New Delhi- In a piercing critique of India's enduring caste hierarchy, retired JNU Professor Satish Deshpande dismantled the convenient fiction of a meritocratic society, exposing how upper-caste success is often built on centuries of inherited advantage. With startling honesty, the retired sociologist used his own family's history to illustrate how Brahminical privilege - from Peshwa-era land grants to modern educational opportunities - creates a false narrative of individual achievement.

"We pretend caste doesn't matter precisely because it has worked so well for us," Deshpande asserted, highlighting what he calls the "selective blindness" of dominant castes. This revelatory examination peels back layers of denial to reveal why caste remains India's open secret: an oppressive system the privileged can afford to ignore, but the marginalized are forced to wear like a brand.

In a thought-provoking discussion "The Truth About Caste and Reservation Nobody Admits" with comedian Kunal Kamra, renowned sociologist Professor Satish Deshpande delved into the enduring paradox of caste in India, exposing the deep-seated contradictions that continue to shape the country’s social, economic, and political landscape.

Deshpande began by dismantling the convenient narrative that caste was a colonial construct. While British rule certainly exacerbated caste divisions for administrative control, he emphasized that caste was and remains, an indigenous system of hierarchy. "We can blame the British for many things, but caste isn’t one of them," he said.

Post-independence, India’s Constitution formally abolished caste distinctions, declaring the nation a casteless republic. Yet, this legal abolition was more aspirational than actual. The same Constitution also introduced reservations, recognizing that centuries of oppression required redress. This duality, outlawing caste while institutionalizing caste-based quotas, created a fundamental tension that India has yet to resolve.

The Illusion of Merit and the Invisibility of Privilege

One of the most striking points Deshpande raised was how upper-caste Indians often disavow caste, claiming their success is purely merit-based. He illustrated this with a personal example: his grandfather, a Brahmin, held substantial land under the Peshwa regime due to caste-based entitlements. That land, though diminished after land reforms, still funded his father’s education, enabling his own upward mobility. "I am where I am because of generations of caste privilege," he admitted, "yet my class and education allow me to pretend caste doesn’t affect me."

This selective blindness, he argued, is a luxury only the privileged can afford. For marginalized castes, caste is an inescapable reality- a marker of identity they must constantly assert to claim rights. "The oppressed have to wear their caste like a badge; the privileged have the privilege of forgetting theirs."

The Poona Pact and the Limits of Reservation

The discussion turned to the 1932 Poona Pact, where Gandhi’s fast unto death forced Baba Sahab Ambedkar to accept reserved seats within a Hindu electorate instead of separate electorates for Dalits. Deshpande called this a "Faustian bargain"-it averted division but trapped Dalit politics within a majoritarian framework. Post-independence, reservations were framed as a one-time repayment of a historical debt. But as Deshpande pointed out, "You can’t settle centuries of dispossession with a few government jobs."

Reservations, while crucial, were never meant to be the sole solution. Yet, decades later, they remain the primary tool for addressing caste inequality, even as structural barriers, unequal access to capital, education, and social networks, persist.

The Hyper-Visibility of the Oppressed vs. the Invisibility of the Privileged

Deshpande highlighted a critical asymmetry: while lower castes must constantly assert their identity to demand rights, upper castes have the privilege of treating caste as irrelevant. "For the privileged, caste is something only the backward talk about," he said. This disconnect makes meaningful dialogue impossible. Upper castes dismiss caste as a "political stunt," while Dalits and OBCs see it as the only means of survival in an unequal system.

This dynamic, he argued, explains the visceral backlash against caste-based policies. When dominant groups refuse to acknowledge their own caste advantage, any demand for equity is seen as an unfair handout. "The anger against reservations isn’t about merit, it’s about losing the monopoly over opportunity."

Why Caste Won’t Disappear And What Must Change

Deshpande rejected the naive hope that caste would fade with modernization. "Caste isn’t just discrimination; it’s a way of life," he said. It dictates marriages, social circles, and economic networks. The market, far from erasing caste, often reproduces it, wealth and education remain concentrated among those who already had them.

For real progress, he argued, India needs more than reservations: land reforms, equitable education, and, most crucially, an honest reckoning with privilege. "Upper castes must admit that their success isn’t just hard work, it’s also centuries of head starts." Until then, caste will remain India’s repressed shame, officially abolished, socially entrenched, and perpetually unresolved.

For the unversed, Prof Deshpande's research interests include caste and class inequalities, contemporary social theory, politics and history of the social sciences and south-south interactions.  He is the author of Contemporary India: A Sociological View (2003) and co-author (with Ghanshyam Shah, Harsh Mander, Sukhadeo Thorat and Amita Baviskar) of Untouchability in Rural India (2006).