Brahmins have become the Dalits
François Gautier
First Published : 27 May 2010 11:27:00 PM ISTLast Updated : 27 May
2010 12:24:53 AM IST
The caste system has been the most vilified aspect of Hindu society at
the hands of Western scholars. And this has greatly contributed to
India's lack of national pride, as you hardly find any Indian who is
not ashamed of caste, especially if he talks to a Westerner. Much of
this shame originated with the idea that it was the Aryans who devised
the caste system. And thus English missionaries and later, American
preachers, were able to convert tribes and low caste Hindus by telling
them : " you, the aborigines, the tribals, the Harijans, are the
original inhabitants of India, and you should discard Hinduism, the
religion of the Aryans and embrace, Christianity, the true religion".
Thus was born the great Aryan invasion theory, of two civilisations,
that of the low caste Dravidians and the high caste Aryans, always
pitted against each other — which has endured, as it is still today
being used by some Indian politicians. It has also been enshrined in
all history books — Western, and unfortunately also Indian, although
all the latest linguistic, archaeological and satellite mapping, show
that there never was an Aryan invasion. This theory has also made
Indians look westwards, instead of taking pride in their past and
present achievements.
Yet, once upon a time, caste was an arrangement for the distribution
of functions in society, just as much as class in Europe, but the
principle on which this distribution was based was unique and adapted
to India's social needs. It is true that the caste system degenerated
and that it bred exploitation and abuses, which were often
unforgivable. But look at today: it is the Brahmins who have become
the Dalits of India. Brahmins are in minority in most of the UP
villages, where Dalits constitute 60 to 65 per cent ; most of the
intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu; the
average income of Brahmins is less than that of non-Brahmins; a high
percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level ; 75
per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins;
and most of Delhi's public toilets are cleaned by Brahmins (Brahmins
of India by J. Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications, 2007).
It is also true that India has been trying to get away from the caste
system in the last 60 years. And with some success: it is difficult
today to distinguish the upper caste from the Dalit, in a plane, an
hotel or shopping mall. The government has also implemented many
schemes that did successfully empower the lower castes both at the
educational and social level, even if this system has sometime been
perverted. But the people who demand today a caste census, do not want
it to alleviate caste and poverty. They want it because in today's
India, it is enough to have the voices of the Muslims and the Dalits
to be elected. It is at best a cynical ploy, and at worst one that
will hurt India and divide it more and more as the British had wished.
What is sure is that if there is a caste census, the greatest
sufferers will be the 'other' non-Dalit Hindus, who constitute nearly
40 per cent of the Hindu community (unfortunately they are hopelessly
divided). Indeed, we live today in an India where Hindus, the
overwhelming majority of this country, are treated like an
inconsequential minority. An India, where it's okay to free the two
Muslims convicted by the Mumbai police for helping in the 26/11 Mumbai
attacks, but where Swami Nityananda, a grown-up adult, who had
consensual sex with a grown-up woman, is thrown in jail. An India,
where the so called-Hindu terrorists of Malegaon, or Ajmer, languish
in prison without ever having been convicted, but where those guilty
of having killed so many people in the German Bakery of Pune, have
never been caught, as there is no political will to do so. An India,
where many institutions have been subverted by the Government to the
point that in exchange for Mayawati's support in the recent cut
motion, the CBI lifted all cases against her. An India which is
supposed to be the largest democracy in the world, but where phones
are tapped, where politicians who take thousands of crores as bribes,
get away with it, and where people are scared to speak aloud. An India
where Sir Mark Tully (who most definitely wrote Hindutva, Sex &
Adventures), is considered an icon of 'fair' journalism, whereas, when
he was BBC's correspondent, he set standards in reporting on South
Asia, which still stand today and harm India's image. Even though
since the mid-Eighties, Pakistan encouraged, financed, trained and
armed Kashmiri separatism, Tully always made it a point to say: "India
accuses Pakistan to foster separatism in Kashmir"; or : "elections are
being held in Indian- held Kashmir"; or "Kashmir militants " have
attacked an army post, instead of "terrorists". All the other foreign
journalists, yesterday and today have followed the BBC's benchmarks.
This hostile attitude, pioneered by the BBC, may have also partially
influenced President Obama's South Asia policy, whereas he thinks he
can fight terror by making a frontline state of the very country which
fosters three-fourths of the terror attacks in the world. He is also
tightening the screws on India so that it negotiates with Pakistan,
even at the cost of compromising on its sovereignty in Kashmir. Obama
is finally pressuring Manmohan Singh to give up India's military
nuclear programme, leaving it at the mercy of not only Pakistan's, but
also China's formidable nuclear arsenal. The government may have come
to a secret agreement with US on all these points. The caste census is
just another ploy to subvert democracy in the name of democracy.
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