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Ssc SOCIAL STUDY CIRCLE di (ESTD
1982) www.dalitindia.com ssc@dalitindia.com *********************************************************************** |
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January
15, 2001
Life is a myth, world
is a myth,
Everything really
always a struggle
A vain struggle,
never ending struggle
We struggle, always
for survival
You for your life,
life of comfort
Wealth and power,
Leisure and Pleasure,
Thinking stupidly,
these are Developments!
You keep running,
without stopping ever!
While we struggle,
work and plough
Every thing just, for
a slice of Bread
To keep the soul and
bodies together!
Always a struggle,
never ending struggle!
You are struggling,
for Butter to Butter
The Bread you have
stolen from us!
A vain struggle!
Never ending struggle!
-so wrote a Dalit
Poet in 1985
Friends,
you might not, perhaps be familiar with Dalits, but sure you know about Caste,
Caste structure, Caste Hierarchy, Caste like divisions, and their basic
differences with class and class structures.
Dalits
are a significant, and in fact a major part of India, a product of the Caste
System in India. Caste as you all know, is really unique to India. India
Society is based on Caste, and is built around the concept of Caste Indians and
Out Castes (Varnas and Avarnas) Hence, India has always been organized as caste
hindus, out castes and non- hindus like the Jains, Buddhists, Christians,
Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis etc. Of these, except for the first and the last
non-hindu, the and the parsis, every other like the Buddhists, Christians,
Muslims and Sikhs are extensively infected and deeply affected by the Caste
Systems. Therefore, in India and amongst Indians, there are caste Buddhists
(caste holding Buddhists), Christians, Muslims and Sikhs etc., while a large
number of out castes exist amidst them and under their control, as still
neglected marginalized poor, who are an eyesore for their fellow caste holding
non-hindus themselves, and is a great challenge or threat for the caste hindus,
and caste hindus’ domination in the Country.
They
are the Dalits, the former Depressed Classes, officially called today as the
Schedule Castes, and Schedule Tribes, (Castes and Tribes, Scheduled separately
by the Govt. for the purposes of official dealings and in the Constitution of
India). They are generally known to the world as the Untouchables or the
ex-Untouchables of India. There is a mistaken notion that the Dalits are only
the Scheduled Castes, or that they belong to and are a product of hindu
religious system and practices, and are a part of Hinduism and the hindu
society. There can be nothing farther from truth.
Caste
is a unique part of India, and the Indian philosophy. It is an integral part of
the Indian Social System and psychic of an Indian. It cuts across every
Regional and Religious denomination in India. It is the basic building block of
the Indian Society that can be found in any institution or organization in any
part of the world. It exists everywhere, and in every Religion of the Indians.
Infect it is an ethnic, and to be specific a racial factor, that continues to
undermine the Indian Society, even at the twilight hours of the twentieth
century.
Caste
hindus are the Brahmins ( priestly castes ) Kshatriyas ( warrior/fighting
castes ), Vaishyas (business/trading caste). These three are the real caste
hindus. But they have kept with them as the fourth caste in their Chatur Varna
Dharma (four caste system) the Shudras (working classes the artisans,
agriculturists, food gatherers, hunters, fisher folk etc) as their captive
slaves, with in the hindu caste system. They have carefully kept out of the
hindu fold, their caste system, Chaturvernas ( four castes ) – the fiercely
independent, proud, geographically isolate Tribals; and the rebellious
non-conforming ‘anaryans’(uncivilized) unacceptables, who have been
meticulously and carefully isolated socially, physically, psychologically, and
literally kept outside the hindu society, even though living only in close
proximity in the nearby and or next hamlet, as part of the same village, or
area of the town and the city. Thus always, the out castes have been a
different people, living separately. There are distinctly different and a
separate society, nation and are clearly away from the caste hindus and
caste-non-hindus of other Religions which in India, only for public consumption
and on ideological and theological grounds claim to be unitary Religions in
nature, and are non-believers of the caste-system or any other divisive factor.
The
Out Castes who are today more than 250 million in India, are the third largest
population in the world, next only to the Chinese and the whole Indian nation.
