Anuradha Gandhi on Caste

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?uu1uvfz20420e9h

5

Caste Question in India

1

T

he caste system has been one of the specic problems of the

Indian democratic revolution. It is linked to the specic na-

ture of the evolution of Indian society and has been one of

the most important means for the exploitation of the labouring

masses. Sanctioned by the Brahminical Hindu religion, Varnashra-

ma Dharma legitimized the oppression of the working people, and

the enslavement and degradation of one section of the masses,

reducing them to a near animal existence. For the ruling classes in

India, from the ancient to the modern period, the caste system

served both as an ideology as well as a social system that enabled

them to repress and exploit the majority of toilers.

Invaders from other lands who came to rule over India, ad-

justed with this system, as it suited their class interests; religions

like Islam and Christianity, which profess the equality of all men,

adjusted with it, allowing its believers to be divided on the basis

of caste, because they did not interfere with this system of exploi-

tation. Today, caste ideology is still an important part of the reac-

tionary ruling class ideological package, and it serves to divide

the working masses, hampering the development of class con-

1. Extracts from an unpublished article wrien in the mid-1990s. As

only a damaged Xerox typed copy was found, we are reproducing

what was able to be extracted from it.