Annihilation of Caste  (English, Hardcover, Ambedkar B. R.)

Annihilation of Caste is an undelivered speech by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, against the untouchability prevalent in India.

Summary of the Book

Drafted to be delivered on the annual conference as the presidential address for a Hindu reformist group Jat-Pat Todak Mandal, to address the issues of casteism on Hindu society, the speech was considered too radical for the audience and Ambedkar was asked to withdraw the speech. Instead he released his speech in the form of this book which strongly criticizes orthodox Hinduism and the caste system. In it he reveals his views on Hindu leaders of the day and how he believed that their teachings were flawed and how they only hinder the progress of the nation. The later editions of the book added a section in reply to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who believed that only untouchability was to blame and not casteism. Dr. Ambedkar rebukes this vision of the Mahatma and explains that unless casteism disappears as a whole there will be no improvement in the state of affairs.

About B. R. Ambedkar

Bhimrao Ramji "Babasaheb" Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, politician, economist, historian, philosopher and principal architect of the Constitution of India.

Born into a Mahar household, Dr. Ambedkar was a staunch soldier against the plague of untouchability and casteism in India. He was the first untouchable to graduate from the Elphinstone College, University of Bombay. He later went to Columbia University in New York City to major in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology. He also received his doctorate in Economics shortly after. Dr. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism and spoke widely against untouchability and casteism, forming several assisting sections of the constitution to help background castes in progressing.