Due to longstanding cultural norms,
inter-caste marriage Intercaste marriage (ICM), also known as marrying out of caste, is a form of exogamous nuptial union that involve two individuals belonging to different castes. Intercaste marriages are particularly perceived as socially unacceptable and taboo in mo ...
s in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
remains a rare occurrence, but in the modern era has been permissible in certain sections of Indian society due to modernisation and urbanisation. According to the 2011 census, only 5.8% of the marriages in India are inter-caste marriages.
In India, inter-caste marriages were publicly encouraged and supported by the incumbent government under
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
by the offering of financial encouragement to those who marry people from lower castes,
C. N. Annadurai
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...
, the former Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, and social activists such as
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy
Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Fa ...
,
[Anita Diehl. (1977). E. V. Ramaswami Periyar. ''A study of the influence of a personality in contemporary South India'', Scandinavian University Books: Sweden. .] Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu
Dewan Bahadur Sir Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu (1 October 1862 – 26 May 1939) was an Indian social reformer who hailed from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh in India. His father Appayya Nayadu worked as a subedar in Madras Army. Their forefathe ...
and
Manthena Venkata Raju
Manthena Venkata Raju (1904–1968) was an Indian politician and social worker from Manthenavaripalem, Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh. He participated in the non-violent resistance against the British rule in India.
Freedom Fighter
In 1921, at the ...
. In the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the Government offers a cash award for inter-caste couples. The Supreme Court of India has also declared that inter-caste marriages are in the national interest and a unifying factor for the nation and there has never been an official ban on inter-caste or inter-religion marriages in independent India.
In 2017, the Prime minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
started a scheme in which 2.5
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
rupees will be given to inter-caste couples if one of them is a
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
.
Statistics and surveys
According to the 2017 Study conducted by the Indian Statistical Institute, inter-caste marriages are more frequent in Rural areas (5.2%) than Urban areas (4.9%). The Survey also found that the inter-caste marriages are more common among poor people (5.9%) than rich people (4.0%).
According to the Studies conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research in 2016, about 5% of the marriages in India are inter-caste marriages.
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...
had the highest number of inter-caste marriages, where about 55% of the marriages were inter-caste marriages and
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
had the lowest number of inter-caste marriages, where only 1% of the marriages were inter-caste marriage.
According to a survey, the education of the husband's mother has a significant effect on inter-caste marriages. The probability of inter-caste marriages was found to increase by 36% with a 10-year increase in education of the husband's mother.
In a 2010 report, the
National Commission for Women
The National Commission for Women (NCW) is the statutory body of the Government of India, generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women. It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the I ...
(NCW) documented 326 cases of
honour crime in the past year, the majority of which were due to
inter-caste marriage Intercaste marriage (ICM), also known as marrying out of caste, is a form of exogamous nuptial union that involve two individuals belonging to different castes. Intercaste marriages are particularly perceived as socially unacceptable and taboo in mo ...
s.
See also
*
Caste system in India
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in Outline of ancient India, ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern ...
*
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.
Endogamy is common in many cultu ...
*
Hypergamy
Hypergamy (colloquially referred to as "marrying up") is a term used in social science for the act or practice of a person marrying a spouse of higher caste or social status than themselves.
The antonym "hypogamy" refers to the inverse: marryin ...
*
Inter-caste marriage in Nepal
Inter-caste marriage ( ne, अन्तरजातीय विवाह ) is a type of marriage that is done outside of one's caste. Nepal has many castes and inter-caste marriage is generally considered taboo. However, this kind of marriage ...
*
Jāti
''Jāti'' is the term traditionally used to describe a cohesive group of people in the Indian subcontinent, like a tribe, community, clan, sub-clan, or a religious sect. Each Jāti typically has an association with an occupation, geography or t ...
References
External links
Inter-caste marriages the way forward to reduce communal tensions: Supreme Court
{{Types of marriages, state=autocollapse
Marriage in India
Caste system in India
Morganatic marriage