∎ PDF Annihilation of Caste The Annotated Critical Edition BR Ambedkar S Anand Arundhati Roy 9781781688311 Books

Annihilation of Caste The Annotated Critical Edition BR Ambedkar S Anand Arundhati Roy 9781781688311 Books

Download As PDF : Annihilation of Caste The Annotated Critical Edition BR Ambedkar S Anand Arundhati Roy 9781781688311 Books

Annihilation of Caste The Annotated Critical Edition BR Ambedkar S Anand Arundhati Roy 9781781688311 Books

A must read on the backdrop of the current social and political happenings in India. The question raised over a hundred and fifty years ago about what should be a priority – political independence or social reform – appears to have been answered. The leaders chose independence and then forgot or chose to forget about social reform. The result – a country roiled by ‘reservations’ in educational institutions and in jobs – but with no real dignity for those for whom it was meant.
Dr. Ambedkar’s words are as true today as they were when they were first written. Some interesting tidbits for those who are trying to decide whether to make an investment in reading this book, because investment it is – a very scholarly book with a lot of references that need to be read to obtain the full import of what Dr. Ambedkard had to say:
1. It is a text in search of the audience it was written for i.e. the upper castes.
2. The Indian educational system does not do justice to Dr. Ambedkar as it does to M.K. Gandhi. Neither does it acknowledge the rampant ‘casteism’ in all walks of life.
3. The Indian Government insists that casteism and racism are dissimilar while glossing over the fact that for all practical purposes the effects are the same. While apartheid was challenged in international forums, the practice of caste has remained an ‘internal matter’ to India.
4. Dr. Ambedkar’s sound bite on the caste system – ‘ascending scale of reverence and a descending scale of contempt’.
5. M. K. Gandhi’s view on the same caste system – ‘the genius of Indian society’.
6. M.K. Gandhi believed in ‘ancestral occupations’ – occupations one has to follow based on birth but only for others. He was a trader by birth, but became a lawyer.
7. Positive discrimiation – called ‘reservation’ in universities and ‘government’ jobs has allowed only a miniscule number of Dalits to get access to education and jobs, even though this is the cause of many a protest in India from upper caste Indians. In Arundhati Roy’s words, “It creates situations where a Brahmin clerk may have to serve under a Dalit civil servant. Even this tiny opportunity that Dalits have won for themselveswashes up against a wall of privileged-caste hostility”.
8. Dr. Ambedkar’s ideas of religious reform were pretty quaint – “priests should be ‘licensed’ by the State”
Dr. Ambedkar’s thoughts on why Hinduisim ceased to be a missionary religion – “Caste is inconsistent with conversion. In which caste should the convert be placed? Castes are autonomous and there is no authority anywhere to compel a caste to accept a newcomer. Hindu society being a collection castes, and each caste being a closed corporation, there is no place for a convert”.


Tags : Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition [B.R. Ambedkar, S. Anand, Arundhati Roy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. “What the Communist Manifesto </i>is to the capitalist world, Annihilation of Caste</i> is to India.” —Anand Teltumbde,B.R. Ambedkar, S. Anand, Arundhati Roy,Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition,Verso,1781688311,Asia - India & South Asia,Discrimination & Race Relations,Social Classes,Caste;India.,HISTORY Asia India & South Asia.,SOCIAL SCIENCE Social Classes.,History,History Asia India & South Asia,History: World,India - History,SOCIAL SCIENCE Discrimination & Race Relations.,Social Science Discrimination & Race Relations,Social Science Social Classes & Economic Disparity,Social Stratification,bisacsh

Annihilation of Caste The Annotated Critical Edition BR Ambedkar S Anand Arundhati Roy 9781781688311 Books Reviews

Democracy hasn't eradicated the caste system but has entrenched and modernized it. This seminal work is critical in an epoch where caste has been force-fitted into reductive marxist class analysis. ''''''' (Antyaja Sanskrit), the last born outside the pale of Hindu society; the "Untouchables", have been banished from the collective conscious of my generation through selective erasure and deliberate acts of unseeing and this book is critical for those wishing to develop a holistic view.

Babasaheb Ambedkar -- now reduced to a Ghetto king stripped away of his radical intellect -- wrote "Annihilation of Caste" in 1936 for the Hindu reformist group, the Jat-Pat Today Mandal (forum for breakup of case). Thanks to apathy and nonchalance, the keynote address was was never delivered. This inexcusable ambivalence was highlighted by Gandhi expounding scavenging s*** as a religious duty. Arundhati Roy's biting commentary does more justice and covers this in detail in the introduction.

Ambedkar talks at length about the genesis of caste and I found one quote particularly pertinent "The Purusha Sukta is a later interpolation in the Rig Veda. Verses in the form of questions about the division of Purusha and the origins of the Varnas are a fraudulent emendation of the original."

The chapters on pollution and purity were critical for understanding the need for affirmative action. For example, the Nayádis (literally dog-eaters) of Malabar, the lowest class of Hindus in Kerala would contaminate a Brahmin (the highest class in Hindu society) at a distance of 300 feet. This denial of entitlement of land, wealth, knowledge and equal opportunity due to pollution rules defines the genetic blueprint of Hindu society and any change requires perspective.
A must read on the backdrop of the current social and political happenings in India. The question raised over a hundred and fifty years ago about what should be a priority – political independence or social reform – appears to have been answered. The leaders chose independence and then forgot or chose to forget about social reform. The result – a country roiled by ‘reservations’ in educational institutions and in jobs – but with no real dignity for those for whom it was meant.
Dr. Ambedkar’s words are as true today as they were when they were first written. Some interesting tidbits for those who are trying to decide whether to make an investment in reading this book, because investment it is – a very scholarly book with a lot of references that need to be read to obtain the full import of what Dr. Ambedkard had to say
1. It is a text in search of the audience it was written for i.e. the upper castes.
2. The Indian educational system does not do justice to Dr. Ambedkar as it does to M.K. Gandhi. Neither does it acknowledge the rampant ‘casteism’ in all walks of life.
3. The Indian Government insists that casteism and racism are dissimilar while glossing over the fact that for all practical purposes the effects are the same. While apartheid was challenged in international forums, the practice of caste has remained an ‘internal matter’ to India.
4. Dr. Ambedkar’s sound bite on the caste system – ‘ascending scale of reverence and a descending scale of contempt’.
5. M. K. Gandhi’s view on the same caste system – ‘the genius of Indian society’.
6. M.K. Gandhi believed in ‘ancestral occupations’ – occupations one has to follow based on birth but only for others. He was a trader by birth, but became a lawyer.
7. Positive discrimiation – called ‘reservation’ in universities and ‘government’ jobs has allowed only a miniscule number of Dalits to get access to education and jobs, even though this is the cause of many a protest in India from upper caste Indians. In Arundhati Roy’s words, “It creates situations where a Brahmin clerk may have to serve under a Dalit civil servant. Even this tiny opportunity that Dalits have won for themselveswashes up against a wall of privileged-caste hostility”.
8. Dr. Ambedkar’s ideas of religious reform were pretty quaint – “priests should be ‘licensed’ by the State”
Dr. Ambedkar’s thoughts on why Hinduisim ceased to be a missionary religion – “Caste is inconsistent with conversion. In which caste should the convert be placed? Castes are autonomous and there is no authority anywhere to compel a caste to accept a newcomer. Hindu society being a collection castes, and each caste being a closed corporation, there is no place for a convert”.