Nobody who has undeserved political or economic power wants to give it up.

It is easier to change laws, much harder to change how people think.

There's something ironic about considering yourself 'educated' and favouring 'caste'.

it's very common here in india, i belong from lower caste community. It's very common to listen casteist slur against my cast, if i piss of someone from upper caste, he will try his best to degrade me by casteist slur

The caste system makes no sense of an industrializing society. If India wants to reach its full potential, they'll have to make social mobility easier. Also, it's a shame that someone's humanity can be rejected due to the social group they were born in.

Back when I was doing my internship in California, my supervisor who was a white, 40 year old 🇺🇸 American woman was married to this 40+ year old 🇮🇳 Indian man who was born a Dalit, his family emigrated to the 🇺🇸 US as a teenager and became relatively well off/upper middle class after moving to the States. She told us a story of how years ago, when they (back when they were around 30 years old) traveled to India to visit his hometown and family, a lot of those upper caste people were shocked and a bit frustrated seeing a Dalit being well off and married to a white/American woman. They married each other out of love but the other non-Dalits couldn't understand how a Dalit could end up rich (at least by Indian standards) and married to a white woman, with many of those higher caste people going up to her and demanding to know why she was married to a Dalit or asking if she knew that her husband was a Dalit (which she reply that she does know that but that it's not something that mattered to her).

0:29: 🌍 On April 24, 2023, India officially became the most populous country in the world, surpassing China according to the United Nations. 3:38: 📚 The ancient social organization in Hinduism is based on dividing people into castes, which are hereditary and determine their roles and status in society. 7:24: 📜 The Indian government has attempted to dismantle the rigid social stratification through various laws and policies, with the Mandal Commission report sparking a heated debate. 10:45: 🔹 The caste system in India still exists and has a significant impact on society today, with lower castes and scheduled tribes facing discrimination and disadvantage. 14:01: 📚 India's high number of educated population is a positive factor for development, but the caste system limits access to education for many talented individuals. Recap by Tammy AI

Some people have low self esteem. They use those caste system to feel better. This caste system is so backward

Caste system will never die as this system is beneficial for the rulers above us, I can guarantee that even a dalit politician who has come up on caste politics doesn't want this to happen. I come from small village in Bengaluru I have seen my city change from a small sleepy town to a metropolis but i have seen my people go back 10 yrs on caste related in these years. My MLA thrives on his dalit identity just for getting votes from majority dalit population but i have not seen any development in the community in terms of education or social welfare, He just calls on the name of Ambedkar and gets the votes and the people in need get the boots!!

Caste system is an integral and important part of Hinduism.

My brother used to be an undertaker. He said that he hated working for Indian immigrants because they thought he was an untouchable.

No country needs to sabotage india because she does it fantasically well to herself.

The fact that most Indians I know advocate for the re-establishment of the cast system it's quite strange ....

😢 casteism (untouchability )and caste system is still a reality of India , caste proud is very common in Hindus .you can see it at every spectra of life , and some upper caste Hindus defend it by giving the argument of reservation

This problem of caste discrimination extends into foreign countries like the US. We had cases filed in the US for discrimination between Indians of different castes in the workplace.

Sometimes when I read comments against Untouchable Dalits on Instagram - I feel like a non-Hindu atheist that the jati-varna system won't end in India for the next 1000 years until the religion collapses.

Indian born Australian here. Never hand to deal with the caste issue myself. However heard some terrible stories. Including highly skilled and educated Indian migrants who would refuse to have lunch or talk to someone who had a background of being from a Dalit caste

Caste system is abolished in the eyes of law only in the paper. But in reality it is still exists today in every sphere of life.

I am Indian and I had no idea about what the caste system even was, but my mother often discriminated against people i now understand it was based on cast I mean, this one guy who I won't get into lived abroad, and yet my mother discriminated that one guy being on a lower cast despite being more modern and wealthy. Lucky me, I never adopted this ideology.

The solution to the caste system was given by Dr. Ambedkar nearly a century ago, that it must come trough education, agitation, and organization, or simply put active political participation.

America should allow all Dalits of India who can past a college entrance exam to immigrate live and work in America. We could take in at least 30 million over the next 10 years. If India don't want them we should take them.

India has loads of problem. caste system, religious intolerance and economic disparity are some of the major obstacles. A large population in the age of automation isn't really a good thing for any nation.

