Regional: Asia: India: Society and Culture: Communities  (30)

Sites

Bitter Facts of India
Articles on the Godhra incident and its aftermath, and 'the Hindutva laboratory'.

Broken People
A detailed account by Human Rights Watch of the extent and means of discrimination against lower castes.

Caste in India
An explanation of the caste system in history, and modern practice.

Caste Problem in India
Swami Vivekananda, with a partial justification of the caste system. Denies that the system is a product of religion, and ascribes it to other social factors.

Caste System
A short and simple justification and explanation for the caste system, with an emphasis on Nepal.

Caste System in Bengal
A brief account of how the system developed in Bengal, with some notes on the differences from the rest of India.

The Caste System in Hinduism
A basic introduction to the caste system, including an account of its religious justification.

Caste System in Modern India
Read about the caste system prevailing in modern India.

Castes of India
An overview of the caste system, and additional notes on history, its place in modern India, and its relevance to untouchables and non-Hindus.

Census of India
Population figures for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes of the country, by state.

Communalism and History in India
A lecture by Romila Thapar, on the influence of history on modern communalism.

Dalit Rights and Issues Home Page
India Together website - news and articles regarding Dalits.

Dalits & Human Rights : The Battles Ahead
First of a set of articles by P. Sainath on the position of Dalits in the country in the 1990's.

Demand for Family Planning Among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
An academic assessment of these issues, with statistics by age and literacy.

Hindu Caste System
Dr. Subhash C. Sharma on the natural evolution of various professions in ancient India, explaining that the original Hindu vocations were not based on heredity or birth.

Hindu History - The Emergence of the Caste System (The Jati-Varna Matrix)
Account of the emergence of the hierarchical caste system by Sudheer Birodkar, with parallels drawn with class systems in other regions.

The Indian Caste System and the British
Kevin Hobson on the British role in building the modern caste system. Also discusses how the parallels between the caste system and the British class system led to mutual support and reinforcement of each during the 19th century.

Indian Parliament Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Reports on the activities, constitution and membership of this group, and reports produced by it recently.

India’s Secularism in Peril
Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri on inter-religious violence. Deals especially with Uttar Pradesh, and the partisan role of the state's Provincial Armed Constabulary.

Punjabi Talk
Discussions on caste, religious and communal issues at the Punjabi Talk website.

Restorative Justice and India's Caste System: New World Outlook, July - August 1999
Account of the place of caste in Indian society today, from a site promoting Christian Methodism.

Sub-Castes Among Dalits
On the political issues around the existence of subcastes among Dalits and scheduled castes.

Understanding Terrorism
Extols the virtues of Islam against shortcomings of Hinduism. Describes violence and repression by caste Hindus and the Indian state against Muslims, Christians, and others, from an anti-Hindu and anti-Indian perspective.

War between the Castes
Reports of recent communal clashes are put into a historical and social perspective by Time Magazine. (December 15, 1997)

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