Discrimination Psyche: Not Quite Like Us
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: alashbiswaskl@gmail.com">palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
From: ShivaShankarIW
"... "For jobs that required a higher degree, we sent in an additional
application from a person with a high-caste name who only had a bachelor's
degree. That is, an academically under-qualified person but from a
socially highranking group. For jobs that required BA degrees, we added a
person with a Dalit name who had a master's degree, someone overqualified
in academic terms but with a socially lower status."
As the results proved, the odds of a Dalit being invited for an interview
were about two-thirds of the odds of a high-caste applicant with the same
qualifications. The odds of a Muslim applicant being called were worse:
only one third as often as the high-caste Hindu counterpart. ... It was
found that an under-qualified high-caste candidate had an edge over an
overqualified Dalit or Muslim. ... The IIDS-Princeton study proves that
merit is not a technical issue; it has a large social component. ..."
*Not Quite Like Us*
*Sampling the corporate sector's attitudes to hiring the disadvantaged, a
recent study discovered huge holes in the myth of India Inc's social
inclusiveness, says S. ANAND
Tehelka *Nov 24, 2007, Vol 4, Issue 45 *
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main36.asp?filename=cr241107not_quite.asp
*THE SENSEX hit 20,000 points in early November, breaking all records.
Corporate India is on the rise, and gloats unabashedly. An international
collaborative study has revealed, however, that Corporate India would
rather march on without offering Dalits and Muslims a share.
If you applied for an entry-level job in the corporate sector with a name
like Ramdas Chamar or Mohan Paswan, and also sent a resume as Badrinath
Shrivastav or Sundaram Iyengar with the same set of credentials, the
applications bearing the distinctly Dalit names (Chamar/Paswan) are less
likely to get a response. Those with Muslim names tend to fare even worse.
These are the findings of a two-year collaborative study undertaken by
researchers at the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), headed by
University Grants Commission chairman Sukhadeo Thorat, together with
sociologists supported by Princeton University's Institute for
International and Regional Studies. Since October 2005, the multi-pronged
study had sought to examine social exclusion in the urban Indian labour
market. The findings, published in the form of four papers in *Economic
and Political Weekly*, were deliberated upon recently in Delhi at a
conference inaugurated by Union Human Resource Development minister Arjun
Singh.
The studies were conceived as "tests of the proposition that
discrimination is no longer an issue in Indian labour markets,
particularly in the formal, private sector". Making use of techniques
pioneered in the US to measure discrimination against blacks and other
social minorities, the study has established conclusively that the private
sector, left to its own devices, would unselfconsciously and prejudicially
deny opportunities to Muslims and Dalits. The study establishes
discrimination in quantitative terms, and identifies attitudes and beliefs
through qualitative means that contribute to discriminatory pat terns of
hiring.
Formulated by Thorat and Paul Attewell of the City University of New York,
the field experiment sought to verify name-related prejudices in Indian
corporations. Over a period of 66 weeks, the research team made 4,808
applications for 548 openings, responding to entry level jobs advertised
in national and regional English language newspapers, in cluding The Times
of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Deccan Herald and Deccan Chronicle.
Applications were made to companies across the corporate sector, including
those in securities and investments, pharmaceuticals and medical sales,
computer sales, support and IT services, manu facturing, accounting,
automobile sales and financing, marketing and mass media, veterinary and
agricultural sales, construction and banking.
IIDS research staff sub mitted sets of three matched application letters
and resumes (in English) for each type of job, each application having
identical educational qualifications and levels of experience. The matched
applications differed only in the name of each male applicant. "No
explicit mention of caste or religious background was made," explains
Thorat. "However, in each matched set, one application was for a person
who had a stereotypically highcaste Hindu family name. The second was for
an applicant with an identifiably Muslim name, and the third had a
distinctively Dalit name."
The authors of the study introduced a twist, adding one 'discordant'
application to these three. "For jobs that required a higher degree, we
sent in an additional application from a person with a high-caste name who
only had a bachelor's degree. That is, an academically under-qualified
person but from a socially highranking group. For jobs that required BA
degrees, we added a person with a Dalit name who had a master's degree,
someone overqualified in academic terms but with a socially lower status."
THERE WERE 450 positive outcomes, where employers either phoned or wrote
to certain 'applicants' asking to interview the person. "We defined a
positive outcome as simply entering the second stage of the job-search
process: being contacted for an interview or for testing," says Attewell.
