Bharat Chand

My grandfather had once hit me with a stick when I was studying in the eighth grade at our village school. My grandfather was angry because I had one of my friends who hailed from the marginalised community cut my hair. "You should not let the lower caste people touch your head as it would stop your physical and mental growth" was the remark made by the old man after gi ving me four whacks with his stick.
The friend of mine undoubtedly had better skills in cutting hair than anyone in the area. Finding a barber to have our hair cut in the village was similar to finding a diamond in a jungle. While incorporating various rights and duties of people, our constitution has mentionined the marginalised people as the lower caste people which would not help eliminate the problem. People’s perception towards the lower caste communities must change holistically to end the evil disrcriminatory practice.

Pathetic
One of my students pursuing studies at the bachelor’s degree requested to see one of the write-ups she has recently penned as a part of maintaining her diary about how she was treated when she was a teenager in the village. While going through her diary, a pathetic situation emerged- she was denied receiving Tika from the village priest while her friends playing along with her received the same. The tenderness of her age then barred her from understanding the discrimination she had faced. Later, she came to realise that the caste-based discriminatory attitude of the society had hindered her in receiving Tika from the priest. The same attitude of society had led to the closure of all the doors of society to her. Society had treated her as a pariah.
Another compelling and heart-rending episode she shared through her emotionally crafted write-up is that neither her brother nor her sister in law was allowed to visit the house of her sister-in-law owing to the inter-caste marriage they had done a few years ago.
Numerous instances of ill-treatment towards the oppressed and marginalised groups, particularly in South Asian countries, have diminished the lower caste people's opportunities to reach the height of success despite having guaranteed the quota for the members of the marginalised community in the constitutions of South Asian nations.
Graded inequality prevailing in our society has led the situation to be worsening more than ever. When we believe that society is composed of four different Varnas such as the Brahmins, Kshetriya, Vaishyas and Shudras, the oppressed class and their problems will remain the same even in the decades to come.
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, one of the intellectuals and designers of the Indian constitution, pointed out that the division of society into four varnas had quashed the hopes and aspirations of those lying on the marginal line making three varnas- the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas superior to the Sudras. Because the three Vrana people can keep Sudras as inferior. The Sudras on the other hand cannot have others to dominate.
The brutal killing of Nabraj Bishwokarma in Rukum almost a year ago, on a charge of having love affairs with a higher caste girl, is the result of the graded inequality. As he had hailed from a lower caste community, he was not accepted by the upper caste people, resulting in his death along with some of his friends. The societal structure that existed for decades does not allow the marginalised community members to cross the boundary line set forth by the upper caste people.
Moreover, the society for long has been structured in such a way that it does not want anyone to question its prevailing system. Nothing grandeur will happen in society if we do not pose questions to the existing evil practices.
The psyche of the higher caste people needs to change drastically as far as the equal existence of the marginalised people is concerned. Introducing social reforms in all the sectors is equally essential.
How long the psyche of the people worsens the existence of other marginalised people striving for equality has surreally been expressed by Isabel Wilkerson in her most recent book named ‘Caste’. She assiduously makes the point on how African-Americans were and are considered inferior to the whites is worth mentioning here. The vast majority of African-Americans residing in North and South of the USA have been treated inhumanely during the 19th century.
They were not only mistreated in public places but also informal institutions like schools and colleges as well. The tendency to keep separate sets of textbooks for the blacks and whites and segregating the places was the custom then that only denigrated the value of the black people in educational institutions. India and Nepal for instance have similar problems of segregating the lower caste people while performing religious or social rituals.

Hurdles
ur educational institutions having decades of experiences in delivering education to the pupils do rarely discuss and bring forth the issue concerning the marginalised community and the hurdles they have been facing today to eliminate the problems deep-rooted in society.
Dr Sanjeev Upreti, a scholar and retired professor of English, rightly points out that it is the society that has made him what he is today. Society has been beneficiary to the people of higher caste in comparison to the lower ones. The impact of hard work and persistent effort however is equally important in shaping one’s future. Had the people of the marginalised class got the opportunity similar to him, there would have been many people like him.
The traditional skills help the people of all castes to perform the tasks such as knitting the Doko, Bhakari out of bamboo and Ningala as well as making pots from soil and weapons and utensils from iron. These skills could help the entire nation move towards prosperity. These tasks will eventually help reduce the unemployment rate and will stop many from going out of the country seeking jobs.
Demonstrating respect to all the people can help eliminate the problems we have been witnessing for a long. The programmes like Aaina being aired on television and social media lately also can guide society towards eliminating existing social anomalies.

(An independent researcher, Chand teaches English at colleges)