The Caste System

A Report

Presented By

Dr Raj Pandit Sharma

Executive Member Hindu Council UK

Cont ent s Pa g e

Foreword 3

By Anil Bhanot, General Secretary, Hindu Council UK

Statement by the Community of Southall 6

1. Caste 7

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Analysis of caste within the Hindu scriptures

1.3 Caste was never determined by birth

2. History 13

2.1 The role of successive invasions of India

2.2 Caste and British Colonialism

3. Caste exclusive to ? 20

3.1 Caste outside the Hindu community

Islam

Sikhism

Christianity

3.2 Converts Betrayed

4. Who are the Dalits? 24

4.1 The origin of untouchability

4.2 Dalits – fragmented clans

5. Is Caste Hidden Apartheid? 26

6. Caste in the UK 27

7. Dalits and The Hindu Council UK 29

8. Conclusion 30

2 Foreword

Last year was the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade act, a triumphant, landmark event the Hindu Council UK was pleased to support to the fullest extent.

As the Hindu community would champion any attempt to eradicate slavery, it is doubly unfortunate that some here in the UK used last year’s anniversary to look further afield for discriminatory practices, and chose in particular to launch specific attacks on the caste system of the Indian subcontinent.

Numerous TV and Radio programmes alleged the caste system was an abhorrent practice, particularly when it came to the treatment of people of the Dalit, or ‘untouchable’ caste.

There is no doubt that, despite the Indian government’s anti-discriminatory legislation, in place since Independence, there are still some areas in India where Dalits are treated appallingly. The good news is the government has long been bringing in policies of positive discrimination, by reserving large numbers of educational places and health and public sector jobs for the Dalit community, a move which we at the Hindu Council support.

Such government efforts have had a knock-on effect on the private sector too. In cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi, Dalits have a high percentage of jobs reserved specifically for them.

However, giving priority to Dalits means those from higher castes are now complaining that even if they score highly in their college entrance exams, they cannot get places.

You may think this is a necessary if unfortunate consequence in order to secure a more just and equitable society in future. Certainly this has been the line taken by supposedly ‘objective’ British investigative journalists, who also imply the upper castes are privileged and wealthy. I cannot stress strongly enough that this is not the case. Many among the higher castes in India are also terribly poor, as poor as and, in countless cases, poorer than the Dalit community. In Delhi, many public lavatories are cleaned by the Brahmins, the highest caste, as they cannot find any other job. Here, the problem is not one of caste abuse so much as it is of India’s poverty. Media coverage of the problem has frequently been misleading, as reporters appear either not to have done their research properly, or have resolved that facts should not stand in the way of their story.

Here in the UK, Dalit communities do well and are right to be proud of their achievements. The Hindu Council too is proud of the Dalit community, which has full representation on our executive board.

HCUK is not aware of caste discrimination here in the UK. If it does exist, we would be the first to condemn and aim to eradicate it. However, in the 14 years since HCUK was founded, only one allegation of caste discrimination has come to our attention, via ACAS. Ultimately it came to nothing.

So, why are certain UK parliamentarians such as Rob Marris MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP lobbying the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to look at ways of legislating against caste discrimination in the UK?

3

The answer is simple; they have been misled, partly by Christian groups who want, as we see it, to ‘save’ people from the ‘falsehood’ of Hinduism and convert people to Christianity. In other words, groups who are themselves practising prejudice and discrimination, by condemning the beliefs of those who do not follow their religion.

It is in the Manu-Smriti, a book on the social structures and laws required to run societies, that we find mention of caste. This book, existing from the beginning of civilisation, continued to change until the last insertions around 200 BC. Likewise the caste system too is reforming itself as professions change and inter-caste marriages take place. Ultimately, these may in any event render the caste system totally redundant, a thing of the past.

Today, UK born Hindus are hardly aware of the old hierarchies of the caste system. They may identify with their wider caste, but would rather find a cross-caste partner from the UK than go to India to secure a same caste marriage, because the qualities and similarities they seek in a marriage partner transcend the mere label of caste. Certainly they would reject any notions of which caste is ‘high’ and which ‘low.’

If the caste system dies out through inter-caste marriage, in contrast, Hinduism carries the eternal word of God through the Vedas, the Upanishads, the , the Gita and so on. Indeed the entire Hindu population revere Valmiki, a Dalit, for compiling the great epic Ramayana. The Vedas proclaim “all to be equal, none high or low or of middle status”. Yes, the caste system in the last millennia did develop an over- protectionist streak, mostly due to the oppressions of foreign rule, but here in the UK, where we have equal opportunity for all castes and all classes, that Vedic precept holds true.

The HCUK believes (and has told the Department of Communities and Local Government) that the caste phenomenon here has now evolved into more of a ‘clan’ system, where people draw support from each other as if in a club and, moreover, are secure enough to be benevolent towards similar clans, as well as other wider caste groups. There is no discrimination in this, so how can such clubbing together of people be other than a healthy and cohesive force in society?

People in India have lived this way for centuries. Each caste has its own pride – some of the Dalit communities who own lands are fiercely proud. In the same way the Jewish community, Parsi refugees from the Iranian holocaust, etc, have lived as proud citizens in their own ‘clubs’.

The current Chief Minister of the largest state in India, Uttar Pardesh, is Ms. Mayawati, a Dalit, who must enjoy the support of Brahmins, being the highest proportion of single caste vote in the state. Moreover Ms. Mayawati is tipped to become a future Prime Minister of India.

Why is it, that when a community starts to do well here in the UK, it seems to become a target for abuse? This has certainly been the case with the Jewish community in the past (and perhaps in the present) and we wonder whether this is now happening to the Hindu community. Our scholar Dr Raj Pandit Sharma sheds some light on this and other aspects of the caste system in this report, which makes interesting reading.

I sincerely hope Dr Sharma’s report will discourage those who would use caste as an argument to promote their own hidden agendas. If nothing else, I hope it will alert politicians and the wider British public to their underhand and prejudicial tactics.

4

Of course, no report of this nature would be complete without a Dalit perspective and, to that end, I asked the Dalit community of Southall for their views, and to explain any grievances they had so we could help to resolve any caste issues. They did indeed point to some problems which we will need to work at. However their deepest grievance was an unwelcome interference by the host community.

While I am most grateful for this contribution by the Valmiki temple, and the hard work of Dr Raj Pandit Sharma, I truly regret having to commission this report. It is no joke to have to ward off concerted misinformation campaigns from UK parliamentarians who really ought to know better, particularly as those same parliamentarians would no doubt claim to be acting in the best interests of equality and human rights. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

The hierarchical caste system of last millennia India is well past its expiry date. Hindus here have come from India, Malaysia, Sri-Lanka, Nepal, East Africa, the Caribbean and all of them are fully represented within HCUK. Here, we all share a single identity of ‘British Hindu.’

Only one element of the caste system do I hope Hindu society will retain, its respect for the Hindu priest. Sadly, anti-caste propaganda seriously threatens this respect, as people develop misguided contempt for the Brahmin and attempt to do away with the core and beautiful values under which Adi-Manu, the first man to civilise the world, created the original caste system.

