The 2014 Lancet Lecture – The half-life of caste: The ill-health of a nation

More than 700 people were in attendance for the 2014 Lancet Lecture, this year given by acclaimed novelist and political activist Arundhati Roy.

The Institute of Education’s Logan Hall – this year’s host venue – was already reaching near full capacity when I arrived. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement, with attendees moving from one area of the room to another as they attempted to find the best possible vantage point.

Considering Roy’s numerous notable achievements and accomplishments, it’s easy to see why this particular Lancet Lecture had generated so much interest – in 1997, she won the Booker Prize for Fiction with her novel The God of Small Things, and she has since written several political pieces on issues ranging from large dams to nuclear weapons.

For the 2014 Lancet Lecture, Roy focused on the practice of caste in India and how it received support from many of those who led India’s struggle for independence. Her comments in the past have gained unfavourable attention in India, often opinionated and controversial, and Roy’s talk on caste would be no different; “If these things shock and disturb you, all I can say is that they shocked and disturbed me too”.

Caste can be defined as India’s social categorisation, consisting of four groups called varnas: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The people in the top groups are considered as “pure and entitled”, while those in the bottom groups are “polluted and without entitlement”. However, outside of these four groups are the Dalits, or the ‘untouchables’.

These ‘untouchables’ were treated as subhuman, not to be touched, seen or heard due to a fear of them ‘polluting’ the wider society. As Roy described, the ‘untouchables’ were completely segregated, denied the right to drink from public wells, attend schools and wear certain clothing. Further descriptions were even more disturbing, including that of Dalits having to tie broomsticks to their waists to ‘clean’ their own footsteps left behind them.

Roy went on to explain that she would attempt to tell the story of the development of caste by talking about two men: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (or Babasaheb) and Mahatma Gandhi, who she stated were very much opposed in their attitudes towards caste, and more specifically, the treatment of the ‘untouchables’.

Babasaheb was very much anti-caste, having come from a Dalit background himself. He was treated as ‘polluted’ at school and moved away, before going on to study in Columbia and eventually working for the Maharaja. Here the discrimination continued, as he had files thrown at him and a ‘special’ carpet rolled out for him to walk on in case he ‘polluted’ those around him.

Going on to become one of many anti-caste intellectuals, Babasaheb campaigned for fair treatment of the Dalits, believing that this group of discriminated individuals should have their own constitution and the opportunity to represent themselves. However, one man was completely against this and was keen to maintain the power he held over them. This man, somewhat surprisingly, was Mahatma Gandhi.

According to Roy, Gandhi was far from the ‘modern-day Christ’ that we have come to believe. She went on to point out that, unlike Gandhi, “Jesus didn’t pollute the minds of a nation and wasn’t backed by big businesses”, to laughter from the audience. She went as far to say that, as demonstrated by Sir Richard Attenborough’s popular film Gandhi, his representation is completely “mythical” and a “work of fiction”.

She went on to state that although Gandhi appeared to support the Dalits, unlike Babasaheb, he was in favour of caste. Roy explained that this was because he was a privileged caste member, himself benefiting from a system that was so detrimental to others. And in ‘supporting’ the Dalits, he was able to manipulate and hold onto the power that was vital to him maintaining his high status.

But could a man who is celebrated and admired across the world really have held principles that were founded on inequality and a desire for power? Roy provided some shocking examples from his prior time spent in South Africa that further suggested this was the case. This included a campaign for a separate entrance to a Durban post office, as he believed that Indians shouldn’t have to share with black people, who he stated were “liars”, “uncivilised”, “dirty” and “without morals”.

Roy explained that Gandhi is, in fact, partly the reason that caste hasn’t disappeared in India, but has instead become “entrenched and modernised”: marriages are still arranged; those at the top of business and the economy are still fixed; and thousands of people are still lynched and killed – all according to the different social groups that they belong to.

“Can caste be annihilated?”, Roy asked at the end of her talk. “Not unless those who call themselves ‘revolutionary’ develop a radical critique of the caste system. Not unless those who understand caste sharpen their critique or capitalism. And not unless we read Babasaheb Ambedkar, if not inside our classrooms, then outside of them. Until then, we will remain, what he called, “the sick men and women who seem to have no desire to get well”.

Arundhati Roy’s lecture on caste was indeed controversial and opinionated, as expected. However, it was also fascinating, insightful and, in a way, inspiring. Having detailed just some of her points in this article, I would highly recommend that you watch the lecture in its entirety for a lesson in – as Roy put it – “applying our minds to the false myths around us”.

View images from the 2014 Lancet Lecture:

Watch the 2014 Lancet Lecture on YouTube.