This is going to Pissoff a lot of (modi)bhakts

My fellow Indians who are commenting that this is an issue from Govt side, I just want to ask them where are they living. Cast system is ingrained in our social system, in people minds and hearts....although many very few % of boomeers and little bit more % of millenials are against of the cast system, but till now high % Gen Z people of India also follow this cast system...education, class and status doesn't matter for the people who don't want to progress in this perticuler case...we can't irradicate this system if people don't want to work on ending it....because of laws many changes happened, but if still large % of Gen Z are still following this syatem then it will take long long time to end this....this is and will impact our Nation's development....we need to work on ending this for our good only

There is some behavior by high caste Indians who come to America that the locals consider incredibly bizarre. For instance, there was one living in filth because she felt that a high caste person couldn't take out the garbage. Others won't replace light bulbs because that is a low caste job. However, after a while, these people usually adjust to the local customs.

It's amazing that virtually all of the coastal regions have more or less given up on caste yet the hinterlands still struggled from it.

Caste System has very very deeply ingrained into the Indian psyche. Deleting it has become very very difficult. But I can say prejudice is decreasing.

There were many who have actively campaigned for the elimination of caste system, Unfortunately Caste is the bread and butter of many political dynasties who have caste based vote banks and "Social" organizations, if it is eliminated these people will be jobless and hence they will always fight for the caste system rather than against it by packaging it as a fight for "their " caste.

Casteism varies from region to region, in some Indian states casteism is low, and in some casteism is high, much alike how race is prevalent in southern US more than it is the Northern states. Generally there's a group of people in India constituting to 20% of the population, who barely survive, their children go to school for a meal, and drop out from school before 14, not because of money, but for need of work, destroying the talent prior fruition. If you look closely you'll find casteism is associated with poverty, and historically most of the untouchables were exempt from the society, implying that these people were once in power and then subjugated and reduced to such state by the ones who came after and became kings. Example of this is the Nandas who had an empire but were vanquished by the Mauryas and every source you find calls them 'low born'. How can an emperor be low born?

This shouldn't surprise anyone.

That relic must go, India's caste system is the reason why people so easily converted to Islam and why there is Pakistan and Bangladesh. It's a terrible, terrible idea in 20th century, but we are in 21th.

It takes a long time to break down a system that's been around for centuries. Just give them time, they will get it done

Today in India, novody can systematically discriminate anyone on the basis of their caste. But the differences and divides are very much alive in people's minds. Even today in most parts (barring major cities) people of different caste groups dont even live in the same area, forget about intermarrying or any other cultural exchange.

Ending this madness is a nobrainer.

Caste system simply exist in modern india , becoz its made legalized by constitution . People have been demanding to ban caste system , but its not possible legally as it need change in constitution .

I've been in I.T. since 1999 (Y2K) and I can only speak to what I have personally experienced. As an "African-American" male I know that if I go to an interview with an Indian male in some form of power role, I will not get that job. I assumed it was maybe caste related, that by being black was even below their caste system but I also factored into consideration that most people are tribal when it comes to accepting people into their groups and whatnot. Even among white people I have a pretty good track record for getting a job, mostly by mentioning that I was veteran of the Gulf war. When I learned of the caste system I would ask an Indian coworker about it but learned that no one wanted to talk about it, I assumed that the people I asked had benefitted from it and thus didn't want to talk about it? It is interesting to see another perspective on discrimination.

India just turned out to be the most populated country in the world last week.

India is not a new China.

1.4 billion people. That these is probably the biggest reason for poverty in India.

Young indians are well educated so they don't need caste or religion. They have confidence in their competence.

If you have ever been to North India you will see why having the largest population in the world is not necessarily a good thing.

Well, answering the questions: Government officials are also dependent on the powerful and influential elites that follow the traditional prejudice in their social class. It is obvious that interbreeding between wealthy families is concurrent because of the consolidation of wealth opportunity, just like monarchs used to do. Along with the situations mentioned, also cooperation with other institutions and individuals with decision-making status with triage the ones who are disadvantaged or do not have social [high] status. Elitism will always exist in countries where inequality persists, which in the Indian situation is reinforced by religious-social issues.

advice to low castepeople, make a group train, fight make your own country that is how the world mechanics works

15:45 Regarding the mention to the reservation system in Educational Institutions and Govt. Jobs, I would like to correct the narrative. Although, applicants from the lower castes can avail the specific reservation quota the rest of the seats are UNRESERVED (not for the favoured upper class). UNRESERVED seats are filled completed on merit base.

