08-04-2005, 09:38 PM
It was not my intention to raise a controversy over the antiquity of individal castes in Iindia.and it is clear that my choice of the kamma community was a poor one. Loose knit communities evolved over time bound by location and common cultural traits, but they were not rigid.
It is true that the British did what they had to do to perpetuate their rule in India. That does not make them necessarily evil or even bad. They did what they had to do . But that is precisely the reason why we should not accept their description of the caste system in India as embodied in Indian Law (in the shape o fthe SC/ST categorization.To come back to my original point i do not understand the word caste, since there is no exact equivalent in Indiain languages. The current incarnation of the caste system is purely an interpretation of the British and should be discarded lock stock and barrel.
Incidentally i discovered the vepachedu site quite a while ago and have quoted from it in my previous post (prior to yours)
It is true that the British did what they had to do to perpetuate their rule in India. That does not make them necessarily evil or even bad. They did what they had to do . But that is precisely the reason why we should not accept their description of the caste system in India as embodied in Indian Law (in the shape o fthe SC/ST categorization.To come back to my original point i do not understand the word caste, since there is no exact equivalent in Indiain languages. The current incarnation of the caste system is purely an interpretation of the British and should be discarded lock stock and barrel.
Incidentally i discovered the vepachedu site quite a while ago and have quoted from it in my previous post (prior to yours)