The Problems of Backward Classes in India: a case study of the backward

movements

Sociology II

Submitted by

Chitrakshi Singh

(SF0116016)

Second Semester

National Law University, Assam

1
 Content

1. Introduction
1.1. Overview.....................................................................................................3
1.2. Literature Review........................................................................................3
1.3. Scope and Objective....................................................................................4
1.4. Research Questions......................................................................................4
1.5. Research Methodology.................................................................................4
2. Problems faced by the backward classes in the Indian society……….………………5
2.1 Segmental division of the society
2.2 The hierarchy……………………………………………………………………...7
2.3 Civil and religious
disabilities……………………………………………………………………………….10
2.4 Lack of choice of occupation…………………………………..…………………11
2.5 Restriction in marriage…………………………………………………………
3. The backward class movement in India……………………………………………….12
4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..20
Bibliography

2
 Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1- Overview

Indian society is characterized by a high degree of stratification based on caste, creed, colour,
region and social origin. Caste is a unique system of stratification found in India. It is
intimately related to social, economic and religious systems, and in recent times, to political
system as well. It is due to the prevalence of the caste system that social justice was denied to
a substantial number of its population, including backward classes. The atrocities meted out
to the backward class cannot go unseen. Every other day one wakes up to a news of an ill-
treatment given to a person of lower caste by one of a higher caste. A recent example of this
is the case of a village in Maharashtra where the higher caste people were agitated with the
lower sections of the village and in vengeance, they went on to spill oil in well which was the
only well that quenched the thirst of the entire portion occupied by the lower castes. Burning
down their houses, beating them to death, forcing to do unclean and hazardous jobs are just
some of the many ways that are adopted in order to torture them. This paper aims to highlight
the condition of Indian society as it used to prevail before the backward movements. Further,
the paper discusses the movements that took place diminish the control that is practiced on
them. Their impact on the society is discussed in brief detail.

1.2 – Literature review

Caste and race in India- G.S. Ghurye

Caste is the most dominant single aspect of Indian society and no study of Indian society can
be complete without getting into the ramifications of the Hindu caste system. Caste and Race
in India has remained a basic work for students of Indian sociology and anthropology, and
has been acclaimed by teachers and reviewers as a sociological classic. It provide vivid
informations of the social and economic conditions of people across India. GS Ghurye seeks
to encompass as many castes and their sufferings as possible. He has studied in great details
the behavioural patterns of different castes.

3
Backward class movement in India – Dr. M. Dinesh Hegde.

This book is a painstaking but engaging endeavour to critically consider the opportunities and
challenges that the backward class movement in India confronts today, with engrossing
empirical illustration drawn from India's Karnataka State. The commanding overview of this
study encompasses the entire gamut of social relations as well as the institutional response of
Indian polity to caste-based discrimination and social solidarities in India.

1.3 Scope and objectives-

The scope of this project is limited to the study of the problems of backward classes in India
and the backward movements that surfaced.

 The objective of this paper is to sensitize people about the conditions of a particular
section of the society
 To maintain a society with equality prevailing in it.
 To do away with any sort of discrimination.

1.4 Research Questions-

The literature review, scope and objective formed a road map of the research paper and thus
was pose some questions to be answered by the research-

What are the problems of the backward class in India?

What was the reaction to it over time?

What was the impact of the reaction?

1.5 Research Methodology

The doctrinal method has been used for the purpose for this research. The researcher has
gone through the secondary sources i.e. various books and journal articles pertinent to the
topic available. Moreover, the researcher has referred to various online databases and reliable
websites in the internet which added to the researcher’s understanding of the topic .All these

4
sources have helped to formulate the objectives and the research questions which formed the
basic framework of researcher’s study.

Chapter 2

Problems of the backward classes

The outstanding feature of the hindu society, ruled by the philosophy of castes, unaffected by
the modern ideas and rights and duties, may be discerned to be six-

