in 5 cities.[1]
The caste system is not treated contrary to law. The refuters undoubtedly can be classified as ill-equipped. It is not at all a hard task to evince that the law does not prevent the propagation of caste system. The national newspapers in English and the vernacular languages serve adequate to show this. In no other societies, the Press has internalized the religious dictates and is maniacally obsessed in cherishing the differences existing among its people. Indian Press incubates the barbarian residues of the Hindu civilization. Even the open support the Press gives to the caste system mirages like a clandestine act because of the attitudinal inertness of the Indians against the caste system. The Indians are caste addicted and the Indian press never will rip them off it. All it is doing and will be doing is to meet and promote the caste requirements of its caste minded people.
Glance at the matrimonial classifieds. The vulgarity of a casteist society could not be pointed out better than this. In no other societies, such kind of overt vulgar prejudices is thoroughly ingrained in the social behaviour of its people and is remorselessly being advertised in the national newspapers and other dailies without facing the slightest objection. In the times ahead, the present caste matrimonial columns supported by the Indian Press would be censored. Time, not just will pass but will progress and the unacceptable prejudices of caste system are bound to be left behind. The course would not be a natural one, though.
The Young Generation should be very conscious of the Indian Press as the trumpet of stigma of Unmarriageability alias endogamy on caste line so long as the matrimonial advertisements are printed in it. Here and there, the Press brings into light the caste atrocities that includes humanity-sucking rape incidents- the recent one being the Hathras case and accommodates editorial articles offering a critique on the system of caste. Eyewash they are and it should be understood that the Press is the breeding platform of the endogamous practices. Mind you, marriages are the genes transmitting the caste from one generation to another. And the Indian Press incubates these genes to sustain the status quo that favours the instinctive psyche of the Indians to opt for endogamous marriages and resisting the emerging inter-caste marriages.
The Indian press may not be the reason for the endogamy to exist. But definitely they are the prime factor in the better facilitation of endogamous marriages. They shamelessly tabulate the men and women jati and gotra wise and favour match-making of the brides with the bridegrooms of same caste categories. Indian Press is a realm of contradictions and double standards. And its Pressmen are the fraudulent hypocrites. In the news columns, they report of honour killings happening because of exogamous marriages and inside in their matrimonial classifieds they breed for the endogamous marriages. They are alarmingly apathetic towards caste atrocities and shamelessly generate income through matrimonial classifieds. With no hold in the news media, the Unmarriageables should be very watchful in chiselling their destiny. It would have had been a favourable ambience for them if the caste matrimonies had been outrightly perceived as the menace against the sanctity of human equality. Unfortunately, they thrive devoid of constraints not merely as any other advertisements or classifieds for profit-making purposes but also without being interpreted against the law. Under the pretext of an individual’s personal liberty to choose her/his own spouse, a hardcore caste Hindu succeeds in shadowing and subduing her/his ulterior motive of caste prejudice safely and securely.
While the rape incidents are outrageous, the caste matrimonies are obnoxious. In the former, the cause of concern is the inefficiency of law and in the latter the cause for despair being the immoral custom.
A.B.Karl Marx Siddharthar, Author of ‘UNCASTE’ subtitled as ‘Understanding Unmarriageability: The Way Forward To Annihilate Caste’. The Book is available worldwide and the author’s email id is [email protected].
[1]Source: Ahmedabad mirror
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