As the results proved, the odds of a Dalit being invited for an interview
were about two-thirds of the odds of a high-caste applicant with the same
qualifications. The odds of a Muslim applicant being called were worse:
only one third as often as the high-caste Hindu counterpart. With the
discordant applications, it was found that an under-qualified high-caste
candidate had an edge over an overqualified Dalit or Muslim. Says Thorat:
"This proves that social exclusion is not a residue of the past, nor is it
merely a rural phenomenon. Caste and communal discrimination are prevalent
in modern corporations."
Thorat and Attewell say an empirical survey on the presence of Dalits and
other minorities in the private sector was beyond the scope of this study
given Indian industry's wariness on this issue. "Companies in India are
not obliged to report the caste and religious composition of their
workforces to the government. US law, on the other hand, requires
companies of a certain size to report the gender and racial composition of
their workforces to the federal government, and these data are monitored
by the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission," says Attewell.
The private sector in India, largely unaccountable to any external or
internal authority on social indices, may soon be forced to change its
ways. The Centre is all set to establish an Equal Opportunity Commission
(EOC). A five-member expert committee, likely to be headed by NR Madhava
Menon, and including social scientists Javed Alam, Satish Deshpande and
Yogendra Yadav, will decide on the contours of the proposed EOC. "It
remains to be seen whether this Commission, when formed, will have teeth;
and if it does, will they be used to bite," says a skeptical A. Ramaiah,
Chairperson, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy
at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Another paper by Surinder Jodhka, sociologist with Jawaharlal Nehru
University, and Katherine Newman of Princeton University, presented the
results of a qualitative interview-based study of 25 human resource
managers in large firms based in New Delhi and the National Capital
Region. These firms have close to 20 lakh 'core' workers on their payroll.
TEHELKA has learnt that the firms interviewed included heavyweights like
ITC, Jet Airways, Maruti Udyog and Hero Honda. "Companies that scored high
on the corporate social responsibility index were chosen," Jodhka told
TEHELKA. The study found that the HR managers spoke a new language of
merit when describing hiring policies. "Worldliness, sophistication, and
exposure to international issues were considered essential apart from
scholastic record," says Newman.
However, when pressed on whether qualifications alone mattered, every HR
manager insisted that 'family background' was the clincher. "While
Americans firms invoke race as a signal, the family in India is seen as a
crucible of personal qualities. This would indeed contradict the idea of
'merit' which, as understood classically, entails rising above one's
station and family of origin," says Newman. When questions in an interview
turn to the 'family', it is invariably a euphemism for caste. "However
eligible, if the candidate's father was not a graduate or was a farmhand,
the corporate sector would not give him a chance," says Jodhka. Another
study of Dalit and non-Dalit graduates from Delhi School of Economics, JNU
and Jamia Milia Islamia found that several Dalit candidates preferred to
'lie' about their background during corporate interviews. The
IIDS-Princeton study proves that merit is not a technical issue; it has a
large social component.
The very structuring of this study demonstrates corporate casteism. When
Jodhka and Newman wrote to HR managers formally seeking to interview them,
Jodhka used the JNU letterhead and mentioned Princeton's association with
the study. IIDS, the pivot of the study, was never mentioned. "Had we used
the IIDS letterhead, it is possible none of the HR managers would have
even entertained our questions," says Jodhka.
Pramod Jonnalagadda to Ashok, Daily, me, Venugopal, mukesh_eswaran, Arvind, VHP, Venkat, greesh, Tariyal
show details 2:31 am (15 hours ago)
Namaste Ashok,
I would just want to mention one point which would nail this whole thing as a deliberate attempt to misguide people.
Item number 7,14 Rig Veda says about cooking beef. Nonsense who is this guy who has done this research.
NO WHERE IN OUR ANCIENT TEXTS THERE IS A MENTION ABOUT COOKING BEEF.
Please do some research before you blindly forward such crap.
Shubam
Pramod Jonnalagadda
+91-9845969951
If India has to become developed nation by 2020 we can not afford to neglect eight crore Vanavasis. A P J Abdul Kalam Former President of India.
Please visit http://vanavasikalyan.org/.
Pramod Jonnalagadda wrote:
Fw: Excerpts from Ancient Brahmin Literature I
Excerpts from Ancient Brahmin Literature
As printed on Page Nos. 34 to 39 of
THE BAHUJAN GUIDE
written by K. V. Narasimhan (Kovena), M.A., LL.B., C.A.I.I.B.,
Recipient of
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar International Mission (California-USA) Literary Award-2004.
Forwarded by:
Ashok T. Jaisinghani.
