Constitutional declarations of equality or acceptance of international covenants founded on the principle of equality may create legal obligations, nonetheless they do not change the ethical foundations of a given society. Caste lies behind many social crises in South Asia. Caste society does not recognize the right to dissent as a valid ethical principle. The right to expression is based on recognition of human equality. To deny the right to dissent is to deny the right to freedom of expression, and further, to regard expression of opinion as futile activity.
Caste society has no absolute prohibition of torture.
The caste system can be maintained only through indifference to cruelty. Cruel treatment of lower castes, such as in preventing them from drinking water out of the same wells as upper castes, is normalized. Under the rules of pollution and purification, those breaking with such unjust practices commit a wrong. The lack of agreement on ethical principles against cruelty has a direct bearing on such practices as extra-judicial killings, disappearances, forced confessions and other human rights abuses. In South Asia these are now regarded as legally wrong, however morally they are not widely condemned.