1-Segmental division of the society-

1
This cast society was not a more or less homogeneous community in which whatever
distinctions of social status may exist cover so much in the background that a special enquiry
has to be made in order to realise their presence, but a society in which various groups with
distinct appellations were prominent castes were groups with a well-developed life of their
own, the membership whereof, unlike that of voluntary association and of classes, was
determined not by selection but by birth. 2The status of a person depended not on his wealth
as in the classes of modern Europe, but on the traditional importance of the caste in which he
had the luck of being born on the distinction between caste and class, as far only as cleavage
into well mark groups is concerned, MacIver observes "whereas in Eastern civilizations the
chief determinant of class and status was birth in the Western civilization of to-day wealth is
a class determinant of equal perhaps greater importance and wealth is a less rigid determinant
than birth it is more concrete ,and thus its claims are more easily challenged, itself a matter
of degree, it's less apt to create distinctions of kind, acquirable, it's very well, in permanent
lines of cleavage as does birth to restrict yourself to the Marathi region of person is born as
Raman Prabhu Marathi Vani Sonar Sutar Bhandari chamber if you take a vocation which is
3
not enmarked for a particular caste- say military- he remains a casteman all the same. A
brahmin general and a maratha general of equal status in army belonging to two different
status groups in their private life and there could not be any social intercourse between them
or equal terms but this is not the case in a class society where status is determined by
vocation and consequent income. Class has no Council standing or occasional to regulate the
conduct and guide the morals of its members apart from the laws of the community as a
whole. Members of one class follow different vocations, which when organized, possess

1
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.2
2
ibid
3
Ibid

5
standing executive committee which govern the members of their profession according to
their rules. these 4Rules generally exclude the legitimate province provinces of the wider
community and refer only to professional etiquettes and economic gain in the case of the
brain working professions, these common rules and this authoritative direction seek to
prescribe such matters as the qualifications for entry, the character of the training, methods of
remuneration, the conditions of employment, rules of behaviour towards fellow professionals
and the public, the qualifications and methods of selection for public appointments, and the
terms of service, the maintenance of the status of the profession, and the power expulsion like
the Brahmin and the Rajput have regular standing councils deciding on many more matters
than those taking cognizance of by the committees of the trade unions, associations or guilds
and thus encroaching on the province of the whole community. How the Brahmins and other
castes managed their affairs is not quite clear but in the case of Brahmins of Southern India at
least, it seems from an epigraphic record that as occasion arose they used to call a special
meeting of the members of the caste. 5The assembly could get its decree executed by the
king's officials. The governing body of a caste is called the panchayat. some of the offences
Dealt with by it are a)eating, drinking or similar dealings with a caste or sub-caste with which
such social intercourse is held to be forbidden, b) keeping as concubine a woman of another
caste c) seduction of or adultery with a married woman d)fornication e) refusal to fulfil a
promise of marriage f) refusing to send a wife to her husband when old enough g) refusing to
maintain a wife h)non-payment of debt i) petty assaults, etc. it will be seen from this list that
some of the offences tried by governing bodies of castes were such as usually dealt with by
the state in its judicial capacity. Thus, a cast was a group with a separate arrangement for
meting out justice to its members apart from that of the community as a whole, within which
the caste was included as only one of the groups. 6Hence the members of a caste ceased to be
members of the community as a whole, as far as that part of their morals which is regulated
by law of was concerned. This quasi Sovereignty of the cast is particularly brought to notice
by the fact that the caste Council was prepared try criminal offences decided by the courts of
law. This means that in this caste-bound society the mount of community feeling must have
been restricted, and that the citizens owed moral allegiance to their castes first, rather than to
the community as a whole. 7By segmental division we wish to connote this aspect of the
4
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.4

5
Ibid

6
https:// www.britannica.com/topic/untouchable
7
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.4

6
system. The punishments that these counsels awarded were 1) out casting, table temporary or
permanent, 2) fines 3) feasts to be given to the Castemen, 4) corporal punishment and 5)
sometimes religious expiation. The process of the fines were generally spent on a common
feast. Sometimes the perquisites of the panchayat were bought out of them and sometimes
again they were devoted to charitable purposes. This Description of the activities of a caste
Council will enable us to appreciate the remark, the caste is its own ruler the diversity in the
administration of law necessarily led to differences in moral standards of the various castes.
There was thus created a cultural gulf between the castes. We may note some of the items of
cultural differences among the castes to bring out clearly implications of this segmentation.
Many of these castes have their specialties deities. Among such castes from southern India
the following may be noted- Komati, kamsala, Gamalla, Idiga, Mala, and Madiga, from the
central provinces, Aheriya, Bahaliya, Kharwar, Korwa, Chero, Bhuiyar, Dom, Musahar and
Nai. About the differences in the religious outlook of the Madras castes it has been said
amongst the Brahmin community this one fact stands off clear and distinct, that they do not
indulge in the worship of gram Devata, the village gods, to which the aboriginal population
almost exclusively bows down. The customs about marriage and death vary widely among
the different castes. Brahmins did not permit widow marriage nor tolerate concubinage as a
caste practice. This could not be said of many lower castes. Not only were there such
differences in cultural matters among the different castes , but in theory also different
standards of conduct were upheld. thus the Brahmin government of Pune while passing some
legislations prohibiting the manufacture and sale of liquors excluded Bhandaris, kolis and
similar other castes from the operation thereof but strictly forbade the use of drink to
brahmins, shenvis, Prabhus and government officers.

