US trade advisor Peter Kent Navarro has recently pulled the Hindu caste curtain wide open, something that only a handful of American voices would dare. In a tirade against India’s Russian oil trade, Navarro called out how members of the highest Hindu caste, despite being a tiny fraction of the population, corner power and profit at “the expense of ordinary Indians”.
Indians, whether operating under denial or struggling to keep a lid on the barely hidden truth, naturally reacted strongly to the US official’s statement. Instead of introspecting, the Indian government and its lapdogs scrambled for excuses. They pulled off the same old semantic trick to explain the centuries of institutional control, saying the American economist actually talked about Boston Brahmins, not Indian ones. For at least 48 hours, every major Indian media outlet tried to paint the dominance of Brahmins in every sphere of life as a foreigner’s fantasy. This overreaction itself proved that the truth had been spoken. What hurt the most was that President Trump’s advisor was the one spilling the beans.
But this supremacy cannot entirely be classified as a secret per se. Brahmins have written the rules of Indian life for centuries. They literally drafted scriptures that deliberately locked people into birth-based hierarchies. They occupied temples, courts, educational institutions, and the state.
Even independence could not free India from their claws. The surnames of India’s most powerful chief secretaries, IAS officers, judges, editors, and economists tell the same story. Despite making up less than 5 percent of the total population of India, these Brahmins disproportionately decide how the rest live, eat, work, and even die.
Interestingly, this denial has been global. For example, in America, “Brahmin” has long been shorthand for the elite. However, unlike Boston Brahmins, India’s Brahmins are not merely elites by wealth or pedigree. Their supremacy was codified, sanctified, and institutionalized centuries ago. That difference is what makes Navarro’s slip [or strike] so politically explosive.
Explanations and counterstatements started popping up within minutes, with most pseudo-analysts calling it “cultural ignorance” on the part of the American economist. However, the panic Navarro’s statement triggered proved that the charge had merit. After all, if Navarro were merely confused, there would have been no need for the US embassy to rush into issuing soothing statements and reaffirming the “defining partnership of the 21st century”.
Navarro deserves credit for cracking the facade and letting the world catch a glimpse of all this hush-hush for the first time ever. The connection between Indian economic conduct and its caste hierarchy is too stark to ignore. Yet, this complacency, akin to ostriches burying their heads in the sand, has long enabled India’s Brahmins to feed off the ‘lower caste’ labor, votes, and silence of others.
This episode is a classic example of the unease that comes when ‘outsiders’ expose India’s uncomfortable truths. One does not need to agree with Navarro’s Russian oil trade argument to see his point on caste control in India. This structure is visible in every sector, profession, and walk of life, and no, it is not a coincidence that all those dominating Indian policymaking and interpreting Hinduism for the world belong to the same ‘upper caste’.
Navarro deserves credit for cracking the facade and letting the world catch a glimpse of all this hush-hush for the first time ever. The connection between Indian economic conduct and its caste hierarchy is too stark to ignore. Yet, this complacency, akin to ostriches burying their heads in the sand, has long enabled India’s Brahmins to feed off the ‘lower caste’ labor, votes, and silence of others.
This exposure was only a matter of time, given the resentment brewing among 95 percent of India’s population, who live at the mercy of a self-perpetuating minority in the power corridors. Towards the end of his interview, Navarro implored the Indians to reason and “understand what is going on in here”. In the same breath, he stressed the need for stopping this profiteering by the Hindu supremacists. Until that happens, the priest’s pen will unfortunately remain sharper than the worker’s plough. However, once that (plough) turns, it will tear through the soil and the scripture alike.
