Caste: A Global Story powerfully argues that
caste is not some ancient, localised Indian problem. It is a virus of hierarchy
that has travelled with the Indian diaspora to every corner of the world.
The book connects the Dalit struggle
to the Black struggle, drawing a line from the Dalit Panthers to the Black
Panthers.
The book recalls the Dalit Panthers’
broad definition of Dalit: a Dalit is a scheduled caste, a scheduled tribe, a
Buddhist, a hard-working person, a worker, a landless peasant, the poor, a
cultivator, a nomadic tribe, or an indigenous person.
The meaning of Dalit-"an
Oppressed, Broken or Crushed"-applies to historically oppressed
communities. However, the term is widely used to refer to the Scheduled Castes,
considered Untouchables.
Dalit emerged from the radical
anti-caste movement in the early 20th century as a powerful act of reclamation.
It was a conscious rejection of labels such as "Depressed Classes"
and the derogatory "Untouchable."
It named the reality of systemic
violence, economic exploitation, and social ostracisation imposed by the caste
order. By embracing this name, the community transformed a symbol of their
oppression into a weapon of resistance, asserting that their brokenness was not
a natural state but a deliberate outcome of Brahminical hierarchy. The word
became a call to recognise a shared political struggle for the annihilation of
caste, the establishment of human dignity, and the defence of constitutional
rights, rather than a plea for humanitarian uplift.
Dalit is theorised upon by scholars
and abused by the political classes because of the unique, inescapable prison
of caste.
Seeds of Limitation
However, the very potency of
"Dalit" contained the seeds of its limitations in building a
pan-Indian solidarity. Its failure stemmed from the immense diversity it
attempted to unify under a single banner. The term Dalit attempts to homogenise
a vast population fractured by sub-castes, each with its own nuanced position
in the local caste hierarchy and distinct historical occupations.
Sympathy
The book seeks to provoke sympathy—a
feeling of pity for someone's misfortune—as a first step toward building
solidarity. The book draws powerful
parallels between Black slavery and Dalit oppression in the hope that shared
stories of suffering can build bridges. Whilst Black communities may offer
sympathy to Dalits, do Dalits reciprocate this sympathy, or is the discussion
merely confined to the world of academia?
Beyond sympathy lies empathy—the act
of truly feeling the suffering of another by putting yourself in their shoes.
The book argues that the oppressor castes cannot empathise with the Dalit
condition because they reject their victimhood—they do not see Dalits as
capable of feeling the pain of oppression.
This is a crucial insight of the
book.
Class Privilege
While class privilege can be changed,
caste is a trap from which society offers no escape, as the Trinidadian
diaspora study shows—the status of the Brahman continues to hold, even across
oceans.
On Page 76, the book argues that
class privilege can be ascribed or acquired. Still, caste cannot, when the
system and society are committed to recognising castes through rites, rituals,
and normative affairs, and the status of the Brahman continues to hold.
Re-imagination and Brahmanical
ideology
The book suggests a re-imagination of
the future through literature, arguing that those who were denied humanity,
once they found words, made those words their rebellion. But this raises
another vital question: Who is reading these words? And can words alone
translate into a strong, meaningful rebellion? In former times, Dalits were
denied access to Education by the rules of the Manusmriti – a notorious Hindu
text. But now, some educated Dalits do have the power of the pen, challenging
social orthodoxy, economic exploitation and political power.
The book identifies Brahmanical
ideology as the central obstacle. Page 98 states that casteism, colourism, and
religious hatred in India are Brahmanical instruments for holding down Dalits,
Adivasis, Muslims, Christians and many others. The refusal of the dominant
castes to acknowledge this is what keeps movements like Black Lives Matter from
having a real impact in India. It prevents any national introspection on how
society debases the lives of its oppressed ethnicities, castes, and religious
minorities.
On page 99, it states that if the
elite castes ever care to confront religious hatred and casteism, they must
find the political morality to attack the foundations of caste itself.
The foundation stone, as the great
Ambedkar pointed out, is the Brahmanical Hindu religion. The annihilation of
caste would depend on dismantling the teachings of Shastras (religious texts)
upon which Hinduism stands.
Dogma of Caste
Yet, whilst this all looks poetic,
from my reading of the great Ambedkar, who concluded that caste cannot be
annihilated. It is a notional thing.
Ambedkar found that Hindu religious
dogma is responsible for the degradation and ills of Indian society. To free
himself from the dogma of caste, he embraced Buddhism—a path that was
scientific and upheld human dignity and equality, values intrinsic to the Buddhist
ethos. And it is the very dogma of caste that we now find thriving among
diasporic communities worldwide.
As an anti-caste activist, I believe
in the power of protest to effect change through the democratic process and the
enactment and implementation of Just laws.
Literature provokes thought—the
purpose of education is to assist the mind to ask questions, which the book
does powerfully.
The book acts as a brilliant cartographer of the prison of caste, but the blueprint for escape remains unclear.
The book echoes the foundational
voice of liberation of the great Ambedkar. Let me share with you Ambedkar's
timeless words from Annihilation of Caste:
'the effect of Caste on the ethics of
the Hindus is simply deplorable. Caste has killed public spirit. Caste has
destroyed the sense of public charity. Caste has made public opinion
impossible. A Hindu's public is his Caste. His responsibility is only to his
Caste...
There is no sympathy for the
deserving. There is no appreciation of the meritorious. There is no Charity for
the needy. Suffering as such calls for no response...
The capacity to appreciate merits in
a man apart from his Caste does not exist in a Hindu.'
This is the reality the book maps for
us on a global scale.
And yet... here is my critical question: Where
is the path forward?
It's fine to write beautiful words,
but the literature of rebellion must translate into action.
Global anti-caste activism
Being a Global story, the book,
regretfully, skims over global anti-caste activism; in particular, it is disturbingly
silent about anti-caste activism in the UK, which inspired the Global
anti-caste movement.
The writer makes a mild reference to
the Hindu right-wing (page 194). On page 265, it mentions counter lobbying by
the Brahmanical right against Caste activism, combining Hindu, Sikh, Muslim,
Jain and Christian conservative lobbies. But being aware of the strength of the
Hindutva Lobby both in the UK and elsewhere, the writer, for whatever reason,
is not drawn into the UK anti caste conversation, in a country responsible for
the British Empire.
A Canadian Literary Critic and
theorist, Northrop Frye (1912 – 1991), writes in Educated Imagination (1963)
that literature expands human imagination and helps people see the world in new
ways. Frye emphasised literature’s role in shaping identity, empathy and
creativity.
Caste: A Global Story is the beginning of a journey. It is a crucial starting point—the alarm bell that wakes up the world.
Sat Pal Muman, Caste Watch UK
29 October 2025
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