The Fake Equality in Indian Democracy

What is equality and democracy?We live in India, the largest democracy in the world. This means that in India, there is rule of the people, by the people and for the people. There are many important requirements for a country to truely be democratic and the most important is Equality between its citizens. This means that every person should be equal to another before the eyes of law. They will not be discriminated against each other on grounds of race, religion, gender, caste, class or birth.

Equality is so important, because it preserves the 'dignity' of an individual. Dignity means self respect and the respect an individual deserves from others for being a fellow human being. It is an essential and basic human right. If this ideal case doesn't exist, like today, we can say that many forms of inequality exists in India.

Types of Inequality in India:

Castism

The caste system is an ancient, age- old belief system that plagues India till today. It is a system that has divides Hindus into rigid, hierarchical occupational groups (called 'varna') and considers some groups 'pure' and some 'impure'. This 'varna system' includes four Varnas- Bhramin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, in descending order of 'purity'.

Today, discrimination between people of various caste groups is common in rural areas, but surprisingly, even among educated urban dwellers!

Untouchablility

Due to the above Varna system, one of the most negative, yet unique features of India is the untouchability system. Due to century- old beliefs, the people of the lower castes were considered to be impure and thus, 'polluting'. Other people of higher castes used to refrain from touching them, thus calling them 'untouchables'. The people of the low castes used to be restricted to only practise menial jobs, like scavenging or leather tanning, which were considered dirty. This is a very cruel and discriminatory practise and it is an embarrassment to India when such incidents are still heard of in the news!

Gender Discrimination

In India, traditionally, females and males were given rigid roles that they had to follow. For example, in villages, women are expected to cook, clean, bear children and raise them and men are the ones who work and earn money. In many places, daughters are considered as burdens and sons are desired. This is gender discrimination and is not allowed by the law. Males and females are equal in the eyes of law and they must be given equal dignity and opportunities.

Class Inequality

When we look around, we can see that everyone doesn't have equal amounts of money or resources. We hear news of a billionaire man whose house costs a billion dollars, but at the same time see beggars on the roads with no food or shelter. This called Class Inequality, where people of high class have excess resources, while majority live in poverty with no basic food, water, clothes or shelter. There is no equal distribution of resources.

Religious Discrimination

It is sad to see that in some places, people who follow a different religion than most people are often discriminated against. They are looked down upon, often with suspicion. India is a secular country and this is not allowed by law. We are all free to peacefully practise any religion we want to.

Racism

India is a diverse country with people belonging to different places. People have different cultures, food, clothes and also look different.

This doesn't mean they should be treated unequally. Even in the USA, the African- American community are often racially discriminated against, as they were slaves many hundred years back. This cruel, narrow minded practise is not legal and we should not treat others badly, just because they look different than most of us. We need to know that Equality is a basic human right and every human being on Earth deserves fair treatment and access to opportunities.