Yep,you are right indian parents favor their children marry in the same caste,and people from backward casts are way poorer on average so this lack of money effect their education as well,because of lack of money they can't afford say private university and only govt university have this reservation system based on cast and ews quota.(economically weaker section)but it is also true that discrimination has reduced a lot and it will keep on decreasing as duties of old generation are taken by new generation.

a lot of the comments aren't recognising that caste systems exist in a lot of developed countries. Look at the US - that's a caste system if every I've seen one. At least in India they acknowledge there is a system!

In the UK a similar system of social segregation also exists. It was not based on religion, though. That will make the breakdown of the Indian system so much harder. South Africa also has a similar system called Apartheid.

This system is the reason India will never be able to replicate China's miracle

If history teaches us anything, societies that flourish the most are the ones that marginalize people the least. National prosperity is linked to how many people are allowed to contribute to the furthering of national growth. The worst thing a nation can do is bar people from fully living out their potential, because of their background.

Still can't really believe it's a reality in this day and age

The video forgot to mention B.R. Ambedkar

As long as Indian govt keep mentioning abt caste system in it's official documents and constitution it won't fade away anywhere in centuries. Caste system existed in Europe as well but we only see it in history texts not on govt documents.

India has what most foreign investors like a large population of poor people to exploit, and at the same time a large population of highly educated people who's knowledge can be exploited for far less remuneration than would suffice in that company's western home base.

Thanks for for making this awareness video, this channel is awesome for making such informative video.

This video is an exaggeration of the issue - the ability to succeed in India is NOT limited by the caste one was born to. Just look at 2023 - the most powerful Indian Politican is from the "Backward castes". The main leader of the Opposition in Parliament is from the Untouchable Caste/Dalit. The current President and the previous President were from tribal and untouchables castes respectively. Nearly half of all engineering, medicine, civil service and graduate enrollment is reserved for disadvantaged castes. Many untouchables have moved up the class hierarchy. While there are lots of Upper castes who are struggling to move up the financial hierarchy and are stagnating due to the scale of the caste based quota system. India is no longer a caste based hierarchical society but a class based hierarchical society.

My mom worken for an indian business man in Romania. Yes..its very much ingraded in their culture. They had a help lady that was basically a Dali and was living in some kind of closet. My mother was shocked..needles to say my mother left them after a few months.

People love feeling superior to others and as they arrange marriages they remain in the caste system. I had a dutch indian friend at Uni, so she's young, well educated and she was cutting out marriage adverts, those were descriptions of the men including their caste. Even such a woman in a progressive society was trying to find a match at only 18 or 19 which is crazy young to get married here and looked for one to please her parents with their caste. If they do not want to let it go they wil not. I remember that in Korea your last name said something about your status before but when there was some sort of revolution or change loads of people changed their last name to one of the rich families so now you have a ton of people with the same last name like Park and the class is invisible. At least at first.

What a nice Channel! I am on a trip and these videos are making my day.

The solution to all indian problems starts with the fact that India needs to open again as it was for 4600 years of the last 5000. You cannot regain the title of worlds largest economy without any trade , manufacturing, scientific research

Its a regid social class system i think tons of countries face that issue to not just india. The US does but in a different way those in the middle to lower classes can and are able to move up but there are still others that dont. Social mobility is important.

It is a big problem still till date and it is not going any where soon, its about the thinking of people and no matter what law government bring or any thing, it will not change people thinking, it will go away slowly as the older generation pass ways

This caste based discrimination is still prevalent in schools and colleges, even the best ones. Many students suicide due to bullying. Future of many are ruined. They are discriminated against, ostricised, called names at every opportunity. If you'll research more you'll see that most of the high ranking government jobs are held by upper caste people + businesses, the upper caste being like ~22% overall holds more than 45% on nations wealth. Yet these people still discriminate based on caste. Even the urban people who are supposedly formally educated.

Casteism is a bitter reality of Hinduism.

thnx for covering this report i belong to sc community most of the general so called god of children discrimate sc st people

Why is that car at 3:23 reversing on highway? :D :D

A Bronze-Age institution surviving to the Industrial Age.

There's a reason Uganda kicked Indians off their country in 1972. Ugandans don't want to be treated like second class citizens their own country. Some critics are going to say that Ugandas economy collapsed after the explusion. So? It's better to be poor than to live under the Hindu caste system. No amount of money will ever justify marginalization in your own country. Now, there's cases in America where east Indians perpetrate the caste system against darker skin Indians. Restricting them from economic opportunities to outright social exclusion. I don't hate every Indian but I will never tolerate a socially backward caste system in my own land and neither should the dalits or any other ethnic minority.

