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The brutal lynching of five dalit Hindus in Duliana, Jhajhar(Haryana) on October 2 and simmering tensions in Chakwara near Jaipur on use of a village pond had attracted a number of articles, either lamenting or accusing someone.
In the wake of this, articles justifying conversions of dalit Hindus appeared and group conversions into Islam, Christianity and Buddhism were organised at Jhajhar and at Selaiyur in Chennai.
On 28th November, the SC/ST Commission reported that the Duliana lynching was not based on caste considerations demolishing main plank of conversion lobby.
Religion and conversion are private matters like right to sex, where state has no role but only so far as these private rights are exercised privately at private places.
Group conversions organised with fanfare at public places are not sanctioned by Constitution and are subject to IPC provisions on apprehensions of breach of public order.
First generation social reforms in Hinduism(abolitions of untouchability and caste based disabilities) were successful led by Swami Dayanand, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Sant Phule, Sri Narain Guru(SNDP), Basaveshwar, Varkari, etc. and have been codified in the Constitution and various Acts.
Second generation social reforms in Hinduism from within for wider social acceptability of Vedic norms of equality by birth is the real solution, not the gimmicks of conversions.
In Ambedkar’s view the caste system is a social division of people of same race. [page 269]. This assertion of Ambedkar that all castes of Hindus belong to same race is in conformity with 14 richas of Vedas, specially Yaj 26.02. "Caste is the bane of Hindus. Caste is the cause of downfall of the Hindus. Owing to caste the Hindus’ life has been a life of continuous defeats. Caste has made Hindus the sick men of India. Caste has ruined the Hindu race and has destroyed, demoralised and devitalised Hindu society".
What is more, Dr Ambadkar said, caste has made Shuddhi – conversion into Hinduism – impractical because one does not know which caste the convert to Hinduism will join. Caste has thus killed, he adds, the missionary spirit of Hindu religion[page 270].
Rigveda mentions four classes(but not by birth). Manusmriti mischievously converts these four classes into four castes by birth and introduces about forty mixed jaties but all related by blood.
To keep Hindus divided under British Rule, 2378 main castes among Hindus were invented by employees of British Raj. In the 1891 census about 1156 sub castes of chamars alone were recorded. God knows how many castes and sub castes have so far been invented.
Manusmriti’s caste system militarily weakened Hindus. As per Manusmriti and subsequent smritikars, sudras were kept out of villages and thus excluded from military, politics and Govt.
Vaishyas were kept confined to business, agriculture and cattle breeding so Vaishyas were not required to participate in military, politics and Govt. Brahmins took position that arms and military was not their prime concern. So under Manu system, majority of population(say 75%) was mentally conditioned to be militarily impotent and politically neutral. Only Ksatriyas were supposed to be in military and had duty to fight wars. If Kshatriyas were 25 per cent(say) of population, 12.5 per cent being women, were excluded from military, rest one third of male being children and one third being too old to fight were also not available for military service.
So, in Manu system only three percent of population had moral duty to fight for nation. So under Manu system a population of 10000 Hindus could yield a maximum of only 300 to fight whereas from a population of 10,000 of other religions over 1700 men or more were eligible/available to fight.
No wonder, Hindus though being larger in numbers, were always defeated by small numbers of foreigners, their women raped and molested, their temples destroyed and they were dragged thousands of miles on foot and auctioned as slaves in Kabul etc.
Was it a curse upon Hindus under Slokas(XVI.18, 29 & 20) that they were auctioned as slaves for violating Vedic & Gita’s norms of equality by birth? If so, should we not free ourselves from this curse by obeying Veda & Gita in our real lives? When the Constitution of India restored Vedic norms of equality by birth and gender equality, see, our Armed Forces have never been defeated; we Hindus have not again fallen as slaves, we are being accorded respect all over the world; and, India has become the fourth largest economy in the world in a short period of fifty years.
"Ambedkar rightly diagnosed that caste is a notion, a state of mind. Its destruction means a notional change in mental set up. The Hindus observe caste not because they are inhuman and wrong headed. They(Hindus) observe caste chiefly because they believe deeply that it is so ordained in their religion"(page 291).
Dr Ambedkar concluded that destruction of authority of Veda, destruction of sacredness and divinity of Vedas will lead to annihilation of castes; but, failing to destroy spiritual authority of Veda he got himself converted into Buddism in 1956. In his famous 22 vows, Dr Ambedkar did not include destruction of sacredness of Vedas.
If Hindus practise casteism, as Dr Ambedkar rightly assessed, in belief that it is part of their religion, how could Hindus have agreed to destruction of Vedas? I think a better way is to annihilate casteism is to convince Hindus that casteism, as substantively proved above, is truly not a part of Hinduism.
