Caste and Contradictions

Caste and Contradictions Kancha Ilaiah SHALINI SHARMA's contention (in her letter May 21) that I have, ignored the possibility of 'backlash' if caste becomes an ideology, when some dalit-bahujan castes become powerful or they begin to operate from the power position, as it is happening today in Uttar Pradesh, indicates that there is total lack of understanding of contradictions among various castes in India. While I am aware of the attempt of the upper caste intellectuals to put the cart before the horse whenever a dalit organic intellectual attempts to develop a theory of caste during the reservation period they became the protagonists of poor among dalit-bahujans and now there is this pretension that they arc afraid of a backlash among the dalit-bahujan castes il is important to understand the nature of contradictions among castes in India.