Introduction
Comparative study entails a systematic approach to the study and comparison of the political systems of the world. It is tasked with the study of systems, patterns and process that characterise the different political systems of the world. When the focus is on a single country, the study has to be put into a more extensive comparative framework. Thus, the approach should be to expound on the importance of the subject. As such, this paper will analyse the caste system, India independence movement and Indian federalism.
India is in an essence a unique nation state. It boasts a large heterogeneous population. This is in terms of its ethnic, religious and caste characteristics. As such, one of its unique qualities has to be the caste system. The word caste is used to refer the hierarchal structure of the Hindu social and religious system. It is via this system that Indian social structure is divided into broad categories of “Brahmin”, the class of people who are tasked with engaging in scriptural education. Their main task is to ensure that knowledge of the Indian mode of life in terms of culture and religion continues through time.
There is the “kshatriya”, who embodies public service. These are inclusive of public administrators. The third class is the “Vaishya”, these are simply the merchants. The firth class is the “shudra” who are the semi-skilled and unskilled lot. The final class is known as the untouchable. In a word, these are people who perform the ritually unclean tasks that are inevitable for the health and survival of the people. Another element that also fashions as a source of uniqueness is the “jati”. This is the inner split of this class of caste into potentially hundreds of occupational and ritual castes. It is imperative to point out that this caste system sis characterised by numerous variation hinged on local and regional variations. In-spite of Christian and Muslim in India renouncing this system, it is still being practised by their faithful.
India’s independence movement was first realized by the formation of the India National Congress (INC). The formation of this movement was not meant to offset British rule instantaneously. It was structured to force the British imperial rule to give some power to the local population. However, this was not the only motivating factor. Uniquely, the Indians were fighting to uphold their cultural traditions, which the British were endeavouring to erode by introducing social reforms. Very few nations instituted independent movements to fight for their culture. This makes the Indian independence movement a unique aspect. Additionally, the independence movement was led, amongst others, Mahatma Gandhi who did not believe in violence. As such, the Indians gained their independence without violence, a rare trait of independence movements.
Another source of uniqueness in India is its federalism. It has the second largest population in the world (preceded only by China). With this large population comes the need to adjust the manner in which the government operates. Federalism entails a division of power between the central and the state governments which are independent and autonomous. A distinguishing feature of Indian federalism is that there are no separate constitutions that separately govern each state. The advantage of such a division in the government system is that it is assures prosperity and harmony within the Indian people. Uniquely in the Indian case, there are some constitutional mechanisms that have been set up to assure that Cooperative federalism is maintained without conflict. The federal system in India is made up of twenty eight states. However, each of these twenty states is characterized by diverse languages and religious inclinations and beliefs.
In conclusion as far as India is concered, kshatriya, is responsible for the public service. It is quite inclusive in terms of public administrators. Vaishya is the third class who are just but merchants and shudra as the fifth and the semi-skilled and unskilled lot. The untouchable is the last group. These are people who perform the ritually unclean tasks that are inevitable for the health and survival of the people. It is also has another element that also fashions as a source of uniqueness is the “jati”. India, as well boasts of federalism, which is characterized by having no separate constitutions that separately govern each state. Through this, India people have always been assured of prosperity and harmony.