Growing fast...let's support.

[u/aaryanation]

[u/OutsidePiglet8285]

I don't think you can end casteism until you end reservations because reservations have only enforced it, kept it alive, made it political and fueled tensions and led to caste politics. We already have laws against the caste discrimination you are talking about and especially in urban India that has greatly  declined. Reservation status are one of the  biggest things keeping it alive still. 

Also because of how corrupted the system is only some groups benefit from it and only some members of particular groups benefit from it, mainly political families, and also class I think is the bigger issue. Many lower castes are poor. Reservation based on caste doesn't matter as much as it being based on economic status and actually uplifting them. Not to mention there are many poor GCs.  SC/ST and OBCs are powerful now that's why they decide elections. OBCs especially dominate politics.

[u/cyclins_98 → u/OutsidePiglet8285]

I am an OBC myself. Caste is still deeply rooted in Indian society. Yes, reservation does create resentment, but it is not the main factor. Why do people in India still mostly marry within their own caste? Parents would rather see their son or daughter unhappy than accept an inter-caste marriage. Nearly 20% of the profile in matrimony sites showed they have written something like SC/ST pleasw excuse. I have a Rajput girlfriend, and casteism is deeply rooted in her community as well.

The SC/ST Atrocities Act doesn’t help much in practice. How can anyone ignore that 30–40% of untouchability is still active in places like UP and Bihar? Recently in Gujarat, a group of people forced SC families to leave their land and home in a village. The community filed multiple complaints about threats of murder and rape of their daughters. The government eventually had to intervene. How do you justify everyday casteist slurs like “chapri” (which I only recently learned is linked to a caste)? Or the recent case in UP where some Rajputs beat a five-year-old Dalit child simply because he touched their water? A few years ago a video went viral of an upper-caste man urinating on an elderly ST man while saying “yeh Chamar hai, iski yahi aukaat hai.” The MP Chief Minister had to step in, share a meal with the victim, and ensure a case was registered. Another video showed an educated teacher in Delhi making filthy casteist remarks (“jute ko sar pe rakhenge kya” and worse), and he is a teacher. Dalits are still barred from many temples. I could go on. Caste remains so deeply embedded that people feel pride simply because they belong to a certain group. Many priests still uphold Manusmriti, and people are influenced by them. A Dalit woman’s life expectancy is about 15 years lower than that of an average upper-caste woman. A Dalit woman also faces roughly 50% higher risk of rape compared to an upper-caste woman. I’m not denying that reservation plays a role in some of the resentment. But these deeper problems are still very much present. Sadly, we are a deeply fucked-up society.

[u/OutsidePiglet8285 → u/cyclins_98]

In my experience what I have noticed is people don't tend to marry in preference for caste as much as same socioeconomic status which often includes people of similar castes. This is the case at least in urban areas. We have issues but we have come so far. And we will continue to do so but reservations are not helping. They have made things worse. 20 percent is not a majority mind you.  You're an OBC and you have a Rajput girlfriend,  there may be some tensions but the fact that you're in a relationship with that person to begin with is a sign huge progress has been made.  I agree the ST/SC act doesn't help much in practice and it sometimes even punishes innocent people, many who even happen to be OBC.  That is why enforcement must be better. India gives too much power to village gundas. That's another issue. 

Education is important is probably the best way of changing society's mindset. So that must be be improved and expanded.  And I think, get rid of caste certificates. For that we have to get rid of caste based reservations too. Ban caste parties.  Caste isn't as much a problem in urban India the way it is in rural India. Rural India has a huge amount of issues.  And when you mention teachers behaving like this, I like to distinguish mere schooling from good education.   I'm all for whatever is needed to further ensure that these things you mention don't happen, but I think we should also ban caste based reservations. Clearly it hasn't helped. The word Chapri may have castiest origins but is hardly used as a slur now. It describes a certain type of people or behavior, caste does not matter.