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This chapter explores Satyajit Ray's Sadgati (1981), a film adaptation of Premchand's short story ‘Sadgati’ (‘Deliverance’, 1931), in terms of Ray's handling of the dalit question. It analyses the mediation from ‘Sadgati’ to Sadgati and offers a reading of Mahasweta Devi's writings on the subject in conjunction with the progressive politics of Premchand. It discusses the shifts that seem to have taken place, particularly in relation to the representation of the caste question, which has been a matter of serious concern for writers/artists both within and outside the community, in the light of present debates on the subject. Both Ray and Premchand were sympathetic to the cause of the dalits, the most culturally marginalized in India, yet their portrayal differs in terms of tone and rhythm, which in a way transmutes the content. The chapter also considers Ray's non-recognition of the issue of untouchability in West Bengal.

Whatever is done to their music, the original composers will be affected. Original repertoire is all in the public domain now. This chapter argues that far from being “faithful” to a composer's intentions, people are in fact merely stealing ideas from them, and doing it selectively. But obviously, to get the most value out of this theft, it is necessary to be conscious of the composer's wishes. This will give the music the best chance of being understandable. The wishes of the listener, in this case, coincide with those of the composers. This chapter discusses fidelity to the composer, Werktreue (work-fidelity) as the musical analogue of religious fundamentalism, the Urtext imperative and text fetishism, untouchability, the Romantic invention of the interpretive conductor, and the maestro-rehearsal.

This chapter illustrates the early life of Bhikhu Parekh and his experiences in becoming part of the British House of Lords. It begins with an account of Parekh’s childhood in Amalsad, where he talks about his family background, describes the religious beliefs and caste system in the village, and narrates his experiences in ‘moving between’ the castes by making friends from different caste levels. It then looks at his education at the University of Bombay and eventually the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Several notable personalities are introduced, including Usha Mehta and Isaiah Berlin. In addition, the chapter brings to light Parekh’s experience with untouchability, the difficulties in marrying a person from a higher caste, and how the diversities in British society are represented.

Mahatma Gandhi was accused of acting as an apologist for the caste system in India. In 1932, he resorted to fasting ‘to block an affirmative action’ planned by Britain in favour of the outcastes, the so-called ‘untouchables’. Gandhi tried his best to undermine the centuries-old caste system and to remove the blot of untouchability from Hinduism. When he returned from South Africa, Gandhi was on the periphery of nationalist politics and launched a propaganda against the evils of untouchability. His fasting struck the British officials as a thinly disguised mode of coercion. After he was released from jail, Gandhi embarked on a tour in hopes of informing the Indians about the evils of untouchability.

In this chapter, the author recalls her first encounter with Mahatma Gandhi, who she thinks represented the Hindu of Hindus, the essence of the oldest India. On her way to Gandhi's house she met Professor Malkhani, the prominent Hindu worker and writer and Joint General Secretary to the Association for the Abolition of Untouchability. When she reached her destination, she met Gandhi's secretary, Mahadev Desai. The pandit sang ‘Raghuwar Tumko meri laj...’ while he played with his sitar. Everyone in the house dissolved in the music. The prayer meetings were attended by people of mixed faith.

Mahatma Gandhi was involved in many activities, foremost of which was to build Indian society from the ground up. He wanted to see untouchability in India abolished and sought the regeneration of villages as well as communal unity. Most Hindus believed that caste, and, above all, untouchability, was essential to Hinduism. Gandhi's pronouncement about caste was not definite, but he was clear and emphatic in condemning untouchability. He was certain that there were sanctions in the Gita for the abolition of untouchability.

This chapter examines Mahatma Gandhi's eleven vows, which contain the essence of his teaching in its relation to India and represent a trend in the writings of the world-intelligentsia, as well as the secret longings of a large number of inarticulate human beings. Gandhi's vows have something to do with ahimsa or non-violence; freedom from untouchability; body-labour; celibacy; non-stealing and non-possession; equal respect for all religions; and Satyagraha. From the point of view of the Hindus, the untouchability campaign led by Gandhi has introduced a new conception-Hinduism without a social hierarchy.

Chapter 8 is about recognition for SCs in Indian society, and how quotas have affected caste-based discrimination. After summarizing key findings in the literature on intragroup and intergroup relations, and the ritual practices of SCs in India today, the chapter presents evidence from two surveys that provide indications of a lessening in caste-based discrimination in SC-reserved areas. The patterns are not robust and the surveys do not have samples that are representative of large areas, so the findings should be treated as tentative. Nonetheless, in both cases the evidence points toward potentially wide-ranging social changes resulting from implementation of the quota system. These patterns are further corroborated by findings from studies of village-level quotas for SCs.

This introductory chapter presents the main themes of the book. The major theme is that of “touch” as it constitutes touchability/untouchability in society. Another somewhat implicit theme is that of dalit literature. This literature is the best-known feature, currently, of Indian and non-Indian understanding of the relationship between caste and modernity. Quite a lot of non-Indian interest comes to caste after encountering dalit literature. Ultimately, this book attempts to understand operations of touching and not touching, initially in themselves, but increasingly in their social operations as they relate to caste. To arrive at an understanding of caste that is different from those already available in the saturated field of caste studies, one has to attempt to think everything differently; and to do that one has to stop depending on material—texts, ideas, analyses—already available.

