Some times I feel that, the problem for India to thrive like a Scandinavian country is because of the nature of unapologetic upper class. Successor apology for predecessor act of crime helps in collective healing and raise the spirit of social justice. German leaders, institutions and individuals repeatedly sought apology for crimes committed against jews. After the collective social movement of freedom fighters, India lacked collective social movement of prominent people, because most of them are not bothered about the social crimes in past or raised collective voice against the few crimes happening here and there in the country. The social conditioning is so high that the act of crime become a social privilege and contributed to the social pride carried over for centuries.
The power of voice of dissent is not same for every one. The voice of dissent earned value, respect and listening when upper class people raised voice for the social causes. The web of social discrimination is not woven by upper class but they have active role in retaining it. Where ever the upper class had reformed and gained more values , the standard of living in that place had uplifted. The better living condition in Kerala compared to other Indian states happened after many years of social reformation but it become more effective when people belonged to the upper class also joined the movement.
The deep question is that, when you have power and money, then whether you stood for the betterment of humanity. The people are not becoming apologetic because their holy scriptures had planted the seeds of social discrimination in their mind. Ancient scriptures like Manusmrithi influencing and shaping the thought of Indian is beyond comprehension. On one hand, many scholars and social reformers criticizing manusmrithi for its role in social discrimination. On the other hand, many upper class people are keeping this book in their prayer room together with other holy books. This reveals the darker truth that reformation is not possible when god advocates for social discrimination.
Sometimes I even feel that, the problem is not with manusmrithi which attempted to classify people according to their work. And I don’t feel any discrimination, if each type of people are originating from different part of the body of God because my hands and legs are equally important for me. The interpretation of manusmrithi are subject to significant debate and reform movements like Arya samaj argued that original manusmrithi framework was based in karma. I feel it as right after knowing that manusmrithi 10.65 state that a Shudra can attain the rank of brahmana and a brahmana can sink to the level of Shudra. The problem is with the people who misused it with the angle of birth. The status gained with the angle of birth brought the lethal blow to the society where a Shudra again become Shudra even he has the quality to become brahmana. The people who did this wrong interpretation are still unapologetic without knowing the social crime they have committed to humanity.