In India, an outcast does not belong to any of the traditional castes.
The term pariah , which has its origin in the Portuguese pária , refers to the subject who does not enjoy the same benefits or rights as others. An outcast, therefore, is usually considered someone inferior , although the specific use of the term varies according to the context.
In India , an outcast is not part of any of the traditional castes . Also called delit , he used to be discriminated against and all contact with him was avoided, belonging to the lowest social class and without having any possibility of advancement. Currently, this social group is only found in certain rural regions, although it is still a victim of persecution and attacks .
Outcasts in India
Of these outcasts we must highlight another interesting series of identity signs such as these:
• The main religion among them is Buddhism . However, there is a part that opts for others, such as Sikhism or Hinduism.
• The elephant is its symbol.
• There is the Indian People's Party . It is a political group that was founded in 1984 in India with the clear objective of being able to represent each and every Dalit in public institutions.
• Among the most famous Dalits or outcasts are KR Narayanan (former President of the Republic of India), the Buddhist philosopher Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the politician Phoolan Devi (“the queen of bandits”).
The individual far from his origins or roots is referred to as an outcast.
Someone without roots or social ties
In other areas, a person who is far from their origins , be it their family, their homeland, etc., is known as a pariah. The outcast, in this sense, is an orphan (either symbolically or literally) or someone who has no roots. For example: “The gaucho wandered through the desert as an outcast for eight long months,” “When my parents died, I left the country and settled in Central America as an outcast.”
In Argentine prisons, the pariah is the inmate who does not receive visits from family or friends , so he endures his confinement in solitude . The outcasts, therefore, do not receive any help from outside and do not have access to telephone cards, cigarettes, shelter and other objects.
Outcasts in prisons are often mistreated and, almost like the aforementioned Indian caste, suffer discrimination from other detainees.
Pariah in Bolivia, Venezuela and the United States
In addition to all the above, we would have to add that Paria is a town located in Bolivia , about 23 kilometers from Oruro and on the Andes plateau. It was the first settlement that the Spanish created in the country, specifically, it was in the year 1535 at the hands of Juan de Saavedra .
In Venezuela , for its part, we find two areas that use the term in question to define themselves:
• The Gulf of Paria , which has almost 8,000 square kilometers and separates the South American continent from what is Trinidad .
• Paria Peninsula , which was called by Christopher Columbus as Land of Grace and has two impressive natural parks: Paria National Park and Turuepano National Park .
In the United States there is also the Paria River, which is a tributary of the Colorado and is about 120 kilometers long.