The heinous menace in the Indian society rests in its caste system. During the last one century, efforts were attempted at to eradicate the social hierarchies and annihilate the caste system ultimately. The evil system has been prevailing for many centuries and hence could not be eradicated completely. However progress has taken place through the missionary tasks carried out by social justice leaders of eminence. The following is the reproduction of the text of a few pages of the book, “One Man’s View of the World”, written by Lee Kuan Yew, former President of Singapore and the father of modern Singapore. In this brief text, Lee Kuan Yew has attempted objectively to narrate the caste system. Apart, he has shared his personal experience of witnessing the comforts enjoyed by Brahmins during his visits to India.
The text is brief but firm in narration. He has analysed the roots of caste system and the impact it has created in the Indian society and even among the people of Indian origin and living abroad: -Editor.
The caste system is a further complication for India. It is another key factor that holds back development in the country. According to the rules of the caste system, when you marry downwards, you automatically lose caste. Therefore, Brahmins tend to marry only Brahmins, Vaishyas only Vaishyas, Dalits only Dalits, and so on. The Brahmins, who are associated with the priesthood, are – as individuals – as bright as anybody in the world. Many among them are multilingual. So what effect does the caste system have on India? What I am about to propose is not popular, but I believe it to be true. At the macro level, the caste system freezes the genetic pool within each caste. Over many years, this had had an isolating impact on the overall intelligence of the people. In ancient China, a bright official could marry multiple wives and spread his genes around the country each time he gets a new posting.
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If he retires, he often settled in Suzhou, for the mild micro-climate, and had several wives. A Brahmin, on the other hand, cannot marry a non-Brahmin without falling down the social ladder. If the caste system did not exist, the Brahmins would have spread their genes and there would be many more half-Brahmins around India. Supposing your society suddenly came up with a new rule that said university graduates cannot marry non-graduates without automatically losing social status, where would your society end up?
I had my first insight into the power of the caste system in the 1970s. I had a private secretary by the name of A. Sankaran, who happened to be a Brahmin Indian. His father was the priest of the Tank Road Hindu temple in Singapore. You could tell that Sankaran was a Brahmin from his physical features. On one of my trips to India, Sankaran was with me, and when we went to a Raj Bhavan, or the Government House, a most peculiar incident took place. When we arrived, he spoke to the orderlies working there, and they immediately obeyed him. They knew from the way he spoke and from his features that he was a Brahmin and his words therefore carried much authority. The orderlies listened to him. Sankaran has since died, but this incident was such a revelation to me that I will never forget it. From nowhere, this Singaporean Brahmin talks to a group of Indian orderlies, and was shown the respect by virtue of caste.
Another incident happened more recently, about 20 years ago. I was again in India, in a car travelling between Agra and Delhi. The highest official in Agra was accompanying me and I took the opportunity to probe him about the caste system. I said to him, “Supposing I tell you I’m a Brahmin. Would you believe me?” He answered: “Well, if you have the standing, the wealth and the manners of a Brahmin, I might believe you. But if you are going to marry any daughter, then the most intensive investigations have to be made.” I then asked him how it was possible to trace a person in a sprawling metropolis like, say, Delhi. He replied that Delhi was not just a mass of people – you had to stay somewhere and therefore you could be traced.
These incidents took place a few decades ago, but things have not changed significantly since. In India’s most cosmopolitan cities, such as Mumbai, the caste system would have weakened slightly. But looking across the nation, the overall decline in caste consciousness is very marginal. It may take many more decades or centuries of gradual shifts before India can declare itself to be free from the influence of caste.
