Sujata, Sairat, and Beyond: Honor, Human Rights, and Inter-Caste Love in Film
摘要
As mirrors of popular culture, films enable us to understand varying perspectives on pressing issues, serving as a tool for socio-legal analysis. This chapter attempts to harness the myriad of narratives portrayed by love stories as a genre to understand the issues afflicting inter-caste couples in India. The persisting and deep entrenchment of the caste system in Indian society hinders the ability of citizens to choose their own partners, marking a divide between the constitutional framework and social reality. The analysis in the chapter is premised by explaining the historical context of caste and opposition to inter-caste love in the Indian society. The chapter utilizes films that portray various human rights dimensions of inter-caste love to expose the deficiencies of the legal system. This serves as a reminder that the legal system is not insulated from societal pressures and calls for a humane perspective on the problems faced by inter-caste couples, such as honor killings.