Anil Bhanot

General Secretary Hindu Council UK

5 Statement

By the Valmiki Community of Southall

In our Executive meeting of 10 th February 2008 we discussed the issue of Dalit discrimination. As a result of that meeting we agreed the following Statement for inclusion in the Hindu Council$s report on Caste:

1. We resent having the word Dalit ascribed to us by Christian Missionary groups and the British media. Both Christian Missionary groups and the British media have attempted to come and talk to us but we reject their advances, believing they are spreading a hateful malaise in our community with the intention of dividing us. When a few months ago we asked one such woman to leave the temple she accused us of discrimination, whereas it was in fact she who was spreading discrimination. 2. We are aware organisations like Caste Watch UK are now securing large funding from Government agencies. While we attend their meetings, we feel their intention appears to be to make money and help create further divisions in our society. 3. We do have problems with the mainstream Hindu community in that we feel that some in the older generations do think of us lowly. But our children are setting a standard that is changing all that. In this temple alone there are many inter-caste marriages. We have also noted that now some of our surnames are the same as those of higher castes. 4. The word Dalit means 4broken5 or 4crushed.5 The high caste surnames are evidence of how people who did not convert under Islamic rule went into hiding in order to maintain the survival of their Dharma. 5. We also believe our problems were exacerbated by British Colonialism which drained us of all resources and set caste discrimination in place. 6. We abhor the billions of dollars going into India to convert our community. Sometimes we too think how someone after conversion believes he or she can get a good job they could not get before. We wonder, but we are equally saddened that they have forsaken the oldest religion, the Valmiki Dharma : there is one God Brahm and Lord Ram was His incarnation, for the younger religion of Christianity. 7. We wish to protect our Dharma because it loves all and hates no one. It seems to us that Christianity loves only itself and spreads hatred among other communities through seeking conversion. 8. We appeal to the British Government: Please help us to maintain our Dharma. We do have problems but with organisations like Hindu Council UK we will sort them out. We are a proud community here but the British media and some Christian and other money oriented organisations are bringing shame on our family life and on our children. Please protect us, we are British people.

Kewal Gill (President) Piara Lal Soba (General Secretary) On behalf of the Executive Committee, Shri Guru Valmik Sabha Southall

6 1. Caste

1.1 Introduction

The caste system or varnashram has 4. Dalit Hindus who convert to been one of the most distorted, other faiths become perplexing, misunderstood, exploited emancipated, experiencing and maligned aspects of Hinduism. equality and social mobility This report is not a justification of the 5. The Hindu caste system is abuse of caste system; rather it is a akin to hidden apartheid and factual account of the subject, a slavery and should be systematic analysis of how it has abolished. become adulterated and the reparative measures necessary to 1.2 Analysis of caste correct such distortion in the social within the Hindu arena, thereby eliminating unjustified scriptures discrimination and abuse. In order to establish the truth behind The inequalities of the modern caste the original purpose of the caste system and the fissures in Hindu system, we must examine the most society resulting from it are too well ancient of Hindu scriptures, the known to elaborate. The caste Vedas. Conveyed in , once system is so pervasive that it has the ‘lingua franca’ of India spoken become a feature in the life of all from the Caucasoid Mountains in the religious groups living in India. west to Indonesia in the east, the Vedas are the most comprehensive, This report will investigate the resourceful and universally extolled following five assumptions commonly philosophical treatises of the ancient made in connection with the Hindu world. caste system: - Once studied by and known to all 1. Caste is an institution of the Hindus regardless of social status, Hindu religion, wholly peculiar over time Vedic literature became to that religion alone inaccessible and confined to the 2. Caste consists primarily of a priestly (Brahmin) class, a process fourfold classification of precipitated partly by the successive people in general under the invasion and domination of India; heads of Brahman, Kshatriya, firstly by Kushans in 1 st century CE, Vaishya and Shudra, and that Muslims from 8 th century and Dalits are not even part of this Europeans from the late 1400’s. system Prior to this era of invasion, India 3. Caste is perpetual and had a unique continuity in world immutable, having been history; Hindu civilisation evolved transmitted from generation to and survived without revolution or generation throughout the important changes, across several ages of Hindu history without millennia. the possibility of change

7 As will become clear later in this publicise perverted interpretations of report, it was as a result of sacred texts. It is conceivable that repeated invasions that caste some Hindus have deliberately and mutated to its current form . A successfully manipulated useful measure to preserve interpretation of the scriptures for Indian heritage, caste adapted as personal gain, as the non-Sanskrit a ‘survival mode’ response to the speaking majority would be oblivious need for self-preservation, not to their actual content, prior to the the mainstay of Hindu social arrival of the British, at least. During order, as is frequently thought. the British colonial period, Sanskrit As far as the Vedas, the was taught in numerous British fundamental and authoritative universities and the hitherto elusive Hindu scriptures are concerned; Hindu scriptures were being there is no sanction of the caste translated into English. system.

However, some such translations So what is the source of the can hardly be described as contentions manifestation of caste benevolent. seen today? Here the devil is in the detail. History has revealed that the motives behind the study of Sanskrit were not Adversaries of Hinduism and purely educational on the part of the proponents of hereditary caste cite early British emissaries sent out to various Hindu scriptures to assert India. Many Indians believe it to their claims that caste is intransient, have been a strategy by the East hierarchical and determined by birth. India Company and other foreign In particular they quote Purush- parties in India to penetrate the Sukta (X.90.11-12) of Rig-Veda and Hindu Indian psyche by interpreting verses (IV.13) and (XVIII.41) of the Vedic scriptures, which Bhagavad-Gita, claiming these prove underpinned the Hindu mentality and the different castes can be depicted social order. In so doing, they were as portions of the divine being, able to better manipulate the Indian Purush, and that the fourfold caste populace thereby facilitating the system is a creation of the Almighty ‘divide and rule’ policy more assigned at birth. Verses of the effectively. This belief would explain Manu Smriti are also cited as the fact that nowadays Sanskrit is another religious endorsement for a hardly offered in any UK university discriminatory caste system. and the once prestigious Sanskrit faculties of Oxford and Cambridge It is important to dispel such universities have been axed. Not fallacious assertions at the outset surprisingly given the rise in Islamic and explain why the defenders of fundamentalism, Arabic has replaced this warped version of varnashram Sanskrit at Oxford. and those who would denigrate the Hindu faith continue to perpetuate Prior to the Indian independence this myth. struggle (mutiny) of 1857, many European scholars and philosophers As the Hindu scriptures are including those affiliated to the East composed in the highly sophisticated India Company and British ordinance and intellectual language of Sanskrit, in India, praised the Hindu scriptures knowledge of which is available only and culture for its opulence, to a minority, it is not difficult to complexity and resilience. A British

