According to P.N. Bose, “the caste system has acted essentially to impose that attitude of mind, needed to raise men from savagery but to stop them halfway on progress.”
Caste acts as a barrier on the way to modernization. Modernization essentially needs a change in outlook and mentality along with socio-economic development.
But caste compels a man to behave and plan his life as defined by custom. No kind of change or alternation is welcomed by this traditional institution.
Caste has also hindered the socio-economic development as it imposes strict rules regarding occupation of different people. The society characterized by the caste system is a closed one-permitting very little or no social mobility.
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Caste sometimes acts as a force of national disintegration. The blind loyalty towards one’s own caste often makes a person forget his humanity and take resort to inhuman means to protect the interest of his caste. Mass killings and bloodshed in the name of caste are not new problems for Indian society.
One reason why foreigners could attack the country and establish their reign is this caste consciousness. The people remained divided among themselves in numerous groups and could not unite to oppose the alien rulers.
According to Ghurye, “it is the spirit of caste patriotism which engenders opposition to other castes and creates an unhealthy atmosphere for the growth of national consciousness.”
Caste acts as a perpetuating force of social inequality and untouchability. The caste system is based on inequality of status and opportunities, which often creates conflict and tension in the society.