In this explosive book, Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar
educated across continents, challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste
and unpacks its many layers. He describes his gut-wrenching experiences
of growing up in a Dalit basti, the multiple humiliations suffered by
Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love
and humour. As he brings to light the immovable glass ceiling that
exists for Dalits even in politics, bureaucracy and judiciary, Yengde
provides an unflinchingly honest account of divisions within the Dalit
community itself-from their internal caste divisions to the conduct of
elite Dalits and their tokenized forms of modern-day untouchability-all
operating under the inescapable influences of Brahminical doctrines.
This path-breaking book reveals how caste crushes human creativity and
is disturbingly similar to other forms of oppression, such as race,
class and gender. At once a reflection on inequality and a call to arms,
Caste Matters argues that until Dalits lay claim to power and Brahmins
join hands against Brahminism to effect real transformation, caste will
continue to matter.
