Skip to main content

Repetitive, non-creative strategy? Why is annihilation of caste still a 'distant' dream

By Aviral Anand* 

If Dr BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary is a day of celebration, it is also a day of reflection. To honor the struggle of someone as dedicated and revolutionary as Dr. Ambedkar, one must be able to look back on what has been achieved and also look forward to what needs to be done.
Admittedly, the wish for the complete annihilation of caste in India appears to be a tall order, so deeply and intimately does caste seem to be enmeshed in the Hindu way of life. But Babasaheb's call was at bottom for the annihilation of ritualistic, shastra-based Hinduism. This he outlined to suggest the way for the renewal of the Hindu faith, shorn of the continuing notion of caste.
As part of the reform that Dr. Ambedkar envisioned in his classic tract The Annihilation of Caste (AoC), he stated: 
"There should be one and only one standard book of Hindu Religion, acceptable to all Hindus and recognized by all Hindus. This of course means that all other books of Hindu religion such as Vedas, Shastras, and Puranas, which are treated as sacred and authoritative, must by law cease to be..."
We know what the immediate effect of the recommendations contained in his undelivered speech. A body such as the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal, ostensibly dedicated to the removal of caste among Hindus, backed off from allowing him to deliver his lecture. Dr. Ambedkar was well aware of his acute unpopularity among the caste Hindus whom he had tasked with the burden of dealing with the institution of caste in their faith. But despite the scorn he regularly received, he did not entirely give up hope that some future generation of Hindus would pay heed to his words.
It goes without saying that Dr. Ambedkar's words have not gone entirely unheeded among the caste-Hindus. Yet the crucial task of the reorganization of the Hindu religion, if one may call it that, remains largely without any measurable progress. Several academics have argued that caste has actually hardened in urban India. With the Hindu right politically in power in India since 2014, the "Hindu character" of the nation seems to get only deeper and more widespread.
But how does one assess the "Hinduness" or the religiosity, the affinity for the faith among Hindus at large? Who are the "lakhs of Hindus" who are crowding the banks of the Ganga at Haridwar during peak Corona-season, for instance? How does the fear of contracting a dreaded disease, whose vaccine is just becoming available, become subsumed in the ardent desire to indulge in a ritual, the ritual bath? 
What faith inspires them -- the lakhs who seem to be ordinary Indians from all walks of life -- to keep track of and participate in these Hindu rituals? Are they under the spell of some Brahmanical belief system or is there some other, more mundane form of aastha that drives them?
The author Mishi Saran, in her book Chasing The Monk's Shadow which traced the travels of the Chinese monk Xuanzang, was at the site of another Kumbh several years ago. She wistfully wondered, seeing the hundreds upon thousands of Hindu devotees assembled, how Hinduism seemed to continue on from strength to strength, whereas Buddhism had faded away from India.
Unless one can come to grips with what constitutes the often undefinable Hindu belief system, which includes under its umbrella a bewildering variety of practices, one cannot reasonably harbor hopes for its dismantling. Rituals and shastras are at the core of this Hinduism, whether we call it Brahminical Hinduism or a more popular version, the Puranic Hinduism, and they are not going away anywhere anytime soon.
The shastras need not be the actual Vedas or Puranas - they could be Satyanarayana Puja booklets or even the “Om Jai Jagadeesh Hare” aarti apparatus. As Buddhist scholar Steve Collins had pointed out in his journal article, “On the Very Idea of the Pali Canon”, the actual Pali canonical texts like the Tripitaka have rarely been the foundational texts in most Buddhist monasteries. A variety of other documents - Collins refers to "pseudo-jatakas and other pseudo-canonical works" - have made up the collections of texts regularly used to practice and propagate Buddhism.
Ambedkar's practical suggestion such as marriages across caste lines to dissolve caste boundaries remains an area that few pursue as a mission
So, one might have to move away from the Indological view that Hinduism resides solely in its so-called canonical texts - the shastras - and by abandoning them (and their authority) one can somehow hope to engender a more rational, ritual-less faith. One might not agree entirely with writers like Guru Prakash who talk of the Hindu beliefs among Dalits as "subaltern Hindutva, " and claim that the "Dalit Hindus or lower-caste Hindus are more Hindu than upper-caste Hindus."
But one has to pay heed to the anxieties of a Kancha Illaiah when he talks about the OBCs thinking of themselves as "Neo-Kshatriyas" in the Hindu order and also "adopting the Brahmin-Baniya culture." This is significant because OBCs make up a significant chunk of India's population, and none other than India's prime minister, a lifelong RSS member, counts himself as an OBC. As Illaiah notes matter-of-factly, "If the Shudras get freed from this psychological slavery from Brahminism, the liberated Shudras also would not allow the Dalit liberation to follow."
Thus, there seems to be no guarantee that even if the so-called fourth varna is unshackled from the spell of Brahmanical Hinduism, the hierarchical caste system will be weakened. What then of the so-called upper-castes who are deeply invested in the Hindu faith anyways - and with a resurgent Hindu right in political power, find themselves immersed in a Hindu ecosystem more and more.
There is no easy solution to the issue of annihilation of caste. A remarkable intellect like Dr Ambedkar struggled with the issue throughout his life. His practical suggestion such as marriages across caste lines to dissolve caste boundaries remains an area that few pursue as a mission. Considerations of caste in marital alliances still remain strongly traditional and hide-bound. He upheld Buddhism as the rational and moral alternative to a life-philosophy based on Hinduism but its adoption, even among the so-called lower-castes, remains patchy.
One has to be reasonable regarding expectations of overthrow of centuries-old oppression. Social change, especially for cases involving deep-rooted prejudices, is very slow. As scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah has outlined in his book, “The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen”, mere moral arguments do not augur social change. He lists other precipitating factors such as deliberate feelings of shame and dishonor to dissuade harmful social practices. One size does not fit all and Indian society is considerably more complex than the societies Appiah examines.
Dr Ambedkar was very clear in AoC that the responsibility for ridding the Hindu faith of caste rests on the caste Hindus. While there seems to be little evidence of caste Hindus undertaking any groundbreaking steps to extirpate the system of caste, it is undeniable that an increased highlighting of issues of caste and moral shaming through a variety of platforms has caused a greater recognition among upper-caste Hindus of the baggage it denotes. 
Reactions to such highlighting has manifested itself, among other things, in the brazen appropriation of Dr Ambedkar and the cause he represented. But a lot more right-wing ideologues talk about it than had previously done, which can only be seen in positive light.
Still, it makes little sense for the modern anti-caste movements to expend inordinate amounts of energy in trying to run down the Hindu religion in generic, repetitive and non-creative fashion, without clear targets. The movements will have to choose the best strategy and prioritise its actions to protect the well-being of the oppressed classes and at least ensure the guarantees that Babasaheb wrote into the constitution. 
All the while it must keep in mind the well-known, and in some senses fundamental, exhortation of Babasaheb to Educate, Agitate and Organize.
---
*A writer based in Delhi-NCR

Comments

Anonymous said…
This publication will have to be visited by Enforcement Directorate, CBI and NIA.

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i