8 Judge and classics scholar Sir what his arms, what his thighs, what William Jones of the Asiatic Society were his feet called?' lauded the Sanskrit language: 'His mouth became the Brahmana, “The Sanskrit language, whatever be his arms became the Rajanya, his its antiquity, is of a wonderful thighs became the Vaishya, and the structure, more perfect than the Shudra was born from his feet.' Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than Non-Hindus commonly misinterpret either." these verses as meaning that because the feet are the lowest After the Indian freedom uprising, in extremity of the body, the ‘Shudra’ a drive to subjugate the masses, must be inferior to other caste. Yet a certain British, Christian colonials verse in the same chapter (X.90.14) adopted a more oppressive stance declares that Earth was born from towards all Indians, including, of the same feet of Purusha , thus course, the Hindu majority. Hindu implying that Shudras are closest to values and faith were denigrated nature and mother earth (Prithvi systematically and deliberately, Mata). Further, during Hindu portrayed as backward, heathen and worship, a devotee will prostrate him barbaric – an image still perpetuated or herself before the deity and place today in many quarters. their head on its feet, completely invalidating the argument that The colonials achieved their aims in anything emanating from the feet of part by engaging in dubious the Divine Being is impure and translations and interpretations of the untouchable. Hindu Scriptures, and through suggestions that less important Vedic scholars recognise the works such as Manu Smriti had illustrative nature of these verses, parity with the Vedic texts and were understanding them not in isolation equally fundamental to Hindu ethos. but within the whole context of the Vedic ethos, and draw very different For instance, the description of conclusions. varnashram as segments of the divine being Purush, sacrificed What Rishi Narayan, composer of in order to populate the world in (X.90) conveyed is the the Rig-Veda and Manu Smriti, is straightforward logic, that even the wrongly quoted as an implicit most powerful man like Purusha can reference to and approval of a be destroyed should his head, arms, hierarchical caste structure. thighs and feet be separated. Moreover, as Purusha is analogous to society, the message is clear: Professor Horace Hayman Wilson each member is integral to ‘the body’ (1786-1860) a surgeon and Sanskrit as a whole; that acting singularly, as scholar of Oxford University little more than severed limbs, we translated the verses from the Rig- are ineffective. Crucially, these Veda (X.90.11-12) as follows, texts also demonstrate the principle that whenever synchronisation 'When they immolated Purusha, into between the different parts of the how many portions did they divide community is disturbed, that him? What was his mouth called community becomes paralysed and inoperative.

9 Far from promoting caste separation - Shvetashvatara Upanishad. 1 - 3. and discrimination, these verses send a powerful message of ‘Unity in diversity’ is a famous Hindu integration and cohesion. Rishi aphorism and these verses from the Narayan is declaring that society can Rig-Veda clearly illustrate this point: be empowered only if its intelligentsia (Brahmins), ‘Cows of various colours like black, government (Rajanya/Kshatriya), red and spotted ones yield the same mercantile and farming community white milk (VIII.93.13) ’ which is a (Vaishya) and labourers (Shudra) metaphor used in Vedas for diversity amalgamate and collaborate just as yielding to unity. HH Wilson the components of a healthy body. translates verse X.191.2, 'Meet together, talk together, let your No one part of the human body minds apprehend alike in like (society) is inferior or superior t o manner as the ancient demigods, any other part of the body; each concurring accepted their portion of is dependent on the other, the sacrifice.' complementary to the other, there to support the other. 1.3 Caste was never Purusha Sukta commands determined by Hindus to understand that none b i r t h of the four classes is inferior or superior to the other but that The contention is also made that each is dependent on the other caste is hereditary and immutable, for its survival. binding an individual to a particular socio-economic stratum from birth. Other Vedic endorsements to the Again, an overwhelming number of concept of egalitarianism are legion: religious texts suggest quite the contrary, that caste was so conferred “The earth is our mother, we are all on an individual not according to her children.”-Atharva Veda 12.1.12 parentage but to his attributes.

"The universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious "The fourfold caste has been created one, radiant love. Every face you see by me (the Almighty as Krishna) belongs to Him. He is present in according to the differentiation of everyone without exception." - Guna (attributes) and Karma Yajur Veda. (actions)”

“The Divine is enshrined in the Bhagavad-Gita XVII.41 hearts of all." -Isha Upanishad 1 -1. "The devotees of the Lord are not outcastes; outcastes are they who "Reality (God) is our real self, so that have no faith in the Lord whichever each of us is one with the power that their caste be. A wise man should created and sustains the universe." not slight even an outcaste if he is devoted to the Lord; he who looks "In the depths of meditation, sages down on him will be tormented and () saw within themselves the enter oblivion (naraka)." Lord of Love, who dwells in the heart of every creature”.

10 "There is no superior caste. The The cel ebrated authors of the Universe is the work of the Immense foremost religious scriptures of Being. The beings created by him the Hindus, the Ramayana and were only divided into castes Mahabharata, Valmiki and Vyas according to their aptitude." respectively, were Dalits. The narrator of the , Suta Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, 188 Maharishi, was a Dalit. Surely evidence enough to dispel any The earlier portions of the Rig Veda misconceptions that caste was ever intended to be hereditary? do not refer to any divisions of society based on caste. Later, the term ‘varna’ can have thirteen Interestingly, by examining the different interpretations in Sanskrit. lineage of sage Vyas it may be noted In this context, it means ‘attribute’, or that caste was determined by ‘propensity’. occupation and not through birth. A Brahmin (in the true sense of the In the Mahabharata (12. 188), we word) and the most revered author of again read that all creation is divine, major Hindu scriptures Vyas, was that no one is high or low by birth the son of Satyavati a fisherwoman and that the atman, soul, can of low birth. Vyas’s father Parashar, progress through spiritual training a famous lawgiver was the son of a through the samskaras: - Chandala , a pariah of society. Parashar’s ancestor was an ‘At birth the soul is at a primitive level acclaimed Vedic seer of the of development, it is only through the Vashishtha clan who was born of a sacraments (samskaras) that it prostitute. Vyas's profound becomes ‘reborn’ and thereby knowledge of the Vedas determined elevated.’ his caste as a Brahmin sage, and not his birth to a fisherwoman. This principle, of Dharma , of working for the ‘greater good,’ is The celebrated author of the a dynamic one throughout great Hindu epic Ramayana sage Hinduism; Hinduism is not a Valmiki was a hunter of low dogmatic faith, but one that has standing. He came to be known perpetually allowed flexibility, as a Brahmin sage because of especially regarding caste. his wisdom and deep understanding of the scriptures, Since Vedic times, caste has never which led to his authorship of been hereditary and in fact, even the Ramayana. Similarly, sage members of the same family pursued Aitareya, who compiled diverse vocations as the author of the Aitareya Upanishad, was this verse from the Rig-Veda born of a woman of low birth, yet unequivocally demonstrates: his modern day descendants consider themselves Brahmins.

“I am a composer of hymns, my father is a physician, and my mother Sage Vidura , a Brahmin who gave grinds corn on a stone. We are all religious instruction to King engaged in different occupations." Dhritarashtra, mentioned in the Mahabharata, was born to a woman servant within the palace. He too became a Brahmin sage because of

11 his wisdom and knowledge of determined by birth, as asserted by Dharma Shastras (scriptures). protagonists of a hereditary caste system, and by its critics. The Chandogya Upanishad relates the case of Satyakama (the Instead, those sages who have illegitimate, mixed lineage, son of a sought to comprehend mankind’s low birth woman who could not recall nature and our role in creation as a who her son's father was) who went whole, simply constructed Hindu on to be accepted and educated as a society on a rational bases, Brahmin (Bhagvad-Gita: Ch. 18 - systematising people in such a way verse 42). as to facilitate the development of each human being, with due All Hindus, including those of low consideration to his inner nature and birth and even unknown lineage, had the reasons for his existence. the choice of pursuing any occupation, including that of a For Hindus the world is not merely Brahmin. the result of a series of chances but the fulfilment of a divine strategy in The two rival families of the which all aspects are interconnected. Mahabharata, Kauravas and were the descendants of Satyavati, the low birth fisherwoman mentioned earlier, and the grandsons of sage Vyas, also mentioned earlier. In spite of his mixed heritage, the Kauravas and

Pandavas were known as Kshatriyas (warriors) because of their occupation. Chandragupta, the monarch who founded the legendary Maurya dynasty of ancient India was from the Muria tribe, whose primary profession was to gather peacock feathers. Likewise, the heroic King Ashoka was the son of a female servant.

