By: Sultan ul Arifeen
Centuries before Christ, Aryans started migrating to the east of the sub-continent, by classifying their people into soldiers, priests, and peasants. At that time, they would have no clue that their adaptation would go on into shaping the texture of one of the most expedient lands on earth- the sub-continent. Like ancient Greeks, they too had a similar system with Brahmins; the philosophers and preachers, Kshatriyas; the specialized and trained men in arms, and Vaishya’s; the working class comprising of artisans, merchants, tradesmen, and farmers.
The inclusion of Shudra’s on the basis of Jati i.e. caste on the basis of occupation, came in pretty later stages, and by the time the system had completely marred. With that in order, a whole new system of discrimination started, which affected over 300 million people worldwide, especially in South Asia. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are its major affectees.
It is very hard to tell the exact number of the clans around the globe, as mere Pakistan abodes near 700 clans of different castes belonging to Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun, Saraiki, Arabic, and Turkic origin. Every clan has its own heroes whom they look up to and share his story with pride.
The system which was lauded by philosophers and people at that time, as an impeccable method to stretch identification towards different communities and groups around the globe, had in no time became a curse, where the caste was used to define the certain traits like morals, ethos, virtues, principles, etc. of every single individual belonging to that creed. Where good traits like pride, generosity, loyalty, and composure were associated with allegedly superiors castes, the traits like misery, self-centeredness, cheating, unreliability, etc. were linked to others.
Like the Brahmins Vedic Varna, Syed’s in Pakistan consider themselves at the highest ranks. They call themselves the descendants of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and claim their supremacy from that association. While there are many amongst them who oppose this notion and reject the undeserved respect they get in every single gathering they go, but the majority is living in this superiority complex. Most of them do not marry their daughters outside their families, in order to keep their bloodline free from foams. Castes like Rajpoots, Jutts, Balochs, etc. link themselves with traits like courage, honor, and valor. They are known for their vanity in their descent and believe that they are untouchables. Like Syed’s, they also prefer to marry their children in their clans. Whereas the castes like Machi’s, Chammars and Chura (Janitor) are considered low who are never given a chance to live a reputable life because of their race.
Pakistan which got its independence, on the basis of two-nation theory, vowed to dissociate itself from the old Hindu system, which was a root cause of racist society, but it failed to meet its goals. Despite all its claim on the world forums, all citizens of the state are not equal. Racism is so deeply enrooted in the foundations of the subcontinent that it would take centuries to wave the effects of this taboo. Taboos are the truths, at times hidden, most of the times concealed, but their breaths can be felt.
Bigger dilemma is, not only do the lower castes but even the religious minorities are also not free from this curse, the maximum number of janitors in the country are Christians, who are not given a chance to rise and live equally to their majority counterparts.
This is an appalling situation and it needs to be revised. The religion, followed by most of the countrymen, do not leave any room for discrimination and declares no one to be superior to the other. Even common sense cannot accept the notion that the personality of a person be determined by the castes he belongs to and not by the person himself.
While judging itself is a crime on the part of humanity, judging a person on the basis of his clan is a repent-less sin. Kids need to be taught about the ethos of humanity and morality, rather than being fed with the lame stories of courage and valor of their ancestors. Parents have to let go of the status that comes with their castes and raise a generation who curse racism. If we keep nurturing the coming generation with the same racial assertiveness, we can never meet the lines of the developed countries.
The writer is a Geologist and can be reached at [email protected], You can find more about him via arifeenism.com