世界
印度
India Has a Caste System—for Drivers
Lawyers, journalists and other members of the country’s educated class say their jobs entitle them to special treatment on the road; ‘Rich brats’
印度實施司機種姓制度
在印度街頭，精英們不向任何人讓路
https://www.wsj.com/world/india/india-new-delhi-caste-system-drivers-5af533c9?mod=world_feat4_india_pos4
律師、記者和該國其他受過教育的階層表示，他們的工作使他們有權在旅途中享受特殊待遇； “富家子弟”
印度一些邦已禁止使用旨在給予某些職業司機優先權的貼紙。
印度一些邦已禁止使用旨在給予某些職業司機優先權的貼紙。 圖： idrees mohammed/AFP/Getty Images
作者：Shan Li和 Aakash Hassan
更新於 2025 年 2 月 11 日凌晨 12:02（美國東部時間）
新德里——當阿姆里塔·米甚拉 (Amrita Mishra) 通過律師資格考試後，她衝出去領取印度律師的最大福利之一：一張「律師」貼紙，貼在她的車窗上。
米甚拉說，這張貼花帶有超能力，上面有該國最高法院律師佩戴的白領標誌。這讓交通警察不再騷擾她，也讓那些認為女性應該在道路上讓路的男性駕駛感到害怕。
「它們看起來很受驚，然後就退縮了，」她說。
律師阿姆里塔·米甚拉 (Amrita Mishra) 身上有一張與上圖類似的「倡議者」貼紙，她說這可以讓交通警察不再騷擾她。
在新德里開車可能會很混亂，但更糟的是，這裡存在著一種不尋常的種姓制度，它給予一些非必要的工人非正式的優惠。律師、政府官員、記者甚至退休軍官等專業人士都在自己的私家車上貼上車貼，以宣傳自己的職業以及他們所說的車貼所賦予的特殊地位。
毫不奇怪，這種做法是有爭議的。除醫生等少數例外情況外，一般沒有法律優先考慮某些職業的司機，而且有些州已經禁止在私家車上使用貼紙。但執行情況並不理想。
新德里尼赫魯大學社會學教授蘇林德·喬德卡 (Surinder Jodhka) 表示，貼紙的流行以及它們所能激發的尊重，在一定程度上反映了印度長期存在的種姓制度，在這種制度下，一些人贏得尊重，而另一些人則根據出生時確定的社會地位而被鄙視。
他說，受過教育的階層，尤其是法律和媒體等行業的從業者，都想炫耀自己的社會地位。富人和有關係的人也一樣。
他說：“人們通過自己擁有的汽車和貼紙來表明自己的身份。” “它需要轉化為社會地位。”
記者是經常用自己的證件來裝飾車輛的專業人士之一。
桑迪普·圖希爾 (Sandeep Tushir) 衝破交通路障和封閉的街道。他想把車停在哪裡就停在哪裡。當這位 36 歲的年輕人送孩子上學遲到時，他會在印度首都擁擠的高速公路上擠下其他車輛。
他獲得自由的門票？前後擋風玻璃上都貼滿了「警察」的貼紙。
「它讓一切變得如此簡單，」圖希爾說。 “我們可以航行到任何地方，沒有人能阻止我們。”
Tushir 從事金融服務工作。每當他想穿過交通擁堵時，他就會借用他當警督的父親的車。他在一家商店列印了警察貼紙並將其貼在黑色 SUV 的擋風玻璃上。他認為這些改變是可以接受的，因為他的父親確實是一名警察，偶爾會開車去警察局。
圖希爾說，這些貼紙在新冠疫情封鎖期間非常有用，當時大多數汽車都被禁止上路。他們還減少了接送他 9 歲兒子上學和跑腿的時間。
他說：“這對我們家庭來說非常有用。” “我們可以在任何地方訪問。”
貼有軍隊貼紙的汽車
貼有警察貼紙的汽車
旁遮普和哈里亞納邦高等法院是印度北部兩個邦的共同法院，該法院於 2020 年禁止在首都昌迪加爾使用未經授權的標誌，包括“軍隊”、“主席”和“副主席”等字樣。當局宣稱，這種做法是為了「恐嚇」其他司機。
印度南部泰米爾納德邦的馬德拉斯高等法院於 2022 年發布了類似的命令。但在司機公然藐視規定後，市府於去年夏天向貼紙宣戰。
警方在宣布此次打擊行動的聲明中表示，最令人擔憂的貼紙表明了與媒體、州或市政府、國有電力公司或警察的聯繫。根據當地媒體報道，警察局的首個執法行動是撕掉停在警察局長辦公室的警車上的警察貼紙。
但一些政府官員表示，他們需要用令人印象深刻的標誌來裝飾他們的汽車，才能在路上獲得應有的尊重。
印度北部北阿坎德邦衛生服務部助理主任 VP Singh 的車是政府配發的，是一輛普通的白色轎車，車牌是鮮紅色的，車上貼著“北阿坎德邦政府”的紅色貼紙。
印度北部北阿坎德邦衛生服務部助理主任 VP Singh 表示，「北阿坎德邦政府」標籤有很多好處。
他說，他部門裡的每個人都對自己的汽車進行了改裝，以增強權威感。如果沒有這些明顯的跡象，他就會錯過政府任職帶來的好處，包括收費公路零費用。
「這會給人留下良好的印象，而且你會得到很多好處，」他說。
喬德卡教授說，新富階級更渴望在道路上獲得尊重，他們渴望透過標誌來炫耀自己的財富，提升自己的地位。許多人已經意識到，透過購買更大、更豪華、更昂貴的汽車，他們可以在德里的交通中提升自己的地位。