Saint Thiruvalluvar who wrote the theosophical treatise, Thirukural was a humble weaver. Other venerated saints of the Hindu faith whose teachings are followed by all Hindus including Ravidas, Valmiki, Sain

Bhagat, Namdev, Kabir, Surdas, Ramdas and Tukaram came from the humblest strata of Hindu society, and in today’s classification, some would be deemed Dalits.

These are but a handful of examples proving caste has never been

12 2. History

2.1 The role of they never take anything unjustly; with successive regard to justice, they make even invasions of India excessive concessions. Truthfulness is the distinguishing feature of their This then begs the question, why have administration.” the original precepts stated in the Vedic literature become so distorted in Al-Idrisi a Spanish born Muslim modern interpretations of the caste geographer in the 11th century visited system? India and reports in his journal that "Hindus are naturally inclined to justice While certain socio-economic groups and never depart from it in their within the Hindu community may have actions.” deliberately manipulated the scriptures th in order to exploit others, by far the In the 13 century Marco Polo most detrimental influence has been described Brahmans he encountered exogenous. Successive foreign “as the most truthful, for they would invaders to India, predominantly over not tell a lie for anything on earth.” the past ten centuries, have imposed their self-proclaimed ‘superior’ socio- A few decades later Friar Jordanus religious doctrines upon the Indian emphasises that the people of Lesser people. India (South and Western) “are true in speech and eminent in justice." Prior to this period, we have records of early visitors to India consistently It was the Mughal rule that heralded praising Hindu society for its just and the darkest and bloodiest chapter in egalitarian values. Not once was the Hindu history. For the most part the subjugation of citizens through the Mughals’ modus operandi was brutal, ‘evil’ caste system ever mentioned. with little respite for the Hindus. Had such evil been endemic, surely Babur, the founder of the Mughal these emissaries would have Empire, falsely revered as a paragon documented it? of Muslim tolerance by modern revisionist historians, destroyed and Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador pillaged numerous Hindu cities and who visited the Maurya court at temples. He made the following Pataliputra (Patna) in the 4th century observations about Hindu prisoners BC, noted: “All Hindus are free, and taken following jihad and refusing to none of them is a slave. Further, they accept Islam in his autobiographical respect both virtue and truth.” “Baburnama:”

Huen Tsang (Xuanxang), the most “Those who were brought in alive famous of the Chinese Buddhist (having surrendered) were ordered pilgrims who visited India in 7th beheaded, after which a tower of century writes: "Though the Hindus skulls was erected in the camp.” are of a light temperament, they are distinguished by the Hindus lucky enough not to be straightforwardness and honesty of murdered or proselytised by the their character. With regard to riches, Islamic marauders had to pay ‘ jaziah ’ tax to the Mughal sultanate for the prerogative to practice their faith. The

13 predicament for Hindus was further of history repeating itself many times compounded by other taxes imposed over the past centuries in Kashmir and by the suppressive regime, including throughout India.) income tax (sometimes up to 50% for non-Muslims) paid to the Islamic In such desperate times, facing rulers. In stark contrast, Muslim the need to preserve the Hi ndu subjects (mostly converts) paid only community and its traditional ‘zakkat’ to the state, at a rate of 2.5% values, a more rigid hereditary of their income. caste system emerged, thereby facilitating the propagation of In their homeland, Hindus were firmly unadulterated Hindu beliefs and subjugated under Mughal rule and culture from one generation to relinquished much of their liberal Vedic the next. ideology for an Islamised version. Not only were non-Muslims humiliated as being the kuffar ‘infidel’ heathen, but To the south, from the start of the also financially exsanguinated through fifteenth century, Hindus encountered repressive taxation and law. Portuguese colonists whose primary aim was to establish rule and exploit It is hard today to imagine how grim the opulent spice resources in this the situation must have been for the region of India. Although early Hindu people. Muslim overlords to the historians have portrayed an amicable north of India would often abduct and depiction of life under Portuguese rule, rape unmarried Hindu girls and, as a recent studies have revealed that in desperate measure to avoid this fact the Portuguese exported the degradation, Hindu women were Inquisition to Goa in the sixteenth married early. Those within the Royal century, and many Hindus were families committed ‘johar’ (wrongly tortured and burnt at the stake for described as suttee) and immolated continuing to practice their religion. themselves along with their children, to Historians now consider the Goa escape a fate worse than death at the Inquisition merciless and the cruellest hands of Muslim conquerors. To avoid ever developed. A large number of abduction and immediate recognition, Hindus were forcibly converted to to the north of India Hindu women Christianity and then persecuted from adopted Islamic dress and the tradition 1560 until 1812. Any man, woman, or of ‘purdah’ or veiling of women, child living in Goa could be arrested become common. and persecuted simply for whispering a Hindu prayer or keeping a small Under such treacherous conditions, deity at home. Many Hindus and some previously liberated Hindu women who former Jews languished in special had enjoyed parity with men since Inquisitional prisons for several years Vedic times, and many female seers at a time. (Rishikas) who had composed verses of the Vedas, were compelled to Today, the Portuguese tend to think of withdraw from public into the shadows. Goa as the glorious capital of the spice trade; believing erroneously that Entire Hindu kingdoms to the west, people of different ethnic backgrounds north and east were decimated by the lived there in tolerance and tranquillity. Mughal invaders and populated with Many are oblivious to how their Muslims. (The current situation in Christian leaders made Hindus suffer. Kashmir, now almost devoid of the Hindu populace due to Islamic The role of the Portuguese is pivotal to insurgency, is not unprecedented; the metamorphosis of the Vedic caste rather it is one of the latest examples system in its present form. In fact, the

14 word ‘caste’ is not of Indian derivation under the direction of Henry Beverely, at all but is a derogatory epithet, Inspector General of Registration in meaning race or breed (‘casta’), Bengal. introduced to India by Portuguese The pretext given for the census was missionaries in the 16th century to that the government needed to be incorrectly describe ‘jati’ or the Hindu prepared to deal with disaster community network. situations. However the information collated from the unwitting Indian The Portuguese wrongly populace proved to be instrumental in assumed the priestly class or perpetuating the colonial stratagem of Brahmins commanded the same ‘divide et impera’ (divide and rule). authority and power as the Christian clergy did at that time This was the precursor to the in Europe. The reality is that the ‘schedule’ system, which would Brahmins in India have never classify all Indians according to their commanded comparable socio-religious background. It has authority and power to the been argued that the census initiated Christian clergy. They controlled division within the minds of Indians, neither the economy n or the who until now had not had to pledge army, both of which the clergy so openly their affiliation to a particular did in Medieval Europe. caste or community. Believing however in this authority, they developed Caste then became an important contempt for the Brahmins – eleme nt in Indian politics after contempt that continues to this the British imperialists used day within Christian evangelical caste-based taxonomy as the circles. basis of classifying the