Editor & Publisher:
www.Wonder-Cures.com
www.Nutritionist-No-1.com www.Top-Nut.com
www.SindhiKalakar.com
E-mail: AshokJai@Sancharnet.in
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excerpts from Ancient Brahmin Literature
The Rig Veda (said to be the most sacred):
1. Those who hate Brahmans will be the worst sinners and will face the worst of deaths. (10-36-9) (Mandal-10 Sukta-36 Rik-9).
2. O' Aswini gods! please kill our enemies and fetch us their grain, cows and women. (01-30-17).
3. Those who make Brahmans happy with liberal donations of all kinds will get high positions in heaven. (10-107-2).
4. O' Soma Ras (soma ras was the country liquor of those days) please kill our rich enemies and fetch us their wealth, cows and women. (9-1-3).
5. O' Indra, (Indra is said to be ruler of heaven). Please rob all those who do not donate to us and give that wealth to us. (8-70-7).
6. O' Indra, we have prepared the soma ras you like most, please come, drink and give us wealth. (8-71-2).
7. O' Indra, myself and other Rithviks (Rithvik means priest) are cooking beef. Please come and have the best soma ras and beef and give us boons. (10-27-2).
8. O' Indra, a husband satisfies his wife's sexual desires. Just the way, you satisfy our desire for wealth. (10-29-5).
9. O' God Agni (Agni means fire), please burn alive our enemies. (1-12-5).
10. O' Indra, please recognize who are Aryans and who are Dasyus and make them our slaves and help us as we are performing yagna for you. (1-51-8).
11. O' Agni, make us strong so that we can kill our enemies and their children and with the looted wealth, permit us and our children to live happily for hundreds of years. ( 1-73-9).
12. O' Agni, please drive away the Dasyus and non-Aryans from this area. We are praying you day and night. (1-78-4) ( Dasyus / enemies / non-Aryans = Natives).
13. O' God Varuna (O' God of Rain), please liberate me from all debts, including my forefathers' debts and make arrangements so that I don't have to live on somebody's earnings. (2-28-9).
14. O' Cows, make us strong and handsome. Your meat in the yagnas is highly delicious. Keep our houses sacred. (6-28-6).
15. O' Bow, take us forward always. Make our bodies as strong as rocks. Let soma ras talk on our behalf and let nature take care of us. (6-75-12).
16. O' Whip, encourage our horses in wars. (6-75-13).
17. O' Soma Ras, we are drinking plenty of you daily. That is the only job we have. Our greatest hope is yourself and none else. (9-1-5).
18. Those who donate soma ras to us will live forever. (10-107-2).
19. Let the goat-riding, daily traveling Sun God serve us and give us beautiful women. (9-67-10).
20. O' Soma Ras, you are giving happiness, pleasure, grain, cows and horses. Give us intellect also. (9-9-9).
Dharma Suthras (Codes)
1. Brahma gave birth to the Brahmans from his mouth, the Kshatriyas from his shoulders, the Vysyas from his thighs and Sudras from his feet. (Manu's Code 1-31).
2. A hundred-year-old Kshatriya must treat a ten-year old Brahman boy as his father. (Manu 11-135).
3. A Sudra is a slave and nothing but slave. (Aithareya Brahmana VII-29-4)
4. No Sudra should have property of his own. He should have nothing of his own. The existence of a wealthy Sudra is bad for the Brahmans. (Manu VII-417 & X-129).
5. God said - the duty of a Sudra is to serve the upper varnas faithfully with devotion and without grumbling. (Manu 1-27 & 91).
6. If a Sudra touches an upper varna woman with sexual intentions he should be beheaded. (Gouthami XII-2).
7. A Brahman male can have any woman in the universe. (Manu XXVII-6 & 9).
8. Those who educate Sudras and women will go to hell. (Manu III-156).
9. If a Sudra injures an upper varna person, the part of his body with which he causes the injury should be cut off. If he sits near an upper varna person in a place as high as the latter sits, his buttocks should be burnt with a red hot metal rod and he banished from the country. If he spits near an upper varna person, his lips should be cut off. If he discharges bad gas near an upper varna person, his entire back should be torn off with a sharp knife. If he tries to teach his masters (the upper varnas), pour boiling oil in his mouth. If he scolds an upper varna person, push in a ten-inch long red-hot metal rod into his mouth. (Vishnu Code V-19 to 25).
10. If a Brahman dies with food in his stomach given by a Sudra, the Brahman will take rebirth as a pig in his next birth. (Vasista Code VII-27).
11. If a Brahman performs yagna with financial help of a Sudra, he will take rebirth as donkey. (Garuda Purana).
12. Food touched by a Sudra is unfit for consumption by the upper varnas. (Vasista XIV-1)
13. If a Brahman abuses a Sudra, it is not an offence. (Brihaspathi Code XX-7 & 11).
14. Sudras and women are unfit for education. It is not necessary that they should know the laws and codes, and hence need not be taught. Violaters will go to ASAMVRITA HELL. (Manu IV-78 to 81).
