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Annihilation of Caste

Dr. Ambedkar's book "Annihilation of Caste" is a thoroughly researched work that exposes the injustices of the caste system in India. It challenges the religious justifications for caste and argues that caste divides laborers and prevents social progress by restricting occupational mobility. Ambedkar asserts that political and economic reforms cannot succeed without first dismantling the caste system, which is a social evil that denies basic human rights and prevents the integration of society. He uses strong logic and evidence to reject common defenses of caste as a means to divide labor or ensure racial purity. The book is an important critique of how caste continues to undermine development in India.

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524 views2 pages

Annihilation of Caste

Dr. Ambedkar's book "Annihilation of Caste" is a thoroughly researched work that exposes the injustices of the caste system in India. It challenges the religious justifications for caste and argues that caste divides laborers and prevents social progress by restricting occupational mobility. Ambedkar asserts that political and economic reforms cannot succeed without first dismantling the caste system, which is a social evil that denies basic human rights and prevents the integration of society. He uses strong logic and evidence to reject common defenses of caste as a means to divide labor or ensure racial purity. The book is an important critique of how caste continues to undermine development in India.

Uploaded by

APOORVA BALAKRISHNAN
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ANNIHILATION OF CASTE

DIVYANI JAIN

Annihilation of Caste is a remarkable blend of facts and emotions all carefully weaved with
the thread of logic and knowledge. It is undoubtedly one of the most prolific, scholarly and
thoroughly researched projects on this topic. Initially I was really uncomfortable reading the
text because it actually suddenly breaks the bubble you are living in and throws you to the
other foul side of the picture, which you had earlier just acknowledged but never really tried
to feel. You are suddenly exposed to a world where Human Rights are confined to just a
certain piece of population, where one part of the population make the other part of the
population to slog, where people are graded not on the basis of their capabilities but on the
basis of the family they are born in. and then you realise you yourself are a part of this system
and in some or the way contributed to the situation. And that is the time when you feel
excessive repugnance to your own existence. It is an eye opener for the supporters of the
Hinduism. In his work Dr. Ambedkar has openly questioned the authority and authenticity of
the Shastra and other religious texts for that matter. He has mentioned “…unless you change
your social order you can achieve little by way of progress. You cannot build anything on the
foundation of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything
that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack, and will never be a whole.” Rightly
said. All the efforts for development are a mere wastage of time and money until and unless
the people have the basic rights on their lives, until and unless the society is integrated. A
society divided, can never flourish. Another important point that he mentioned in his work
was the interdependence of political and economic reform with the social reform. He argues
that “...history bears out the proposition that political revolutions have always been preceded
by social and religious revolutions..... the emancipation of the mind and the soul is necessary
preliminary for the political expansion of the people…” “…caste is a monster that crosses
your path. You cannot have political reform, you cannot have economic reform, unless you
kill this monster.” In support of his point he has put forward concrete arguments in his book
which are difficult to be denied. The defenders of this vicious system might find their solace
in the argument that caste system is nothing but another name for the division of labour
which is an inevitable feature of every civilised society. To this Ambedkar says “…caste
system is not merely a division of labour, it is also a division of labourers.” People are
appointed not on the virtue of their skills and capacities but on the caste they belong. “It is
not a division based on choice. It is based on the dogma of predestination.” says Ambedkar.
Seeing it in the light of unemployment he further says “By not permitting readjustment of
occupations, caste becomes a direct cause of much of the unemployment we see in the
country.” The deserving-starves and the undeserving-enjoys all luxuries. It is really sick how
these people easily seek refuge in the religious texts to justify their ill intentions and mean
actions. Another widely popular argument in favour of the caste system is that its objective
was to prevent purity of race and blood. On this Dr. Ambedkar quotes Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar
who in his paper on “Foreign Elements in the Hindu population” stated that “There is hardly
a class or caste in India which has not a foreign strain in it.” putting down the baseless
argument altogether. There is another important section in the book where Ambedkar
confronts the review of Mahatma Gandhi on his speech.

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