Understanding Social Exclusion of the Low-caste Muslims in Kashmir

Introduction

Hierarchies among Muslims in South Asia have been constantly juxtaposed with the Hindu caste system. However, there is a consensus among most scholars that the stratification system among Muslims is not an exact replica of the Hindu caste order. At the outset, the basic point of departure is that there is no textual espousal of a caste system in Islam. Further, the claim to superiority among Muslims is based on genealogy and not on conceptions of ritual purity and pollution (Madan, 1976). Similarly, caste among Muslims is viewed as an acculturative influence of Hinduism on the socio-cultural practices of Muslims (Dumont, 1970). Social hierarchies translate differently for different communities among Muslims. In Kashmir, the caste strongly draws its presence through endogamous practices, casteist profiling, the ghettoization of ‘low’ caste groups as well as casteist slurs.

There is a dearth of literature pertaining to caste among Muslims in Kashmir. The larger narrative analysis of texts which pertain to understanding hierarchies in Kashmir mostly caters to regional, sub-regional, religious as well as class perspectives. This gap becomes an engaging impetus to conduct research, which aims to understand the exclusionary outcomes for the ‘low’ caste groups in Kashmir. The inroad becomes to establish the presence of caste or caste-like features among Kashmiri Muslims, which in academic theorization can be understood as ‘politics of presence’ (Hasan, 2012). The low-caste groups in Kashmir rest on the lowest rung of a discriminatory hierarchy, facing overlapping layers of depravity. The layers are manifest as socio-economic deprivation, as well as a stigmatized caste identity. The culmination of these aspects directly translates as exclusion from the larger socialization, employment and educational opportunities, and marriage networks as well as being caught in the vicious cycle of inter-generational transmission of ‘menial’ jobs.

This paper is drawn from the fieldwork which spanned three months in two districts of Kashmir, that is, Baramulla and Srinagar. The methodology employed by the researcher was qualitative exploratory research and in-depth interviews as well as focus group discussions. Caste groups selected for this study were Sheikhs (sweepers), Khars (ironsmiths), Mochi (cobblers) and Hanji (fishmongers).

Sen’s theory of social exclusion has been borrowed as a theoretical framework. Sen approaches poverty in a multi-dimensional sense, as capability deprivation. It is important to understand that the framework has been borrowed to cater to the theorization of social exclusion, and not poverty, per se. Poverty, in the immediate context of the research, is an implication of social exclusion.

Literature Analysis: Drawing on History

While the critique of the colonial purview of Kashmiri society remains beyond the scope of this paper, some texts offer critical insights. Lawrence (1895), in writing about the history of Kashmir, identifies social hierarchies on the lines of race and tribe. The landowning ‘agriculturists’ were averse to marry the ‘menials’ of the village, who included boatmen, leather workers, etc. There prevailed a hierarchy within ‘Hanjis’ (boatmen), where one group held themselves in higher esteem than the other Hanji groups. Further, leather manufacturers are called Wattals. There was a difference between carrion-eating Wattals and the ones who abstained from eating carrion. This became a deciding factor for them to receive permission for entering the mosque. The outcast Wattals did not have any religion and they were not allowed to enter holy precincts. Once they renounced eating carrion, they could enter the fold of Islam. Outside the village, the ‘tribes’ which carried menial work did not have any landholdings.

Rafiabadi (2012) and Khan (1994) mention the denouncement of caste hierarchies by Nund Rishi and Lal Ded by proceeding with the Rishi culture. The discussion revolves around the syncretism which Kashmir offers. Similarly, Kaul (2012) places the same argument wherein Nund Rishi and Lal Ded rejected Sayyidization and Brahmanic caste superiority respectively, to establish a more grounded idea of religion. Kaul further mentions the distinctions which emerged socially were those of old converts and new converts as well as the language being used by the elite and the language of the commoners. Such a historical purview (of rejection of caste structures) offers an insight into the caste processes that have been/are in place in Kashmir.

