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This is an excerpt on a Human Rights report on India’s rigid Caste System that gives an account of how the Harijans (untouchables) are treated. Hence, the reason why most would prefer the term Dalit (which means "the oppressed") to identify this group.

Excerpt:
Indians at the bottom of India's Hindu caste system are attacked, raped and killed daily due to their status, even though the rigid social hierarchy has been outlawed for decades, an international human rights group said Tuesday.

India has a strikingly uneven record of battling discrimination against its 165 million dalits, or untouchables. A former president and the current chief justice are dalits, but another 1.3 million earn a pittance clearing human excrement off train tracks.

...The report offered a slew of examples of violence against dalits, such as the case of a man beaten so badly in January — after demanding that his daughter's rapists be tried — that both his legs and an arm had to be amputated.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070213/...ibqo8DzGH9xg8F

Froom the article:

Sorry for my ignorance but when a baby is born who is the one deciding what "caste" the baby will belong to and based on what?

Their parents. They belong to the caste of their parents. Japan and Korea have similar castes.

Thanks Oto, so what determines you belong to a certain caste? Money? Look? (in the case of India) and what are the ramifications of belonging to the best and worst castes?

Oto, esto pasa de verdad en India o es meramente historico?

De verdad pasa. It is purely determined by ancestry. THink of it as classism taken to the extreme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste

We used to have caste systems in Latin America.

Gosh, that's real primitive but as the article explains, through legislations these caste systems are considered illegal in Latin America, I wonder why people in India do not try something similar.

They have, but they can't stop social association.

WOW!

That CASTE SYSTEM In INDIA is so RACIST and EVIL.

So LET us CONCENTRATE on INDIA'S CASTE SYSTEM to FIND out why this PRACTICE is still PROMINENT in this CIVILIZED WORLD of ours.

Not really racist because you find people with the same genetic admixture in different castes, but it is the most extreme example of Classism in existence.

Really ?



They still carry on that sadistic system in di Caribbean still.Look at the word 'doogla' its accepted now but it originally has/had negative connotations.

From the same link Oto provided:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste


Yes I was wondering why do we use that term in Trinidad even though the meaning is so bad?

It wasn't originally. It originally just meant mix. Intervarna. They also called a mix of a Tiger and a leopard a dogla.

What about this?

Dougla, a word used by people of the West Indies, especially in, but not limited to, Trinidad and Tobago, comes from dogala, the Hindustani word for "bastard".

It was often used by people of Hindustani descent (i.e. East Indians) when referring to a person who was of mixed descent. This included anyone who was not a pure blooded member of a single caste. In the West Indies, as caste decreased in importance and intermarriage between castes became more common, this word became less used when referring to people as long as they were full-blooded Indians. However, "dougla" continued to be used frequently when referring to people of mixed African and Hindustani descent. This reflected widespread Hindustani opposition to interracial marriage. Their opposition was caused mainly by two factors: their desire to preserve Hindustani culture and racial tension between Blacks and Indians. Many Blacks also opposed interracial marriage because of anti-Indian prejudices. They, too, began referring to people of mixed race as "douglas".

Today, most people are unaware of the real meaning of "dougla". They simply think it means "a person of multi-racial descent". Despite its original use as a racial slur, "dougla" is becoming increasingly used by people of mixed race to describe themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougla

I am aware of that.