Such a large chunk of humanity, native of India, and living in the Indian
society has always been outside of the rest of the Indian Society. They have
been kept thus over the ages, through the millenniums of Indian History. It has
been so kept outside very carefully and systematically. It is a cleaver means
of keeping out the racially different Out Castes, socially and biologically. It
is so even today, even though for political purposes in a Democracy, claims
contrary to this basic truth and social reality, are being made by many leader,
officials and scholars in their speeches in public. They are only for public
consumption. For, Caste has clearly and cleanly divided the Indian Society for
too long a time.
Caste
is oppressive and divisive. It always divides the people. Hence, it keeps the
society divided. The Division is mainly vertical, even though horizontal
divisions are also there in the same caste or amongst equivalent castes. These
divisions are mostly watertight, preventing, not allowing, and prohibiting
mobility, and often-times co-habitation, or any social interaction also.
Caste and their divisions are basically hierarchic. It prevents growth of brotherly feelings and fraternity amongst the people. It denies respect for others, human dignity, particularly to those who are below or lower in the hierarchy. Thus, it prevents development of love, liking and respect for work, particularly towards those works being done by other lower in the hierarchy. Caste is internal looking, and hence lacks a social outlook or any world vision. It therefore comes in the way growth of Nationalism and building up of Nation and State.
Caste
is highly infectious. It therefore is not only unique to India, but also has
today affected those people, Societies and Nation influenced by India, Indian
thinking, Indian travelers, Indian epics, Indian philosophies, and Indian
rulers in and around the sub-continent, and also in the far reaches of the
globe where these have traveled.
Caste
System has done immense damage to India, Indian Society, Indian people and the
Indian States that emerged in India throughout the history, right from the days
or after the Pre-Historic Days of the Indus-Valley Civilizations of India.
Being that ancient and that problematic, its origins, roots, beginnings etc
have been lost in the misty past of ancient India, even though its adverse
effects and evil influences still remain for all who bother to see.
Caste has been instrumental in ending and putting a stop to the Indus-Valley Civilization, and also to that ancient civilized culture, and the growth, evolution and further development of the technology and intellectualism of the Indus-valley Civilization, or the knowledge of those times. Thus, all the collective wisdom of those days, right from the script of the Indus-Valley have come to an abrupt end, till the much later period of historic times beginning with the eary Vedic period of Rig Vedas. This disincentive to the growth of knowledge, and wisdom on the technological, creative and developmental side, has continued through the historic periods of middle ages, and further into the modern ages, accounting for the general backwardness of the Indian Society. Infect, the Caste System even now is oppressively acting to keep the Indian Society backward, and lagging far behind the world in almost every sphere of original development, at a time when the whole world is eagerly looking forward and moving ahead to step into the next millennium.
Caste
is an evil, a danger, a hurdle, a drag is a big trap. It is a debilitating
drug, far dangerous than opium or any of the products being pushed by the Drug
Mafias.
Caste
System had frozen the Indian Society, its Social Out look, and fossilized the
People, their mind and the Nation with nothing but caste and the evil
influences of the caste in every sphere. Touch anything in India, you will find
the impact and imprint of Caste and Caste System, if only you can recognize
them. The great impact is that it had with held the development and formation
of an United India, and Integrate Indian Society however small it may be in any
part of this big Nation of sub-continental size. It had with held progress,
development and any social evolution. It could be seen that India’s progress,
had come to a stop suddenly and almost abruptly. Right from the Indus-Valley
Civilization, its final destruction and fall, the scientific innovations,
technological break through, engineering development, cultural evolutions,
progress of the Collective Wisdom of the People and economic growth of the
Nation all appear to have stopped, and with held, as if frozen on their tracks.
Thus, the Native Wisdom of the Tribals in their isolated difficult distant
areas, the Rural Wisdom of the other Depressed Classes, remain only with them,
uncured for, neglected, and with out any out let to test them, try them, adopt
them and develop them for the benefit of not only the Indian nation, but the
whole Humanity.
The
Dominant people who call themselves to be the intellectuals, developed,
civilized arrogate themselves as the spokesmen and women of the whole Nation.
