Caste and Race in India c13.9

c13.9

Every educated and progressive Hindu leader ought to ignore caste. He must not only denounce the institution on the platform and in the press, but must show by his way of living that his professions are sincere. He should never associate himself with any caste council, even though it may be doing some little immediate good to its members, always remembering that even the good emanating from a fundamental evil is so much tainted that it loses the moral characteristics of the good. If prominent leaders continue dinning into the ears of their followers that thinking in terms of caste is an unadulterated evil, and if they further carry out their precepts in practice, we are sure the sentiment of caste loyalty will slowly die a natural death. We have to create an atmosphere where even partially educated people should be ashamed of boasting of their caste and of decrying the caste of others in place of the present situation where individuals proudly and blatantly speak of their castes and caste-associations. We contend this can be achieved by constant preaching and unfailing practice of the leaders.