On caste and annihilation of caste . . . Simply told . . . as it is. . . | C. R. Bijoy

Apr 02, 2026

Caste, a historically evolved sociopolitical phenomenon and structure, constantly defines and redefines itself according to the changes in the way production is organised, surplus generated, expropriated and distributed. This predates colonialism. The administrative categorisation of caste introduced by colonialism, excluded those who identified with religions that originated outside the sub-continent, as depressed classes: a loose generic label incorporating many including those labelled backward communities, aboriginal and hill tribes, backward classes etc which got renamed much more narrowly as Scheduled Castes. These were absorbed, refined, re-categorised and developed in the Constitution and in post-independence laws as affirmative actions through various forms of reservations, welfare and protection are constructs of the state to provide space and offer a share within this hegemonic system.

Both, the caste system as a social order that assimilated all into itself at varying levels of hierarchy, except those who kept away, or kept out to varying degrees (now categorised mostly as Scheduled Tribes), irrespective of the multitudes of the then belief systems / religious streams, as a way of life, and the state