Annihilation of Caste : The Annotated Critical Edition

In 1936, a Hindu reformist group invited B.R. Ambedkar to deliver their presidential address and chart a path to end the caste system. When he argued that the immorality of caste was sustained by the Vedas and shastras, and without ‘dynamiting’ them there could be no reform, they withdrew their invitation. Ambedkar published the text on his own. Mahatma Gandhi responded to the provocation. The hatchet was never buried.

This new annotated, critical edition features a comprehensive introduction by Arundhati Roy, who says ‘to ignore Gandhi while writing about Ambedkar is to do Ambedkar a disservice’. This edition generated inevitable questions regarding political representation, caste, privilege, and power in Indian society.