This is completely false and seems no one even tried hard enough to research for the video, You just didn't talk about reservation, the IITs entrance exam, the general students have to score nearly twice to get the admission compared to backward or lower class students. Same goes for nearly all the government jobs and examinations. The prime minister of the nation is from a backward class (who's basically an ideal for millions here), the president is of a lower class. The guy said 3/4th are untouchables really? So called untouchables were not even 5% of the population. I have lived a long life in Rural India and I can proudly say that these caste issues are nearly eradicated. Yes, there are many instances of such cases but that happens generally with old and uneducated individuals. This video is not at all accurate. I have been Visual Politics subscribers for a few years now. And this probably is the least researched video on India.

TBH, As a Indian, I think there are other problems with are more problematic for Economic Growth. Like, 'Enforcement of Contract' is difficult because of 'Ultra Slow 🐌 Judiciary', 'Burocracy' 'Policy Unpredictability' etc. Yeah, cast system is there with varying degree of significance depending on how economically backward that area is. These things will go away with industrialization.

This caste system is similar to the position of black people is the US.

The mother of all Apartheid systems...

I see that there are two kinds of Indians in the comment section: Low castes who complain that caste system still discriminates them And high castes who complain that caste reservation is unfairly discriminating them.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but the caste system is based in the Hindu religion. If you live a good life, you'll get reincarnated in the higher cast, if you live a bad life, you'll end up in the lower. So basically it's the Hindu equivalent of heaven and hell, just a bit more sophisticated. So as long Hindu religion is going strong in India, there will be castes. The same as you can not have Christianity without Heaven and Hell, or Islam without Jannah and Jahannam, you can not have Hinduism without casts.

From what I understand, the caste you’re born in India determines what jobs you can have, no? Or it makes it extremely hard from someone from a lower caste to become materially wealthy?

caste system is basically worked as compitition eredication system for upper caste ,if there will be discrimination in school most shudra will leave the school so there will be less compitition

These are "show laws." They're never enforced.

Relying on India for human resources is like relying on China for manufacturing

Battle not with traditions of others, lest ye become a conservative, and if you gaze into the Indian Caste system, The Indian Caste system gazes also into you.

In Indian metro cities cast is only limited to marriages, but in villages and district level discrimination is still exist, that's why Bhim rao ambedkar ( main leader for vaste discrimination) said that india should urbanised fastly to reduce caste discrimination, and in lower caste also many people got Reservation in education govt jobs, politics but after reaching a certain good level forgots others and their future generations because of wealth and reservation easily and poor lower caste people caste compete with 2nd / 3rd generation highly wealthy people of their caste under reservation quota. Out of nearly 900+ obc cast only 27-28 caste takes 95 percent benifit of reservation

When discussing discrimintion you shouldn't forget cultural and social inheritance. Even if there's no formal discrimination, a higher social status might be related to having parents with academic background or political/professional connections. It's hard to accumulate all the knowledge you need in time to make the right choices and in most cases, it really helps with a couple of shoulders to stand on. This is true even in the west (political dynasties but also the enduring poverty of certain minorites). And you can't really outlaw this, everyone should have the right to help their children put their best foot forward in life. But this also means people from disadvantaged groups may need multiple generations in order to generate the same cultural/social inheritance as more established groups.

This should've been abolished at least centuries ago. The Caste System isn't even found in the Vedas nor the Upanishads. This is a cultural innovation some three thousand years ago.

Very important topic

How does it work on a personal level? Are casts written in people’s documents? How can can a company know if it’s (not) hiring a person of a specific cast? Can one guess a cast based on facial features, accent or smth else?

Look into the raise of conversions to Christianity. A good majority of people are from so-called lower castes, evading the oppression from the system. In other countries such as USA economic prosperity/wartime building drove people from various backgrounds to work together. For example, the Second World War introduced a lot of women into the workforce. The same can be noticed in India too... In cities, you can see the reduced impact of the system, where what you can sell matters more than anything. As you go more toward rural areas, the presence of the system can be felt. We have an oversupply of labor and it doesn't necessitate any reorientation of the system. The caste system was documented to have existed long before the British colonization. However, they managed to keep the disparities to fit their model of making the country a market for their factory-made goods. To be fair, this started as a system to transfer knowledge/craftmanship from one generation to another. The economic value of each service exacerbated the difference giving more leverage to certain people for a long time. 21st-century political activism has been both good and bad for the system. It gave voice to the people oppressed, while also keeping the system reinvigorating itself. The political weight of a collective bunch of people is higher than an individual and that is being achieved through caste. Overall, this video had to be short & simplified, and also limited by what they understood. Each point of view differs.

