“We must give due recognition to the fact that discriminatory practices are justified by referring to a ritual. A ritual cannot be a justification for a discriminatory practice. I hope your theory on caste based discriminatory practices will take into account the relationship between rituals and discriminatory practices.”
I am not clear about the above statement. Does it mean that people try to justify their discriminatory practices citing the ritual status of these practices, i.e. telling that they have practiced a ritual, therefore they do not mean any discrimination? Or such discrimination is necessary because they are rituals? Whatever it may be, I am afraid, is it possible to talk about discrimination without assigning intentionality to a practice? If ritual is not a practice of this category,[1] where is the question of the follower of this practice justifying it? This makes sense to only a third person who is conducting polemic on such practices, or who is assessing the morals of such practices. There is a difference between the above two category of people. For the person who follows such practices, that practice is not constituted by any purpose, therefore it can be performed in any form; there is nothing to assess its real fulfillment. The remedies they seek are also equally varied. Consequently, you do not have a constant set of actions that can be called untouchability practices. Thus, the violation causes problem in some cases, does not become a problem in some other cases. The second category of people, however, have a constant reference point called social discrimination to sense these practices. This thing is supposed to have existed in the caste system, and it manifests itself in varied forms and practices, sometimes mild and sometimes malignant. They are guided by certain sense of social justice and moral questions. What these things have to do with theorizing caste? Unless one elaborates this point further, the above question can neither be understood nor answered.
[1] For more information on this, see Balagangadhara (2005) and Frits Staal (1993).