THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
Indians are often angry when they experience racism abroad. They complain, quite rightly, when foreigners judge them because of their skin, nationality, accent, or background. But there is an uncomfortable question that needs to be asked: how seriously do Indians oppose discrimination when it happens at home?
India has one of the world’s most deeply rooted systems of social hierarchy: caste. Caste has survived for centuries, changed its form, adapted to modern politics and society, and continues to influence marriage, family relationships, social status and opportunity.
The hypocrisy becomes obvious when someone demands equality from foreigners but accepts discrimination within their own community. A person may be furious when a Westerner stereotypes Indians, yet have no problem rejecting someone as a marriage partner because of their caste. They may condemn racism while casually making judgments based on caste, region, skin colour, language or social class.
And this is not simply an ancient problem that disappeared with modern India. Caste has evolved. It has adapted. It has survived education, urbanisation, democracy and economic development. That persistence should force Indian society to ask a difficult question: how much does it really want caste to disappear?
India has produced courageous anti-caste thinkers and activists, most importantly B. R. Ambedkar. There have been genuine movements against caste oppression. But reformist words alone are not enough. A hierarchy survives when people are willing to condemn it in public while preserving it in their private lives.
The real test is not whether someone says, “Caste discrimination is wrong.” The real test is whether they are willing to give up the privileges, prejudices and social boundaries that keep caste alive.
If you demand equality when you are the victim of discrimination but defend hierarchy when you benefit from it, that is not a commitment to equality. It is selective outrage.
India cannot seriously claim to oppose discrimination abroad while making excuses for discrimination at home. Caste will not disappear because people give speeches about equality. It will disappear only when enough people are willing to challenge it where it actually matters: in their families, marriages, friendships, communities and everyday choices.
Caste is not merely an embarrassing relic of the past. It is a living social hierarchy that has repeatedly adapted to survive.
And if society genuinely wants to eradicate it, it has to be willing to do more than talk about it.