Sociological Understanding of Caste Among Muslims in Kashmir

Dabla (2012) has drawn the social hierarchy of the caste structure in Kashmir into four major groups. Sayyid castes occupy the upper layer, where the caste group claims to be the direct descendants of the family of Prophet Muhammad (and are of foreign origin). The second layer is occupied by the Khans. Khans composed of the nobility and have a foreign origin as well. The third layer is composed of occupational castes. These castes are involved with trade and commerce and are local converts to Islam. The lowest layer is composed of Service Castes, who provide essential services to society and are involved in menial tasks. Caste in Kashmir also has to be observed in the backdrop of the class system. The evidence of upward mobility has been marked by a ‘social marketability’ of castes, wherein many lower-caste groups adopted upper-caste surnames. This becomes a social strategy to find acceptance in the upper-class socio-cultural dynamics, and escape stigma or discrimination. This process has been termed ‘Sayyidization’, borrowed from Sanskritization (Dabla, 2012).

Yet another caste group that finds a mention across literature are Wattals. Kashmir witnesses varied ethnic ¹ groups: Hanjis, Gujjars, Bakerwals, Dums and many others. Hanjis are a group of people who live in boats. This draws a pretext to the claim of Hanjis as being descendants of the Prophet Noah. Historically, Raja Prasatsen got these boatmen from Sangaldip. There are also sub-groups among Hanjis. In recent times, they have attained a separate ethnic identity. The sub-groups are: ‘Demb Hanz (vegetable gardeners), Gari Hanz (those who collect water nuts), Bahats Hanz (ferrying grain in boats), Dung Hanz (ferrying passengers), Gada Hanz (fishermen)’. Another ethnic group is Dums or Ganai. They claim to be descendants of old Tsaks. They worked as village watchmen and looked after crops. After 1947, they lost their power and became mere cattle tenders. Further, the shepherds in Kashmir are known as Chaupan or Pohl. They are pastoral groups and spend summers wandering the higher plains. In some villages, they also receive grain for tending to the villager’s sheep. Yet another community is the theatre troupe, known as ‘Baand’. They wander from place to place and perform to entertain people. They have usually been involved in political and social satire, and inform a significant part of the cultural history of Kashmir. Wattals are known as ‘gipsies of Kashmir’. Many scholars also accredit them as being ‘aboriginals of Kashmir’. In current times, they occupy the lowest rung of economic class and are employed in menial jobs. In Hindu culture, Wattals worked as scavengers. In some other instances, Wattal women worked as dancing girls in the court. The Wattal community did not settle at one place but travelled around. Currently, they have shunned their gypsy ways and have settled in one place. The lowest in the socio-economic hierarchy are those who adopted scavenging. Those who adopted sweeping/Safai Karamcharis are in a relatively higher position. ‘Guanz’ are a traditional group that tans the skin of animals. Siraj are the shoemakers in Kashmir. This also means that Wattals are not solely involved in the shoemaking business (Rather, 2011).

There has also been a binary categorization of Wattals historically. One class of Wattals was considered Muslims and they are the present-day cobblers and sweepers. The other class used to skin dead animals and are known are Khum Wattals, Lashi Wattals or Shipri Wattals. Wattals were also disreputable for their sexual conduct. They used to run brothels across Kashmir. The formerly ‘despised’ community of Wattals acquired the name of ‘Sheikhs’ in Kashmir. The usage of this family name also points to the social mobility of Wattals. With time, a certain level of socio-economic achievement placed the Wattals on a higher social plane. Wattals practice Islam in Kashmir, participating in the collective rituals. They are also buried in graves alongside other Muslims. The social discrimination faced by Wattals is owed to the nature of ‘menial work and ethical reputation’. Since Wattals are considered low, no caste or ethnic group marries them. They usually live in ghettoized spaces, and are not allowed entry inside homes of upper classes (Rather, 2011).

Yet another interesting premise has been offered by Bhatia, which is a departure from the popular framework of macro-political analysis of conflict. In Jammu, the low-caste Hindus constitute 18 percent of the population. The Balmiki community was relocated from Punjab to Jammu to work as sanitation workers in 1957. This group has not been allotted a permanent residency as of yet. Despite a distinct sense of caste and class identity within these groups, neither of them has engaged in autonomous subordinate politics. It is because the ‘politics of conflict supersedes the politics of caste assertion’. The Balmiki community, with a lack of permanent resident status, defines itself through a starkly different lens than the SCs in Danidhar. Balmikis navigate through various markers, like caste, class, residency status and religion. However, the social location of SCs of Danidhar is more intricate and plural. The salience of conflict politics in Jammu city questions the dichotomy between the analytical categories of Dalit resistance and Hindu nationalism (Bhatia, 2018).

