Sunila wrote: > >The caste system started as a flexible professional recognition >system. Four main professions namely kshatriya (kings), vani >(merchants), brahmin (scholars), shudras(other services) were >recognised. It was flexible and a person could >change his/her profession without a problem. >
I don't know to what extent the above historical justification has any kind of objective validity, considering the current desire for revisionist thinking among Vedic scholars. But there is now strong objective evidence for the idea that the discrimination between the higher and lower castes might have been motivated by racism. Furthermore, this evidence completely rules out the above contention that "a person could change his/her profession (caste) without a problem". I am referring here to a genetic study conducted recently by scientists at the University of Utah on several Indian population groups belonging to different castes. I believe a news report on this study was circulated on this or some other Goan mailing list. This study found that the members of the higher castes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) are genetically similar to white Eastern Europeans, and substantially different from the members of the lower castes (various Shudra subcastes). The Shudras and tribals have significant genetic similarities with Africans and Asians. The case appears to be pretty strong that the caste system was the earliest form of skin color-based racist apartheid system, as Jose Colaco proposes in his article on Colaco.Net. Cheers, Santosh =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
