The fragile discourse of caste in West Bengal
- Economic and Political Weekly
- 58(7), Feb 18, 2023: p.19-22
The objective of this article is to put forward a modest hypothesis to test, namely “to politicise caste in Bengal, it needs to be taken out from the fold of Hindu religion.” The category needs to be mobilised and radicalised through the active participation of lower-caste groups across the state. To do this, the proliferation of sociocultural organisations is necessary whose prime concern would be to stretch the logic of caste in the political domain, whereas caste has hitherto taken only a comfortable refuge in the Hinduised domain of the Bengal social. The aim of this article is to propose a modest hypothesis for testing: "To politicize caste in Bengal, it is necessary to remove it from the realm of Hindu religion." The objective is to mobilize and radicalize the category by actively involving lower-caste groups throughout the state. To achieve this, the proliferation of sociocultural organizations becomes essential, focusing primarily on expanding the political influence of caste, which has traditionally found refuge within the Hinduized domain of Bengal's social fabric.- Reproduced
Modest hypothesis, Politicize caste, Bengal, Hindu religion, Mobilize Radicalize Lower-caste groups State Proliferation Sociocultural organizations, Logic of caste, Political domain, Comfortable refuge, Bengal social