Understanding Caste Among Muslims in Kashmir

In Kashmir, Muslims form a religious majority. As such, addressing the question of caste gets dismissed in the textual claim of Islamic egalitarianism. The social realities, on the contrary, remain distinct, like in most South Asian Muslim societies. The lowest caste groups are excluded from access to resources. In the administrative practice of reservation, Muslim low-caste groups are not accorded the status of ‘Scheduled Caste’ (Constitution, 1956). The policy documents, however, categorize certain low-caste sections, like sweepers or Sheikhs, as a ‘social caste’ (Annexure D, SRO 294). The jobs of sweepers are ‘unofficially’ allotted to people from the Sheikh caste in most instances, across public institutes as well as municipalities. This becomes indicative of the continuity of the hereditary occupational specialization (of ‘unclean’ jobs) for low-caste groups. Similarly, caste groups like Hanjis and Khars are also usually found in ghettoized localities. The names of certain localities explicitly spell out the caste identity of its inhabitants, like, ‘boatmen colony’, ‘Chuir Mohalla’ (locality of the caste group Chuir), ‘Haenz Mohalla’ (locality of the caste group Hanji), to name a few.

In addition to such homogenous clusters, or ghettoized colonies, endogamy is also one of the evident hallmarks of caste in Kashmir. Historically, upper-caste groups maintained an ‘enclosure’ by endogamy to maintain the purity of descent. Such practices also became prevalent among the low-caste groups, wherein the rituals and practices of the priestly caste were imitated (Ambedkar, 2004). The Sheikhs marry within their own caste group, like Wattals and Hanjis. An inter-caste marriage, in upper as well as lower castes, only finds resonance on a similar class footing. Rather (2011) mentions Wattal marriages being strictly endogamous and if a non-Wattal boy marries a Wattal girl, he has to live with the in-laws. It is because those who marry a Wattal are considered to be one. The author mentions the class distinction among Wattals, wherein the upper-class Wattals do not marry the low-class Wattals. As such, ‘the two endogamous groups within Wattals are mutually exogamous’.

The upper caste Muslims are known as Ashraf Muslims. Yet, caste realities and caste-consciousness cannot be strictly translated through a dichotomy of Ashraf–non-Ashraf categorization (Ahmad, 1973). Similarly, the caste–class nexus in Kashmir offers intricate dynamics, and they have been discussed from the perspective of social exclusion in the later section of the paper. However, it can also be briefly tackled by understanding the concept of upward mobility. Certain occupational caste groups and communities got huge economic benefits and accumulated wealth because of the emerging sectors of tourism, handicrafts, agriculture as well as other services till the early 1990s. Following this, many caste groups changed their caste names, either officially or without any formality (Sayyidization). In the changing social dynamics of Kashmir, caste mobility has been witnessed. In terms of education and employment, land reforms in Kashmir, abolition of the usuary system as well as free education benefited the literacy rate in Kashmir. The decades of the 1950s and 1960s witnessed an appreciable turnover from the end of lower caste groups. As such, there has been ‘education-based’ mobility as well. A similar trend is reflected for employment, where occupational and service castes started to get inducted for government employment at middle and lower positions (Dabla, 2012).

Social Exclusion Under Capability Deprivation

Most of the participants in this research focused more on the material deprivation which their ‘jobs’ cost them, rather than delve into their ‘caste identity’. The class positioning of being ‘poor’ echoed more closely with them. When there followed an inquiry about social relations at work and in the neighbourhood, the respondents confirmed cordial social relations. However, the follow-up questions established such relations being exercised in a ghettoized residential space and ‘same-caste/class’ groups at the workplace. The discussions with the respondents reflected a normalized sense of hierarchy (as they rooted their social identity as being ‘poor’ more than being a ‘low-caste’). This becomes one of the guiding reasons to understand social exclusion faced by low-caste groups in Kashmir through a capability framework.

Sen (2000) places the study of exclusion under poverty and deprivation. The critical engagement is to understand the patterns of interaction between social exclusion and poverty. The basic understanding of poverty is wherein low income leads to impoverishment, and subsequently leads to a poor living. The fundamental premise to define exclusion is that the relational nature of exclusion is not acknowledged in this. Even though income remains a basic means to lead a standard life, it is equally important to focus on ‘impoverished lives, then depleted wallets’. This understanding is employed to engage with the socio-economic caste marginalities in Kashmir. Such a framework is crucial because it helps to understand the interaction between caste identity, operational at a social level, and economic deprivation.

