Special Report. On the train from Delhi to Varanasi, we actually had the incredible fortune of moving up to first class; where we were placed in a cabin with the President of the Indian Justice Political Party (IJP), Dr. Udit Raj. After seeing the movie Darjeeling Limited, I was pretty un-impressed with the real first class, which was not much more than two sets of bunk beds in a cabin with some carpet and a sliding door. However, having the President's body guards outside the door and throughout the train car seemed cool until I read about all the assassination attempts on his life a few days later on the IJP's website. On the other hand, speaking with him about India's politics and culture was fascinating and disturbing because his party is against the Hindu caste system (a highly suppressive social class hierarchy condoned by the Hindu religion) that is still very prevalent in the Indian society. He described it as a "slavery of the mind."

The caste system is devised of four different levels: the Brahmins or priestly class, the Kshatriyas or warriors, the Vaishyas or merchants, and the Sudras who performed manual labor. These were first formed on the basis of performance but later people became distinguished in a caste from their birth. The "untouchables" or "Dalits" which are below the lowest level on the hierarchy, was not originally part of the Hindu caste system, but it was added to the religious text later on by the upper caste people in order to force tasks upon people that they themselves did not want to perform. These tasks were expanded to the point of slavery without having to provide anything for these people, and the people were forced to outrageous acts of submission. Previously, people of the untouchable class used to have to walk backwards carrying a broom to brush away their footprints so that an upper caste would not have to walk in their steps (literally wiping away their existence). While that may seem outlandish, a much more harrowing story exists today among the people born into the untouchables class as beggars.

Confirmed from multiple sources including Dr. Raj, many beggars are born into a society of slavery. One man similar to a pimp owns a group of beggars from birth. These people then grow up begging on the streets and returning the money they receive to the pimp who in return gives them a menial amount of food and no place to stay except for on the streets in the area he controls. Now, this sounds bad in itself, but it was appalling to hear and witness the fact that these pimps know what kind of people generate the most begging income because they pull on one's heart strings the hardest:lame and deformed babies, children, and elderly people. The harrowing fact is that not all of these people should be lame, but they have had limbs amputated, bones broken and bent out of shape, one of their eyes gouged out, or even been brought to the brink of starvation with nothing but literally skin and bones by the pimps that own them in order to make begging more profitable.

I am sure that reading about this would make many of you cringe, but the saddest part of their whole story is what Dr. Raj described as "mental slavery." These people have no idea of hope for a better life or a desire to attempt to change it because they are taught that they were born into this life of suffering as a result of their actions in a previous life, and that idea is also what makes Varanasi immensely important as the holiest Hindu city for these people.

Apparently, if one makes the pilgrimage to Varanasi and bathes in the Ganges River then that person can attain salvation and wash away a lifetime of sins. Also, if one drinks some water from the Ganges right before he or she dies or has his or her ashes thrown into the Ganges then that person can go straight to heaven, and, finally, if a person is lucky enough to die in the city of Varanasi then that person can go to heaven and escape the cycle of birth and rebirth. This final note is especially important for the untouchables, and they flock there in old age waiting to die in order to not have to suffer another life in any form here on earth again.

Interestingly, this disgust over the inequalities of the caste system has been an ongoing debate for centuries and helped give rise to the religions of Jainism, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Fortunately, India has worked over time to lessen the effects of the discrimination on these people by outlawing some of the outlandish practices such as the sweeping mentioned earlier and providing quotas of government jobs to these people. However, they are still highly suppressed, and I hope the best for Dr. Raj in his quest to bring about more equality and opportunity to these people that make up nearly 70% of India's 1.6 billion people.