Caste Matters

by Suraj Yengde

The fact that Banias are a benefactor of the caste system advocates the unquestionable rationality of class suppression combined with caste as a surplus value. Banias in colonial times were the oppressors who contributed to the empire’s expansion in the Indian subcontinent, more so than in the African countries. Banias were the middlemen who dealt in the indomitable parlance of advancing one’s interests. However, the nationalist history of India overwhelmingly lauds the Bania capitalist class as a benefactor of the nationalist movement, thereby declaring them as supporters of the movement when it was not an altruistic dedication at all. On the contrary, it was to exploit the resources of a newly independent nation on their own terms without external colonial intervention. Vladimir Lenin describes this position as being midway between the radical’s and worker’s struggle.