汽車配件商店的老闆 Om Prakash 表示，暴發戶喜歡用警笛和閃光燈來裝飾他們的汽車。
70 歲的汽車配件店老闆 Om Prakash 表示，人們過去常常購買印有「印度政府」或警察、律師等職位的貼紙。但他說，暴發戶已經開始用警笛和閃光燈來裝飾他們的汽車。
他說，四年前，對此類配件沒有需求，因為私家車安裝這些配件是違法的。現在，每天至少有 20 名客戶要求進行此類升級。許多人都是小政客或政治工作者的富裕後代。 「對富家子弟來說，這是一種享受生活的方式，」他說。
薩欽·戈亞爾 (Sachin Goyal) 的家人經營著一家建築公司，他花了至少 3,000 美元為他的 SUV 改裝了閃爍的紅色警燈、警報器和黑色車窗。
薩欽·戈亞爾 (Sachin Goyal) 在他的車上安裝了閃爍的警燈和警笛。
配備警燈的汽車
這位 22 歲的年輕人說，他喜歡晚上和朋友們一起去兜風，朋友們都對自己的車做了類似的改裝。有時，他們會組成 35 輛車的車隊，大聲播放音樂並鳴響警笛。
「我們將它用在普通人身上，」他說。 “他們認為我們可能是非常重要的人物，所以他們給我們讓路。”
致 Shan Li，信箱：shan.li@wsj.com
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出現在 2025 年 2 月 12 日的印刷版中，標題為“在印度街頭，精英們不向任何人屈服”。
World
India
India Has a Caste System—for Drivers
Lawyers, journalists and other members of the country’s educated class say their jobs entitle them to special treatment on the road; ‘Rich brats’
Some states in India have banned the use of stickers aimed at giving preference to drivers with certain professions.
Some states in India have banned the use of stickers aimed at giving preference to drivers with certain professions. Photo: idrees mohammed/AFP/Getty Images
By Shan Li and Aakash Hassan
Updated Feb. 11, 2025 12:02 am ET
NEW DELHI—When Amrita Mishra passed the bar exam, she rushed out to pick up one of the biggest perks of being a lawyer in India: an “Advocate” sticker to slap on the window of her car.
The decal, which includes a symbol of a white collar that lawyers wear in the country’s top courts, comes with superpowers, said Mishra. It keeps the traffic police off her back and scares male drivers who think women should concede right of way on the road.
“They look startled and back off,” she said.
Attorney Amrita Mishra has an ‘Advocate’ sticker similar to the one above that she says keeps the traffic police off her back.
Driving in New Delhi can be chaotic, but adding to the madness is an unusual caste system that gives unofficial preference to some less-than-essential workers. Lawyers, government officials, journalists and even retired military officers are among a set of professionals who adorn their private vehicles with decals to publicize their occupations and the special status they say it confers.
