Caste and Untouchability in India¿s Religious System

Adi-Hinduism was primarily twofold. First, Adi-Hinduism challenged the imposition of specific 'low' social roles, functions and occupations on untouchables based on their ritual status. Adi-Hinduism directly responded to the constraints that untouchables encountered in urban society in achieving economic and social advancement. Its emphasis was less on caste oppression or exploitation, which may have been the chief concern if the movement had emerged in rural areas. It was more on ritual exclusion, directly relevant to the urban untouchables. To challenge the exclusion of untouchables, the Adi Hindu leaders not only argued for caste equality, but they also highlighted a view that the untouchables had been deprived of their original rights through force and political machinations by the higher castes and that their rights should now be restored, for they had been the past rulers of India.