Name : Prathamesh S.

Mandale
BALLB – First Year
URN NO: 2022-B-16052004A

ESSAY
Manusmriti
Manu-Smriti (Sanskrit: ‘laws of Manu’ or ‘There remembered Tradition of Manu’) also called
Manava-dharma-Shastra (“The Dharma Text of Manu”) traditionally the most authority of the books of
the Hindu code (Dharma-Shastra) in India. Manu-Smriti is the popular name of the work, which is
officially known as Manava-Dharma-Shastra. It is attributed to the legendary first man and lawgiver,
Manu. The receiver text date from Cira 100CE. The manu-smriti prescribes to Hindus their dharma –i.e,
that set of the obligations incumbent on each as a member of one of four social classes (yarna) and
(ashramas). It contains 12 chapters of stanzas, which ttal 2,694. It deals with cosmogony; the definition
of the dharma; the sacrament (Samskaras) initation (upanayana) and the study of the Vedas (The Sacred
texts of Hinduism); Marriage, Hospitality, Funeral rites, dietary restrictions, pollution, and means of
purifications; the conducts of the women and wives and law of kings.

The last leads to a consideration of matters of juridical interest, divided under 18

Scripture, also called sacred scripture, the revered texts , or Holy Writ, of the world’s
religious. Scripture comprise a large part of the literature of the world. They vary greatly in form,
volume, age and the degree of sacredness, but their common attribute is that their words are regarded
by the devot as scared. Sacred word differ from ordinary words in that they are believed either to
process and convey spriritual and magical powers to means through hich a divine being or other scared
reality is revealed in phrase and sentences full of power and truth.

Burning Manusmriti by DR.BR.Ambedkar :

December 25,1927, huge strides were made in the movement for self-dignity of Dalits. Under the
leadership of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, a small town/village, Mahad in kokan, the coastal region of
Maharashtra, made a history.

Manusmriti Dahan Din. The day that text of caste Hindus epitomizing hegemony,
indignity and cruelty to Dalits and mlecchas (that include women) was a piblicly burned in a specially
constucted symbolic funeral pyre before Dr Ambedkar and thousands of volunteers gathered to protest
and agitate.

The Mahad satyagraha (peaceful agitation and protest) had been organised so that
Dalits (untouchables) could drink from the Mahad (Chavadar) water tank, a public water source open all.
A Previous Legal Notification of the Collectorate authorized free access to all. Despite the existence of
this order, caste hegemony and oppression had not created condition for access to this facility for the
oppressed. On the eve of the protest, caste Brahmins had obtained a stay ordered from a local court
against untouchables accessing water from the tank!

Pressure of an unimaginable kind was put by caste Hindu to somehow abort protest.
The included tightening access to any public ground for the proposed meeting. Arrangements for food
and water as also other supplies had to br made meticulously by the organizers facing a revolt in the
village. A pledge of sorts had to be made in the protest. The arrival of Dr. Ambedkar to site of the
protest was cloaked in high drama, faced with the possibilities of all kinds of sabotages from other
sections of society.

Caste System is still prevalent in India :

The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It
has its origin in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling eites in medieval, early-modern and
modern India, espically the Mughal empire and the British Raj. It is today the basis of affermative action
programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system conists of two different
concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.

The caste system as its exists today is through to be the result of developments during the
collapse of the Mughal era and the rise of the British colonial government in Indian. The collapse of the
Mughal era saw the rise of powerful men who associated themselves with the kings, priests and
ascetics, affirming the regal and martial forms of the cste ideal, and its also reshaped many apparently
casteless social groups into differentiated caste communities. The British Raj futhered this development,
making rigid caste organisation a central mechanism of administation. Between 1860 and 1920, the
British incorporated the Indian caste system into their system of governance, granting administrative
jobs and senior appointments only to Christians and people belonging to certain castes. Social unrest
during the 1920s led to a change in the policy. From then on , the colonial administration began a policy
of positive discrimination by reserving a certain percentage of government jobs for the ower castes. In
1948, negative descrimination on the basis of caste was banned by the law and further enshrined in the
India constitution in 1950, however , the system continues to be practiced in parts of India. There are
3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes in India, each related to a specific occupation.

Caste-based differences have also been practised in other religions and regions in the India
subcontinent, like Nepalese Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism. It has ben challenged ny
many reformist Hindu movements, Sikhims, christianity, by present- day India Buddism. With India
influences, the caste system is also practised in Bali and parts of Sotheast Asia such as Cambodia, Laos
and Thailand. India after achieving independence in 1947 enacted many affirmative action policies for
the upliftment of historically marginalized groups as enforced through its constitution. These policies
included reserving a quota of places for these groups in higher education and government employment.
Apartheid and discrimination:-

The maltreatments of dalits in india has been described by Anand Teltumbde, Gopal Guru and
others as “India’s hidden apartheid”. Critics of the accusations point to substantial improvements in the
position of dalits in post-independence india, consequent to the strict implementation of the rights and
privileges enrishned in the constitution of India, as implemented by the protection of Civil right Act,
1955. They also argue thsat the practise had disappeared in urban public life.

Recent research by Naveen Bharathi, Deepak malghan and Andaleeb rahman found that “the
extent of intra-village segregation in Karnataka is greater than the local black-white seregation in the
American south that continues to influence residential patterns to this day. “They claim that this finding
agrees with previous ethnographic research that found that residential space in rural India is segregated
along the caste lines.

Caste politics:-
Many political parties in India have indulged in caste-based vote bank politics. Parties such as Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP), The Samajwadi Party and the Janta Dal claim that they are representing the
backwards castes, and rely on OBC support, to win elections. On the other hand, the hindu right has also
at times courted controversy over its own casre-based appeals for example in 2020 when BJP MP
(Member of parliament) Pragya Singh Thakur came under fire for comments she made about shudras
during an address to a caste body called the “Kshatriya Mahasabha”