8
TheHierarchy
Everywhere in India there is a definite scheme of social precedence amongst the castes, with
the brahamin as the head of the hierarchy only sothern India the artisan castes have always
maintained a struggle for a higher place in the social scale than that allowed to them by
brahminical authority. There is no doubt as to the fact that the members of this caste
(kammalan) dispute the Supremacy of the Brahmins. And that they hold themselves to be
equal in rank with them. 9John Freyer, who visited India in 1670, seems to re3fer to this

8
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.6
9
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.6

7
attitude. In any one of the linguistic divisions of India there are as many as two hundred
castes which can be grouped in classes whose gradation is largely acknowledged by all. But
the order of social precedence amongst individual castes of nay class cannot be made
definite, because not only is there no ungrudging acceptance of such rank but also the ideas
of people on this point are very nebulous and uncertain. The observations vividly bring out
this state of things “as the society now stands the place due to each community is not easily
distinguishable, nor is any common principle of precedence recognized by the people
themselves by which to grade the castes. Excepting the Brahmin at one end And the
admittedly degraded castes like the holeyas at the other, the members of a large proportion of
the intermediate castes think or Profess to think that their caste is better than their neighbours'
and should be ranked accordingly. Martin remarks about Bihar that the shudras there were
usually divided into 4 classes but adds that the people who assisted me in making up this
account could not with certainty refer each caste to its class for they never had bestowed to
enquire concerning the various claims of such low persons. Restrictions on feeding and social
intercourse - there are minute rules as to what sort of food or drink can be accepted by
persons and from what castes. But there is very great diversity in this matter. the practices in
10
the matter of food and social intercourse divide India into two broad belts. Hindustan
proper can be divided into 5 groups first,1) twice born 2)those caste at whose hands the twice
born can take "pakka" food 3) caste at whose hands that twice born cannot accept any kind of
food but may take water 4) cars that are not untouchable yet are such that water from them
cannot be used by twice born, last come all those caste whose touch defiles not only the twice
born but any orthodox Hindu. All food is divided into two classes kachcha and pakka, the
former being any food in the cooking of which water has been used and the latter all food
cooked in ghi without the addition of water. 11As a rule a man will never eat kachcha unless it
is prepared by a fellow casteman , which in actual practice means of member of his own
12
endogamous group whether it be cast or subcaste or else by his brahmin Guru. But in
practice most castes seem to take no objection to kachcha food from a Brahmin. Brahmin can
accept kachcha food at the hands of no other caste some of them like the Kanojia Brahmins,
so punctilious about these restrictions that as a proverb has it that 3 kanojias require no less
13
than 13 hearths . As for the pakka food it may be taken by a Brahmin at the hands of some
of the castes only. Man of higher caste cannot accept kachcha food from one of the lower, the
10
ibid
11
Ibid
12
ibid
13
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.7

8
latter may regale himself with similar food offered by a member of one of the cast accepted
to be higher than his own. But in practice most castes seem to take no objection to kachcha
food from a Brahmin. Brahmin can accept kachcha food at the hands of no other caste some
of them like the Kanojia Brahmins, so punctilious about these restrictions that as a proverb
14
has it that 3 kanojias require no less than 13 hearths . As for the pakka food it may be taken
by a Brahmin at the hands of some of the castes only. Man of higher caste cannot accept
kachcha food from one of the lower, the latter may regale himself with similar food offered
15
by a member of one of the cast accepted to be higher than his own. The ideas about the
power of certain caste to convey pollution by touch are not so highly developed in Northern
India as in the southern India . the idea that impurity can be transmitted by the mere Shadow
of an untouchable by his approaching within a certain distance does not seem to prevail in
Hindustan. No Hindu of decent caste what does a Chamar or a dom and some of the very low
castes themselves are quite strict about contact. thus bansphoi and basor, themselves branches
of the Dom caste, will neither a dom nor a dhobi, whilst the basor with all the intolerance of
the parevenu, tense his objections to the Musahar, chamar, dharkar and Bhangi..