15. Brahmans and those who live at the feet of Brahmans need not pay taxes. (Apasthamba 1-7).
16. A Sudra serving a Brahman is greater than a Sudra serving a Kshatriya, and who in turn is greater than a Sudra serving a Vysya. (Apasthamba 1-8).
17. Slavery / serving is prohibited for a Brahman. (Manu VIII-50).
18. Even if someone frees a Sudra from slavery, he continues to be slave as he is created for slavery. Nobody has the right to free him. (Manu VIII-56 & 59).
19. Brahmans are to receive 16 types of donations (shodasa mahadanas) (Gruhya Sutra):
Virgins,
Gold,
Silver,
Maid servants,
Carts,
Horses,
Ploughs,
Sudras,
Clocks,
Goats,
Milch cows,
Milch buffaloes,
Cots and beds,
Lands,
Clothes,
Stones, ghee, grain, vegetables, umbrellas, sewing threads, staves, incense sticks, fans, images or idols of Siva.
20. The Brahmans are to give 16 types of services in return (Gruhya Sutra):
Donating pregnancy for the virgins donated above,
Blessing newborn,
Conducting ceremony for pregnant women,
Writing horoscopes,
Conducting naming ceremony,
Donating pregnancy to childless women,
Donating pregnancy to widows,
Literacy ceremony,
Cross-thread ceremony,
Deciding auspicious days,
Conducting yagnas,
Coronation ceremony of kings,
Conducting marriages,
Accepting cows from the family of the deceased,
Conducting death ceremony,
Conducting death anniversary every year.
EXTRA DOSE ON FEMALES
1. Every woman must be loyal, faithful, obedient, humble to her husband even if he is blind, deaf, dumb, old, physically handicapped, debauchelor, gambler, neglects his wife and lives with his concubine(s). If the husband is unhappy, it is the fault of his wife. If he cries, she should cry. If he laughs, she should laugh. She should eat only after her husband eats. If he beats her, she should not react, but fall on his feet and beg for pardon, kiss his hands and pacify him. If he dies, she should fall on his funeral pyre and die and go with him to the 'other-world' and serve him there in this manner. (Padma Purana).
2. Women are fickle-minded. Never believe them. Friendship with a woman is just like friendship with a wolf. (Rig Veda 8-33-7).
3. All women are born of sinful wombs. (Bhagavad-Gita IX-32).
4. Women are the most faithless. (Manu XVII-12).
5. Woman is the gate-way to hell. (Adi Sankara).
6. If a woman had ten non-Brahman husbands, and then if a Brahman touches her, the Brahman becomes her real husband. (Sruti).
7. Karaneshu Daasi, Sayaneshu Rambha - it means, in work she should excel all servants, and she should excel Rambha in bed.
8. A virtuous woman is one who dies on the funeral pyre of her dead husband and avail the privilege of serving her husband in the 'other world'. (Atharvana Veda 18-3-1).
9. Woman is source of sorrow. At birth she makes her mother weep. At puberty she makes her parents weep, at the time of marriage she makes all her family members and relatives weep. In youth she commits blunders and brings bad name to the family, relatives and varna. She tortures the hearts of her parents, husband and family members. She is called 'DARIKA' because she is source of sorrow to all. (Aithreya Brahmana).
10. Killing a woman, a Sudra or an atheist is not sinful. Woman is an embodiment of the worst desires, hatred, deceit, jealousy and bad character. Woman should never be given freedom. (Manu IX-14, 17 and V-14, 47).
11. A girl must be under the care of her father, in youth under the care of her husband, and in old age under the care of her sons. She should never be free and independent. (Manu V-148).
12. A Brahman male by virtue of his birth becomes the first husband of all women in the 'universe'. (Manu III-14).
13. None of the acts of a woman can be taken as good and reasonable. (Manu X-4).
14. Five husbands to a Hindu woman (Atri Smriti-190):
i. Soma (Moon)
ii. Gandharva
iii. Agni
iv. Brahman
v. Husband.
A bride's first night is with Brahman as the first three are notional.
15. If a woman does not satisfy the sexual desires of her husband, she should be severely beaten. (Brihadaranyakopanishad 6-4-7).
With all the repressive laws and codes, they brain-washed and controlled the women-folk economically, socially and culturally, and turned them into mentally-willing slaves. After that these slave-women brain-washed their children from childhood and handed them over to the Brahminised system to serve mechanically, and it is going on even no