colonised Indian inhabitants, The vilification of the Brahmins by 16 th particularly the Hindus, in the population census of 1872. century Christian missionaries is indisputably exemplified in this comment from Saint Francis Xavier, a The question of caste became more missionary to Portugal at the time, in a specific in the 1901 Census, because letter sent to the his Society of Jesus: by and large the Indian population did not understand what was meant by “If it were not for the Brahmans, we ‘caste’ and gave their occupation, should have all the heathens (Hindus) religion and education, as their caste. embracing our faith.” This time the census enumerators insisted on compartmentalising the population into the four varna 2.2 Caste and British categories, even if it was a loose fit. colonialism Thus the British succeeded in binding The British were the final wave of the empirical reality of jatis foreigners to impose their rule on (communities) with the Vedic India. As early as the eighteenth theoretical construct of varna century successive British (categorisation of occupations), as administrators attempted to categorise ‘caste’ (inherited social status), the Indian population, in addition to causing the popular contemporary other parameters, according to religion perception of Indian society having and caste. been consistently divided into the four hereditary caste groups from time In 1872 the British planned a immemorial. comprehensive census executed

15 This move augmented the further fragmentation of Indian society on the This could not be further from the grounds of religion, caste and truth. Recent research has revealed community, thereby facilitating British that almost half the population of India colonial rule and the establishment of are below the poverty line. Of these, the ‘Raj’. Brahmins actually have a 10% higher level of poverty, compared with other Following the Mughal rule, the hitherto communities in this category. Many fledgling Indian society, having Brahmins are engaged in menial reconciled itself with differences of occupations, having been forced to faith and foreign cultures, once again forfeit skilled positions under the highly bore the yoke of servitude in the guise discriminatory State sponsored of British colonialism. Not only had reservation system, which allocates up India’s resources been pillaged for to half the governmental and university decades by the rapacious East India placements to the ‘scheduled class’, to Company, the now inexorable British which Dalits belong. Some Brahmin Raj set about enshrining caste in the communities - such as the 400,000 Indian administration established on Kashmiri Pandits recently driven from the British colonial class system. their homeland by Muslim extremists - are refugees within their own country. As there was no classification of caste in the Indian legislation Since British colonial times, Brahmins, prior to this juncture, it was the having a long heritage of literacy and British who single-handedly erudition, have been quick to formulated the caste schedules assimilate the English language and that remain in place today. customs, making themselves obvious candidates for positions within the civil service and government departments. The ‘scheduled caste’ was an entirely The Indian ruling classes, including British creation into which the lowest many of the stately monarchs, were for strata of Indian society (including the most part granted autonomy and Dalits) were pigeonholed. It is ironic, is awarded derisory concessions by the it not, that many of the present-day British. When the British quit India, critics of the ‘Hindu’ caste system are monarchs (maharajahs and nawabs) the descendants of the same Colonial surrendered their regal status and British who instituted the system in the became ordinary members of the first place? public.

The evils manifest in the curre nt Again, it is more than a little absurd form of the caste system cannot that the British successfully abolished be ascribed to the Hindu faith. the monarchy in India, yet perpetuate The current adulter ation of the their own hereditary realm to the Hindu varnashram system is a present day. direct result of generations of British Colonial bureaucracy. No Muslim or European ruler ever enforced any privileges to the

purported upper castes, only to their It is a further irony that those who own kind. Muslim invaders gave criticise caste on the grounds it is preference to Muslims, European abusive and discriminatory invaders to Europeans. Even after 700 nevertheless happily vilify Brahmins years of the Islamic suppression of who presently account for just 4.32% India, India was one of the richest of the total population of India, for countries, accounting for about a allegedly holding key positions within quarter of total world trade. the Indian government and society.

16 India's current state of poverty was by portraying the excesses of a aggravated by the mercantilist bastardized caste system, while failing economic model followed during much to mention its origin as the ‘bright idea’ of Britain's rule, which saw little of their colonial predecessors. development of domestic industry. The British, exporting Indian grown cotton Many Indians were engaged as to England to supply the mills of the servants to the British and one North, before selling the fabric back to household would have dozens of such the Indians, crippled the booming Indian domestics. Despite the abolition textile industry in India. A new class of of slavery, the British recruited millions feudal landlords known as ‘zamindars’ of Indians to work as indentured (Jats in Punjab ) resulted from the labourers in far off colonies such as innovative British schedules, thereby the West Indies. The ‘Coolies’ (Indians restricting the purchase and sale of as referred to by the British) who land. For the British, this proved a arrived to work in the sugar estates in more efficient way to maximise the the West Indies were marched to their collection of taxes and ensured the barracks known as ‘Nigger Yard.’ It granaries were stocked for their was the same in Mauritius only the needs. language was different: ‘camps des Noirs’ for the backbreaking work in the The predominantly agrarian pastoral cane fields. Hindu communities became tenants, shackled to repaying debts to the In 1843, the first shipload of 217 Indian feudal proprietors for generations to labourers arrived in Port of Spain in come. Labour was cheap and Trinidad in the Caribbean. abundant, leading to the colossal feats of development by the British such as Moreover, in the same decade, others the railway network (which although a were taken to British Guyana in South quantifiable achievement was not an America, and Mauritius off the coast of act of altruism, but a system to ensure Africa; in the 1860's to the British nationwide communication, dispersal colony of Natal in South Africa; in the and collating of personnel and 1870's to the Dutch colony of Surinam; supplies throughout the subcontinent. in the 1880's to Fiji. It was a means of ensuring British rule extended to the farthest territories of By 1917-20, the indenture system was India). abolished but not before 1.5 million Indian bonded labourers had been Yet such achievements are miniscule induced to move to remote parts of the compared to what India has achieved globe in the service of British in just six decades post-independence. capitalism. What the British spent on infrastructure is a fraction of the The British of that period practiced phenomenal financial gains made by their own ‘class system’ and, even them over three centuries of rule in within their own ranks, there was a India. rigid ‘order of precedence’ which pervaded all areas of daily life, Given the fact that the Indian economy including seating arrangements for was on the verge of bankruptcy when dinner. Indians were excluded from the British quit India and that the interacting socially with Europeans country was irrevocably severed into and there was an enforced colour bar two nations, India is set to be in place throughout the subcontinent reinstated as a quantifiable world with ‘Europeans only’ clubs. Indians leader in commerce and industry. Yet were not allowed to travel by railway certain western media corporations carriages, or use railway waiting continually malign this advancement rooms as these were reserved for

