Archit Padmaja

“Caste is inconsistent with conversion. Inculcation of beliefs and dogmas is not the only problem that is involved in conversion. To find a place for the convert in the social life of the community is another and a much more important problem that arises in connection with conversion. That problem is where to place the convert, in what caste? It is a problem which must baffle every Hindu wishing to make aliens convert to his religion. Unlike the club the membership of a caste is not open to all and sundry.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“The first and foremost thing that must be recognized is that Hindu society is a myth. The name Hindu is itself a foreign name. it was given by the Mohammedans to the natives for the purpose of distinguishing themselves. it does not occur in any Sanskrit work prior to Mohammedan invasion. They did not feel the necessity of a common name because they had no conception of their having constituted a community. Hindu society as such does not exist.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“Social war has been raging between the strong and the weak far more violently in Europe than it has ever been in India. Yet, the weak in Europe has had in his freedom of military service his physical weapon, in suffering his political weapon and in education his moral weapon. These three weapons for emancipation were never withheld by the strong from the weak in Europe. All these weapons were, however, denied to the masses in India by Chaturvarnya. There cannot be a more degrading system of social organization than the Chaturvarnya.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: With a Reply to Mahatma Gandhi

“There is no doubt, in my opinion, that unless you change your social order you can achieve little by way of progress. You cannot mobilize the community either for defence or for offence. You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.”
― B.R Ambedkar, Annihilation Of Caste