Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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governed mainly by the interests of the two upper castes only.
3. This ideology had, or had been given, the complete support
not only of the scriptures and allied literature but also of all
system, organs and institutions of the orthodox religion.
4. This caste ideology had set social aims which were extremely
reactionary and from which it never deviated. It consistently
worked towards social reaction and, despite a set-back for about
a thousand years when Buddhism was supreme, it reasserted
itself in the form of Neo-Brahmanism.
5. This retrograde caste system also became the grave-yard of all
liberal social trends and movements which came within its
grasp.
6. This ideology thwarted and throttled the growth of any just
social ethics, much less a humanistic one.
7. The caste ideology and the caste system were indissolubly
linked with each other. In fact, they were the two sides of the
same coin. The two together constituted a single solid block,
insurmountable and insoluble by any social reform from with
the social system. Even after centuries of liberal influences
of the Western culture and civilization, it has not been found
possible to resolve it substantially. The caste system has been
the quintessence of social exclusiveness and social inequality.
The constitution and the consistent history of this social system,
spread over millennia, inevitably leads to a clear conclusion: namely,
that no radical social change, much less a social revolution such as the
Sikh movement aimed at, could be envisaged, atleast near about the
time of the rise of the Sikh movement, by remaining within the framework
of the caste society or by accepting its ideology. For the purpose
of our discussion of the subject that follows, this lesson is extremely
relevant and important. For, the more close a liberal social trend was
to the caste ideology, the more readily it was twisted or absorbed.
This ideology cast its shadows even outside its borders and later
affected, to an extent, even the Indian Muslims and Christians.
Therefore, for a revolutionary social change, complete break with the
caste society and its ideology was essential.