16
In Bengal the Castes I divided into two main groups 1) the brahmins 2) the shudras. The
second class is further divided into 4 subclasses, indicating their status as regards food and
water a) does sat Sudia group includes suchcastes as kayastha and nabasakh. b)Then come
the Jalacharaniya- sudras , being those castes , not technically belonging to the nabasakh
group, from whom brahmins and higher castes can take water. c)then follow the
Jalabybahaiya -shudras, castes from whose hands, brahmins can take water. d)last stand the
Asprisya Sudras, castes whose touch is so impure as to pollute even the Ganges water, hence
their contact must be avoided. they are thus the untouchables. In the matters of food Western
Bengal resembles Hindustan except in this that in Bengal there are some people who will not
accept any Kachcha food even from the hands of a Brahmin. 17Pakka food can be taken
ordinarily not only from one's own or any higher caste but also from the confectioners class,
the Myras and the Halwais. As regards the position of the untouchables the following
observation will give a clear idea. 18Even wells are pollutedf if a low caste man draws water
from them, but a great deal depends on the character of the vessel used and of the well from

14
ibid
15
ibid
16
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.8

17
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.8
18
Ibid

9
which water is drawn. A masonry well is not easily defiled as one constructed with clay
pipes, and if it exceeds three and a half cubits in width so that a cow may turn round in it ,it
can be used even by the lowest caste without defilement. certain castes are looked down upon
and considered as so unclean that they may not enter the Courtyard of the great temples and
are compelled to live by themselves on the outskirts of villages.

19
The theory of pollution being communicated by some cast to the members of the higher
ones is also hear more developed. Theoretically, the touch of a member of any caste lower
than one's own defiles a person of the higher caste, in practice this rule is not strictly
observed. In the Maratha country the shadow of an untouchable is sufficient if it falls on a
member of higher caste to pollute him. In Madras and specially Malabar this Doctrine is still
further elaborated, so that certain caste have always to keep a stated distance between
themselves and the brahmins and other higher castes so as not to defile the latter. Thus the
shanar, toddy tapper of Madras, contaminates a Brahmin if he approaches the latter within 24
paces. A nayar may approach a nambudri brahmin but must not touch him, while a Tiyan
must keep himself at the distance of 36 steps from the Brahmin, and a Pulayan may not
approach him within 96 paces. 20A tiyan must keep away from a nayar at 12 paces while
some castes may approach the Tiyan, though they must not touch him. A Pulayan must not
come near any of the Hindu castes which is supposed to be carried with them by all except
the Brahmins, that the latter will not perform even their ablutions within the precincts of a
shudra's habitation. Generally the washerman and the barbers that serve the General Body of
villagers will not render their services to the unclean and untouchable castes. "Even a modern
Brahmin doctor when feeling the pulse of a shudra first wraps up patient's hands with a small
piece of silk so that he may not be defiled by touching his skin"

21
Civil and religious disabilities of certain sections of the society-

Segregation of individual castes or of groups of caste in a village is the most obvious mark of
civil privileges and disabilities and it has prevailed in the more or less definite form all over
India. sothern India, as in matters of ceremonial purity and untouchability stands out distinct
in the rigidity of these rules. In northern India, generally the Maratha country and, as it
appears sometimes in the Telugu and canaries region, it is only the impure caste that are
segregated and made to live on the outskirts of villages. It does not seem that other groups of

19
Ibid
20
ibid
21
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.10

10
caste have distinct quarters of the town or village allotted to them excepting in parts of
Gujarat.in the Tamil and Malayalam regions very frequently different quarter occupied by
separate castes. Sometimes the village is divided into 3 parts. For example a village in the
Ramnad district, the main portion is occupied by Nayakars, shepherds, artisans, washermen
and barbers, forming a group living in the North East corner of the village, while the
untouchables ply their trades in the North west and southeast corners. In Trichinopoly district
the villages have the houses arranged in streets. The brahmins, shudras and Panchama
quarters are separate, and in the last of these the Pallans, Paraiyans and chakkiliyans live in
separate streets.