It is contrary to Hindusim. Casteism is rust and dust collected around Hinduism over centuries. I believe a much more pragmatic way to annihilate caste is not engineering of conversions but full throated articulation of correct interpretations of 24 richas of Vedas, the thirteen slokas of Shri Mad Bhagwat Gita and two examples set by Lord Rama which will convince upper caste Hindus that by practicing Manusmriti, they are actually committing sins(paap) of violating Vedas, Gita and Ramayana.
Such a course of action will loosen religious grip of Manusmriti on mindset of sawarnas. No Hindu knowingly prefers to earn wrath(shraap) of Vedas or Lord Rama or that of Lord Krishna by going against commandments of Vedas, Ramayana and Gita.
Gandhi fought tooth and nail to maintain unity of Hindu Samaj by fighting against untouchability, underwent 21 days fast to retain unity with scheduled caste Hindus by promising them more number of seats in legislatures than offered by the then British rulers.
Whereas Manu after Rigvedic rishis was the one who fragmented and divided Hindus pushing them into slavery, Gandhi proved himself to be the grand Unifier like a Rigvedic rishi who mansa, vacha and karmana implemented RV (X.191); and, like Moses delivered Hindu Samaj to its political liberation/freedom though some may argue at much higher cost in terms of Hindu lives lost.
It is another thing that Gandhi failed in handling/assessing Muslim League. Articulation of above 37 richas & slokas will also convince Hindu priests that they have been preaching contrary to Vedas, contrary to Gita and contrary to Bhagwan Shri Ram’s examples.
Managers of Hindu temples as their personal devotion to Vedas must instruct their priests to immediately put into practice these 37 richas and slokas. Stopping entry of SC/ST/Dalits Hindus into temples is violative of RV (X.191.3).
Hindus of Chakwara are violating AV(III.30.6) in denying access to pond to Bairwa Hindus. Command of RV (X.191) oftenly came as shock and pleasant surprise to many Hindu priests whom I personally talked to.
Many admitted not knowing Sanskrit nor having read Vedas. Pujaries expect leaders of Hindu Samaj to re-educate them and they assured that they will be second to none in spreading correct message of Vedas.
Pujaries agreed with me that they should visit SC/ST/Dalit houses for offering religious services as it would increase their regular income but their main difficulty was jhijhak i.e. who will bell the cat.
Simply abusing and cursing Hindu priests will not lead to annihilation of caste, rather, his exposure to above 37 richas and slokas will certainly expedite annihilation of caste as desired by Gandhi, Dr Ambedkar and by all right thinking Hindus.
Incomes of all Hindu temples should be pooled to educate pujaries and an all India Hindu Pujari Service(IHPS) should be started by management of temples in which all Hindus will be eligible for recruitment based on their knowledge. Supreme Court has been faster than our socio-religious leaders in opening recruitments in temples for all Hindus.
In March 96, Supreme Court (JJ K. Ramaswamy and B L Hansaria) rightly ruled that office of temple priest cannot be hereditary. In October, 02, Supreme Court (JJ S. Rajendrababu and Doraiswamy Raju) held that non-Brahimins are eligible to perform religious ceremonies and work as temple priests if they are well versed with relevant rituals.
Conversion to another religion has not proved a satisfactory answer, as even after conversion, convertees do not get "social equality" in their new religions. Conversions have proved to be divisive raising social tensions. Use of phrases like dalit Christians, dalit Muslims, dalit Buddhists in Indian media proves the point.
Detlef Kantowasky, a German Professor of Sociology in his recent book "Buddhisten in Indien heute" says that Mahars who converted into Buddhism are still not able to shake off their untouchable stigma.
Converted dalits get socially cut off from Hindu dalits. Convertees find their social circle in new religion further reduced and limited to previous converts from their old Hindu caste. In June 1998, the then Census Commissioner of India was quoted saying that there were caste divisions in Muslims (584), Christians (339), Sikhs (130), Buddhits (93). The 1901 census of Bengal placed Muslims into three groups: Ashraf (better class), Ajlaf (lower castes) and Arzal (Degraded castes). This categorisation was repeated in the Indian Express of 19th March, 1997.
A website lists 72 different Islamic sects. Shiite and Sunni do not inter-marry. They have different mosques, different prayers and different timings of namaj. Shiite are mainly divided into Ithna-Asheri, Bohras and Ismailies with no inter-marriages without conversion to husband’s sect.
In Tanzania, intra-Islamic conversions were noticed: Shiite and Ahmadias were seeking converts from Sunnies and vice-versa. Main sects in Sunni Muslims are Hannafi, Hummbali, Shafii, Maliki and Ahle Hadith; and, then, in each sect there are many social strata who don’t inter-marry generally. In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ahmadias were declared non-Muslims and now there is pressure to declare Shiite to be non-Muslims.
