The Persistence of Caste: The Khairlanji Murders and India's Hidden Apartheid

While the caste system has been formally abolished under the Indian constitution, according to official statistics, every eighteen minutes a crime is committed in India on a member of the dalit caste.

The Persistence of Caste uses the shocking case of “Khairlanji,” the brutal murder of an entire Dalit family in 2006, to explode the myth that caste is a feudal relic, and argues that it has been well assimilated not only by capitalist India, but also Globalising India—spreading out through the diaspora. The author argues that anti-caste activism itself has reflected and reinforced the worst stereotypes, identifying foes and friends in obsolete terms, and that in post-independence India, the authority of Caste has found a new ally—the state and its police.

This shocking and insightful new analysis will not only provide a fascinating introduction into the issue of caste in a globalised world, but will sharpen any readers’ understanding of caste dynamics as they actually exist.