17 Europeans. Not only that, Indian Such an imperialist hypothesis was judges were not allowed to try designed to ensure the British were Europeans in their districts and the allowed ‘legitimate’ political rights over Ilbert Bill, introduced in 1883 during India as did Hindus, all being Lord Ripon's viceroyalty to remedy the foreigners. There is an implicit notion situation, had to be withdrawn in the among some British historians to this face of vicious opposition by day that their coveting of India and her Europeans and Anglo-Indians. assets was more through ‘mutual’ consent of the host than coercion, Claude Alvares has written: "The often comparing this subtle method to English establishment view the brutish colonisation of the themselves as a separate ruling caste; Americas. Though a romantic like other Indian castes, they did not concept, few natives would concur inter-marry or eat with the lower with this, especially those who (native) castes. Their children were witnessed British led massacres of shipped off to public schools in innocent civilians such as at England, while they themselves kept Jalianwala Bagh. to their clubs and bungalows in special suburbs known as cantonments and Western scholars further theorised that civil lines." the dark skinned southerners (Dravidians) were the indigenous In addition to the explicit discrimination Indian populace and primitive in experienced by Hindus, European nature, thus proliferating disunity scholars further promulgated various between Indians in the North and philosophical arguments that fair- South. skinned natives of the north were in fact descendants of a superior Aryan Gross misinterpretation of Sanskrit race that had entered India from the religious texts by some European west and brought with them the scholars led to the assertion that the Vedas. Hindus to the north of India four categories of the ‘varnashram’ are were considered by these European based on skin colour. This contradicts scholars to be the hybrid descendants Hindu scriptures, which depict Hindu of this superior Aryan race and the icons Lord Rama and Lord Krishna as indigenous Hindu populace . Hindus having dark complexions (shyama throughout India were debased as varna). The celebrated Brahmin sage being savage and heathen in nature and vedic scholar Vyas was himself of and the idea followed that Vedic dark hue. The Brahmin sage Kanva, culture must have originated from a who contributed richly to the Rig-Veda ‘superior’ Caucasian race. This ‘Aryan is too described as a dark skinned Invasion Theory,’ one school claims, person vide RV (X.31.11) . was developed by Maximillian Muller in 1848, a highly paid German There is no mention of forced employee of the East India Company southward migration either in the Rig- in order to deny any political or moral Veda or in Dravidian literatures. basis to the Hindu claim for Nevertheless, some scholars assert independence from British rule. For, that fair-skinned Aryans invaded India under this theory, Hindus too were as during 1500 BC, defeating dark much foreigners in India as were the skinned Dravidians and pushing them British. This theory was not openly into South India. But the date of 1500 challenged for over 120 years and BC as the beginning of the Vedic era even many Indians were duped into is grossly underestimated; recent believing they were descendants of a archaeological and historical evidence superior foreign civilisation. suggests Hindu civilization predates this era and the date was a ploy by

18 Christian historians to add credence to After these theories and their own biblical accounts that the postulations regarding the origin world began 6000 years ago. of the Indian race, in light of Analysed etymologically, the word recent evidence, it is now Dravida occurs in the Rig-Veda accepted by a vast number of (III.61.6) but means treasure or historians and anthropologists prosperity. In Atharva-Veda (XVIII.3.1), that all non-African races, the word dravina alludes to property or including Europeans, are wealth. Progressive societies rarely actually migrants originating expel their wealthy citizens and it from the Indian subcontinent. seems illogical that Aryans should There is more evidence of an have expelled Dravidians. Later, even outward migration from India Max Muller conceded that: than inward.

'Aryan in scientific language is utterly inapplicable to race. It means language and nothing but language. Aryans are those who speak Aryan language (Sanskrit) with Aryan grammar, whatever their colour, whatever their blood.'

In Rig-Veda, Arya means ‘noble’ or ‘educated ones.’

Even though the Indians of that time suffered indignation from their British overlords, they displayed unprecedented loyalty to them through both world wars. In total, 800,000 Indian troops fought in the theatres of war with 1½ million volunteering to fight. They fought in most fields of war including Gallipoli and North and East Africa. In all 47,746 were classed as killed or missing in action with 65,000 wounded. The Indian Corps won 13,000 medals for gallantry including 12 Victoria Crosses. Such was the cost of the war, that India’s economy was pushed to near bankruptcy by the end of the Second World War. The London Times reported how Indian support had surprised the British establishment: -

“The Indian empire has overwhelmed the British nation by the completeness and unanimity of its enthusiastic aid.”

19 3. Caste exclusive to Hinduism?

3.1 Caste outside the the 3 million officially classified 'Hindu' Hindu community population of Pakistan, 80 per cent are Dalits. There are 42 different Dalit Despite the claims of critics, caste castes in the country, the most is not unique to India or the Hindu numerous being Bhils, Meghwals, faith. Caste is prevalent Odhs, and Kohlis. Most Pakistani throughout the world even in Dalits live in Sindh, with smaller geographical are as far from the numbers in southern Punjab and Indian subcontinent. Throughout . They are "pathetically Africa, Japan, Korea, Latin poor and largely illiterate and eke out a America, Yemen and Pakistan a miserable existence mainly as vigorous hereditary and agricultural labourers, menials, and hierarchical system of social petty artisans". As Sikand states, in stratification exists. Castes are Sindh, a small class of landlords own present within various religious most of the land, and some estates communities preaching egali tarian run into tens of thousands of acres. doctrines, most notably the The conditions of the Sindhi peasantry Muslims of Pakistan, Indian or haris , who include both Muslims as well as Dalits, are dismal. Many haris Christians and Sikhs. do not even own the mud huts in I s l a m which they live. Absentee landlords who live in Hyderabad and Karachi, Pakistan has a caste system not Sindh’s largest cities, own much of the dissimilar to that seen in India, land. although with much inconsistency S i k h i s m since the concept of caste is not actually recognised in Islam. It is however still practiced by some of its Although caste is prohibited in the Sikh adherents. In the absence of faith, there exists a number of caste traditional castes, the proxies used are communities, members of whom tend typically ethnic background (Sindhi, to marry within their own and frequent Punjabi, Pusthun, Balochi and Mohajir Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) belonging etc.), tribal affiliations and religious to their particular caste. Such denominations or sects (Sunni, Shia, communities include Ramgarhia, Ahmadiyya, Ismaili, Christian, Hindu Singh Sabha (Jat), Ravidasi, Bhatra, etc.). What is noticeable is the Bhappa (Khatri/Arora Sikh refugees presence of Qoums being a distinct from Pakistan) and more recently, geographical community group and Afghani Sikhs. It is accepted that no Biradaris, which are endogamous sub- worshipper is prohibited from entering communities comparable with the jatis a particular Gurdwara because of their in Hinduism, often interchanged with caste, however it is significant that the the term ‘zat’ in Urdu . management committees of such institutions are often exclusively of one Yoginder Sikand, an expert on particular caste. There is an inherent Wahabbism, has made a detailed superiority among the farmer caste study of the severe conditions in which jats historically precipitated by the more than 2.5 million Dalits in Pakistan British legislation of restricting sale live, ignored by Christian funded anti- and purchase of land to this caste organisations. Sikand relates, of

