MARATHWADA RIOTS 5 oppressed mass,8 and fails to analyse the elitist and petty bourgeois sections among them. Omvedt also seems to be unaware of the fact that any attempt to postpone class struggles, or of giving it a brief holiday? even without categorically opposing Marxism-Leninism (and Mao Tsetung Thought), is incompatible with Marxism, and does not in any way aid the communist parties in overthrowing the bourgeois state. As Marx himself had unequivocally stated, ^Where the class struggle is pushed aside as a disagreeable 'coarse' phenomenon, nothing remains as a basis for socialism but "true love of humanity9 and empty phraseology about justice3."9 Mao went even further and saw such a position as "a manifestation of opportunism and conflicts fundamentally with Marxism. Such being its nature, there should be no place for it in the ranks of the revolution."10 But it is not enough to condemn Omvedt on the grounds that she has failed by Marxist standards or to say that she is at best an eclectic Marxist. It is necessary to examine her position with reference to the uprising at Marathwada and to point out the significant gaps and omissions in her presentation and in this process reiterate the Marxists' insistence on considering the riots in Marathwada on class and economic lines. This should also indicate why Marxists have so far refused to drop class struggles in order to join the Dalit movement, or to fight casteism in Marathwada and elsewhere. In this paper we shall deal specifically with the uprising at Marathwada, and to begin at the beginning, shall endeavour to trace the class and economic lines behind what Omvedt sees primarily as a caste phenomenon. While doing so we also hope to shed some light on the class character of the Dalit Movement. In the concluding section of this paper we also intend to pursue the view held by Omvedt amongst others, that castes are an insuperable barrier to class formation, and see where this leads us. The Marathwada Riots The Marathwada riots began on 27 July 1978 and lasted till about the second week of the following month. They ostensibly broke out on the issue of renaming Marathwada University, Ambedkar University, after the famous Mahar constitutionalist, Babasaheb Ambedkar. The upper castes resented the fact that Marathwada University should be named after a scheduled caste Mahar and went on a rampage. According to Omvedt, non-Mahar students initially lent superficial support to the issue of renaming the University but balked when it came to the crunch.11 Some-