UNTOUCHABILITY

DOES IT PREVAIL NOW ? 

Written on 29/05/2020

Do we bear being untouchable? No.  Do we bear the discrimination that still prevails after so many decades? Not so much. But why does it still root deep in the society? The answer is in the above. When we can not tolerate being untouchable at all, we do not resist that strongly against the discrimination. We, humans seem to live satisfied as long as everything is favourable to us. We do not find the need to stand tall against the pain the others have to endure. We miss being empathetic as long as we aren’t affected by it (untouchability). 

More often, we see people who are harsh to the ones they think are inferior. These people forget that it is their thought that is inferior. It is the hierarchy that they have made up in their minds which was low. 

We might think untouchability practice is no longer prevalent but thoughts aren’t always the truth. It exists in different ways and at various levels. Even a simple gesture we showcase is enough to hurt someone. A short frown upon someone you think is inferior to you is enough to continue THE CHAIN. Yes, the chain of untouchability practise. 

Little do we remember that we all evolved from apes. Let’s not boast on who should be on the creamy layer and who should be on the rock bottom; who is to be respected and who is to be frowned upon. 

The notions of ‘purity and pollution’ are ideas which, despite the spread of education and the advent of modern lifestyles tend to stick and prey on our religious and social insecurities. Social change is invariably slow and necessitates a change in the political, economic, social and cultural environment. 

This in turn requires the social psychology of the masses to transform over time to break the chain; to no longer tear about untouchability.