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Home (https://telanganatoday.com/) » Book Reviews (https://telanganatoday.com/book-reviews) » Faking radicalism in a global context

Faking radicalism in a global

context
Suraj Yengde’s Caste Matters deals with unreserved criticism of Dalit political
positioning, and rest is autobiographical account of the author

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By TelanganaToday (https://telanganatoday.com/author/telanganatoday) | Jadumani Mahanand |
Published: 1st Sep 2019 12:20 am Updated: 31st Aug 2019 8:09 pm
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Jadumani Mahanand "

" Hundreds rally in Myanmar to show support for
Aung San Suu Kyi
(https://telanganatoday.com/hundreds-rally-in-
Caste Matters is about author Suraj Yengde’s politics, and his political statement is
myanmar-to-show-support-for-aung-san-suu-
anti-Dalit. Yengde, a Dalit-origin NRI, published Caste Matters as an attempt to
kyi)
sensationalise criticism of Dalits positioning himself as a Harvard post-doctoral
student. His previous book The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections, co-edited "
" Vets rape case: NRIs call for stringent action
with Anand Teltumbde, tried and failed to trace a radical interpretation of (https://telanganatoday.com/vets-rape-case-
Ambedkar’s philosophy. Yengde has neither prior academic engagement with nris-call-for-stringent-action)

Ambedkarite studies nor with Dalit issues, and yet.

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Caste Matters imitates the title of the African-American book Race Matters (1993) by
Top News
Cornel West. Cornel West propounds theory of “nihilistic threat” to the very (https://telanganatoday.com/top-
existence of Black America, after the Rodney King incident in 1991. He felt the section)
threat is “profound sense of psychological depression, personal worthlessness, and
social despair so widespread in black America”. Based on this proposition, West
divided Blacks into two categories. The “liberal structuralists and conservative
behaviourists”. Yengde uses Caste Matters impatiently and classifies Dalits as:
Token Dalits, Conservative Dalits, Reactive Dalits, Elite Dalits, Salaried Hypocrites,
Third-generation Dalits, Self-obsessed Dalits, Harmful Dalits, and Radical Dalits. He
also calls Dalits ‘greedy Dalits’ and ‘shameless creatures’. He neither postulates a
theoretical basis nor gives us data to support his classification.

Sensationalisation of Caste Matters starts with praise from Partha Chatterjee,

Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Anand Teltumbde, endorsing this immature chatter of a Protests Continue
book sans academic rigour. The book should have been titled “Critique of Dalits”. Vet murder case: Family pleads for privacy
Three-fourth of this book has unreserved criticism of Dalit political positioning, and (https://telanganatoday.com/vet-murder-case-family-
pleads-for-privacy)
rest is autobiographical account of Yengde. Yengde’s criticism against Dalit politics
Interview
is factually blundered and theoretically flawed. More revenue must to take up development
works: Warangal Collector
The author touches upon problematising brutality of caste in Indian society, which (https://telanganatoday.com/more-revenue-must-to-take-
up-development-works-warangal-collector)
is not a new projection. Yengde calls India a totalitarian caste society. He
Tracking Dosage
substantiates through the data of underrepresentation in bureaucracy, judiciary, Antibiotic use on a high across India
and educational institutions, which is nothing new. Yengde takes caste into a global (https://telanganatoday.com/antibiotic-use-on-a-high-
across-india)
problem but fails to discuss caste and diaspora.
Acting Tough
Bizmen top drunk driving list in Cyberabad
The excess emphasis on himself as first-generation Dalit makes it shallow since
(https://telanganatoday.com/bizmen-top-drunk-driving-
many Dalit scholars abroad and in JNU are of same category. He skewedly criticises list-in-cyberabad)
Dalit scholars abroad for their upper middle-class upbringing, falsely projecting Facelift for TSRTC
himself as the sole working class-origin scholar. One can question the way he Work together, KCR tells TSRTC management,
employees
criticises Dalits individually and shies away from Dalit politics, making the book (https://telanganatoday.com/work-together-kcr-tells-
methodologically incompetent. tsrtc-management-employees)

