Re: Are there no "castelike" divisions in Islam? [SPLIT FROM:"High caste" Hindu students refuse food prepared by Dalits]
While nobody can ever defend untouchability or casteism, a little perspective also helps.
If you come over to my house, and I offer you mutton, would you accept it or would you be put off because it is not 'halal'?
You could argue that I am not muslim and all the 'universality' thingies don't work in this case. The origins of not eating food cooked by a different caste probably revolves around this.
One way of looking at hinduism is to see it as a religion of 900 million people divided by castes. Another way to look at is xxx number of groups unified by a lot of commonalities with regard to religion.
As stated earlier, casteism is not a religious construct but a social one, like trade guilds or the Arabic tribes.