I tell you, religion is for man and not man for religion.

If you want to organise, consolidate and be successful in this world, change this religion. The religion that does not recognise you as a human being, or give you water to drink, or allow you to enter in temples is not worthy to be called a religion. The religion that forbids you to receive education and comes in the way of your material advancement is not worthy of the appellation 'religion'. The religion that does not teach its followers to show humanity in dealing with its coreligionists is nothing but a display of a force. The religion that teaches its followers to suffer the touch of animals but not the touch of human beings is not a religion but a mockery. The religion that compels the ignorant to be ignorant and the poor to be poor is not a religion but a visitation!
-B.R. Ambedkar (profound dalit writer)

In ancient India there developed a social system in which people were divided into
separate close communities. These communities are known in English as caste. The word caste is not a word that is indigenous to India. It originates in the Portuguese word casta which means race, breed, race or lineage. However, during the 19th century, the term caste increasingly took on the connotations of the word race. The origin of the caste system is in Hinduism, but it affected the whole Indian society. The caste system in the religious form is basically a simple division of society in which there are four castes arranged in a hierarchy and below them the outcast. Caste is a hereditary, endogamous, localized group, having a traditional association with an occupation and a particular position in the local hierarchy of classes. All the members of a particular class used to follow a particular occupation or business. Every society has a structure of its own but the structure as seen by the indigenous inhabitants is not always the same as the structure which the sociologists infer from the data which he has painstakingly collected. The way people perceive their social structure is important because it influences their behaviour in the society. Sociologists have tried to perceive the complex facts of the caste system as Varna. Varna literally means colour, originally referred to the distinction between Arya

and Dasa . The layman is unaware of the complexities of Varna. To him, it means simply the division of Hindu society into four orders, viz. Brahmana (Brahmin, traditionally the priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (ruler and soldier), Vaishya (merchant) and Shudra (peasant, labourers, and servants). The untouchables are outside the Varna scheme. Caste is seen as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability. Speaking generally, the caste occupying the top positions are more sanskritized than castes in the lower and middle regions of hierarchy. Sankritization means not only the adoption of new customs and habits, but also exposure to new ideas and values which have found frequent expression in the vast body of Sanskrit literature, sacred as well as secular.

History of the caste system

Emergence of rigid caste structures
Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya's court in India classified people of India into seven classes: philosophers, peasants, herdsmen, craftsmen and traders, soldiers, government officials and councilors. In its later stages, the caste system is said to have become rigid, and caste began to be inherited rather than acquired by merit. In the past, members of different castes would not partake in various activities, such as dining and religious gatherings, together. In addition, the performance of religious rites and rituals were restricted to Brahmins, who were the designated priesthood. According to the Manusmriti, every caste belongs to one of the four varnas (Brahmin, Kshtriya, Vaishya, and Shudra). However, there have been many disputes about the varna of many castes, such as castes being considered Kshatriya by some scholars, while described as Shudra by others. While texts such as the Manusmriti attempted to rationalize ambiguous castes by placing them in varna-sankaras (i.e. mixed varna. With many occupational groups practicing endogamy within a particular region, as well as numerous sub-divisions within the four main castes, a more complex system of subcastes and jtis is evident. The jatis have broken up into clans like Agarwal, Iyer, etc.

Caste system During the British rule

The caste system was a fascination for the Britishers since their arrival in India. They came from a society that was divided by class, but here the Britishers attempted to equate the caste system to the class system. The main concern is that the British saw caste as a way to deal with a huge population by breaking it down into discrete chunks with specific characteristics. One of the main tools used in the British attempt to understand the Indian population was the census. It was not until 1872 that a planned comprehensive census was attempted. The census went well beyond counting heads or even enquiring into sex ratios or general living conditions. Among the many questions were enquiries regarding nationality, race, tribe, religion and caste. It was necessary to include it in the census if the census was to serve the purpose of giving the government the information it needed

in order to make optimum use of the people under its administration. Moreover, it becomes obvious that British conceptions of racial purity were interwoven with these judgments of people based on caste when reactions to censuses are examined. Intentionally or unintentionally, during the British Raj, the caste system became more rigid.

Reservations for SC/ST

Reservations are intended to increase the social diversity in campuses and workplaces by
lowering the entry criteria for certain identifiable groups that are grossly under-represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population. Caste is the most used criteria to identify under-represented groups. However there are other identifiable criteria for under -representation gender (women are under represented), state of domicile (North Eastern States, as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are under-represented), rural people, etc. -- as revealed by the Government of India sponsored National Family Health and National Sample surveys

After India gained independence, the Constitution of India listed some erstwhile groups as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The framers of the Constitution believed that, due to the caste system, SCs and the STs were historically oppressed and denied respect and equal opportunity in Indian society and were thus under-represented in nationbuilding activities. Scheduled Castes ("SC"s) and Scheduled Tribes ("ST"s) were previously called the "depressed classes" by the British. SCs/STs together comprise over 24% of India's population, with SC at over 16% and ST over 7.50% as per the 2001 Census.

Quantum and Scheme of Reservations

Seats are reserved for Schedules Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes in varying ratio by the central government and state government. Although the reservation cannot exceed 50% as per the rulings given by the Supreme Court. In central government funded higher education institutions, 22.5% of available seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (Dalit) and Scheduled Tribe (Adivasi) students (15% for SCs,

7.5% for STs). This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%, by including an
additional 27% reservation for OBCs. In AIIMS 14% of seats are reserved for SCs, 8% for STs. In addition, SC/ST students with only 50% scores are eligible. This ratio is followed even in Parliament and all elections where a few constituencies are earmarked for those from certain communities. In a few states like Tamil Nadu, the percentage of reservation is 18% for SCs and 1% for STs, being based on local demographics. In Andhra Pradesh, 25% of educational institutes and government jobs for OBCs, 15% for SCs, 6% for STs and 4% for Muslims.

