The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-11-16
THE CURSE OF INDIA
CASTE, WHICH FIXES THE STATUS
OF EVERY HlNOOO.


However UncIean, In Which He
Was Born-Neither Wealth Nor Sue
cess Affects the Caste of Any One.
In the fixed scale Of descent in India
some classes are merely inferior. while
some are 'unclean" or "untouchable,"
but from whatsoever class a man be
born in he has no escape but death.
Children born IN an "unclean" caste
remain "unclean;" children born in an
inferior caste remain as their fathers
were. Nothing that they can do can
In the slightest degree change their
situation. They were born ''unclean;"
their ancestors were "unclean;" their
descendants will be "unclean" till the
end of the chapter.
To give few illustrations from
many, a weaver is less ''unclean" than
a carpenter, a carpenter is above
house cleaner, q house cleaner is above
a street cleaner, and street cleaner Is
above a pariah or no caste man. Every
trade or occupation has its exact place,
arbitrarily fixed, in the scale of degra-
dation.
their hands in whatsoever way are
the tradesmen and shopkeepers, also
with subdivisions into classes: above
the tradesmen Is the useless and now
almost idle warrior class; above the
warriors is the Brahman or priestly
class, and with these grand divisions
the structure OF the system is COM
plete.
Wealth or material situation or sue
cess has nothing to do with the caste Of
any man. You may hire for your cook
or valet q Brahnan of the purest strain
serene, who for weeks before you en-
gagged him may have been on the verge
of starvation. The meager beggar to
whom you toss aims In the road may
be OF a very high caste. The well fed
groom, resplendent in gorgeous livery.
flashing by on a carriage that covers
the beggar with dust, is very likely Of
caste a mile below the beggar. Time
no more than effort can break down
these walls of division. One Of the
wealthiest and most distinguished fam
lilies in Calcutta, the famous Tagore
family, lost caste about two centuries
ago. Members of this family have re-
ceived honor from the government,
have conferred great benefits upon city
and country and have been noted for
their numerous charities and benefac-
tions. One exerted himself all his life
to further native education. Another
helped to endow Calcutta university.
All are enormously rich, and all bear
enviable regulations for goodness, hon.
esty and philanthropy. But the wall OF
caste has never fallen for them. They
are still hated and avoided by their
| countrymen exactly as they were at
the beginning of their exclusion. In the
streets of Calcutta is many a ragged
artisan that would not sit on the same
| bench with Tagore or touch the end
| Of his robe
Pain. suffering. penury, even death
itself. is nothing to the Hindoo COM
pared with the loss of caste. Many a
Hindoo that in the old days would
| yield nothing to the most hendish tor
! lures quickly surrendered his secrets
| when threatened with something that
| would contaminate him-a piece OF
| cowskin, perhaps, or glass OF water
| that had been touched by pariah. In
| ! suppose, thousands Of cases persons
that have hopelessly lost their caste
! have abandoned their homes and wan
| dered miserably along the roads until
| death overlook them. Thousands OF
| others have thrown themselves into the
| Ganges or deliberately starved.
Three Brahman girls who had been
| degraded by Mussulman went before
| a Judge to demand vengeance and
when the judge declined to interfere
killed themselves in the courtroom.