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Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination 2010 www.HAFsite.org December 10, 2010 Hindu American Foundation Board of Directors Nikhil N. Joshi, Esq., M.B.A. Mihir Meghani, M.D. (Co-editor) Aseem R. Shukla, M.D. Swaminathan Venkataraman, M.B.A. (Author and Editor) Managing Director and Legal Counsel Suhag A. Shukla, Esq. Senior Director Sheetal D. Shah Associate Director Jay P. Kansara Executive Council Rishi Bhutada Pawan Deshpande (Author and Co-editor) Arvind Chandrakantan, M.D. Pooja Deopura Padma Kuppa Sachi Lamb Human Rights Coordinator Ramesh N. Rao, Ph.D. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is an advocacy group providing a progressive voice for over two million Hindu Americans. The Foundation interacts with and educates leaders in public policy, academia, media, and the public at large about Hinduism and global issues concerning Hindus, such as religious liberty, the portrayal of Hinduism, hate speech, hate crimes, and human rights. By promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism, HAF stands strong against hate, discrimination, defamation and terror. The Hindu American Foundation is not affiliated with any religious or political organizations or entities. HAF seeks to serve Hindu Americans across all sampradayas (Hindu religious traditions). Dedication To All Those Who Have Suffered From Caste-based Discrimination Over The Centuries - Our Apologies That Hindu Society Failed To Live Up To Its Highest Teachings To Those Who Remained Committed Hindus Despite this Failure - Our Deepest Respects and Admiration All beings are equal to Me. There is none especially hateful to Me, nor one who is especially dear to Me. But all those who worship Me with devotion are in Me, and so am I in them. - The Bhagavad Gita 9.29 The Lord resides in the hearts of all beings. - The Bhagavad Gita 18.61a “Follow, therefore, noble Prince, the teachings of the Vedanta, not as explained by this or that commentator, but as the Lord within you understands them. Above all, follow this great doctrine of sameness in all things, through all beings, seeing the same God in all. This is the way to freedom. Inequality, the way to bondage. No man and no nation can attempt to gain physical freedom without physical equality, nor mental freedom without mental equality. Ignorance, inequality, and desire are the three causes of human misery, and each follows the other in inevitable union. Why should a man think himself above any other man, or even an animal?....This is the bane of human nature, the curse upon mankind, the root of all misery — this inequality. This is the source of all bondage, physical, mental, and spiritual.” - Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol IV Reply to the Address of the Maharaja of Khetri “I speak with a due sense of my responsibility that this untouchability is a curse that is eating into the vitals of Hinduism, and I often feel that unless we take due precautions and remove this curse from our midst, Hinduism itself is in the danger of destruction.” - Mahatma Gandhi (Young India, 1927) There is no nation of Indians in the real sense of the word, it is yet to be created. In believing we are a nation, we are cherishing a great delusion. How can people divided into thousands of castes be a nation? The sooner we realise that we are not yet a nation, in a social and psychological sense of the world, the better for us. - Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, speaking in the Indian Constituent Assembly, Dec 17, 1946 Foreword For nearly 35 years, I have been studying, working with, and getting close to the Harijan/Schedule Caste community of central Chhattisgarh. Over the decades, it has been frustrating to see how caste prejudice has negatively affected the lives of individuals there, both the abused and the abusers. Although the situation has definitely improved during that time, there is still much work to do. The Hindu American Foundation’s (HAF) pivotal Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste - Seeking An End to Caste-Based Discrimination report is an important contribution to that process. It is the first major study to be done by a Hindu organization to try to understand the problems of caste prejudice from within and attempt to take concrete steps to help ameliorate them. Caste began as a Hindu concept but the negative side of it has become an Indian issue, influencing all the religious traditions in the country today. HAF is taking the lead in addressing the issues at hand. One can only hope that this report can inspire like-minded Hindus and non-Hindus to work together to bring justice and a sense of equality to all Indians irrespective of caste or religion. - Ramdas Lamb, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Religion, University of Hawaii, President of the Sahayog Foundation Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste © Hindu American Foundation – 2010 Page 1 Acknowledgements The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has been working on this report for several years. Besides HAF’s Board of Directors, Executive Council and staff, this report would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of many others. Compilation of the report has indeed been a monumental task with many different pieces and phases. If we have overlooked acknowledging anyone, we offer our sincerest apologies. HAF offers our deepest respect and gratitude to the following religious and spiritual leaders and organizations for contributing their very important statements and scriptural quotes for the report (in alphabetical order, Section 8): 1. Swami Bodhananda, Spiritual Founder and Director of the Sambodh Foundation, which has numerous social service projects. 2. Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of the Kauai Adheenam, Hinduism Today and Saiva Siddhanta Church which do not adhere to any caste-based discrimination or birth-based hierarchy. 3. Swami Chidananda Saraswati, President and Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh (Himalayas), India, which has numerous social service projects throughout India. He has represented Hinduism at many international fora. 4. Chinna Jeeyar Swami, who leads a traditional Hindu sect in India and has many social service projects in India. 5. The Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, an apex body of Hindu leaders, has raised social issues such as caste-based discrimination to the leaders many of Hinduism’s traditional sects. Swami Dayananda Saraswati, its convenor, has spoken against caste-based discrimination. He has for over 50 years taught Vedanta to seekers of Truth, and is a Guru to many. He started All India Movement (AIM) for Seva in 2000 as an initiative of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha. AIM for Seva, an integrated community development program serving people in need irrespective of religion, community, and nationality, has reached over 10 Million rural and tribal people across 15 states of India. 6. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, has fought against discrimination and a birth-based hierarchy since its founding close to 50 years ago and has many projects to help the needy. 7. Swami Parmanand Giriji Maharaj of the Akhand Paramdham, which has numerous social service projects. 8. Swami Prabhananda is the General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Order, Belur Math, India. Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, was one of the first major Hindu sampradayas in the modern age to work for social reform and their affiliated organizations have many social service projects around the world. Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste © Hindu American Foundation – 2010 Page 2 9. The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha under the guidance of Pramukh Swami Maharaj has done tremendous work around the world, particularly in Gujarat, India. The sect, since its founding by Bhagwan Swaminarayan, has fought against caste-based discrimination. 10. The Art of Living Foundation has done tremendous work helping people around the world, including the downtrodden in India, through the leadership of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. 11. Swami Tejomayananda, Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission, which has centers around the world teaching Hinduism, has active social service projects in key, affected areas through Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development. 12. Pravrajika Vrajaprana of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. 13. Swami Varadananda, a Trustee Emeritus of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions and a senior sadhu (monk) of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society – Chicago Ramdas Lamb, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Hawaii and President of the Sahayog Foundation, provided much inspiration and guidance throughout all stages of this report, wrote parts of it, and gave HAF extensive feedback. Bhagwati Charan Bhatpare, a school principal, Ramnami and Satnami member, a civil rights activist, and Board Member of the Sahayog Foundation of Chattisgarh, through his personal story printed in this report, inspired the report and also served as a reviewer. The Sahayog Foundation is a U.S. based non-profit, charitable organization established to provide support for the educational and health needs of rural poor in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The editors of Hinduism Today magazine provided much guidance, advice, and clarity throughout the many stages of this report. Vishal Agarwal, a lay Hindu scholar, reviewed the report and provided critical scriptural sources. P.N. Benjamin, an Indian Christian activist, provided a Christian Indian perspective. HAF volunteers Angana Homchaudhuri, Jay Patel, Rajit Das, and Anup Singh, M.D. helped compile and edit various parts of the report. The following individuals also reviewed the report and provided valuable feedback: Milind Kamble, Coordinator - Dalit Affairs, Global Human Rights Defence; Anantanand Rambachan, Ph.D. - Professor and Chair of Religion, Saint Olaf College, Minnesota; Monika Kalra Varma, Director, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights; R. Venkatanarayanan, a former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer who was additional secretary to the Cabinet under three different Prime Ministers of India and is currently Adviser to the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha and to Swami Dayananda Saraswati; V.V.Raman, Ph.D.
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