Book Review

The Annihilation of
Caste

written by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

done by Gayathri B

BASS 1

T2019BA005
 Summary of the book

Annihilation of Caste is a manuscript which contains the undelivered speech of Dr. B R

Ambedkar. It was scheduled to be delivered in the annual conference of the Jat-Pat-Todak
Mandal of Lahore which was to be presided by Dr. Ambedkar, but was cancelled due to the
spinelessness of the commitee who were scared to the core when they saw that he implied it to
be his last addressal as a hindu in his speech.

The book speaks the unspeakable truth of Indian caste system and how it contributed to the
revolting status of the Hindu religion. It explains how Caste reduces a group of people into
selfish, mean and barbaric animals. Dr. Ambedkar shatters the perfect glass wall that the
Brahmins build around their so called ‘stable organized society’ and showed it to the world that
caste system is literally slavery. It widely criticizes arya samaj’s idea of chaturvarnya and
explains how this arrangement cripples a man in improving his status and pursuing a job that
suits him. The book Annihilation of caste overtly propagated that shastras should be not taken
as authority and should be tossed out into the pool of cow dung where it actually deserves it’s
place. It talks about the absurd contents of the very celebrated Manu Smriti, Sahyadrikhand
and Vedas and says that “the sanctity of Caste and Varna can be destroyed only by discarding
the divine authority of the shastras.”

Enclosed within the book is the correspondence between the representative of the Jat- Pat –
Thodak committee and Dr. Ambedkar regarding the Annual conference. It also contains a
review written by Mr. M K Gandhi expressing his views regarding the speech and Dr.
Ambedkar’s reply to it.

Review
An average high caste Hindu will find it extremley blasphemous and difficult to come to terms
with the contents of the book and it ought to be, considering the centuries of social
conditioning one has been through. Through Annihilation of caste, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar has
attempted to examine the root cause of a Cancer which no one has dared to speak about. In
the front section the correspondence between Jat- Pat-Thodak Mandal and Ambedkar clearly
denotes that it is not a miscommunication but a sheer act of cowardice from the Mandal’s part.
From the text, one can rightfully derive that Hinduism is on the verge of self destruction.
What’s the point of a religion or civilization existing for thousands of years if it only has the
history of discrimination and oppression. Chaturvarnya system , putforth by the Arya Samajists
is nothing but a hoax, a very convenient arrangement to preserve the dominance of the upper
castes in the place of caste system. When Ambedkar explained the atrocities faced by the lower
castes during his era I find it not surprising that things have not much changed in this modern
era too. The idea of outcasting one among yourself, having no sense of brotherhood for your
fellow Hindu even if he’s from your caste kills even the mildest chance of reformation. A
religion in which each one is constantly trying to degrade the other, spreading anti- social spirit
amongst their members is completely abominable and his conclusion of destroying Hindu
religion I would say is the need of the era. As he rightfully said, “ Hindu has been mean, and
meanness is worse than cruelty”. Ambedkar hit the raw nerve when he pointed out that
shastras support caste system and one must destroy the authority of the shastras over Hindu
religion. Even though Ambedkar hopes that removing Hinduism from the clutches of it’s
shastras might help it in getting over caste system, I strongly think that there is no turning back
for Hinduism now. If we attempt to remove caste system from this religion of rules, it will surely
collapse. It is better to come out of this jail of a religion than try to achieve the impossible,
which Ambedkar actually did. Eventhough Gandhi Ji through his review was trying to
desperately pin down Ambedkar using his ‘Mahatma’ Trump card, I was surprised when
Ambedkar brought his son into the argument. Even though it was meant to show the hypocrisy
of Mr. M. K. Gandhi and in his personal sphere he is, his son is an independent person and
hence his privacy should have been appreciated. It was a great experience for me reading this
book and I feel that this is a book that every Indian should read. Even though his ideal society
of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity could not be achieved even today, he left us with a
constitution to strive for it, whose days are numbered.