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In reply to the discussion: Indian bus rape: Delhi sees rush for guns [View all]cosmicone
(11,014 posts)The girl who was raped belonged to the upper caste. The caste system is a vestige of the past and its ill effects remain only in the deep rural areas. No one else follows it. Remember, 58% of India's population is under 30 and grew up without strong feelings about the caste system. This is very similar to how the younger people in the US are more open for gay rights and support gay marriage equality.
The chief justice of India's supreme court is a former "dalit".
While it is true that most Indian-Americans are from the upper castes, it is because of an unfair quota system that reserves >78% of the educational and job opportunities to the so called dalits and they have to go abroad to pursue higher studies. However, I know of many former "dalits" who are prospering in California and one of them also has a very successful IT start-up.
Finally, the caste system was never economic. Most Americans have a wrong notion that upper caste means rich and lower caste means poor. This is not true. It only had to do with social status and was never about wealth. Many lower caste people were far far richer than the upper caste brahmins throughout history.