In traditional India, caste system operated within a religious framework. Belief systems of purity and pollution were central to its practice. Today, it often functions as political pressure groups. This change in the functioning of caste system is called:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Secularisation of Caste
Option (1) Invisibility of Caste System — Incorrect. Caste has tended to become ‘invisible’ for the upper caste, urban middle and upper classes, who have benefited most from development and for whom caste appears to have declined in importance. That is a different change from caste turning into a political pressure group.
Option (3) Secularisation of Caste — Correct. In traditional India caste worked within a religious framework of purity and pollution. Today it often functions as a political pressure group, through caste associations and caste based political parties that press their demands upon the state. Such a changed role of caste has been described as secularisation of caste.
NCERT (2025-26): “Modernisation and Secularisation … There has also been considerable debate about what is seen by some as secularisation of caste. What does this mean? In traditional India caste system operated within a religious framework. Belief systems of purity and pollution were central to its practice. Today it often functions as political pressure groups. Contemporary India has seen such formation of caste associations and caste based political parties. They seek to press upon the state their demands. Such a changed role of caste has been described as secularisation of caste.…” “One of the most significant yet paradoxical changes in the caste system in the contemporary period is that it has tended to become ‘invisible’ for the upper caste, urban middle and upper classes.…” |