How has the economic growth of India affected the caste system?
Well, to my understanding, it is not helping the Dalit community much. Those who already have wealth are getting wealthier, and the people who are hungry are still hungry. What do you say to a person from a higher caste when they say to you, “Why should I care about the caste system? It doesn’t affect me”? If one segment of society does not feel safe, there is no safety for anybody, because if I am not safe, I will try to make you unsafe or I will attack you. Or if I see that you have a lot of bread and I am living next door and I am hungry, I might steal your things. The untouchable community is quite large. It is spread all over India. Tell me about the social change groups you work with. Karuna Trust is a charitable trust. When we started teaching Buddhism, we realized that these ex-Dalit communities had a lot of problems physically — like sanitation, living conditions, education, health and so on. So if you want to teach dharma — the right way of living — you do need to respond
