Politicization of Caste

The trend of politicization of caste has been dominant in the context of Indian politics since the 1990s. The rise of the support for the regional parties that advocated the interests of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) contributed to this. Leaders of different political parties take advantage of the existing casteism for mobilizing support from those considered to belong to lower castes. The voters, at the other end, choose people that belong to their castes with anticipation that their fellow caste leader would advocate their social and economic aspirations.

The Caste system and division have been the most dominant and the most prevalent way to practice social stratification in India. The traditional system has categorized and labeled people according to different Caste and Sub-caste. Historically traced, the caste system in India divided people based on occupation. At the earliest, people were hierarchically classified into four caste groups called varnas. The highest position was given to Brahmans, usually priests and scholars. Following them in the caste pyramid were the Kshatriyas, or political rulers and soldiers. The Vaishyas, or merchants, were ranked third. The fourth was the Shudras, who were usually laborers, peasants, artisans, and servants.  

Throughout history, various political movements and leaders have tried to bring exponential reforms in the society to promote greater inclusion among different castes and communities. Nonetheless, this type of social division has also been an overused political sentiment to earn the trust of voters. In modern India, we can witness the implementation of positive discrimination policies. The reservation for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in education and employment is an example of affirmative action. Affirmative action is defined as those actions taken to safeguard the interest of disadvantaged communities. Thus, individuals also have a caste identity that has its own political and legal interpretation. There are a lot of scenarios through which we can comprehend that casteism in the nation has not been totally disbanded. It is rather an active component of political issues and has been emerging in new forms.