The analytical history of placing poverty as capability deprivation stems from Aristotle and then Smith (Nussbaum, 1988). Aristotle, in explaining impoverishment, focuses on ‘not having the freedom to choose what one has reasons to’. Similarly, for Smith (1776), deprivation means ‘the ability to appear in public without shame’. Smith, to understand impoverishment, engages with defining necessities in terms of the implications they have on the ‘freedom to lead non-impoverished lives’. With this broad historical context, it is relevant to understand social exclusion from an Aristotelian perspective. For one, exclusion can be understood as deprivation from social relations, which directly places it as an intrinsic part of capability poverty. Smith’s definition of being able to appear in public without shame serves as a good example to draw on social exclusion as capability deprivation. In Aristotle’s definition, the conception of social was community. Placing both the definitions together, as such, not being a part of a community leads to social exclusion. Second, the limitation on social interactions translates as a severe limitation on livelihood options. Hence, with this understanding, social exclusion can be placed in the larger framework of capability deprivation to cater to diverse issues (Sen, 2000).

The low-caste groups in Kashmir (under study) are usually employed in ‘menial’ jobs and the informal labour sector. The implications of material deprivation are starkly visible in the access to employment, education or other basic resources. Poverty translates, most blatantly, as the high dropout rate of children from schools. The Sheikh caste respondents reported a starkly high percentage of school drop outs. The unemployment crisis and lack of literacy, among all castes, becomes an additional factor to worsen poverty. Except for Safai Karamcharis (Sheikhs) under this study, most of the low-caste groups are working in the informal labour sector. They do not have access to stable and secure forms of employment. Subsequently, there is a lack of safety nets to contain most of the low caste groups through the financial crisis. It is most visible during frequent shutdowns, where the material cost of a continued lockdown remains unaccounted for such low caste groups. Poverty, for most of the low caste groups, in such a scenario, is witnessed as a vicious cycle. The basic lack of income translates significantly at levels of accessing resources, social networks, social relations as well as a failure to navigate beyond their immediate conditions. It breeds into ghettoized spaces as well as endogamy. The caste-specific neighbourhoods are usually underdeveloped or ‘poor’ neighbourhoods. This specifically brings forward the nature or relevance of relational deprivation, which remains at the heart of understanding exclusion from a capability framework.

Social Exclusion and Relational Connections

The focus on relational deprivation defines capability failures and hence, poverty. The basic premise remains to understand the patterns of interaction between social exclusion as well as the relational forms of deprivation or relational connections. Relational deprivation is visible in the manner of an absolute impoverishment of human lives. This is exemplified by being kept out of employment markets, or education, which furthers deprivation and impoverishment. This has been defined as instrumentally relevant. At the same time, there is also a constitutive relevance of exclusion. This is understood by those characteristics of social exclusion, which lends inability to an individual to pursue what they have a reason to do (Smith, 1776).

The conception of social inclusion and exclusion is at the heart of the poverty debate. Necessities have to be defined in a cultural context, as their nature is not absolute. As such, taking part in the life of the community or the criticality of social relations remains one of the important necessities. Hence, exclusion from social relations informs a crucial understanding of deprivation (Sen, 2000). There has to be a shift from an individual analysis to a broader social understanding. Social exclusion, in the language of relational deprivations, places intrinsic importance on ‘causality’ or the causal patterns. The relevance of an exclusionary purview relies on the process which leads to deprivation or exclusion. This causal probing is further necessary to conceptualize exclusion in a constitutive sense (as well).

In this regard, ghettoization for low caste groups in this study can be understood as a relational deprivation. It is equally important to engage with the causative patterns of the social exclusion faced by them. Here, the departure to understand deprivation at an individualistic level to a group deprivation is located in the nature of ghettoized spatiality. The negation of social absorption with other caste groups and hence living in homogenized colonies becomes a causative factor for the exclusion hence faced. The basic causation, however, remains the caste identity grounded in a particular occupation (menial or unclean). So, the importance of relational connections to understand exclusion has to be grasped through the various manifestations in the everyday lives of the low caste groups. It is visible through unemployment, lack of resources, ghettoized colonies, endogamy, stigma, stereotypes as well as casteist slurs. Each of them bears a varied connotation of exclusion which is exercised differently. The exclusion either translates as constitutively relevant, or as instrumentally relevant.

