Hyderabad: Manoj Mitta’s latest book titled ‘Caste Pride’ calls for introspection

City's noted cultural space Lamakaan in Banjara Hills played host to what turned out to be a pensive discussion on India's caste system

Hyderabad: City’s noted cultural space Lamakaan in Banjara Hills played host to what turned out to be a pensive discussion on India’s caste system.

The panel consisting of Prof. Sujatha Surepally, Mohan Guruswamy, and Subhashini Ali moderated by Amirullah Khan discussed independent journalist and author Manoj Mitta’s latest book ‘Caste Pride: Battles for Equality in Hindu India’ in his presence.

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“Why is there a gap between the rhetoric and the reality of our Indian justice system? While many laws that set out to abolish caste bias were there in letter, were they in spirit?” asked Mitta, adding that these very questions are what pushed him to dig up the archives to understand more about atrocities against marginalized castes.

He spoke about various court cases where alleged suspects of caste discrimination were let go. In his book, he also takes a glance at the works of Dr. BR Ambedkar and untouchability.

“Before talking about Dalits and how they are being discriminated against, one should first talk about their own caste privilege and caste bias,” says Prof. Surepally.

The panelists stressed that it is important to first accept that an injustice is being done, and without that, it would be impossible to tackle the problem.