Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to Haryana state in northern India where protesters have been killed in riots.
Jats – a traditionally rural community of farmers – are demanding more government jobs and places in state-run universities.
They complain of discrimination because of India’s caste system, not because they’re from a lower caste but from a higher one.
The Jat say they are being shut out because of a quota system that gives more opportunities to Indians from lower castes.
Why are they demanding more opportunities? And what are the roots of the caste system?
Presenter: Mike Hanna
Guests:
Jaspal Singh – professor of political science at Indira Gandhi National Open University
Dipankar Gupta – sociologist and author of Interrogating Caste: Understanding Hierarchy and Difference in Indian Society
Diego Maiorano – specialist on poverty and inequality in India and fellow at the University of Nottingham, UK
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