Constitutive and Instrumental Relevance of Exclusion

Constitutive relevance rests on the process when being excluded, per se, is the source of exclusion. This is not reliant upon other factors or processes to breed exclusion. The term ‘constitutive’ imbibes a completion in itself. At the same time, it also lays forth the centrality of the ‘exercise’ in itself, and not reeling through an outcome or aftermath (Sen, 2000). The nature of causal probing rests on an indirect generation of deprivation (like, exclusion from social relations subsequently leads to impoverishment). In this regard, ghettoization and endogamy can be translated as constitutively relevant to the process of exclusion for the low caste groups in Kashmir. These two aspects are an absolute exclusion, which breeds other exclusions.

Exclusion also thrives on causal linkages to shape deprivation. The very substance might be exclusionary, per se. It is the causality through the process which breeds exclusion. For example, landlessness harnesses the potential of deprivation (it does not always lead to depravity). Such causal linkages are of instrumental relevance and lead to impoverishment (Sen, 2000).

The low-caste groups in this study are usually employed in daily wage labour or informal sector labour. This arrives as a result of not having a constant source of income or having a meagre income. The layers of deprivation for a low-caste Muslim in Kashmir are manifested through the ‘menial’ caste identity striving under poverty. This socio-cultural caste identity interacts with the harsh economic conditions to render the low caste groups more vulnerable. Further, the vicious cycle of hereditary passing of ‘unclean’ jobs acts as a culmination point for poverty for certain groups. The state of joblessness (Qadri & Kasab, 2017) or stark unemployment in Kashmir renders the Sheikhs comfortable with passing the job of sweepers to the next generation. As such, Sheikhs are very comfortable with the institutional preference given to them for the job of sweeping. Such thought processes were reflected by the Sheikh respondents during fieldwork. Similarly, with the lack of educational opportunities as well as skills for the formal job market, other occupational caste groups like Hanjis and Khars also find themselves appropriated into the vicious cycle of hereditary occupations. The respondents in the field were critically aware of their ‘poverty’ as a reason for their exclusion. They remained well-aware of the social stigma against their caste groups.

An Internalized Inferiority

Most of the respondents considered themselves to be employed in ‘lowly’ professions. This was significantly visible among the Sheikh community, who did not hope for prospective jobs in other fields for their children. As such, they insisted that the sweeper jobs be passed to their children only, and not to people from other caste groups. In one of the hospitals, a contractor had managed to employ some women from the agrarian caste as sweepers. This was resented strongly by the Sheikh-caste sweepers of that hospital. They wanted the sweeper jobs to be reserved and passed only to people of the Sheikh caste. The levels of education for the Sheikh respondents and their children are abysmal. They reported the highest dropout rate from school for children.

Describing their profession as ‘lowly’ and their social identity as ‘inferior’ draws in sync with the normalized sense of hierarchy wherein the low-caste groups under study had internalized their caste–class position as being such. It is this internalization of being ‘lesser’ in the hierarchy which can also be understood as a form of exclusion or to reiterate, implore the importance of instrumental relevance. Reiterating Smithian understanding of exclusion, ‘to be able to appear in public without shame’, requires a much deeper understanding of ‘shame’ in this immediate context. The fractured social relations, compulsively, translate of constitutive importance. As such, the semblance can be drawn from this internalized inferiority. This inferiority is grounded in the caste identity engaged in unclean or menial jobs and the subsequent economic implications in the shape of poverty and deprivation. This awareness draws a premise into understanding the caste–class intersection in Kashmir.

Caste–class Nexus

The interaction of the caste identity and poverty leading to social exclusion cannot be summarized through a linear analysis. The conceptualization arrives at a dense level of interactions. To say a particular caste identity leads to economic deprivation and a subsequent exclusion becomes a preliminary analysis. Caste, deprivation and exclusion, as such, cannot be placed in such a unidirectional mapping. The deprivation faced by low-caste groups in Kashmir stems from an occupational identity and translates at socio-cultural as well as economic levels. The historical significance can be understood in the inter-generational transmission of the ‘menial’ occupation as well as the coinage of the caste names as per the occupation being practised. It is this hereditary occupational specialization that translates further into an inter-generational transmission of poverty. This brings forth the fact that the low caste groups are placed in the overlapping space of low caste identity and economic deprivation, which can be translated as a low class. It is the interaction of both these factors, which is low caste and low class that becomes conducive for exclusion. The nature of exclusion varies for a low-caste-low-class person, as compared to the exclusion faced by a low-caste-high-class person. In the manifestation or exercise of exclusion, the class identity plays a critical role. For a low-caste-low-class person, the exclusion manifests at an economic, social, cultural as well as political level. For the low-caste-high-class person, the exclusion usually manifests in a socio-cultural space, and usually in milder forms. The investigation of caste identity in this context is not denied completely but only remains deferred.

