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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2020/Paper II/Indian Society, Caste & Civilization
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2020 20 Marks Model Answer Available

Reasons for Caste Violence in India — 2020 Paper II

Question · 2020 · Paper II · 20 Marks

Explain the reasons of caste violence in India with suitable examples.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Explain the structural, economic, political and cultural causes of caste violence in India with relevant examples.
  • Structuring the Response: Link hierarchy, land, mobility and political assertion with dominant-caste backlash, then assess changing forms of caste conflict.

Model Answer

Introduction

Caste violence refers to coercion or collective violence arising from hierarchical status, unequal control over resources and contested caste identities. Though untouchability and caste discrimination are constitutionally prohibited, caste continues to intersect with land, class, gender and political power, creating conditions for conflict.

  1. Hierarchy and purity-pollution

Traditional caste relations institutionalized unequal status and notions of purity and pollution.

Louis Dumont, in Homo Hierarchicus (1966), emphasized hierarchy as central to caste ideology. When subordinated communities challenge customary restrictions on:

  • temple entry;
  • access to water;
  • public spaces;
  • ritual privileges,

such challenges may provoke violence from groups seeking to preserve traditional dominance.

  1. Land and agrarian inequality

In many villages, caste hierarchy overlaps with unequal landownership.

Landless or marginal Dalit labourers may depend economically on locally powerful cultivating castes.

Conflict may arise over:

  • wages;
  • tenancy;
  • access to common land;
  • bonded labour;
  • land redistribution.

The Kilvenmani violence (Tamil Nadu, 1968) reflected the intersection of caste hierarchy with agrarian labour conflict.

  1. Dominant caste and challenged power

M.N. Srinivas’s concept of dominant caste is particularly useful.

Dominance may derive from:

  • numerical strength;
  • landownership;
  • education;
  • political organization.

When historically subordinated communities gain education, economic mobility or political representation, the older balance of power may be challenged.

Subordinate caste mobility → Challenge to dominance → Status anxiety → Possible violence

Incidents such as Karamchedu (1985) and Tsundur (1991) in Andhra Pradesh reflected such tensions involving locally powerful castes and Dalits.

  1. Democratization and political assertion

Universal franchise, reservations and Panchayati Raj have enabled historically disadvantaged groups to:

  • contest elections;
  • occupy public office;
  • organize caste associations;
  • demand state resources.

Democratization therefore weakens old monopolies of power but may also produce competitive caste mobilization.

Violence can emerge where political empowerment is perceived as threatening established local elites.

  1. Sanskritization and status mobility

M.N. Srinivas’s Sanskritization demonstrates that caste rankings can be contested.

Groups claiming:

  • higher ritual status;
  • new titles;
  • changed customs;
  • access to previously restricted rituals

may encounter resistance from other groups.

Thus caste violence may involve not only oppression from above but also competition over relative status.

  1. Inter-caste marriage

Marriage is crucial to maintenance of caste boundaries because caste is reproduced through endogamy.

Inter-caste relationships challenge:

  • lineage honour;
  • property arrangements;
  • caste purity;
  • control over women’s sexuality.

Consequently, couples entering inter-caste marriages may face social boycott, coercion or so-called honour-based violence.

  1. Gender and caste

Caste and patriarchy are closely interconnected.

Control over women’s marriage and sexuality helps reproduce caste boundaries. Violence against women of marginalized castes can therefore function both as gender domination and caste assertion.

  1. Economic competition

Modernization has generated new arenas of competition over:

  • government employment;
  • educational opportunities;
  • reservations;
  • contracts;
  • local development resources.

Economic competition may acquire caste form where social networks and political mobilization operate through caste identities.

  1. Atrocities and assertion

The Khairlanji case (Maharashtra, 2006) highlighted the persistence of violent caste prejudice even amid processes of rural social change.

Similarly, incidents such as Mirchpur (Haryana, 2010) demonstrate that caste violence can persist despite modernization and constitutional safeguards.

  1. Caste, class and power

André Béteille demonstrated that caste, class and power are analytically distinct but closely interconnected.

Contemporary caste violence often arises where:

Ritual hierarchy + Economic inequality + Political competition

combine within the same local setting.

Changing nature of caste violence

Modernization has weakened some traditional caste restrictions but has not eliminated caste.

The pattern has changed from:

Unquestioned hierarchy → Assertion by subordinate groups → Competitive caste politics

Thus, paradoxically, increased equality and mobility may initially generate conflict because formerly accepted inequalities are increasingly challenged.

Conclusion

Caste violence in India cannot be explained by ritual hierarchy alone. It results from the interaction of status inequality, land relations, political democratization, gender control and competing social mobility. Its reduction requires not only legal protection but substantive transformation of unequal access to land, dignity and political power.

2026 What are the major debates related to the concept of jajmani system? 2026 Does caste as a social category exist among the non-Hindu communities in India? Illustrate your answer with suitable examples. 2025 Caste domination, factionalism and political power 2025 Characteristics and communication between Little and Great Traditions

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