Not surprisingly, the practice is controversial. There are generally no laws that give preference to drivers with certain professions, outside of a few exceptions such as doctors, and some states have banned the use of stickers in private vehicles. But enforcement has been spotty.
The popularity of stickers—and the deference they can inspire—is partly a reflection of India’s longstanding caste system, in which some people command respect and others are scorned based on a social status determined at birth, said Surinder Jodhka, a professor of sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
The educated class, especially in professions like law and media, want to flaunt their status in the hierarchy, he said. Same with the wealthy and connected.
“People self-identify themselves through the car they own and the stickers,” he said. “It needs to be translated into social status.”
Journalists are among the professionals who often adorn their vehicles with their credentials.
Sandeep Tushir blazes through traffic barricades and closed streets. He parks wherever he fancies. When the 36-year-old runs late for school drop-off, he muscles aside other cars on the clogged highways of India’s capital city.
His ticket to freedom? Stickers emblazoned with “Police” plastered all over the front and back windshields.
“It makes everything so easy,” Tushir said. “We can navigate anywhere and no one stops us.”
Tushir works in financial services. He borrows his police inspector father’s car whenever he wants to cut through traffic. He printed the police stickers at a shop and affixed them to the windshields of the black SUV. The modifications were acceptable, he figured, because his father really is a cop and occasionally drives the car to a police station.
The stickers were useful during the Covid lockdowns, when most cars were barred from the roads, Tushir said. They also cut down on time spent ferrying his 9-year-old son to school and running errands.
“It works so well for our family purposes,” he said. “We get access anywhere.”
Car with Army sticker
Car with Police sticker
The Punjab and Haryana High Court, the common court for the two states in northern India, in 2020 banned the use of unauthorized emblems, including words like army, chairman and vice chairman, in the capital city of Chandigarh. It declared such practices an attempt to “browbeat” other drivers.
Madras High Court, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, issued a similar order in 2022. But after drivers openly flouted the regulations, the city’s police last summer declared war on stickers.
In a statement announcing the crackdown, the police said that the most-concerning stickers identified an affiliation with the press, the state or city government, the state-owned power company, or the police. The police department’s first enforcement action was removing police stickers from cop-owned cars parked at the Police Commissioner’s office, according to local media reports.
But some government officials say they need to jazz up their cars with impressive-looking regalia to get proper respect on the road.
V. P. Singh, the assistant director of health services for the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, kitted out his government-issued car, a plain white sedan, with a bright-red license plate and red stickers stating “Uttarakhand Government.”
V. P. Singh, assistant director of health services for the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, said the ‘Uttarakhand Government’ sticker comes with many perks.
Everyone in his department modified their cars to boost the air of authority, he said. Without those obvious signs, he’d miss out on the benefits that come with a government posting, including zero fees on toll roads.
“It makes a good impression and you get many perks,” he said.
That hunger for respect on the roads has been turbocharged by the newly wealthy, who yearn for symbols to flaunt their riches and boost their status, said Jodhka, the professor. Many have learned they can climb the pecking order of Delhi traffic by buying bigger, fancier and more expensive vehicles.
Om Prakash, the owner of a car accessories store, said the nouveau riche have taken to decorating their cars with police sirens and flashing lights.
Om Prakash, the 70-year-old owner of a car accessories shop, said people used to settle for buying stickers printed with “Govt. of India” or a job like cop or lawyer. But the nouveau riche, he said, have taken to decorating their cars with police sirens and flashing lights.
Four years ago, there was no demand for such accessories, which are illegal for private cars, he said. Now, at least 20 customers a day ask for those upgrades. Many are the wealthy offspring of small-time politicians or political workers. “For rich brats, it’s a way to enjoy their life,” he said.
Sachin Goyal, whose family runs a construction firm, has spent at least $3,000 retrofitting his SUV with flashing red police lights, sirens and tinted black windows.
Sachin Goyal outfitted his car with flashing police lights and a siren.
Car equipped with police lights
The 22-year-old says he loves to go joy riding at night with friends, who have all added similar tweaks to their cars. Sometimes, they travel in a convoy 35-cars deep—blasting music and setting off their sirens.
“We use it on normal people,” he said. “They think we might be very important people, so they give way to us.”
Write to Shan Li at shan.li@wsj.com
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Appeared in the February 12, 2025, print edition as 'On India’s Streets, Elites Yield to No One'.
