Caste as the opposite of conversion

In the 16th and 17th centuries, inter-marriage between Rajputs and Mughal royalty brought great power and prosperity to both groups. In the 18th century, Gajapati Ramchandra Dev II, king of Odisha, was forced to marry a Muslim woman to prevent Muslim forces from attacking the Puri temple. He was declared polluted and forbidden from entering the Puri Jagannath temple henceforth and had to worship only at the shrine of Patita Paban located at the gate.

Marriage is a tool of both caste and religion. Caste promotes endogamy, marriage within the community, to keep the community pure. Conversion promotes exogamy, marriage outside the community. This allows the community to expand. Parsi immigrants to India followed caste rules – their numbers did not expand. Muslim immigrants to India married native women – their numbers expanded.

Every Indian is born into a caste and a religion. But you cannot leave caste. You can only leave religion. This makes the doctrine of caste an antagonist of the doctrine of conversion. Most people inherit their caste and religion. But modern society promotes social mobility and religious freedom. Caste fluidity is not possible. Caste annihilation remains a dream.

Traditionally, in India, conversion involved the caste, not the individual. So an entire community became Buddhist, Jain, Christian, and Muslim. This explains why the Christian denomination of Kerala maps to various caste groups, and why egalitarian religions like Islam and Sikhism have ‘low’ caste groups like Pasmanda Muslims and Mazhabi Sikhs. But in the 21st century, the modern state rejects caste and favours individual rights, and so willy-nilly has to support conversion which is seen as an expression of free will.

The word caste came from Europe where it applied to clans, tribes, and royal families who believed in the concept of pure blood. All tribal societies have similar ideas. The Christian Church favoured individualism over communities. It was easier to obtain wealth for the church from individuals with property than from communities with property. The modern state finds it easier to deal with individuals than with communities and tribes. In tribal society, identity and property come from the group. This is why modern society does not like tribal identities and speaks of individual rights. In the West, children belong to the State, not to families. Thus in America, the State can control a woman’s womb to protect the rights of unborn children.

Religion, as understood today, is mostly a Western phenomenon, a lever of empire-building – first in the Christian world around 300 AD, and later in the Islamic world during the 700s. These religions spread through proselytisers, teachers, and military might. Missionaries have to convert entire tribes and castes in traditional societies, which is tougher than working with individuals.

In casteism, violence occurs between communities, with those who have higher political and economic resources oppressing those with fewer resources. The doctrine of purity is central to caste, where the lower castes are considered not only poor but also lower in the hierarchy, often deemed untouchable and unworthy of physical contact. Violence in conversion-based religions, on the other hand, is often directed against non-believers. For example, Christians have attacked Jews and Muslims, while Muslims have attacked Christians and Hindus. Things get complicated in places like Myanmar and Manipur, where it is tough to figure out if the religious conflict masks a tribal or caste conflict. Today, in India, Buddhism is seen as a religion of ‘low’ caste Hindus; so the attempt of Brahmins to perform rituals in Bodh Gaya is seen not just as a religious war, but also as a caste war.

Conversion tends to see itself as universal, transcending race, ethnicity, and groups and thus can spread across countries and nations. In contrast, caste remains localised and governed by marriage rules. Those who have benefited from the caste system naturally see conversion as a threat, while those who are hurt by the caste system see conversion as opportunity. Caste groups see ‘love jihad’ as a conversion tool to expand numbers.

Caste and conversion are both social engineering tools. In academic circles, caste is often viewed as inherently wrong, while conversion is viewed as perfectly acceptable. This is because post-industrial ideologies value individual free will over group decision-making. Politicians gain power by pitting castes or religions against each other. Activists speak of the annihilation of caste, the annihilation of religion, and even gender – arguing that any form of structured hierarchy is harmful.

Castes can be oppressive. Religions can be oppressive too. These concepts do not truly valourise individuals. Ultimately, you thrive when you are bound to a group. Marriage is the greatest point of rupture and hence carefully guarded. Love marriage is acceptable by most Indians today provided you marry someone of the opposite gender, within the same caste, or the same religion.