Brahminism’s structure precludes solidarity and blocks revolutionary spark

Evidence

Brahminism makes it impossible to draw a clear line between victims and oppressors, even though the hierarchy of caste makes it more than clear that there are victims and oppressors. (The line between Touchables and Untouchables, for example, is dead clear.) Brahminism precludes the possibility of social or political solidarity across caste lines. As an administrative system, it is pure genius. “A single spark can light a prairie fire” was Mao Zedong’s famous message to his guerrilla army. Perhaps. But Brahminism has given us in India a labyrinth instead of a prairie. And the poor little single spark wanders, lost in a warren of firewalls. Brahminism, Ambedkar said, “is the very negation of the spirit of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 134

Categorization

• XREF: The labyrinth vs prairie contrast resonates with the reader’s interest in why caste annihilation ideas struggled to scale — complements Milgrom’s work on institutional barriers.