22
It is recorded that, under the rule of the marathas and the peshwas, the Mahars and Manga
were not allowed within the gates of Pune between 3 p.m. and 9 am because before nine and
after 3 their bodies cast too long Shadows which falling on a member of the higher caste
especially Brahmin,would defile him. Many more atrocities were meted out to the backward
class people of the society and it is still prevelant.

23
Brahmanic and ceremonies are to be performed with the help of a ritual, two types of rituals
have been evolved -the vedic and the puranic. The vedic ritual is based on the Vedic mantra
and is regarded as of great sanctity , puranik is based on formula of less sanctity, not on
revealed knowledge. how great this feeling of Sanctity is can be gauzed from the fact that in
1843 a Brahmin professor advice to the Bombay Board of Education not to publish a certain
book because it contained quotations from panini's grammar which if printed would be
desecrated no sudras are asked to content themselves with the latter rituals, which for the
impure caste, Brahmin,unless he is a pseudo Brahmin or an apostat would not ministers at all.
It is only from the hands of a clean shudra again that a brahmin will accept gifts which are
meant to store of merit for the donor.

24
Lack of choice of occupation –

Generally a caste or a group of allied castes considered some of the callings as its hereditary
occupation, to abandon which in pursuit of another, though it might be more lucrative was
thought not to be right. Thus a brahmin thought that it was correct for him to be a priest,
while the Chambhar regarded it as his duty to cure hides and prepare shoes. 25This was only

22
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/40021/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
23
ibid
24
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.15
25
Ibid

11
generally true, for they work groups of occupations like trading, agriculture, labouring in the
field,and doing military services which were looked upon as anybody's and most castes were
supposed to be eligible for any of them. 26Among the artisans , which were more or less of the
same status were open to the members of these castes without incidental degradation. It was
not only the moral restraint and the social check of one’s caste fellows that acted as a restraint
on the choice of one’s occupation, but also the restrictions put by other castes, which did not
allow members than those of their own castes to follow their callings. Of such restrictive
regulations, there were in operation only those concerning the profession of priests, no one
not born a Brahmin bein allowed to be a priest. 27The effect of these rules was that the priestly
profession was entirely monopolised by the Brahmins, leaving aside the mini strands of the
aboriginal deities, while they were seen plying any trade or calling which suited their tastes
and which was not polluting. 28The majority of the Konkanasth and Deshasth Brahmins of the
Maratha country were devoted to secular persuits, filling offices of every kind including the
village accountantship. During the Maratha upheaval and after, the Brahmins entered the
professions of arms in fairly large number. Before the indian mutiny, the kanojia Brahmins
used to enter the Bengal army as sepoys in large numbers. Some of the rarhi Brahmins of
Bengal accepted service under the mohmodin ruler.

29
Restrictions in marriage-

Most of the groups, whose features we have attempted to characterize above, are further
divided into a number of subgroups, every one of which forbids its members to marry persons
outside it. Each of these groups, popularly known as the subcasts, is thus endogamous. This
principle of endogamy is such a dominant aspect of their caste society that a prominent
sociologist is led to regard endogamy as ‘the essence of the caste system’ 30There are
however general rules of marrying within one’s own group which are due to the practices of
hyper gamy. In some parts of Punjab, especially the hills, a man of a higher caste can take to
wife a girl from one of the lower castes, while in Malabar, the younger sons of the Nambudri
and other Brahmins with the Kshatriya and the Nair women.

26
ibid
27
Ibid
28
ibid
29
Ghurye GS, Cate and Race in India, Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1932, p.18

30
ibid

12
 Chapter 3

Social movement of Backward Classes in India

13
31
The backward class consists mainly the lower castes and Harijan. With the establishment of
British rule and spread of modern humanistic idea of new awareness had developed in India
against the oppressive nature of caste system.32The activities of the Christian missionaries to
win converts among lower castes and the various socio-religious reform movement among
the Hindus further contributed to the growth of awareness among the lower caste against
Brahmin’s domination and the oppressive nature of the caste system. This led to the
emergence of various backward class movements in early 20th century.33The British
Government also lent support to these movements in order to weaken the freedom struggle.
Some of the important backward class movement which grew in early 20th century were:

1. Dravidian Movement

2. SNDP Movement

3. Mahar Movement

According to MSA Rao these backward class movement were transformative in nature.

