Satyamev Jayate - Castism - Amir missed the opportunity

I had updated this on my facebook after the Satyamev Jayate episode on Castism. I am reiterating the same for my Blog readers.

Ever since the series started, I watched every episode of Satyamev Jayate and analysed the way each episode was presented. All the episodes were nicely presented and there was nothing much to write, but for the first time after the last episode I felt that an issue was not handled properly. A sensitive issue like castism needed a better treatment and if required and the kind of perfectionist he is, Amir should have dedicated two episodes on this. Today in India, castism is more problematic than just the suffering of the lower cast. Yes, this is one factor, but I believe Amir should have also touched the issues of divide and rule politics that India is facing for centuries. Another aspect that I feel was the resolution given for the problem. In fact no concrete resolution was given. One of the guest mentioned Inter-cast marriages, great thought but it would take another century to wipe out the problem.

As they say, the solution of a problem lies in the problem itself. In Hinduism castism is deep routed, Amir did his best to highlight it, but what Amir should have also done to highlight that Hinduism in true sense doesn't assign cast to a person by berth, but it is a person Karma which would decide its cast. A born Brahmin fighting a war becomes a Khatriya, a dalit teaching Veda in the university becomes a Brahmin. This is Hinduism in true sense. Further an incident of Kalijai Temple in Orissa was shown to show the discrimination, but if the SJ team would have done a little more research, they would have found that in Jagannath Puri, which is also in Orissa and among the Char-Dhams, any Hindu can enter irrespective of their cast, and this is not because of any human’s wish, as per the legends this was Goddess Lakshmi’s promise taken from Lord Jagannath. By showing such an example, a right impact would have been created. Castism since significantly entangled with Religion cannot be routed out, if we are not showing the right interpretation of the religion. Though, many will not agree with this immediately, but it would have certainly implant a seed of change in their belief. As I see it, Amir missed a nice opportunity to take the show to a different level and provide a solution to the problem.