Sir, the caste system has been shielded--the impact, and the way the caste system works out. There are children of the upper caste who are shielded from that by their parents and all, so there is that growing consonance in India, which is largely urban, that would say it is not there.
All they have to do is move out of their urban context, 30 kilometres outside of Mumbai or Delhi, and then they find this is at work where they are. They know where they are because caste plays one of its pivotal roles in marriage. Inter-caste marriage between a Dalit and an upper-caste person is such a complex thing.
You have had your own case in Canada. A Sikh woman had her own daughter and low-caste husband from India murdered because she married inter-caste. These kinds of honour killings are going on from both sides, with the Dalits and the upper caste participating when it comes to marriage.
Marriage is where it all plays out--who you marry. People make sure they marry within that particular caste frame. Anybody who dares, then, is under threat and persecution.