They live on the work, sweat, blood, lives, efforts and creations of the
Working Classes, most of whom are the Tribal and Depressed Classes. These
intellectuals, know nothing. They don’t know the aspirations of the people,
their problems, problems at the work places, the problem of work, the problems
of production, the hurdles in productivity and the limitations of growth and
progress. It is such ignorant people, but dominant influential people, opinion
makers, spokes men and women, who grab the Govt. levers of the state, Offices
of the nation, reins of power, to reign over the destiny of the people. They
always condemn the people as being ignorant, under developed, backward,
unsuitable, unintelligent, incapable and not suitable for any job. They claims
themselves, their children, other progenies and descendents alone to be
intelligent, capable, suitable and meritorious people with superior intellect,
who alone have divine sanctions, historic grooming, legal right and
Constitutional Sanction to rule the Country and boss over the people for ever.
Incensed by such unreasonable, stupid, racial, dogmatic attitude the back ward
classes of people in the Country starting from the Depressed Classes have been
rebelling, though silently, most of the times unnoticed. They were the people
who left the shores of the Country to find fortunes as soldiers, traders and
even as slaves and plantation workers. They were the ones who readily embraced
Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism. They were the ones who in large
numbers took to new professions of leather processing and sweeping as well as
soldiery with the colonial rulers. They were the ones who eagerly joined the
forces of new Rulers- be they the Muslims, Moghuls, or the Europeans. They were
in short, leaving lock stock barrel, the oppressive Indian society dominated by
and in the cancerous iron grip of the caste hindus. They were in search of
freedom, liberty and a new life. This was nothing but a long continuum of
silent revolution, and a big rebellion, often times unnoticed before it was to
late, and them also not recognized publicly.
The
Out Castes were so much fed up and resented the oppression, exploitation and
dominance of the caste-hindus or the caste-Indians that a Dalit poet wrote.
Oh caste hindoos, you
are satans!
You are nothing but
the devils!
You are embodiment of
all evils!
What else can we say?
Why not?
You abhor, flout,
loathe and revile us
You disregard,
neglect, look down at us
You always want to
undermine us
You denigrate,
despise, deride, detest, hate, slight and spurn us
You only have contempt,
disdain and scorn for us
You are antagonistic,
prejudiced and biased against us
You always
discriminate, exploit, marginalize and suppress us
You are hundred
percent unfair, unjust and dishonest while dealing with us
You are phoney
You are always deceptive,
dubious, subversive and treacherous
You are a fake,
fraud, hoax and a thief
You are a trickster
You are a hypocrite
and oppressor
In short, you can not
be trusted
You are only an
aggressor
You are a cruel
criminal exploiter
You are cold-blooded
vengeful venomous vindictive savage fanatic
None can ever trust
you
No one can believe or
have faith in you
One way or the other,
you will appropriate everything for yourselves,
defraud us and leave
us bleeding badly
We can never trust
you, your Governments, your Police, your
Administrations, your
Lawyers, your judges, your Press and your media
We can never there
fore believe you or accept your promises
We cannot ever trust
your teachers and have faith in their teachings
We are different!
We have a separate
identity!
We are a separate
people, separate race and a separate Nation
We have always been a
separate society
Hence we want our
shares and dues separately always and everywhere.
The moment we fail in
our resolve, and believe you, trust you, or leave things
to happen on their
own, we are doomed, sunk, and will be dead and gone.
Therefore the
Reservation!
Reservation in every
sphere!
And every walk of
life!
Why
so strong words, and why this emphatic option for Reservation? For, the Dalits,
forced out as Out Castes have been fed up, and reached the end of their
patience. On the one side, the Caste Indians, that is the caste-hindus and
caste-non-hindus, whose forefathers have made use of, evolved and perfected
this soul sapping evil of castes, to lead life of leisure and comfort with
pleasure, all the best things of life without ever having to work for their
earnings even now take all types of fair, unfair subversive and treacherous
measures, to sustain the castes and caste system, in spite of its long history
of damaging the Country, National Economy, Indian Society and the People. They
do so, only because it serves them well, protects their personal and private
interests, and still help them to sustain an easy way of life, escaping even
minimum or token punishments for the various crimes and anti-social anti
National and anti-people activities they are accustomed to commit over the
ages. On the other has been the historic agreement, an agreement between the
Depressed Classes and caste hindus, signed Yerawada jail, Poona in 1932.
