Legal system Quote by P Sainath
““Denying the poor access to knowledge goes back a long way. The ancient Smriti political and legal system drew up vicious punishments for sudras seeking learning. (In those days, that meant learning the Vedas.) If a sudra listens to the Vedas, said one of these laws, ‘his ears are to be filled with molten tin or lac. If he dares to recite the Vedic texts, his body is to be split’. That was the fate of the ‘base-born’. The ancients restricted learning on the basis of birth. In a modern polity, where the base-born have votes, the elite act differently. Say all the right things. But deny access. Sometimes, mass pressures force concessions. Bend a little. After a while, it’s back to business as usual. As one writer has put it: When the poor get literate and educated, the rich lose their palanquin bearers.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Poor and the Knowledge Gap, 2015
Restricting education to the privileged maintains power; when the poor become literate, the elite lose control.
In simple terms: Education is used to keep power; the poor learning threatens elite dominance.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and dismantle barriers to knowledge access.
Themes
power
education
social inequality
elitism
knowledge access
Mood
critical
determined
hopeful
Type
political
social
educational
When to use this quote
- policy reform
- community education programs
- digital literacy initiatives
- grassroots activism
Key Concepts
Caste system
social stratification
political control
economic disparity
Questions to Reflect On
- How does education shift power dynamics?
- What concrete steps can broaden access to learning?
A Different Perspective
Resistance from entrenched interests may slow progress.
