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Victims In two separate incidents two dalits were killed one in two districts Patiala and Moga of Punjab. In both the Incidents the killers were the influential persons of their villages. In one case the victim had objected the derogatory remarks made against his wife by some persons that led to his murder and the second one was politically motivated.

Caste System These incidents are not simple murders done because of personal reasons. But they are the examples of the caste oppression that is prevalent even today. According to the Indian caste system society is divided into four castes: Brahmins (Priests), kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (traders and farmers) and Shudras (servants).Every caste has its own traditional occupations. Shudras are divided into many sub castes that are based on their occupations. According to their occupation they are called with many names as Dalits, harijans, chamars, churas etc. 

Occupation According to the caste system the Dalits mostly do menial jobs. As their occupations mostly  includes the menial works such as  leather-working, carcass handling, landless farmers, night soil scavengers and many others, they are considered to be polluted by touch and even by sight to others. As they mostly are uneducated, live apart in separate colonies from the other castes’ residents, they are not aware of their rights, always have been exploited by the upper castes and are discriminated. They always have been discriminated by upper classes because they are considered to be a separate race.

Movements Dalits or untouchable are present in every religion in India. Many movements and campaigns were launched against untouchability. Many individuals worked for the emancipation of Dalits. Though casteism is not recognized in Sikhism but the practice is still prevalent in the followers of the religion. Different Sikh Dalits are Ramdasia Sikhs, Mazhabi Sikhs etc.

Weakening With the development of the economy a large number of new occupations have emerged, that has weakened the specific association between the caste and the occupation. Education, new economic zones, urbanization and trend of intercaste marriages are the forces that have further weakened the caste system. But political parties, reservation are some other factors that were made for the betterment of the lowest section of the society but have adversely affected the Indian society.