Defence of Caste System and Hindu Nationalists

As has been established, not all Hindu ‘reformists’ saw caste unity as a barrier to national prosperity. The ‘golden chain’ approach (extolling caste as an ideological bond of moral solidarity) was backed by intellectuals from the same English-speaking urban milieu as the reformists’ anti-caste convictions. These nationalists, on the other hand, saw their roles as defenders of a vulnerable but still great national culture. These philosophers’ cries for elevation and pan-Indian solidarity did exactly that, invoking a much more aggressive picture of exclusive Hindu nationhood.