In the Malayalam movie Kayamkulam Kochunni, the protagonist, Kochunni, saw his father being humiliated and abused by upper-caste men for stealing rice. He later becomes a well-known thief who is celebrated for stealing rice from the rich and serving it to the poor. Kochunni was an actual person who lived during the early 19^th century when India was under British rule, and even though his legacy is disputed because of his wrongdoings, he became what he was because of the struggles he faced due to caste discrimination and social injustice. Just like Kochunni’s father, a Dalit man was attacked for the suspicion that he stole rice in Chhattisgarh in December 2024. He was tied up to a tree and lashed out by three people, resulting in him losing consciousness and dying. India hasn't been able to move away from its casteist roots; dominant castes have found ways to discriminate against backward communities in social settings, especially using food.

Cultural laws and food regulations have kept changing based on circumstances in India. Meat eating, previously a widespread practice, was suddenly recognised as impure based on the caste hierarchy. Vegetarianism is linked with purity and has become a determinant factor in access to public resources like water, education, temples, etc. Simultaneously, food became a significant factor in practising untouchability across the country. The upper caste was privileged and could purchase the best vegetables and dairy goods, so they weren't troubled by this change in contrast to lower caste people, who had no option but to sustain their lives with meat consumption, resulting in them being considered untouchables.

Brahmins, Kshatriya, and Vysya communities are primarily associated with vegetarianism across the country, whereas Shudras and Dalits consume nonvegetarian food, which is considered an impure practice.  As a result of caste-based purity and impurity, Brahmin man was allowed to eat food only if prepared by a Brahmin. In several states of India, Sakshibhojanam' (seeing Bramhin eat) and 'Panthibhojanam' (community eating) was only practised among dominant castes, excluding Dalits. These complex customs were a way to show their power, superiority, and dominance and to assert themselves as the pure caste. 

Segregation at restaurants and cafes based on caste and religion is one of the many subtle kinds of discrimination that went unrecognised in modern India. Many restaurants were named after superior castes, where Dalits and Muslims were either refused admission, made to eat off-site, or instructed to use different utensils and wash them by themselves.

In the recent past, India has seen a shift in the way of caste discrimination, especially in the food industry. Previous standard discriminatory practices have been reduced, but they still exist; moreover, newer hidden forms of caste discrimination are coming to the surface. Even though butter chicken is one of the most famous Indian dishes, there is a dilemma in international communities regarding India being a vegetarian state. This results from decades of the privileged class highlighting only their cuisine, resulting in a lack of documentation of lower caste cuisine. Most food packets labelled with Bramhin identity and symbols indicate their food is superior and pure.

Most canteens of educational institutions across the country follow a vegetarian diet, and meat is forbidden across the campuses, stating religious beliefs and traditions. Supporting the religious faith of only the privileged caste and neglecting the rights of the Dalits and Tribes shows the growing trend of institutional discrimination in the country. Even though these may feel negligible, they come from centuries of superiority complex and discriminatory behaviour.

Casteism has tainted even admirable governmental endeavours like the midday meal scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman; if the cooks are from lower caste backgrounds, many parents press their kids to skip school or refrain from eating midday meals. In many government-funded schools, students were denied egg and non-vegetarian food, which affected the growth rate in marginalised caste children. Separation of children during midday meals is another serious issue, and in many regions of the nation, children from lower castes and those from higher castes are seen using distinct utensils.

It's a challenge for lower caste communities and minority religious groups to buy or rent houses in localities that are home to higher castes, even in the urban areas. Even though Indian food culture has been revolutionised recently by introducing delivery apps like Zomato, Swiggy, Uber Eats, etc., caste-based food practices have also been witnessed. Zomato's plan for different uniforms for vegetarian and non-vegetarian delivery boys was abandoned when the public raised concerns about potential attacks by religious extremists on delivery boys.

Due to Dalit and Tribal access to social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X (Twitter), there have been attempts to preserve and document cuisines of the marginalised in the form of writings and videos by commoners to break the domination of Indian cuisine. More importantly, the Indian government should create a safe space for lower caste communities to register their problems, as most hate crimes in the country go unreported, as the current legal system is biased towards the rich and powerful. The government has to hold accountable everyone involved, as their actions negatively affect generations, which causes divisions among communities that are fuelled by anger and hatred. Once used as a symbol of protest, which should have been an indicator that food shouldn't fragment us but rather unify the country, but unfortunately, it was not picked up by the privileged; they further used it to discriminate and divide, making it a symbol of discrimination and making it echo the decades of injustice faced by the unprivileged in the country. 

The authors Dr. Karamala Areesh Kumar is HoD and Fardin Jahangeer is a Research Scholar at the Department of International Relations, Peace and Public Policy (IRP and PP), St Joseph’s University, Bengaluru.