Sensing that all decent out lets and normal ways are being cunningly blocked systematically, the Depressed Classes and other Backward Classes had, utilizing the Liberal Education, Social Freedom, Political Opportunities, and the reasonably Fair and open legal system of the British Colonial Rule, launched a silent but big movement in the country, much bigger and much more important then the freedom movement of India.
The
freedom movement was proceeded by unbelievably consistent movements by groups
of Depressed Classes and Backward Classes of People in India, who were till
then considered to be insignificant and of no-consequence or little importance.
These movements made the People realize that the caste- hindus, particularly the
priestly caste of Brahmins were only a miniscule part of the Society anywhere
in the country, but were cleverly utilizing the State Exchequer to feed them
freely. Hence the Depressed Classes, non-Brahmin castes and later the Other
Backward Classes have decided to stand up against the state and the Brahmins.
They first wanted to end the practice and easy way of life of the Brahmins,
eating and living in comfort at State and Public Expenses, and at the cost of
the poor, hungry working classes.
The
Brahmins who always were past masters of siding and living with the ruling
classes, as long as they had access to the rulers and the rulers were pliable,
had by then started making noises and speak on behalf of the country and the
whole people. The concessions, Openings, Opportunities etc they could force to
get colonial British Govt. as reservations of the Indian people in the
Administration and Govt. were fully monopolized and appropriated by them,
without giving even a small token share to others. This was infact natural and
understandable, given the nature of their life and sense of society, and the
way they were speaking and always acting on behalf of the People, as if they
were the sole agents and only People in the Country. Resenting these by and by
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Depressed Classes and other backward classes began
to fight, asking for their own share, separate reservations and due
proportionate benefits. The imperial British govt. gave into this reasonable
demands of non-caste hindus, and announced the communal award of separate share
to each segment of the society. Incensed by this dispensation of justice to all
particularly to the Depressed Classes, the caste-hindus were angry. They also
realized that with each significant groups waking up to grab social freedom and
political independence, their days of domination and easy ways of life and
comforts without work would be gone. They also realized that the only way to
survive in future is to capture the Out Caste Depressed Classes, as an
extension of their Chatur Varna (four caste) System. Hence they started wooing
the Depressed Classes and tried to co-opt them as the fifth castes, the
Panchamas (fifth castes). This term Panchama, like most of the names given to
the Depressed Classes by the caste hindus has every denigrating, humiliating
and insulting meaning. For Panchama not only means fifth castes, but also means
fifth columnists -untrustworthy people and traitors. Reflecting this
caste-hindu intolerance, Gandhi went on a fast to death to block that part of
the Communal Award of the British Govt. to the Depressed Classes, and
specifically deny them the exclusive benefits that would flow from this award.
It is this Award, the anger of the caste hindus, the opposition of the congress
leading the freedom movement in India, the fast unto death by Gandhi, the
series of meetings between the Depressed Classes and caste-hindu leaders at
Yerawada Jail, Poona, resulted in signing of an Agreement between Dr. Ambedkar,
the Depressed Class Leader, and the, caste-hindu leaders lead by Madan Mohan
Malviya. This Yerawada Agreement, or Poona Pact, formed the basis of certain
truncated concession in the form of caste-hindu controlled Reservations for the
Depressed Classes. This found its place in the Govt. of India Act 1935 by the
British Govt., and later in the Constitution of India, after Indian
Independence that came into force on 26th Jan. 1950.
Thus,
what the Depressed Classes had been suffering in the country as a result of the
caste system and the criminal mind set of the caste hindus, and their struggle
to get out of the shackles of the caste hindus and caste-hindu dominated
Society, ended with the relief they got from the Govt. being snatched from
their hands, and in return getting some Reservation as a palliative measure
from the caste-hindus, who desired and were determined to continue with their
control and domination over the Depressed Classes, as dependent Out Castes, or
social and economic appendages with out any real freedom or liberty.
