Read this. A news article that really does not seem to have any ramifications for the educated Indian reader. But ramifications there are, as it announces the rebirth of a country fighting hard to shed it's social ills. 60 years of independence and the thorn of caste discrimination still remains. What purportedly started out to be the division of society based on occupation, only served to justify the oppression and humiliation of vast sections of our people. Religion played partner in crime over the centuries, with the creation of exclusive institutions for the upper classes. Practices such as endogamy served to contain the classes within themselves and are adhered to even in this age. Inter-caste marriages receive stiff opposition even in educated urban circles. I would hold the policy makers amongst our ancestors guilty on one single count. The consistent denial of the right to a life of respect, to large sections of the populace throughout history.
Which is why, I wouldn't dismiss this news article as insipid. If our country harbours dreams of becoming a developed nation, merely joining the nuclear kitty club won't do. These slow steps which aim at binding our fractured society address our grass-root problems. Our potential will only be fully recognised if we as a population are able to function as one seamless whole.
The time has come to expedite the undoing of social crimes committed for centuries, that time is now.
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