Caste Pride: Battles for Equality in Hindu India

In this masterful work Manoj Mitta examines the endurance and violence of the Hindu caste system through the lens of the law. Linking two centuries of legal reform with social movements he unearths the characters speeches confusions and decisions that have shaped the war on caste mitigating how this ancient institution discriminated between Hindus across the board. Where they could live how they could dress whether they could go to a shop a stream walk a street or mingle enter a temple whom and how they could marry which scriptures applied to whom whether their actions innocent or criminal would attract punishment or impunity. Describing brilliantly the passage of Hinduism into its modern avatar the book celebrates women and men across the caste spectrumpioneers Savitribai Phule M.C. Rajah R. Veerian B.R. Ambedkar Vithalbhai Patel and othersand outside of the caste system such as non-Hindu legislators and administrators including Maneckji Dadabhoy William Bentinck and Lord Willingdon. It re-examines the positions of leading lights such as Motilal Nehru Thomas Munro Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari and shows why caste prejudice cleaves to names like Madan Mohan Malviya and Surendra Nath Banerjea. Through these histories of reform Mitta establishes that untouchability is merely the best-known aspect of of varna an elusive purity-based hierarchy that affects the freedoms of all. With ground-breaking discoveries and incisive insight Caste Pride is at once moving enlightening and transformative. Manoj Mitta is a Delhi-based journalist focusing on law human rights and social justice. A law graduate from Hyderabad he has worked with the Times of India the Indian Express and India Today.