In the wake of the release of her new book 'Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction.', Booker Prize-winning author and activist has been facing flak from anti-caste scholars after she made a remark on Brahminism and her own Brahmin heritage.
In a video interview with Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico Nick Etze, Roy was asked if she found a parallel between India's caste system and the racial hierarchy in the United States.
Roy in her previous works has been known to be vocal about 'Brahmanism' and the 're-Brahmanisation' of certain sections of India as one of the central pegs of India's caste hierarchy.
Etze wanted to find out if Roy was herself a Brahmin, as is often believed.
To that question, Roy replies that she is not a Brahmin. "My mother is Christian and my father was a member of the Brahmo Samaj, which is not Brahmin," she said, adding that he also became a Christian later.
Speaking further on the matter of Brahminism, Roy said,
"The anti-caste movement has traditionally used this word 'Brahminism'...It isn't about Brahmins but the idea of this kind of caste hierarchy. So, it isn't just Brahmins that practice Brahminism".
She went on to point out that the fundamental difference between racism and caste was that "caste had also given itself religious sanction".
Roy, who has written a number of essays books on the caste system - an important element in all her works of fiction as well as non-fiction, has since faced flak from anti-caste and Dalit scholars.
Anti-caste scholar and activist Tejas Harad took to Twitter and wrote, "Arundhati Roy says Brahminism isn't about Brahmins. What is it about then?" Many also posed questions on her alleged Brahmin ancestry. Keen followers also pointed out that though Roy was not Brahmin, her mother belonged to the Syrian Christian community, which is known to be an elite, conservative community.
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