Gandhi framed caste equality as equal dignity of complementary duties

Evidence

The Brahmin’s duty is to look after the sanitation of the soul, the Bhangi’s that of the body of society … and yet our woebegone Indian society has branded the Bhangi as a social pariah, set him down at the bottom of the scale, held him fit only to receive kicks and abuse, a creature who must subsist on the leavings of the caste people and dwell on the dung heap. If only we had given due recognition to the status of the Bhangi as equal to that of the Brahmin, our villages, no less their inhabitants would have looked a picture of cleanliness and order. I therefore make bold to state without any manner of hesitation or doubt that not till the invidious distinction between Brahmin and Bhangi is removed will our society enjoy health, prosperity and peace and be happy. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 413

Categorization

• QUESTION: Gandhi here casts Brahmin and Bhangi as complementary cogs — the precise varna-preserving stance Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste attacked. Worth the contrast.