Problems With Inter-Caste Marriages

India's five-level caste system has been the basis of Indian society for hundreds of years, creating subcultures in which people from the same caste have lived insulated or outcast from those socially considered below or above them. While the status of the caste system has been largely revoked legislatively (particularly in the governmental invalidation of the concept of the "untouchability" of members of the lowest caste), the social mores attached to the caste system have not died away so quickly in this traditional society. As such, inter-caste marriages remain a source of tension for many more tradition-minded Indian families.

Urban vs. Rural Change

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  Many Indian cities-dwellers have been exposed to reformist ideas and have gradually accepted the possibility of inter-caste marriages within their families. Unfortunately, in rural areas, change has been particularly slow in coming. Indian parents already tend to have a large, if not complete, say in the choice of marital partners of their sons and daughters. The relative isolation of rural Indians only exacerbates this traditionalism with regards to caste.

Family Acceptance

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  Thus, no matter what region an inter-caste couple hails from, the most likely difficulty that the pair is liable to face is a set of obstacles to family acceptance. This problem applies both to the family into which one marries and to the family one comes from. Tensions with new in-laws are fairly predictable. A bride or groom of another caste is even less likely to be approved of by in-laws who believe the choice is beneath their son or daughter. However, this type of tension also arises from within the family of someone contemplating entering into an inter-caste marriage. Often the family will feel and communicate a sense of betrayal to the son or daughter for his or her action.

New Caste Traditions

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  Aside from the purely personal aspect of the reception by in-laws or one's own family are the issues that arise from trying to fit in with a cultural pattern that may at first seem foreign. Not only might the rituals specific to a particular caste be hard to get accustomed to, but the process also frequently causes tension between the couple as well, as previous expectations of married life are altered or go unfulfilled.

Extreme Reactions

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  Receiving a cold shoulder from family or failing to wholeheartedly adopt new rituals are certainly problems that inter-caste couples must face. However, in a number of cases, couples who encounter only these problems may consider themselves lucky. Sometimes family reactions are so strong as to effectively disown the "offending" party. In addition to this intense emotional abuse from family members, violence involving inter-caste couples is not unheard of. Families who consider such marriages to be vehement rejections of religious teaching sometimes go as far as to issue death threats to their own family members who contemplate inter-caste marriages.

Positive Trends

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  Although many traditionalists continue to oppose any mingling between castes, many reformers believe that inter-caste marriages are the best way to achieve true equality. In addition to the breaking of rigid social boundaries, inter-marriage has the added benefit of creating such a large degree of mixing over several generations that no significant caste structure can remain. Finally, the Indian government is trying to support reform by providing financial assistance to those who marry into lower (and poorer) castes. With the support of the government and a wave of more educated reformers, inter-caste marriages should gradually become more accepted in all of Indian society.