The author tries to develop several categories of Dalits without evidence. Actually,
Dalit is a unifying category, which brings every untouchable caste together for a Horoscope Gold Rates
better political articulation. Dominant liberal and progressive circles are happy to (https://telanganatoday.com/horoscope-
(https://telanganatoday.co
see Ambedkar as a constitutionalist, according to Yengde. Further, Yengde today) rates)
attributes that ‘Ambedkar’s vision was class-based solution for all castes’, which is a
complete misreading of Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste.
Connect with us
In order to justify all these claims, Yengde distinguishes liberation from
emancipation and says, “Dalit emancipation is as opposed to Dalit liberation… Telangana Today
Emancipation appeals to consciousness of governing class. It is a charitable act on Like Page 557K likes

account of the dominant who benefit out of the oppressive system.”

Follow @TelanganaToday 37.5K followers

Yengde situates Ambedkar and Dalit movement in the framework of emancipation

in which state, reservation, constitutionalism, and social justice is core part. He
writes, “the constitutional method as a route to Dalit emancipation precludes the
call the total liberation of Dalits”. His conceptualisation of liberation is understood
in the contours of Revolutionary Dogmatism; very often an Orthodox Marxist
would like to carry. Like Teltumbde, Yengde has similar thinking in proposing such
dictum and keeps repeating the Ambedkar’s statement on burning Constitution.

(https://api.whatsapp.com/send?
The author contradicts his own position and offers pessimism. Undoubtedly, Indian phone=919182563636&text=Hit%20Send)
constitution is misused by upper caste and class, but Indian society perpetuates the
caste dominance and inequality. Therefore, Constitution is the only space to
continue Dalit battle; hence, upholding state becomes inevitable. Dalits always
appeal to save country through the Constitution. This is politics of pragmatism.
Here, Yengde loses the plot completely and goes haywire.
(https://t.me/Telangana_Today)
The categorisation of Dalits proposed by Yengde are misinterpretation and
misleading. This categorisation will not help Dalits to be united or express Videos
solidarity for liberation; rather, it may create divisions. There is an anxiety and (https://telanganatoday.com/videos)
resentment of Yengde towards Dalit middle class, as a critical scholar of first-
generation Dalits without constructive criticism. Rather, it is an individual
characterisation of the Dalit life. This concept is not social political singularity of
Dalit. In that way, Caste Matters as project has questionable credentials.
For Yengde, neither capitalism nor middle class Dalits bring revolution, and, both
have failed. The question can be asked – the Constitution is inadequate, the aspiring
to become middle class is wrong, so what does the book offer? He invites upper
castes to be part of anti-caste movement by showing Brahmins’ participation in
Mahatma Phule and Dr Ambedkar’s movement. Further, he entertains sub-castes
issue among the Brahmins by indicating caste has a problem within Brahmins. On
the contrary, the ontology of Brahmin body is a social capital. The book satisfies the
upper caste conscience rather than the realisation of barbarity of caste.

Yengde, who never lived in India in the last decade, commenting on Dalit life is
absurd and situates his frustration of Dalit life of his childhood. He lacked Watch: A brief look into Vet murder case
awareness of the Dalit and tribal movements in entire India. He is ignorant even of (https://telanganatoday.com/watch-a-brief-look-into-dr-
priyanka-reddy-case)
the Punjabi Ravidasia diaspora movement abroad. It is surprising the book, tagged
as a radical work on caste, has not even a single critique against Modi or on RSS Watch: Happy RTC workers rejoin duties
across Telangana
ideology, not even mentioning manual scavenging. The book has utterly failed to (https://telanganatoday.com/watch-happy-rtc-workers-
offer anything new and rather, it seems to be a project for negative criticism of rejoin-duties-across-telangana)

Dalits. The role of Penguin in publishing such a book attacking Dalits by a Dalit-
origin NRI, reminds us the attack of Arun Shourie of Ambedkar.
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2 Comments Sort by Oldest

Add a comment...

Satish Kumar Gajbhiye

The comment
Caste Matters imitates the title of the African-American book Race Matters
(1993) by Cornel West.
Is reflection of the wide reading by the author.
A well researched article.
Like · Reply · 1 · 13w

Arakhita Behera
A good critique piece
Like · Reply · 13w

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