Mandal Commission
Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward. The commission didn't have exact figures for a sub-caste, known as the Other Backward Class(OBC), and used the 1930 census data, further classifying 1,257 communities as

1980-the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%.As of 2006 number of castes in Backward class list went up to 2297 which is the increase of 60% from community list prepared by Mandal commission.
backward, to estimate the OBC population at 52%.

PRESENCE OF DALITS IN LITERATURE

Dalit not only left out in society but in literature too. Their accounts finds no narration and articulation. Literature too left Dalits literature claims itself pure, without boundary, region, religion, creed and caste but this so called literature could not see Dalit humiliation and hell-like life.Traditionally, Indian literatures have either ignored untouchables or portrayed them as victims in need of saviors, as objects without voice or agency.

PIONEER OF DALIT LITERATURE

Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-1956) was the first highly educated, politically prominent member of the Hindu untouchable castes . He was also the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Born into a poor Mahar (then considered an Untouchable caste) family. People used to say it was a sin to be born in this low caste, they would not offer him water, and say that if he sat in a cart it would become polluted. Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna the categorization of Hindu society into four varnas and the Hindu caste system. He is also credited with providing a spark for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of untouchables to Theravada Buddhism. Dr. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded theBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990

He wrote the Annihilation of caste for the 1936 meeting of a group of liberal Hindu-caste reformers; after seeing a draft of the speech ,however, the group revoked their invitation. Dr. Ambedkar self-published the work, and it became an immediate classic. The Multimedia Study Environment now includes The Annihilation of caste, explanatory annotations, and some of Ambedkars other important writings.

Quotations If you ask me, my ideal would be the society based on liberty, equality and fraternity.
Untouchability shuts all doors of opportunities for

betterment in life for Untouchables. It does not offer an Untouchable any opportunity to move freely in society; it compels him to live in dungeons and seclusion; it prevents him from educating himself and following a profession of his choice.
Caste cannot be abolished by inter caste dinners or stray

instances of inter caste marriages. Caste is a state of mind. It is a disease of mind. The teachings of the Hindu religion are the root cause of this disease. We practice casteism and we observe Untouchability because we are enjoined to do so by the Hindu religion. A bitter thing cannot be made sweet. The taste of anything can be changed. But poison cannot be changed into nectar. LATEST DALIT CONTRIBUTOR
Omprakash Valmiki, a leading Hindi Dalit writer and author of the celebrated autobiography Joothan(1997) has published three collection of poetry Sadiyon Ka Santaap(1989) Bas! Bahut Ho Chuka(1997), and Ab Aur Nahin (2009); and two collections of short stories Salaam (2000),and Ghuspethiye (2004). He has also written Dalit Saahity Ka Saundaryshaastr (2001), and a history of the Valmiki community, Safai Devata (2009).

Om Prakash also received New India Book Prize, 2004 for this book.It is one of the first portrayals of Dalit life in north India from an insiders perspective. "Joothan" literally means scraps of food left on a plate, destined for the garbage or for the family pet in a middle-class urban home. It is related to the word "jootha," which means polluted and such scraps are characterized as "joothan" only if someone else eats them. Indias untouchables have been forced to accept and eat joothan for their subsistence for centuries. The word encapsulates the pain, humiliation, and poverty of this community, which has lived at the bottom of Indias social pyramid for millennia. Although untouchability was legally abolished in the constitution of the newly independent India in 1949, Dalits continue to face discrimination, economic deprivation, violence, and ridicule.

In his autobiography, Joothan , he writes,

"I had to sit away from the others in the class, and that too on the floor. The mat ran out before door... sometimes they would beat me without any reason." When he was in Class VI, the headmaster asked Omprakash to sweep the school and the playground. He writes, "The playground was way larger than my small physique could handle and in cleaning it, my back began to ache. My face was covered with dust. Dust had gone inside my mouth. The other children in my class were studying and I was sitting in his room and watching me. I was not even allowed to get a drink of water." He was badly discriminated for his caste in India. He says, "I swept the whole day.....From the doors and windows of the school rooms, the eyes of the teachers and the boys saw this spectacle." Om Prakash was made to sweep the school and playground for the next couple of days and this only came to an end when his father who happened to be passing by, saw

his son sweeping. He confronted the teachers and then walking away from the school holding Om Prakash's hand, he said loudly for all of them to hear, "You are a teacher....So I am leaving now. But remember this much Master...(he) will study right here...in this school. And not just him, but there will be more coming after him."
With the growth of education, people have acquired greater awareness and caste system is
not followed so rigidly today, particularly in the urban areas.

But the discrimination between the lower caste and the upper caste still exists in some of the rural areas and small towns. The lower class people are still oppressed and are treated very badly. But government has certainly taken steps to curb casteism. The Constitution of
India also declares the practice of untouchability and caste discrimination of any kind illegal. The State is suppose to provide equal opportunities for all the citizens of India in matters of education or employment. In a bid to sensitize students on the evils of the caste system

that has plagued Hindu society for centuries, The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) plans to introduce works of Dalit writers in school text books. The project, to be executed in two phases, will include works of relatively unknown Dalit writers like Om Prakash Valmiki. The Class XI Hindi literature textbook will accommodate Valmiki's Khanabadosh. Till date the NCERT has only had upper caste writers in the school curriculum.