Hindu Society at Cross Roads

Caste and the joint family have been the twin pillars of Hindu social organisation; they have tended to atomise Hindu society and have militated against any organisation of society on an equalitarian basis. Today, both these institutions are being undermined by the combined action of political changes, the upheaval among the Harijans, the social conscience of the upper-class Hindus, and, most important, by the comprehensive legislation undertaken by the National Government in the post-Independence period. In a penetrating analysis of Hindu society from remote times, the author shows that the Hindu people constitute one of the oldest integrated societies of the world, and highlights the reasons for the creeping paralysis which seemed to affect Hindu society as a whole in recent centuries. He ascribes the failure to re-adjust by timely and appropriate changes to the political circumstances of Indian life. This is borne out by the sweeping legislations, affecting the entire social structure of the Hindus, enacted by the Indian Parliament during recent years.