Is this Hinduisation of minorities?

Ghurye might say so. Field evidence shows ranked marriage inside those communities, not only copying Hindus.

Does reservation prove caste among Muslims?

Some groups seek OBC lists as a disability claim. That is politics of graded inequality, not a theological point.

Caste-like formations are present in Non-Hindu religious communities as well.

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Non-Hindu communities often keep birth-rank, endogamy and honour. Muslim Ashraf–Ajlaf–Arzal and Pasmanda politics are a clear case. Dalit Christians and ranked Sikh groups show the same split of creed and practice. Kinship systems carry caste across religion. Sachar lag is socio-economic, not a proof that Islam created caste.

Model answer

Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.

Introduction

Conversion and a different scripture do not automatically erase birth-rank. Non-Hindu communities in India often reproduce endogamy, honour, and occupational closure that sociologists read as caste-like.

Body

Islam

Ashraf, Ajlaf, and Arzal rankings, and the Pasmanda claim, show hierarchy among Muslims despite a creed of brotherhood.
The Sachar Committee documented educational and job lag that is not explained by faith alone; caste-like closure and class sit together.

Christianity and Sikhism

Syrian Christian status and Dalit Christian experience in the south show church membership with ranked marriage markets.
Mazhabi and other Sikh groups meet a similar gap between Khalsa equality and social practice.

Why it persists

Kinship endogamy, as Karve’s regional systems would predict, travels across religion.
Srinivas’s Sanskritization has cousins: communities copy locally higher styles without leaving ranked marriage.
Law can treat personal status by religion, as debates after Shah Bano showed, while everyday rank stays a jati fact.

Flow diagram

flowchart TD
  R[Religious conversion] --> D[Doctrine of equality]
  K[Kinship endogamy] --> CL[Caste-like rank]
  CL --> M[Muslim Pasmanda]
  CL --> C[Dalit Christians]
  CL --> S[Mazhabi Sikhs]

Conclusion

Caste-like formations among Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and others show that Indian hierarchy is a social structure of birth and marriage, not only a Hindu theology. Examples of equality in doctrine do not cancel endogamy on the ground.

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