Not in the caste: what really fuels conflicts in India

Many people still associate India with castes. Moreover, there have been many more than four of them for a long time. So, in Mumbai, in addition to the iconic Dharavi slum, there is a huge open-air laundry where representatives of the lower castes work. But modern Indians are sure that this does not play a big role, and with a basic education, you can be anyone. At the same time, against the background of the conflict with Pakistan, the division of society manifests itself on a different, rather religious basis. The echoes of the partition of British India are still felt, even within the same family. So far, the parties have agreed to extend the ceasefire until May 18, although New Delhi periodically accuses Islamabad of violating the truce. How Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims get along in the most populous country in the world and why most Indians support the decision of the authorities — in the Izvestia report.

Are there still castes in India?

Many countries are often associated with a set of specific stamps. When imagining India, curry, Holi colors or Bollywood immediately come to mind. However, in the case of Asian countries, the most common associations are also related to their historical, cultural or religious characteristics. So, Bharat, which is the name of this colorful country in Hindi, is distinguished by a caste system. It is believed that it appeared as early as the second millennium BC and has been preserved to this day. However, according to the Indians themselves, now it remains only in the villages. Most often, there are brahmins (priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (merchants and artisans) and sudras (hired workers). Even lower than the Sudras are the Dalits or the so—called "untouchables."

You can find stories that, for example, girls from the untouchables were already in sexual slavery in the 21st century, because their lives and freedom are "worthless" because of their origin. The situation among the Sudras is not much better. In remote parts of the country, if they touch a brahmin, then, for example, he will wash three times, says a taxi driver from Mumbai.

It is worth emphasizing that here we are not talking about castes, but about varnas, categories of Indian society in ancient times based on the type of activity. And now, according to various sources, there are from 5 to 25 thousand castes in India, and they vary significantly in each individual region. Thus, the main groups include advanced castes, registered castes and tribes, as well as OBC (other backward classes) — "other backward classes". According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, a third of Indian residents identify themselves as advanced, or general castes, including almost 4% of Brahmins. Approximately 70% identify themselves as lower castes.

By the way, the famous Dharavi quarter, which became iconic thanks to the movie "Slumdog Millionaire," is far from the only slum in the metropolis. I managed to visit a place that is a huge open—air laundry room, and adjacent, of course, to elite high-rise buildings - a typical Mumbai landscape. Such places are called dhobi ghat, where "dhobi" is an Indian caste belonging to the untouchables, and its representatives specialize in washing clothes. The Indians living there essentially serve the entire city, and for this they receive 5-6 thousand rupees per month (4,700 – 5,640 rubles). They live and eat there too. Children sometimes bathe in concrete laundry vats.

Nevertheless, most residents of large and not very large cities are far from this cultural phenomenon and do not consider it a problem. The main thing is to get an education, and you can be anyone, the locals are sure.

— Let's say I'm a low-caste sudra from a village who came to Mumbai. I'm a millionaire now. A big man," said Gurcharan Singh.

By the way, Gurcharan has friends among the brahmins, while they work with him as taxi drivers — it would seem that this is not the most suitable activity for representatives of the upper caste. This to some extent confirms that in India caste does not matter as much as it might seem at first glance. Although government agencies allocate quotas for them in order to avoid discrimination.

The real problem in Indian society may lie not in the caste division, but in the religious or ethno-confessional one. And this was shown by the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 27 civilians.

The conflict between India and Pakistan has revealed religious differences

Kashmir is a strategically important region, the so—called gateway to Central Asia. Historically, important trade routes took place there, military operations were carried out — in the case of the latter point, as practice shows, nothing has changed. Muslim conquerors came here from the northwest, and therefore many different states were created here, including Arab and Turkic ones. Against this background, since about the 8th century, the contradiction between Muslims and Hindus has been formed. After the partition of British India in 1947, as a result of which two independent states were formed, everything became even more mixed up.

Of course, Hindus (or Hindus) in India are still the majority - about 80%. Muslims make up, it would seem, only 13%, however, given the huge population of India, there are about 200 million of them in the country. That's about what the entire population of Brazil is, for example. Moreover, for many Muslims living in India, converting to Islam has become a way out of the caste system.

Thus, everything that is happening in Kashmir is like a litmus test for relations between Hindus and Muslims. As now, so in 2019, after another incident, the Indian side accused the Pakistani side of supporting terrorists operating in disputed territories and launched a military operation.

Residents of Mumbai, New Delhi or Agra - for example, drivers, souvenir shop owners, hotel staff, students — mostly support the decision of the authorities. Many people claim that both Hindus and Muslims live peacefully under the same roof. Although there are also opposing opinions. For example, a financier working for a foreign company believes that Narendra Modi's government is deliberately inciting an anti-Muslim narrative among Hindus, as if painting the image of a "common" enemy. By the way, the opposition often accuses the Prime Minister of persecuting the Muslim minority.

— I have many friends and even a brother who work for the Bharatiya Janata Party (the leading party in India). He works under Narendra Modi, and I often tell him that this is all a game, they use ordinary people," Provin said.

Some locals react very nervously to questions about the relationship between different faiths. In particular, they recommend paying attention to the affairs in their own country, and then talking about the problems of Indian society.

It is curious that a few days after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which became the reason for the current escalation, the commander of the Pakistan Army, General Asim Munir, did not smooth out the corners and transferred the problem to the religious plane. "The two-nation theory was based on the fundamental belief that Muslims and Hindus are two separate nations, not one. Muslims differ from Hindus in all aspects of life — religion, customs, traditions, thinking and aspirations," he said. An even louder statement followed the other day: "Pakistan has waged three wars for Kashmir and is ready to wage 10 more wars for the people of Kashmir."

By the way, the taxi driver Gurcharan from Mumbai is a Sikh. There are about 2% of them in India. But they can be easily distinguished in a crowd by the turban on their heads, the impressive beard and moustache. His friends are not only Brahmins, but also Muslims. According to him, they all get along great.