In this context, it is worthwhile to take note of address made by Mr Mahatir Bin Mohammad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, at the Al Azhar University, Cairo on 22nd Jan., 2003. He said, "we all know that Prophet brought only one Islam but today there are many Islamic religions. There are Sunnies and Shiites divided into numerous groups by different Imams and Orders. Some of these interpretations and teachings are so different that there followers actually accused each other of not being a Muslim.
"In fact they regard many who profess to be Muslims as infidel because of the thousands of different interpretations of Islam and the vary many sects and adherents, each claiming to be true followers of Islamic religion, Muslims are thoroughly confused"(International Herald Tribune).
The News Week of USA(16th April, 2001) at page 45 reported that there are 33000 different Christian denominations in the world!!! The Catholic Bishops Conference of India(Sunday, 28th June, 98) estimated that 41 per cent of new Pentecostals in India were former Catholics and 31 per cent from other Christian sects. So intra-Islamic and intra-Christian conversions are realities.
In many countries Pentecostals have replaced Catholics as the majority denomination!!! Christians of one denomination generally do not attend Church of another denomination Indian Christians still discreetly follow pre-conversion castes of their Hindu forefathers.
Syrian Christians do not marry Latin Christians or Neo-Christians. "High caste" Christians do not mix with Dalit Christians. As per www.dalitchristians.com, Christian Dalits suffer same oppression, segregation and discrimination at hands of caste Christians and 80 per cent of jobs in Church and Church related institutions have been monopolised by caste Christians though dalit Christians comprise 75 per cent of Catholic population in India.
In India out of 156 Catholic Bishops only six are stated to be Dalits and out of 12500 Catholic priests only 600 are from Dalit communities.
TK Oommen & Hunter P. Mabry in their book "The Christian clergy in India" verify this discrimination.
Dalit Christians website further alleges that untouchable Christians are forced to sit separately in many rural churches in India. They must enter through a separate door into rural church and receive communication at separate altar!!!
Jat Sikhs do not mix with Ramgarhias and/or Mazhabi Sikhs. There are separate gurudwaras for each group. One Muslim leader of Bihar(Dr. Ezaz Ali, President, All India Backward Muslim Morcha) was quoted (March 1997) that "social and economic condition of Muslim Dalit(arzal) is same as that of Hindu Dalit. Their conversion to Islam has not helped them acquire social class mobility.
"While as Hindus they were ridiculed by upper caste Hindus, as Muslim Dalits they are looked down upon upper caste Muslims (Ashrafs).
As per The Week (Jan. 31, 1999), Pasmanda Muslim Samaj of Bihar reiterated oppression of dalit Muslims at hands of upper caste Muslims pointing out that out of 245 Muslim MLAs produced by Bihar between 1952 to 1995 there has been no dalit Muslim MLA so far. How many Dalit Hindus have been elected to Bihar Assembly?
Another shocking but real problem is practice of some sort of untouchability, within SC/ST/Dalit Hindus. Conversion does not address this problem. Some websites espousing emancipation of dalits publicise only divisive/negative slokas of Manusmriti(to exclusion of harmony establishing richas/slokas of Vedas, etc.) which makes double damage to their own cause as, on one hand, it only further depresses SC/ST/Dalit Hindus to meekly give into submission believing it is too difficult to fight Dharma; and, on the other hand, convinces caste Hindus more & more that this is what Hindu Dharma ordains so they practice casteism more rigidly.
Various reform movements during freedom struggle made substantial gains which got codified in the Constitution of India. But from 1950s onwards there has been no real social reform movement.
It is high time to do second generation reforms of Hinduism from within. SC/ST/Dalit Hindus who are already armed with the Constitutional articles and various Acts should be exposed more and more to the 24 Vedic Richas, 13 slokas of Shri Mad Bhagwat Gita and rich contributions of their ancestors to three supreme scriptures so as to boost their morale and to convince them that their fight is not against Vedas, not against Dharma but only to cleanse Veda of the rust and dust collected over centuries - that they are going to fight to restore original teachings of holy three scriptures.
Such a course of action will liberate dalit Hindus from their mental mindset of being "lowly born" and empower them mentally and spiritually to take up the fight.
On the other hand, exposure of caste Hindus to these very richas will change their mindset that practising untouchability and casteism is really a sin against dharma.
Democratised All India Hindu Priest Service(IHPS) will only accelerate this process. Casteism cannot be annihilated by mutual acrimony, conversions, or by caste wars as it is a mental state or a mindset. During my foreign service, I have seen educated Indians living in foreign countries for decades but still practising casteism there in foreign countries in more subtle form!!
Let the Yajna(social movement) assisted by 24 Vedic richas and 13 slokas of Gita be initiated to permanently destroy both the demons – the demon of intra-Hindu casteism and the demon of intra SC/ST/Dalits Hindu casteism from the Hindu subconscious mind.
(The writer is the Ambassador of
India to Finland and above are his personal views)
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