Response: Understanding Gandhi on Caste

The thoughts on Gandhi and caste that Akeel Bilgrami’s lecture give rise to, have been intellectually most stimulating, as have been his explorations of the subject. This in itself makes one look forward to reading his forthcoming book. We also have to remember, that if there was one subject that went every which way in the early twentieth century, but kept returning to base and making everyone think about it again and again, it was the subject of caste. Questions of all kinds surfaced in the last two centuries: did it change over two thousand years and if so how, who among those speaking about it gave it fresh meanings, and were there new ways of seeing its function in society. And finally where does it stand today?
I wouldn’t dare to summarise the lecture.