Annihilation of Caste

Introduction

In 1936 the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal, a Hindu reform society in Lahore, invited Ambedkar to give the presidential address at its annual conference. When the organisers read the text in advance and asked him to remove passages attacking the Hindu scriptures, he refused; the conference was called off, and Ambedkar published the speech at his own expense. He argues that caste is “not merely division of labour” but “also a division of labourers”, that it destroys public spirit and ethics, and that it rests on the authority of the shastras, so that reform requires rejecting that authority. Gandhi replied in his journal Harijan; Ambedkar’s answer appeared in the second edition of 1937. The text is a central reference of the Dalit movement.