This
Reservation and the larger yearning of the Depressed Classes for freedom,
liberty, equality, self-respect, justice and fraternity built into the
Constitution starting from the Preamble of the Constitution, abolition of the
Evil Practices of Untouchability to which the Depressed Classes were being
subjected to in the recent past, Constitutional guarantees to Equality,
Prohibition of Discriminations, Equality of Opportunity in Employment,
protection of Rights to Freedom, protection from Convictions, protection of
Life and Personal Liberty, Protection against arrest and detention, Prohibition
of traffic in human beings and forced labor, Prohibition of Employment of
Children in Factories etc. Freedom of conscience and the free profession,
practice and propagation of Religion, Freedom to manage Religious Affairs,
Freedom from payment of Taxes for promotion of any Religion Remedies for
enforcement of right, Promotion of welfare of the people, Principles and
policies to be followed by the state, Equal justice, Right to work and
education, provision of just and humane conditions of Work, Living Wages free
and compulsory Education of Children, promotion of induction and Economic
Interests, Raising the level of nutrition and standard of living and public
health, to claims to appointments, services and posts etc. But all these
promises, from 1950 onwards, and the earlier agreement from 1932, have all
remained unfulfilled as vain-dreams and gone into thin air. They remain till
today only on papers. Thus a public signed agreement for the last seven
decades, the Constitutional Guarantees, Assurances, Imperatives and Protections
all have remained as dead letters. Such is the quality, honesty, sense of
justice, fairness of the caste-hindus and caste-non-hindus.
Why this?
What has gone wrong?
Where has the
Government gone?
How does the Legal
System Sleep?
These and
other questions one may ask one after the other.
The
answer, and the only answer is the tall surviving and Omni-present Caste and
the caste system. Dr. Ambedkar, who wrote the Indian Constitution, while moving
the motion to adopt the Constitution of India, in the Constitution Assembly on
25th Nov. 1949, said, ‘On the social plane, we have in India, a
society based on the Principle of graded Inequality, which means elevation for
some and degradation for others.
On
the Economic Plane, we have a society in which there are some who have immense
wealth as against many who live in object poverty.
This
is what Dr. Ambedkar, the leader, messiah of Depressed Classes, the framer of
the Indian Constitution, the father of Indian Republic, the first Law Minister
said. This is on record that is a public document. Nobody had disputed this
ever. He also said, "On 26th of January 1950, We are going to
enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality, and in
social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be
recognizing the principle of one man one vote, and one vote and one value.
In
our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic
structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall
we continue to live this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to
deny equality in our social and economic life?"
Those
who could never dispute or argue against the indomitable Dr. Ambedkar, are now
silently answering Dr. Ambedkar. They are caste hindus and other caste Indians.
They are systematically working to undermine Justice, Equality, Liberty,
Democracy, Govt. the State, the People, the Administration, the Judiciary and
the Constitution, from within the Govt. the State the Administration, the
Judiciary, Law and other Mechanisms. They want to wreck havoc and demean the
Dalits as a People. They want to suppress them, and keep them oppressed
forever. That is how India would enter the next millenniums. Free India of 21st
Century would be bad and worse-off as far as human rights and dignity of
the Dalits are cornered. Caste-non-hindus like George Fernandes will be on the
side of the caste-hindus against the Out Castes, and would also go openly and
actively or passively and discretely against their own non-hindu religious
leaders like the priests, for helping and rehabilitating the out castes in
general, or even the non-hindu out castes or Out Caste Christians or Dalit
Christians. For the caste system, caste bonds are very strong though they are
invisible and the Church in India still does not publicly accept caste in the
Church.
Friends,
India is a great country, an ancient country, a spiritual country, a religion
like Buddhism founded on peace and compassion, justice and non-violence was
born here. But it is the land of caste and is the repository of every Evils the
Caste system can do, or what harm an human being can do to a fellow human
being, particularly to the poor, helpless, unarmed, dependant, trusting,
believing, unsuspecting individuals.
