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The Fifth Cup is Poisoned Bread of Caste

The Sikh community's singular failure in engaging and addressing the fallacy and menace of caste within the fraternity has come to haunt even the Diaspora as Britain will witness on Thursday the first play on caste system which describes the travails of a family flitting from one to the other city in its bid to leave behind its so-called lower caste. 

Perniciously operating within the local Sikhs, the caste is the central theme of the play 'The Fifth Cup'. The protagonist teenager struggles to understand the inherited tag but what will worry many is that the debut production of the Caste Away Arts, a new Midland's-based theatre company, is written by non-Sikhs Rena Dipti Annobil and Reena Bhatoa. While the duo may have been victims of caste discrimination, it is not clear why they chose Sikhism as the religion over Hinduism where the caste compartments are much more water tight and which celebrates caste rather openly, unlike Sikhism which negates the concept. 

Of course it is true that the more than a million Indians in Britain still, more often than not, marry as per their caste lines, and marriage bureaux openly list Ravidasia, Ramgarhia, Lohar, Lohana, Mochi, Mistry, Shah/Vania or Tank/Shatria categories. Even progressive newspapers in India and community papers and websites abroad do likewise.  

A reverse reaction is now being seen in Punjab’s Doaba where the so-called lower caste youth are turning inversely snobbish by displaying stickers behind their vehicles which loudly proclaim “Putt Chamaran De” in direct response to similar “Putt Jattan De” bumper stickers. The Jat-bhappa debates on Diaspora run websites and blogs are common, and so are the innumerable songs about the Jat-pride in many a Bhangra ditties. It is time the Diaspora starts taking the issue head on, or we would be doomed to see more such plays making news by stripping us naked.

12 December, 2007
 

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