The new blockbuster book, Snakes in the Ganga by Rajiv Malhotra and Vijaya Viswanathan reveals some threats to India’s tech sector, which has been the pride of modern India. The book shows how America’s Critical Race Theory is being applied to India by modifying it to Critical Caste Theory by mapping caste onto the race. Its fundamental premise is that ALL upper caste Hindus are inherently bigots and the system and all institutions as a whole are deliberately designed to oppress the downtrodden.
A popular corporate movement called ESG (Environment, Social Justice and Governance) is the latest import from the West. Not many know that buried within the ‘S’ of the imported ESG is Critical Caste Theory.
The book points out how this has recently spread worldwide as the view that upper caste Hindus enjoy privileges concealed in the deepest structures of Indian society including business, education, politics, law, etc. Such structures cause unequal outcomes in all sectors of society. This is a heavy accusation based on the diversity of outcomes that one sees in the world. They are also accused of carrying this caste privilege to America which ensures their success in their new homeland.
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The engines that crank out these social theories are in elite institutions in the US, with Harvard University as the headquarters.
There is a huge buzz in corporate India promoting these new ESG mandates. But the criteria for rating individual companies on the ESG performance scale is controlled by American multinationals like PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, EY, McKinsey, and World Economic Forum, among others. The ‘S’ (Society) part of the evaluation is driven by Harvard University’s social theories.
The book compels us to ask: What will be the impact on India of these ESG mandates coming from the US? Will India’s tech industry fall apart trying to comply with the American mandates on ESG? Silicon Valley which has many Indian workers is already feeling the pressure: It is being pressured to carry out corporate censuses on the caste of Indian employees. The upper caste is being treated as Whites with the burden of proof upon them to show that they are not oppressors or casteists. Most Silicon Valley Indians are hence presumed guilty of oppression and required to confess their White guilt.
An entire industry emerging around ESG compliance is emerging, without any discussion on the broader consequences of such a rubric. Will the quota system enter the Indian corporate sector where the corporates will be forced to give employment on a quota basis in order to comply with the ESG mandates from their American headquarters or clients? The legal case against Cisco in Silicon Valley (accusing it of caste oppression) has brought about fear among many American corporates.
This reckless mapping of ‘Caste = Race’ is just one of the shocking revelations in this new book by Malhotra and Viswanathan. It also explains that many universities in the US have passed resolutions to treat caste as race, even though they lack evidence of widespread caste-based discrimination among Indians in America. Once Silicon Valley normalizes the treatment of caste as a race, it will further accelerate the caste sensitivity training and workshops to ‘sensitize’ its workforce.
These policies have opened the door for an employee to blame any unfavorable decision on caste. And there are already moves by activists to bring these practices to India through their Indian affiliates. This will also affect Indian companies that perform work for American companies, and we could very well see such mandates imposed upon Indian service providers.
A city like Bangalore being the IT hub might face many complaints and legal cases in the corporate sector. This is a ticking time bomb for India and its IT sector which could be accused of social injustice. Every Indian that works for the tech sector in India or abroad should be alarmed about this snowballing out of control. India’s success in the tech sector is at risk.
For more details, see SnakesInTheGanga.com.
