Jati Ka Vinash  (Hindi, Hardcover, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar)

‘Jati ka Vinash’ (the translation of ‘Annihilation of Caste’) is Dr Ambedkar’s most famous, historic text. He had written it for the presidential speech that was to be delivered at the Jatpat Todak Mandal’s convention in Lahore in 1936. But differences over the views expressed in the speech led to the cancellation of the event itself. This text is relevant even today because the question of caste remains the most burning question in Hindu society. Dr Ambedkar is the first Indian sociologist to do a scientific study of the genesis and development of caste in Hindu society. He had researched this topic first in 1916, on which he presented a paper titled ‘Castes in India’. With irrefutable evidence, he proved that child marriage, lifelong widowhood, the Sati tradition of burning widows alive, were all mechanisms to turn a free community into a closed one. These were the mechanisms behind the development of the caste system. In 'Jati ka Vinash', he attacks the varna system as the world’s most absurd system. He considers caste as the biggest obstacle to India becoming a nation. Therefore he says that if India is to become a nation, caste must be erased. For this to happen, he says, the scriptures that contain teachings on caste should be blown up with dynamite. Celebrated journalist Rajkishore has done a fine translation of both these works of Ambedkar – ‘Castes in India’ and ‘Annihilation of Caste’. From a compilation of these two works, which Ambedkar had envisaged, researchers stand to greatly benefit. The footnotes in this edition shed light on the places, intellectuals, historic events, citations, scriptures that Ambedkar has referred to in this text. – Kanwal Bharti