Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from commingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion, it is a state of the mind. The destruction of Caste does not therefore mean the destruction of a physical barrier. It means a notional change.
– B R Ambedkar
B R Ambedkar was at his lacerating best in 1936. That was a time when, in Lahore, a breakaway faction of the reformist Arya Samaj, known as the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Forum for the Annihilation of Caste), advocated inter-dining and intermarriage as measures to destroy caste. Membership, on paying two rupees as annual subscription, was meant for "Hindus" who took "a vow to marry himself or his sons and daughters out of his caste". The radical bluster of this forum, led by savarna, upper-caste Hindus, stood exposed when they refused to let Ambedkar express his views, despite having invited him to deliver the presidential address of the Mandal's annual conference in May 1936. In his undelivered speech, entitled Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar argued, "Hindus observe caste not because they are inhuman or wrong-headed. They observe caste because they are deeply religious." This train of logic made him tell the Jat-Pat Todak Mandal, "The enemy you must grapple with is not the people who observe caste, but the Shastras which teach them this religion of caste." On reading Annihilation of Caste, 'Mahatma' Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi made a forceful defence of the fourfold chaturvarnya system.
In response, an irate Ambedkar did not mince words about how, in his view, caste could really be annihilated: "You have got to apply the dynamite to the Vedas and the Shastras, which deny any part to reason; to the Vedas and Shastras, which deny any part to morality. You must destroy the religion of the Shrutis and the Smritis. Nothing else will avail." But at least during the heady 1930s, there was the pretence of concern over caste and the issues that plagued Hindu society across the Subcontinent. Though Ambedkar ridiculed the pusillanimous efforts of the 'social reform' school (initially Brahmin-led efforts of the Arya Samaj, and then represented by a section of the Indian National Congress), these elements did constitute a body with whom a radical like him could joust. An institution such as caste has displayed enormous resilience, surviving multiple challenges and reinventing itself according to the times. Yet its origins and survival remain a riddle. Asked to reflect on the future of caste, Ravikumar, a writer and public intellectual from Tamil Nadu, recently said, "In the case of caste, no two people agree on when exactly it was born.
In spite of the rigorous research that has gone into it, everybody is unsure about where this miraculous birth took place. Since origin and history cannot be pushed aside, it is crucial that a birth certificate for caste be obtained as soon as possible, for us to predict its future." That is a smart response, but still leaves in our hands the gooey mess of caste. Any talk of the future of caste seems 'offensive' to many; they see it as a matter of the 'present'. Well, it has been so for a few millennia now, and it looks like caste is far from dying. It is like snot: We have just learned to live with it.