This chapter addresses the use of the practices of touchability/untouchability as markers of caste practices. People who touch things that one does not touch become untouchable. Their unrelation, their denial to relate to certain things is transposed onto people who do touch these things; perhaps superimposed is a better verb to describe the phenomenon. This is quite clearly, again, an operation of metonymy, with a sort of inmixing of the two basic kinds: invariable concomitance and cause-effect. Those who do not touch animal fat, skin, human waste, and so on will not touch people who do precisely that, because of their frequent contact with these things. Thus, regulations on touching things were transposed onto people. There are actually two processes: the thingification of humans and the humanization of things. These two processes enhance and extend and confuse regulations on touching and being touched by people and things.

In 1931, Gandhi introduces the name harijan (“children of God”) for the 50 million “untouchables” of India. The gesture radicalizes his phenomenology of spirit irreversibly. For it reveals, in the most dogmatic form, Gandhi’s commitment to “equality of the spirit…without which no other equality is possible.” This chapter recovers the morals and consequences of that decision. The harijan, it argues, was neither simply another name nor a “sacred force”. Instead, it was a condensation of Gandhi’s ontological and phenomenological partitions, one in which his incalculable desire to touch the untouchable was rendered indissociable from his ethics of disciplinary limit and measure. Limit at the heart of religion, touching within the calculus of reason alone: this is what Gandhi calls maryada dharma. And this limit, in its punitive integrity, structures his indifference toward the fearless revolutionaries of his time no less decisively than it does his apotheosis of the atishudra.

Gandhi’s notion of suffering and uncritical belief that nonviolent action can “melt the stoniest heart” is a hazardous article of faith. Vykom can illustrate impediments faced today in nonviolent movements worldwide. Today’s social justice movements draw vocabulary, methods, and thinking from Gandhi, although nonviolent action arises from divergent cultural and political sources. Still vital is Gandhi’s 1905 discernment that even the most powerful cannot rule without cooperation from the ruled. Untouchability was reduced as a source of acute misery in what is now Kerala more than a decade before it was constitutionally ended by free India. Representative government became visible in Travancore after independence. Ezhavas rose to high positions, not because sops were thrown, but because they had waged disciplined struggle. Abolition of untouchability in India is occurring primarily through actions taken by and within castes, although Gandhi’s efforts to induce changes in upper-caste perspectives cannot be dismissed.

This chapter discusses Gandhi’s retirement from politics in the mid-1920s. It begins with a section on the role of the press in provoking the animosity between the Hindu and Muslim communities. It then describes the programme Gandhi had in mind, which was composed of the removal of untouchability and the promotion of the upliftment of women, ‘national’ education, khadi, and Hindu–Muslim unity. It discusses that although Gandhi could not fully detach himself from the political sphere, he busied himself with the affairs of the Sabarmati Ashram. It shows that Gandhi emphasized most on the everyday conduct of the inmates in the way the Ashram was run. Gandhi’s retirement from active politics also caused his foreign admirers to invite him to visit their respective countries.

This chapter discusses Gandhi’s fight against the practice of untouchability. The discussion starts with a section on the question of the separate electorates for the depressed classes, which Gandhi addressed in a letter to the Secretary of State for India, Sir Samuel Hoare. By August 1932, Gandhi learned that his arguments and warnings were hugely ignored. From here, the discussion moves to Gandhi’s letter to Ramsay MacDonald, where he proposed to fast unto death, or until the scheme of separate electorates was withdrawn. It then introduces the Poona Pact, which served as a substitute of one scheme of electoral representation of the depressed classes for another scheme. It was this removal of separate electorates that marked the end of untouchability.

This chapter explains why Gandhi retracted his efforts for his fight against foreign rule. Motilal and Jawaharlal heard the news of Gandhi’s retreat while they were lodged in Lucknow’s district gaol. It first identifies the Chauri Chaura tragedy as the sign that India was not ready for a mass movement. Soon after the tragedy, Gandhi stopped the ‘aggressive’ portion of the non-co-operation campaign and hid the plans for civil disobedience in Bardoli. Instead, Gandhi focused on a ‘programme’ on communal unity, hand-spinning, and the removal of untouchability, among others. It shows that once Gandhi was placed in Gaol, Motilal proved to be one of the most significant influences in changing the course of the non-co-operation programme.

This chapter examines social exclusion in Japan and its implications for ideas of pollution that pervade the country's wastescape and influence social relations. Focusing on certain victims of toxic pollution and other waste problems, it considers the “social pollution” perceived by Japanese groups in comparison with environmental pollution and other forms of ritual pollution that linger on from Japan's spiritual tradition. It places the ostracism of these victims in the wider context of exclusionary thought and action in Japan and the ways that the victims responded to their newfound (though often not terminal) status. It also explores notions of purity, contamination, and “untouchability” in relation to the sociopolitical terrain of community environmental pollution disputes and toxic anxieties.

This chapter examines forms of public Catholic worship and traces the history of an important Santiyakappar (St James) festival in order to show how a domain of Catholic religion was gradually demarcated and institutionalized by Jesuit priests in British India. In doing so, Jesuits had to contend with the political projects of others—ecclesiastical rivals, kings, village heads, or caste groups—that also centered on the shrine. The chapter explains how religious change created political space for low-caste dalits long before their mobilization on the basis of civil rights. Meanwhile, Catholicism was progressively disembedded from a matrix of village-level roles and entitlements so as to more sharply demarcate Christian from Hindu religious practice.

This chapter explores the first of Gandhi’s two radical conservatisms: how the immeasurable inequality of the arms-bearing warrior [Kshatriya], though disavowed by satyagrahis, nevertheless often uproots and destroys their striving for absolute equality. For example, while Gandhi challenges untouchability, he never questions the caste order which the Kshatriya embodies.