34
1. Dravidian Movement:
With the spread of Christianity and the western education, the non-Brahmin in the Madras
presidency region developed a new awareness as a result of which resentment started
growing among them against the domination by Brahmin and other higher castes in
profession as well as in politics, especially the Congress Party. They believed that, if they had
to make successful careers, the domination of Brahmins in professional and political life had
to be first overthrown.

35
By 1914 this conflict between the emerging non-Brahmin urban middle class and the
establishment of mostly Brahmin middle class and upper class took a sharp turn. The non-
Brahmin caste uniting themselves and the Non-Brahmin Manifesto published in 1916 was
followed by the formation of South Indian Association in 1917. After the Montague
Chelmsford Reforms ‘South-Indian Association’ was converted into Justice Party to counter
the political influence of the Congress.

31
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/131772/10/10_chapter%203.pdf
32
ibid
33
ibid
34
Ibid
35
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/131772/10/10_chapter%203.pdf

14
36
However the Justice Party was a party of urban educated professional middle class elite in
nature and therefore failed to build a mass base. Soon after, the self-respect movement was
founded in 1925 by E.V. Ramaswami Naicker.

37
The self-respect movement was based on the Dravidian ideology to save the non-Brahmin
from the tyranny of Brahmin who were considered Aryans The self-respect movement aimed
at removing the control of Brahmin from the social and political level and sought to wean the
people away from the puranic ritualistic Hinduism necessitating the presence of Brahmin
priest.

38
It considered the Brahmin as the symbol of all exploitation. This movement was successful
in appealing to the masses and acquired a mass following finally; the self-respect movement
and Justice Party were merged in 1944 to form Dravida Kazhagham headed by Naicker. It
adopted a militant mass agitational strategy and advocated an egalitarian ideology
condemning the caste system.

39
Later on in 1949, due to difference between the Naicker and C. N. Annadurai who led the
younger section in the Dravida Kazhagham, there was a spoilt leading to the formation of
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham. The majority of the rank and file of D.K. joined the DMK.
Initially the support base of DMK consisted of the lower middle class, students, lower castes
like Nadars Marwars and Adi. Dravidians and unemployed youth, etc. Cinema was one of the
effective media which was used by DMK to propagate its ideology and win a mass base.

A consequences of the DMK was the decline in the domination of Brahmins in Tamil Nadu, a
new sense of release and freedom among the lower castes. However, later on as DMK tried to
capture power, it gradually abandoned its reformist zeal and even the demand for creation of
a separate Dravidian Nadu and acquired a character of one of the mainstream political parties
with a rational support base.

40
2. SNDP (Sri Naryan Dharma Pratipalan Movement):
36
ibid
37
ibid
38
ibid
39
ibid
40
Accessed on www.ncbc.nic.in/.../AR%202012-13%20Pandey635705824205955927.pdf

15
This movement was launched among the Izhavas of Kerala by their leader Narayan Guru.
Traditionally, Izhavas were an untouchable castes of Toddy Trappers e.g. they had to stay
away thirty four feet from the Namboodhar. Brahmins They suffered from many other
disabilities both social and ritual. They were denied access to Hindu temples or to the bathing
tank of Hindus. Their women were not allowed to cover their breast or to wear any footwear,
nor could they build pucca house.

41
In the later part of the 19th century with the spread of modern humanistic and secular ideas
and also the spread of egalitarian -ideas through Christianity, Izhavas came to view their
situation as one of the deprivation and exploitation. Under the charismatic leadership of Sri
Narayan Guru they rejected Brahminical domination and developed a new interpretation of
Hinduism. Next ‘according to MSA Rao, they adopted the strategy of withdrawal and self
-organisation.
42
The new idealogy was based on the principle of self-respect, honour and worth of
individual. It was an ideology of protest against the Brahminical values system of hierarchy
and pollution. S.N. Guruswami established a parallel source of legitimacy by establishing
new institutions like temple priest, monk and monasteries.

43
Later T.V. Madhavan led the Vaikum Temple Road Entry Movement in 1927, under the
patronage of Mahatma Gandhi. After the two years of sustained Satyagraha the Izhavas were
granted the right to use the road which ran near the Vaikum Temple which was woned by
upper caste this was a historic victory against orthodox ideas-of pollution. Thus, the leaders
of the movement were able to achieve for their followers all the basic rights in the field of
religion, education, employment and politics.

