Does caste really exist in contemporary Bangladesh?

A.S.M Riad Arif writes for DOT : The practice of caste and work-based degradation is very common in contemporary Bangladeshi society. The low caste and the Dalit community have to face discrimination at all grounds.. The nature and the concept of untouchable in the eyes of the majority of the population have restricted them to get proper access in the mainstream society. They have been oppressed and exploited through generation to generation. Bangladesh is the land of at least 7 million Dalit communities that are most deprived groups in term of socio-economic status. They exist both in Hindu and Muslim Society. Like as Swappers, Cobbler fishermen, weaver, blacksmith, potters or Bede. They neglected as the lower caste at their own religion with the concept of purity and pollution. We see their sorrow and sufferings at ‘Padma Nodir Majhi’ by Manik bandopadhyay. The situation is remaining same that portrayed the recent fictions of Harishangkar Jaladash. But Reality is crueler than the fiction for the Dalit.
Many of the Dalit do not permit to enter the ownership house. Though historically caste system is considered as a part of Hindu culture this practice has been adopted by the Muslim majority in Bangladesh also. These groups of people are referred to as ‘low caste and untouchable’. A sweeper will see their child grow up as a sweeper. So it happens to a barber or for the cobblers. If your father is a snake charmer you became a snake charmer too. They do not get respect from society though they are functioning very important role for society.
But why Dalit and the lower caste concept still exist in the very modern society? Then we may look back the concept of two famous sociologists Kinsley Davis and Wilbert Moore. These two Functionalists argued that no society is classless. Social inequality is necessary. Without Social stratification or inequality, the social system cannot run. Kinsley Davis and Wilbert Moore developed one of the very popular functionalist views of Social Strata. In their famous article ‘Some principles of Stratification’ in 1945, they claim that inequality is universal in its nature because every society is stratified. They argue, ‘As a functioning mechanism a society must somehow distribute its members in social positions and induce them to perform the duties of this position’. Inequality is an unavoidable matter it is indeed necessary to the smooth working of the society. After that, Davis and Moore also explain how inequality benefits society. They ask why some of the position is more important than the other.
So, the position is matter. The position gives a person an opportunity to practice power. But the Dalit or the Lower caste don’t have nor the position or the power. The Social Stratification of Bangladesh has turned a new Dimension after its Independence in 1971. Before the Liberation War Bangladesh was a Muslim Dominated society. However, Its Father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his follower tried to make it a Secular Socialist Society. But After Sheikh Mujib was killed by a group of terrorist the constitution has changed rapidly. And it Declares Islam as the state religion. Constructional support made the Muslim superior legally and the Hindus make a minority. And the Dalits to speak to the most underestimated and denied segments. The Dalit are normally situated in the most unhygienic zone which no one else would want; as a result of the bias that they are ‘unclean’.
The Lower caste Hindus are deprived more in the society. They are the religious minority as well as the minority in their own community. A vast number of Dalit’s experience discrimination by the non-Dalit now. Even they have to work without being paid. The law of Bangladesh restricted discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Social exclusion is nevertheless practiced over the entire country.
But, it’s the high time to think about the equal rights for all class, the state and us should change psychology towards the Dalit and lower caste.
The Writer is graduated from South Asian University, New Delhi under SAARC Silber jubilee Scholarship. Can be reached through riad.arif1952@gmail.com