The incorporation of relational deprivation lends a new insight to understand exclusion. In the context of this study, the relational features of deprivation can be understood through the caste–class positioning of groups or individuals and the access to economic, social as well as cultural capital. While there are elaborate discussions in the definition of necessities, in terms of materiality, low caste groups of this study did not have access to basic facilities like housing, education, employment and sanitation. Most Sheikh respondents lived on encroached land or the government allotted ‘ghetto’. The condition of the localities did not qualify on the basic standards of sanitation as well as decent drainage facilities. For most of the low-caste respondents, the families were engaged in informal or daily wage labour. Children were either dropouts or unable to access higher education. The nature of deprivation can further be encapsulated in the nature of ghettoization. Most of the low-caste groups live in ghettoized localities, where the neighbourhood is either employed in the hereditary occupation or some form of daily wage labour. Such ghettoization reinforces the splintering of social relations or social interactions. As such, the relational features of such a social fracture contribute to exclusion. The respondents strictly maintained close associations within their caste group. They did not have much personal engagement (apart from economic relations) with people from other caste groups, especially those placed on a relatively higher class ladder. The interaction remains confined on a class basis as well as becomes a culminating factor for ‘otherisation’ or internalizing such ‘inferiority’.

The deprivation stems from a low-caste identity interacting with poverty. The vicious cycle is bred when groups lose the mobility to migrate or move out of their hereditary occupations as well as the localities. Such ghettoization harnesses the perfect mix of relational deprivations, especially in the form of fractured or absent socialization. Most of the respondents did not have social relations with adjacent neighbourhoods. They were also aware of the stigmatization their localities, as well as their caste identities, faced. As such, the nature of their social relations is defined through a subordinate lens, wherein, the only time of contact is when they are rendering service to the upper-caste and upper-class groups. Ghettoization also disincentivizes the government from undertaking development activities in the locality. As such, the residents are also excluded from developmental interventions.

Typology of Causation

The vocabulary generated by social exclusion is versatile. Yet, the coinage cannot be all-pervasive. It becomes important to indulge in understanding the ‘typology of causation’, which means the exact nature of causes. In this sense, exclusion relies subsequently on the process which leads to deprivation. For the low caste groups in this study, the employment in menial jobs becomes a culminating point for exclusion, which is reflected through stigmatization of their caste identity as well as living in ghettoized neighbourhoods. The typology of causation in this context relies heavily on the interaction of overlapping caste and class identities, both operational on a lower or the lowest rung.

Duality of Exclusion

Active exclusion is the outcome of deliberate policies to exclude. Passive exclusion results from systemic and structural aspects that lead to or perpetuate exclusion. A sluggish economy can worsen unemployment rates, and hence acting as a causal factor for unemployed youth to feel excluded. Active exclusion also bears consequences at times, which exacerbate exclusionary tendencies and processes. Further, the concept of exclusion can be extended to undertake ‘exclusion from equitable inclusion’ or ‘exclusion from acceptable arrangements of inclusion’. The idea of ‘unfavourable inclusion’ becomes a necessary plug in to expand the conceptualization of exclusion (Sen, 2000).

The institutional preference (in an unofficial manner) given to Sheikhs for the post of sweepers delves on a duality of interpretations pertaining to exclusion. At one level, it might translate as ‘passive’ exclusion wherein the historical caste identity perpetuates the exclusion. This process institutionalizes the hereditary passing of ‘unclean’ jobs and remains a structural deficiency that breeds subsequent discrimination towards the Sheikh caste. At another level, it translates as ‘unfavourable inclusion’. As already mentioned, most of the Sheikh respondents were very comfortable with the formalization of passing the sweeper jobs only to Sheikhs. This came in the larger background of being unemployed, illiterate and not having the ‘necessary skills’ to compete in the cut-throat job market. In addition to this, being employed as a sweeper in a public setup meant having access to the securities of a formal labour pool.

