In 1936, a Hindu reformist group invited Dr B.R. Ambedkar to deliver its annual
lecture. When the group read an advance copy of the text of the speech, it found
the contents ?unbearable? and rescinded its invitation. Ambedkar published the
text on his own. It offers a scholarly critique of the Vedas and
shastras?scriptures the Hindus regard as sacred, scriptures that sanction the
world?s most hierarchical and iniquitous social system. The world?s best known
Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, responded to the provocation. The hatchet was never
buried. This extensively annotated edition of Annihilation of Caste is
introduced by Arundhati Roy. Her introduction, The Doctor and the Saint, looks
at