Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

51
which their faith do not permit. ‘Muslim castes are a familiar
phenomenon’. 26 ‘The Muhammadans themselves recognize two main
social divisions: Ashraf, or noble, including all undoubted descendants
of foreigners and converts from the higher Hindu castes, and Ajlaf, or
common people… Intermarriage between Ashraf and Ajlaf is
reprobated and it is seldom that a man of the higher class will give his
daughter to one of the lower.’ 27a ‘To sum up, it may be said that, though
caste is unknown to Muhammadan religion, it exists in full force among
many of the Muhammadans of upper India, and in all parts of the
country amongst the functional groups that form the lower strata of
the community’. 27b ‘Bougle mentions a church in Tamilnadu with
separate naves going on to a common chancel to accommodate hostile
caste. 28 Writing of the Syrian Christians of the Malabar Coast, Lyer
says: ‘The average Indian Christian is a staunch observer of caste…
There are a large number of Christians in the Southern Districts of
the Madras Presidency who even boast of their being firmer and truer
adherents of the caste system than the Hindus. ’29
This cosistent and determined attempt to mould, twist or absorb
all liberal religious and social trends could not be accidental. A great
conscious effort was needed to achieve this result.
Human and Ethical Values
All those liberal social trends and ethical values which were
incompatible with the inhuman code of the caste system were doomed
to failure. Every social order is based on certain values. The very lifeblood
of the caste order was social inequality. It hindered the
development of any sort of idea of ‘Human Rights’.
More than that, some sections of the population were
regarded as almost bestial rather than human. The whole Sudra
race was equated with a burial ground. Aitareya Brahmana describes
the Sudra as ‘Yatha-Kama-Vadhya’ (fit to be beaten with impunity)
and ‘Dvijatisusrusha’ or menial service was his prescribed lot. 30
One text puts the murder of a Sudra on the same level as the
destruction of a crow, an owl or a dog. 31 A sudra could be killed at
will. 32 The excessive contempt, humailiation and degradation