Can someone help me understand identity politics in India? There are a lot of things I don't understand, for example, there are some people that find it really important to tell others that the caste system doesn't exist, or is like really sensitive to anything negative said about India. Is that just run-of-the-mill nationalism? Because if so, it is hilarious when it's another country's nationalism.
Caste system, at least where I live (which I believe to be fairly progressive part of country, as my travels have revealed there are worse places) is like a strong undercurrent to the social psychosis. It is not obvious to the newcomer, and we appear a very amalgamated bunch, all working in same company, going to same school and so on. But then you live here for a while, go sufficiently wide and deep, and then you feel it, and realise it is too strong to change in 3 generations.
I didn't realise for a long time, but I looks back and see that somehow, upper caste kids always stuck together. There parents always had social events together, and even though we shared same society, other families weren't invited. Every 'class' has to have their own very public, very loud 'holidays'. Caste based marriages are pretty obvious, though that is changing slowly. People have biases in simple places, like simply knowing someone's surname means you can put them in a caste/category and then first impression is already made.
Things are changing, definitely, but slowly and not always in right direction. The 'reservation' or quotas in college admissions, government jobs and so on, created to make a level playing field is creating a new privileged class that is 'lower caste' in name only. This is creating new divide and I'm not sure thatcan be changed because suggesting otherwise is political suicide.
Its very easy to understand. Broadly speaking, in any culture you'll find two types of people. 1. Those who question existing systems and accept the historical truths even if it doesn't paint their own identity in good light. 2. Those who will claim that their identity is awesome and will deny or shift blame for past injustices. You can see this literally everywhere.
yeah, when you say it like that it does seem consistent across cultures. the main thing for me is that I am unfamiliar with the connotations behind different last names in India, and I also cannot tell Indian subcultures apart visually if there are more nuanced ethnicities but I am becoming aware that this level of nuance is also at play
It is defending the current Modi government and hyper-nationalism combined with a bit of ostrich behaviour. The govt. talks about "policy" but in reality elections are fought on caste. It is called "caste equation" and requires delicate balancing act to not antagonise anyone at the same time pleasing everyone. It is playing in Indian MSM right now as important state elections are approaching next year.