20 community. Punjabi films and folk Missionaries have often used songs frequently portray this image. unscrupulous tactics when converting unwitting villagers, including financial Christianity inducements and substituting Yashoda and the infant Krishna with Mary and the baby Jesus. It will become Caste was used to justify apparent that Christian missionaries Christian proselytising and have undoubtedly been more domination over the Indian interested in increasing the number of population by Europeans, an Christians per capita rather than giving excuse that persists today. due attention to the plight of Dalits after their conversion. Also, the ills of contemporary Indian society (poverty, caste, etc.), which With the advent of the Christian were exacerbated in part due to missionaries in India under the centuries long foreign occupation, patronage of British rule in the exploitation and domination as eighteenth century, a new chapter of discussed earlier, are blamed primarily conversion began. The missionaries on Hindu thought. Thus, some were able to use this flaw in Hinduism Western scholars, ignoring the historic to convert those who were worst hit by subversion of Indian society and caste prejudice. These missionaries Hinduism by the West, align concentrated their ‘charity’ work mainly themselves with the 'oppressed' in tribal areas, advising the tribal against the 'evils' of Hinduism. The people that they were not Hindus and victim is made to feel culpable, hence that their indigenous culture and the embarrassment found amongst religion was different from Hinduism, ‘progressive’ Hindus whenever even though one of the most challenged with the subject of the celebrated Hindu dynasties, the caste system. Mauryas emanated from these very same tribes. Missionaries taught them Christianity reached the shores of that Christianity, (an alien religion) was southern India in the fifteenth century their own; that Jesus Christ who was through the Portuguese, whose born and lived in the Middle East was blighted legacy has already been also a ‘Dalit’ like them and that mentioned. Pope Gregory XV (1621- Christianity was a religion without the 23) decreed that the missionaries caste bias and offered them socio- could tolerate caste distinction among economic equality. In their naïve Christian converts; but largely, caste desire to experience this ‘egalitarian’ remained an effective hurdle to the faith, thousands of tribal peoples were destruction of Hinduism through converted to Christianity, fooled into conversion. thinking they had found release from the now bastardised caste system in It was because of the Hinduism. This accounts for once persist ence of Hinduism that Hindu tribal regions such as Tripura in missionaries started attacking the northeast of India now consisting the institution of caste and, in almost entirely of Christian converts. particular, the Brahmin priestly caste. This propaganda has bloomed into a full-fledged anti- Brahmanism, the Indian equivalent of anti-Semitism.

21 Though these Christia n converts Trichy and Pondicherry even have were promised socio-economic separate communion rails and elevation by becoming separate cemeteries, and Christians Christians, some of the poorest are endogamous, families only States in India are home to the accepting matrimonial proposals of largest number of such Christian their own caste. converts. The message of Christ is rarely preached in more Dalit converts to Christianity not affluent regions, reinforcing the only fail to gain emancipation, con tention of many that the they also forfeit the rights and Church’s strategy to conversion privileges given to them by the in India is ‘predatory,’ targeting government under the only the most vulnerable strata Reservation Laws for scheduled of society. castes. In the eyes of the law,

3.2 Converts Betrayed Christians do not belong to this classification nor, apparently, so Little did these converts realise they observe caste prejudice. So conversion to Christianity would not not only have these hapless redeem them from social converts relinquished the fa ith of discrimination and untouchability. their forefathers, they still face Although Jesus never advocated the discrimination from fellow caste system, Christianity in India was Christians and have lost their not free from the caste bias. Christian rights under the educational and evangelical organisations, which occupational reservation system. criticised Hinduism for its caste system, themselves practised As a result, even after hundreds of discrimination based on the very same years of their existence in the Church, caste system in their own Churches. In Dalits remain on the periphery of the spite of the fact that around three community. The Church has not quarters of the Christian converts were offered opportunities to Dalits to Dalits looking to shake off their caste improve educationally or socially. Few or ‘outcaste’ label, Dalit Christians Dalits become priests and leaders in within the Church were discriminated the Church. against and are still denied powers to the present day within the In the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra ecclesiastical structure of Christian Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar, where the organisations in India. majority of Christians are Dalits, this

problem is more acute. According to The scale of discrimination against reports, 70 per cent of the Tamil Dalit Christians is unprecedented not Catholics are Dalits and out of 14 only in life but even after death. In Bishops in Tamil Nadu, only one is a churches and places of worship, Dalit. The percentage of Tamil priests generally cruciate in design, the is only four per cent. Vocation from Christians of ‘upper’ castes humiliate Dalit Christians has not been their fellow Dalit Christians by encouraged. A recent article from the occupying the central part of the Deccan Chronicle dated 31 October church. Dalits are assigned to the 2007 highlights growing discontent wings. They are allowed to take among Christian converts and a deep communion only after the higher caste fissure dividing the church regarding people have done so. In some caste: Protestant churches, there are separate cups for the Dalits at the “Mylapore Bishop Chinnappa and Eucharistic celebration. Some Catholic Salesian of Don Bosco Provincial churches in Madras dioceses like

22 Stanislaus Swamikannu are among identity, Fr Selvaraj said, "We are the priests who will participate in the making a humble beginning." two day conference to be held in Madurai on November 5 and 6 to He said Dalits who had converted to discuss the issue.” Christianity to gain social acceptance now felt they had been betrayed. Dioceses, parish councils and educational institutions are riddled with "We have to remove this feeling. casteism and Christian Dalits are Christianity does not discriminate discriminated against," says Father against anyone in the name of caste," X.T. Selvaraj, one of the organisers of he said. To a question on why the the conference. Christians should demand reservation if they had no faith in casteism, Fr Asked whether the church supported Selvaraj explained there was nothing their effort, Fr Selvaraj said, "The wrong in making use of benefits of progressive forces in all dioceses are reservation for social elevation.” concerned about the trend that goes against the very essence of This discontent has manifested itself in Christianity." Fr J.R. Vencie said Dalits events such as Shabari Kumbh were segregated in all the church whereby growing numbers of Dalit activities and there were separate Christians have reverted to Hinduism burial grounds for them. and renounced Christianity. The move by many senior Hindu spiritual leaders "Christians continue to maintain their such as Kanchi Acharya, Jayendra caste identities and there are no inter- Saraswathi in outwardly condemning caste marriages. Even in ordinary caste discrimination and appointing a conversations Dalits are denigrated," number of priests from the Dalit he said reading out from the pamphlet communities is a small but significant prepared for the conference. step in eradicating the distorted According to church sources, caste colonial caste system. confrontations are not confined between the Dalits and other Dalits now command important intermediate communities. Every socio-political power within India district diocese has its own peculiar and have greater economi c problem, they say. strength. With the aid of current legislative measures ensuring In Kanyakumari district, it is the between 27-50% of educational Nadars versus the fishermen and governmental placements community, while in Trichy the Vellalas are reserved for scheduled and Udayars function as a group classes, and laws preventing against the Vanniyars. In fact, discrimination against D alit Vanniyars (martial class) have formed communities, it is evident that as a separate diocese in this district. India’s eco nomic might Sivangai district diocese is witnessing intensifies, the corruption a war between Udayars and non- associated with caste could Udayars. feasibly be eradicated within one generation. In Thanjavur Vellalas and Udayars are against each other, according to them. Asked whether it would be possible to change entrenched attitudes of the people, especially when every community continued to maintain its

23 4. Who are the Dalits?