During
the fifty years the caste hindus who kept the masses as backward and outcastes,
who kept them suppressed as uneducated, who kept them oppressed as unequal, who
refused to treat them equally, and refused justice, liberty, equality and
discriminated them on grounds of their Caste, denied equal opportunity because
of their birth, and refused them all public employment of importance are now
using the Constitution and Constitutional provisions to remedy the institution
against the masses themselves, as if these were incorporated in the
Constitution for their benefit and protection from the masses, and for use
against the masses. Now, saying that everyone is equal, the caste-hindus are
denying education, particularly quality education, higher education,
specialised education and all important spheres to the Dalits and Other
Backward Classes, to reserve in future also everything good for their own
benefit and the good of their children and descendants. They are appropriating
everything. They are arrogating themselves to be meritorious ones who can
govern and administer. Their sole aim is to deprive the people, the masses and
keep social, Economic, Administrative, Judicial and ultimately the Political
Power in their own hands and in the hands of their caste Indian Leaders,
particularly the caste hindus Leaders whom they can build up and trust.
Friends,
in the end, I would like to say in conclusion, that Castes would continue and
the Caste System would wreck havoc in India for ages to come, right through the
21st Century, and may, be I fear, beyond. For, it benefits the Caste
Indians, the votaries of the Caste System, and it helps to exploits and
suppress the masses so as to benefit the Caste Indians who had taken to a life
of parasites living on the Labor, sweat, blood, miseries and penury of the
faceless and nameless and option less mass of Dalits and Other Backward
Classes, both within and outside the hindu folds and those who had taken refuge
without still finding any freedom liberty or foot hold in Christianity, Islam,
Sikhism, Buddhism etc. For, the Caste Structure, Caste Hierarchy, Caste
Exploitation, Caste Oppression and the whole Caste System have never allowed dissent,
differences of options and new ideas. Thus, it has killed all thoughts, any
development and every progress. It stops any fresh breeze and blocks all new
winds. It caps all ideas. It has buried alive millions of bright youngsters and
many great minds. It has killed in cold blood millions of youngsters as Rebels,
Revolutionaries, Communists, Naxalites and Terrorists. It is anti-progress and
anti-people. It has denied justice for millions of poor. It has murdered all
sense of fairness and compassion that once spawned here and there particularly
during the colonial rule of the British, and during Dr. Ambedkar lead Dalit
Movement immediately before and after Independence of India.
Caste
has again blocked the development of all social good, brother hood, fellow
feelings emergence of a Civil Society, and building up of a free air and proud
Nation of all People. It has distorted the Administration, prevented good
governance, destroyed Judiciary, blocked all fair administration of the laws,
hopes of the people, aspirations of the poor, and most importantly the sense of
fairness in the minds of the officials and people in power and responsibility.
It had failed to uphold any principles of Democracy, Proportionate
Representation, sharing of Power, Constitutional provisions, Human Values and
Respect for the Citizens. It refuses to recognize the dignity of the
individuals.
It
has subverted the State and destroyed the law and order mechanism. It has
destroyed the Police and brutalized them, turning many into uniform killers. It
has sapped the strength and inner resolve of the people. This has resulted in a
low level rebellion and sporadic acts of violence in the country. It has
infected the Academic world, and every form of the Political Movement, starting
with Right Wing Religious Fundamentalists, Centralist Parties, the left and
even the extreme naxalite groups who claims themselves to be the ultimate
revolutionaries. It has spared none and left nothing. The sum of it all is
that, it has denied not only justice but also livelihood, food and dignity to
millions and millions of masses. Hundreds and thousands of educated people are
on streets without jobs and home, hungry and emancipated. The Society, the
State the Govt. the Administration, the Mafia, the Police and the Judiciary
laugh at them. They laugh at them for educating themselves. They laugh at them
because they come from the Dalit and Other Backward Classes. The Caste has
frozen the minds and Fossilized the Nation. Hence all the window dressings that
goes on in the Country to cover the truth, to hide the Caste, the damages of
the Caste System, the injustices of the caste Hindus, and present a very sober,
deeply religious, spiritual, peace loving, non-violent face for the Public and
World Consumption.
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