It is important to elaborate on this dual nature of exclusion which most of the low-caste groups in this study faced. The majority of the respondents for this study were employed in the informal labour sector, except for some Sheikh respondents. As such, understanding the nature of employment helps draw a critical sketch of the duality of exclusion. This duality can be understood by the nature of ‘active/passive’ exclusion and ‘unfavourable inclusion’.

In Kashmir, the nature of exclusion in the employment market can be seen in terms of passive exclusion. There are not active policies from the end of the state to exclude any group. The abysmal levels of access to resources for the low caste groups arrive from the systemic nature of depravity or the relational features of exclusion. Being employed as daily wagers, or in the informal labour sector informs the employment patterns of most of the low caste groups. Sheikhs employed as regularized sweepers were the only respondents hailing from a secure or formal labour pool. The socio-economic condition which is bred by the nature of employment for the low caste groups hails as a passive exclusion. It is passive because it relies on the structural deficiencies and systemic processes which place certain low caste groups at a disadvantaged level. The exclusion from the labour market, which is of instrumental relevance, is of passive nature because unemployment becomes one of the end products of multi-dimensional deprivations. The lack of resources and capital is a culminating factor for the low-caste groups, which places a roadblock for them to steer through their economic state. At this junction, the nature of employment which is sought subsequently comes to be defined by the caste identity as being a ‘carrier of menial jobs’. The low-caste groups are usually found in jobs like tanning the dead skin of animals, cobblers, sweepers, or other ‘unclean’ jobs. It is this intersection that draws the importance of the duality between passive exclusion and unfavourable inclusion in this particular context.

The clustering of low-caste groups in menial or unclean jobs is unfavourable inclusion because it denies them space as well as opportunity to be part of inclusive arrangements or inclusive job settings. In simpler words, such unfavourable inclusion retains exclusion at the core of the argument, that is, exclusion from equity, as well as inclusivity. Ghettoization, endogamy as well as stringent caste-based occupational specialization harness such a conceptualization of unfavourable inclusion. In this regard, the aftermath of being excluded from the formal pool of employment (as a passive exclusion) translates as an unfavourable inclusion in ‘menial’ jobs. The nature of this unfavourable inclusion is defined by the caste-based patterns in the job market, that is, low-caste groups for the ‘unclean’ jobs. Hence, it also draws forth the demand from the Sheikh caste (the respondents in this study), to be formally granted the post of sweepers to their caste group. Such a demand is shaped, at one level, by seeking a secure and stable source of livelihood. At another level, it manifests as an internalized idea of caste hierarchy, wherein it is normalized for the low-caste groups to be the ‘carriers of impurity’.

The duality proposed here is formulated on the theoretical potential of processes to harness conceptualization in a dual sense. The employment patterns of low-caste groups in Kashmir uphold this duality, of sifting between passive exclusion and unfavourable inclusion. It is also important to mention that the duality does not uphold synonymy, but the exclusionary manifestations uphold duality. Passive exclusion works at its own level, and at the same time, is also capable of translating as unfavourable inclusion. Yet, it cannot be placed that passive exclusion is equivalent to unfavourable inclusion. The duality does not have to be misunderstood for equivalence. The processes which inform passive exclusion are more elaborate and grounded in socio-cultural systems. Unfavourable inclusion, as a conceptual import in this immediate context, becomes more of an outcome that stems from the larger system of exclusion. The duality is exercised in the ease of embodying, conceptually, the theoretical structure to cater to the passivity of exclusion and unfavourable inclusion at the same time.

Concluding Remarks

The objective of this research has been to understand the process of social exclusion which the low-caste groups in Kashmir face. In the context of this study, social exclusion has been understood as a process that places certain caste groups in a disadvantaged position. This stems from factors like endogamy, ghettoization as well as being kept out of the larger social networks. It also grounds its roots in the overlapping layers of socio-cultural and economic deprivation. Poverty, in terms of material depravity, is starkly reinforced by a socio-cultural identity. In this regard, it becomes reductionist to understand economic depravity in the limited sense of materiality. It bears a denser connotation by placing it in the framework of the capability approach. Poverty, in this immediate research, is not the informing premise of the study. It is understood as an outcome of social exclusion, at one level, and as a catalyst at another level.