Rameez Makhdoomi
Srinagar, Dec23 (KBN): Caste System is like a dangerous plague to Kashmiri society. Today or tomorrow, the Kashmiri society will have to undergo a reformative change or chemotherapy and we all have to pass through sever pain in knowing the demons of caste system.
In Kashmir, we have had the tradition of calling some castes as the so called higher castes while a number of castes are termed as the so called lower castes which is totally against the spirit and teachings of Islam.
Seasoned voices state that Kashmiri society can never achieve its noble objectives and become developed with these caste discriminations or caste existence. It is to be noted that this menace of the caste system exists in countries like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and other few nations.
A religious scholar stated –“We need to bear in mind that in Kashmir although caste system does not necessarily manifest itself into brutal violence like many other parts of globe but has serious unfavorable consequences on the intellectual development of the Kashmiri society as it leaves people divided into water tight compartments. The great teachings of Islam leave no scope for discrimination on the basis of caste and it is deeds of human that matter not his caste. It is better and essential that we unlearn this shameful caste system and remove it from our dictionary as early as possible. We must as a society take steps & make necessary changes to remove caste from system to become developed and powerful nation . We need to launch a serious reform and revolution to end this menace.”
The ugly realities of caste system demand that every young Kashmiri should seriously commit to fight against the casteist mentality and irrational social norms which suffocated human aspirations and dreams. (KNB)