Should the Varna System Be Challenged? *Intro*

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The Varna or Caste system is a status ladder which Hindus use in their societies to identify how important a person is. Once you reach Moksha, you are out of reincarnation cycle. Below the Moksha on the virtual ladder of importance are the Brahmins. They are Priests, Religious Figures or advisors to other Brahmins. The next most important on the Varna ladder are the Kshatriyas. The Kshatriyas are made up of the warriors and rulers. Vaishyas are the third level of importance. The Vaisyas are Hindus who have worked and achieved qualifications to reach their job. Then comes the Shudras. The Shudras are supposedly the servants of the other stages and are responsible for doing the jobs that anybody could do or that nobody wanted. When a child is born into a Varna stage, they are socialized only with other members of their Varna and later married only within their Varna. Nobody can move up or down in the system until when they die naturally. Then they are assessed by a god to see if they are deserving of a step up in the ladder of Moksha If they do not deserve this, then they will move down a step or even two depending on which crime they have committed. If their behaviour has not changed for better or for worse, then sometimes they are born into the same Varna as before. Last of all are the Dalits (or Untouchables). These are the people classed as sub-human - with no job or qualifications, nobody wants to associate or even hire them. Association with the Dalits means that you would become ‘polluted’. They say that if you are a Dalit then you have bad karma (bad luck); for this reason and many others, the Untouchables are gunned, raped, burnt and lynched (beaten) every day. Millions face discrimination and humiliation because of who they are. They make up a fifth of the population - 250 million in total. The word 'Dalit' comes from the Hindu language and means 'broken' or
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