44
The SNDP movement represented one of the most successful attempts of the untouchable
castes to alter the traditional balance of power besides improving their own positions. It also
demonstrated that it was possible to remain within the fold of Hinduism and yet escape from
the stigma of untouchability. The new awareness arose among Izhavas tribes. The movement
motivated them to take to modern education which in the long run enabled them to aces to the

41
ibid
42
ibid
43
Accessed on www.ncbc.nic.in/.../AR%202012-13%20Pandey635705824205955927.pdf

44
ibid

16
modern occupation and professions which carried high rewards in terms of prestige and
wealth. Thus Izhavas as a community successfully raised their status in society.

45
3. Mahar Movement:
Mahar are numerically significant caste of Maharashtra who were traditionally considered as
untouchable. Normally, they were allocated menial task like sweeping, digging graves,
removing caracasses of dead animals, cutting woods and playing music on ceremonial
occasion in the village. They were denied access to civil amenities like wells, school and
even service of Brahmins and Barbers etc. In the early 20th century, the Mahars started
organizing themselves in fight against discrimination and to prove their status. They held
conference in 1902 and insisted on recruitment to military and police service.
They were helped by the leaders of Non-Brahmin movement in Maharashtra, especially by
the depressed class Mission (1906) established by U.R. Shinde. The mission started separate
schools and hostels for Mahars. Also, the efforts made by Mahatma Gandhi for the abolition
of untouchability and overall impact of freedom struggle created new social awakening
among them.

46
Later on, leadership for upliftment of Mahars was started by B.R. Ambedkar, a Mahar
lawyer educated at the Columbia University. Ambedkar provided a new movement and a
radical turn of Mahar Movement.

He rejected the Gandhian approach relying on change of the heart of caste Hindu and of
incorporating the Harijan in the Sudra Varna; instead he adopted a new strategy of aggressive
protest and resorted to political action.

47
He demanded separate electorate for the Harijans and during the late 20s, and early 30s
several Satyagrahs were held for gaining entry into Hindu temple and Manusmriti was burnt
to show their indignation against orthodox Hindus.

48
Ambedkar was responsible for the various Constitutional provisions for the welfare of
untouchable including the policies of reservation. However, Ambedkar was disillusioned

45
ibid
46
Accessed on www.ijaprr.com/download/1440420598.pdf
47
on www.ncbc.nic.in/.../AR%202012-13%20Pandey635705824205955927.pdf
48
ibid

17
about the possibility of the Mahars or Harijan in general, being able to improve their
condition within the fold of Hinduism. Thus, he decided to abandon Hinduism altogether and
along with five lakhs Mahars embraced Buddhism.

49
The ideology of Mahars Movement was different from that of SNDP movement. While the
former relied on total rejection of Hindusim. The latter at interpretation of Hindusim. The
reason for adopting Buddhism was its egalitarian ideology. Thus Mahars could escape the
stigma of untouchable and other forms of discrimination.

50
Moreover, the collective mobilization of Mahars in the course of social movement created a
new awareness among the Mahars regarding their educational, economic and political rights.
They took to modern education in large numbers which enabled them to secure the new
occupation in the urban areas. Thus the overall social status of the Mahars was raised.

Conclusion

India is considered to be the most stratified of all known societies in human history with its
peculiar form of caste. The caste system is 'peculiar' in the sense that it is one ofthe greatest
separating forces that have been used.to divide human beings, mainly into two categories:
higher castes and lower castes. This simple division is backed by certain religious sanctions,
which yield to what sociologists' term 'purity' and 'pollution' concepts. These religious
sanctions make possible a renewal of legitimacy of Indian caste system even after it is
49
ibid
50
ibid

18
challenged throughout the course of history. Thus, the caste system with its myriad variations
of superordination and subordination still exists in all the regions of India with different
degrees of rigidity. But the fact that the depressed sections are realising and taking
cognizance of the fact that they do not deserve the atrocitites that they are meted out to can
also be not ignored. Many movements for the cause of their community were taken up by
them for the same reason. They do not want their children to go through the same sufferings
as they did for no faults of their own. Therefore, to make Indian society free from any kind of
discrimination and biases, people from all the class should come together to bring equality
and finally peace in the society.

Bibliography

Online databases

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/40021/7/07_chapter%202.pdf

www.ncbc.nic.in/.../AR%202012-13%20Pandey635705824205955927.pdf

www.ijaprr.com/download/1440420598.pdf

Books referred

Caste and race in India- G.S. Ghurye.

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