Most uninformed video on caste

Do what B.R. Ambedkar did and convert to Buddhism or something.

Social issues are more of an annoyance for nations 🏛 than a serious problem. The biggest problem for India 🪷 from the caste system is a lack of selective pressure for the best people for employment, marriage, friendship, etc.

It's all because of religion. Many of them change their religion to Christian or Islam to combat this. But of course the unspoken stigma still there.

Indian castes need self-government, economic freedom and common rules for all.

At 11:00 you mentioned about the caste breakup in the lines of "they STILL account for X %" and so on. So are they supposed to be considered upper caste if they make socio-economic progress ? There are many similar factual errors in the video which I tried to make a mind note but the list became too long and I forgot them.

Man I’ve few Indian friend circle, It’s shocking how go their surname ( caste bracket ) when introducing eachother. Although they say no harm in that and all that educated nonsense. I could still smell, subconsciously they still have inferiority ladder. It’s so sad

In June the California senate passed a bill that would add caste discrimination to its anti discrimination law. Do it is not just a few isolated cases.

The perception of the caste system in India is a Western idea (actually a Middle Eastern concept of a society that migrated to India). The Indigenous communities had community-based systems ex. Tamil society from its ancient times (2000BC at least on record) had divisions of lands as five different biomes (thinai), 1 Kurinji (Forest) 2 Palai (Desert), 3 Mullai (mountainous), 4 Marutam (Agricultural field and plains), 5 Neital (Coastal) and people were classified to these 5 major biomes and accordingly, their lifestyle based on their occupational choices. The community system allowed people to be in any occupation and switch from the occupation done by their parents and also had full flexibility to move to a different biome. This flexibility allowed each community to migrate to any part of the Tamil kingdom or even migrate to other Tamil kingdoms. When the caste system was brought in by the Western communities from the Middle East (sometimes referred to as the Aryan invasion) into the Indian continent they first associated themself with the rulers who also had invaded India from the Middle East and then created new religions and languages (Sanskrit - an Indo European language), they turned the community (flat system) to the caste system (pyramid-shaped) and self-claimed themself to be on the top of the Pyramid. Also, they locked the flexibility of a person moving from one community to another community - and made sure a person born into a family inherits the father's profession so that the top of the pyramid stays at the top forever. This is the significant difference between community system of ancient India vs. the caste system. The changes from the community-based Indian society to a rigid caste-based society happened just before the invasion of colonial invasion of European countries. By the 14th century, all the Tamil Kingdoms were wiped off the Indian map by North Indian Sultans or by Telugu Kingdoms that accepted Sanskritization completely into their language and culture. British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and others only reached India by sea after the community system had been replaced by the caste system and they didn't understand the historical perspective and migration that happened from the Middle East through landmass from the west.

America removed Jim crows laws in 1950’s and yet people of colour are being persecuted till this day and US has been worlds richest country for almost a 3/4 of a century and US is just 3-4 centuries old…….caste system is over 3000 year old …..it will take time but I will admit that Indians have done remarkable improvement on caste system with what resources we had…..still we have a long way to go, but I am hopeful that we will do even better as we economically and socially improve.

MOST rich people stay rich by spending like the poor and investing without stopping then most poor people stay poor by spending like the rich yet not investing like the rich but impressing them

I think it takes a civil war of sorts to really abolish this system. The current benefactors of the caste system is too entrenched in the society, being able to sway government and policy. I don't see them being able to give up their power for the greater good.

This is like a Scooby Doo episode where you keep showing the same background photographs over and over again.

You can't eradicate discrimination from society it's remain in one way or other. Because it's human nature to feel superior to another.

The analysis completely sidesteps a MAJOR aspect of the caste system, religion. The caste system is intrinsically linked to Hinduism and has been from the very start. And India is a highly religious country, the customs and traditions are all deeply intertwined with social stratification. It's really religion that upholds the caste system, and you may be able to manage its legal status but its social status will never fade until there is religious reform, which will never come because of the deep rooted religiosity of most Indians, further worsened by a ruling government whose entire political legacy is that of advancing a Hindu-populist agenda.

Urbanization is the only solution. This old Gandhian idea of India lives in its villages is a casteist mentality because Gandhi himself was a casteist. Just read his gujrati publications. Ambedkar was right in saying so. Parts of India are largely pre industrial in nature and thats the reason of this so called system being ossified.