Hindu Council UK White Paper on Caste System

[krsna 3]

Hindu Council UK White Paper on Caste

 

Source:

 

http://www.hinducounciluk.org/newsite/report/hcuk_thecastsystemreport.pdf

LONDON, ENGLAND, June 9, 2008:

An informative paper has been produced by Raj Pandit Sharma for the Hindu Council UK. It is available as a PDF file at the URL above. Following is the introduction.

The caste system or varnashram has been one of the most distorted, perplexing, misunderstood, exploited and maligned aspects of Hinduism.

This report is not a justification of the abuse of caste system; rather it is a factual account of the subject, a systematic analysis of how it has become adulterated and the reparative measures necessary to correct such distortion in the social arena, thereby eliminating unjustified discrimination and abuse. The inequalities of the modern caste system and the fissures in Hindu society resulting from it are too well known to elaborate. The caste system is so pervasive that it has become a feature in the life of all religious groups living in India. This report will investigate the following five mistaken assumptions commonly made in connection with the Hindu caste system:

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1. Caste is an institution of the Hindu religion, wholly peculiar to that religion alone

2. Caste consists primarily of a fourfold classification of people in general under the heads of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra, and that Dalits are not even part of this system

3. Caste is perpetual and immutable, having been transmitted from generation to generation throughout the ages of Hindu history without the possibility of change

4. Dalit Hindus who convert to other faiths become emancipated, experiencing equality and social mobility

5. The Hindu caste system is akin to hidden apartheid and slavery and should be abolished

To learn why all these points are misconceptions, above.