4.1 The Origin of surnames with so-called upper Untouchability castes including Brahmins. This fact may be accounted for in the From where did the Dalit, following ways, untouchable, or outcaste communities emerge? 1. The death penalty was rarely invoked for heinous crimes and a It has already been demonstrated common alternative punishment in that In Vedic times there was a Hindu law was to banish the guilty fourfold caste system with no party and or his family from the host mention of Dalits or notions of community. This kind of ‘expulsion’ untouchability. All citizens were is frequently documented in the referred to as ‘Aryans’ or ‘Kanvas’ Hindu scriptures and epics and and foreigners such as the Greeks would result in the individual having were termed ‘mlechhas’ or ‘yavans’ , to migrate to a new region and those who did not follow the Vedas. relinquish his caste vocation, Even so, historically foreigners were pursuing a career entirely different to not discriminated against but that of his former life. It is quite welcomed into the community. It is common in the west for example, well documented that trade existed that immigrants take up unpopular or for many millennia between China, low paid jobs even though they may Middle Eastern and Mediterranean be highly qualified professionals in countries and ancient universities their parent countries. such as Nalanda and Taxilla accommodated thousands of 2. Although the science of cross- students from far a field regions as contamination and the spread of China, Iraq, Syria and Greece. Even disease is a relatively modern the word Shudra referring to the concept in western countries, the labouring caste from which Dalits are Vedas documents how disease thought to have originated is not proliferates through microbes. In mentioned in the earlier chapters of order to avoid contracting life the Rig-Veda. Only in the threatening diseases, some castes concluding verses, which were such as Brahmins, in order to actually compiled later than earlier maintain physical purity and remain chapters, is the term used. Shudras functional, would shun physical were more commonly referred to as contact not only with such persons ‘das’ or ‘dasyu’ in ancient Hindu engaged in ‘polluting’ work, but scriptures. society as a whole. It is not surprising therefore given the climate 4.2 Dalits - of India and the risk of cross Fragmented clans contamination through water borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery On closer examination of Dalit tribes and typhoid that removal of any and communities, it is evident potential source (excrement, human through the gotras, clan or family corpses and animal carcasses etc.) names, that many of them share was advocated. It is plausible that

24 those associated with such 3. During the Mughal rule, many unsociable tasks would be avoided Hindu families were forced to flee by others and not interacted with their homelands for fear of death or socially. This has probably persecution and diversified. Indeed accounted for the current outdated this incidence occurred during the practices of some members of the partition of India and more recently; community not sharing food with consider the mass exodus of such individuals or discouraging 400,000 Hindus from the Kashmir them from drawing water from the Valley due to Islamic military same well. insurgency.

Many westerners are highly 4. Royal households were deposed critical of this behaviour, by Muslim marauders and, to avoid however are quick to comment humiliation at the hands of the on such practi ces and ignore Islamic oppressor, many fled their them in their own countries. kingdoms and were reduced to There are now record levels of poverty. In order to survive many homeless people in the UK, who engaged in menial service and this are analogous with the outcastes would account for many members of of Indian society. British menial the sweeper caste in Rajasthan for workers seldom interact socially example, bearing surnames of the with those of the higher Kshatriya (warrior) clans. echelons and food and h ygiene legislation strictly governs how Therefore, Dalits have always food is handled, prepared and been an integral part of Hindu served to the public. Even in society and did not ‘sprout from restaurants, chefs habitually the earth;’ neither are Dalits t he wear disposable gloves when remnants o f a primitive race. preparing food and more The very word “Dalit” is a frequently, vendors handle fruit, derogatory epithet for vegetables and other produce, untouchables meaning ‘broken’ which are to be consumed with or ‘crushed’ eagerly used by gloves. The discerning UK some politicians, Christian public would not tolerate missionaries and media anything less. corporations. The term is both offensive and inaccurate, even resented by those ascribed this label. They are simply Hindus who have been driven to the periphery of society and are a product of a myriad of socio-

economic factors.

25 5. Is Caste Hidden Apartheid?

This is an allegation frequently levelled to live and practice their beliefs as free at the caste system, yet this is a and equal citizens. crucial distinction; apartheid is legalised racial segregation. Caste is a result of this spirit of freedom and pluralism allowing Apartheid legislation classified South diverse communities to coexist rather Africa's inhabitants and visitors into than sacrifice their cultural identities racial groups (Black, White, Coloured and join the melting pot; quite a and Indian) and then separated people contrast to European colonisation using this arbitrary and unscientific techniques resulting in the cultural and classification, allocating grossly often physical extermination of diverse unequal civil rights. Black people were identities by one intolerant and stripped of their citizenship and powerful group. allocated ‘reserves’ or homelands akin to the reservations for native Indians in It should be remembered that the the Americas and Aboriginals in the policy of Christian invaders to the Antipodes. North America practiced Americas, Australasia and South this type of apartheid system in the Africa has been to suppress and southern states particularly and some sometimes annihilate the host and would argue (subsequent to the floods their cultural practices, subsequently of New Orleans in the autumn of 2006) imposing their own regimen and that there is still considerable disparity colonising the host’s country with its between African Americans and those own race. The pluralistic nature of the of white European origin. Hindu faith as opposed to religions such as Islam and Christianity permits It has become vogue for diversity and cohesion within society. Hinduism’s critics to describe The author Nathan Katz states in his the caste system as every bit as book ‘ Sugar in the Milk’ , bad as apartheid South Africa and the 1950s American South. “A crucial distinction however between This comparison is as ridiculous India and the rest of the Diaspora, is as it is untrue, especially given that in India acculturation is not paid the fact these barbaric systems for in the currency of assimilation. By were born under the shadow of acculturation, I mean fitting slavery or indentured labour, comfortably into a society while based on the colour of one’s retaining one's own identity, whereas skin, and actually conceived and by assimilation I mean that the loss of perpetrated by Europeans, not that identity is a perceived condition Hindus. for acceptance. The study of Indian Jewish communities demonstrates that in Indian culture an immigrant group The Hindu faith has never condoned gains status precisely by maintaining or supported slavery, unlike the its own identity. Such is the experience Abrahamic faiths, and this is why, not only of India's Jews, but also of historically, India is distinctive in its local Christians, Zoroastrians, and ability to assimilate and tolerate recently, Tibetan Buddhists. Each of migrants of diverse faiths and these immigrant groups reflects this backgrounds, seeking sanctuary in its striking feature of Indian civilization.” territory, simultaneously allowing them

26 6. Caste in the UK

It is now commonly argued that along uses an upper caste surname. After with the Indian Diaspora, the concept achieving independent status and of caste has permeated communities receiving much support from the host settled within the UK. Specifically that family, he reveals to them that he is in it is perpetuated in various caste- fact a Dalit. He then alleges that the based temples, community groups and family distanced themselves from him, within marriage. There are anecdotal a move he supposes was due to them accounts of prejudice experienced by discovering his true family Dalits resident in the UK from various background. A more plausible Christian backed Dalit groups. explanation perhaps is that few of us, regardless of our class or creed, would A recent study by the Dalit Solidarity not feel betrayed and used in such Network, conducted in July 2006 and circumstances? That aside, of course, titled No Escape concludes Caste is for the fact that we have to trust the an issue among the UK Indian testimony of one who has lived a community and that EU wide reform is blatant fallacy and shown shame in necessary whereby caste is included abusing a family’s hospitality by lying. as a form of discrimination. His story also contradicts numerous However, although the No Escape examples of immigrants from India, report claims 70% of Dalits interviewed belonging to diverse caste expressed feeling discriminated backgrounds, sharing lodgings, food against due to their caste, this cannot and supporting one another be taken as a serious indication that fresh legislation is required. So, while the findings of No Escape appear to give weight to and benefit Out of a highly conservative only various Christian evangelical estimate of 50,000 resident UK groups who would convert the Dalits, only 130 Dalits were worldwide Dalit community en masse, questioned for the Dalit the EU should not for a moment Solidarity Network report. While accept it is proof of ‘widespread’ caste it is accepted that there may be discrimination. grievances within the Dalit community, further Rather than promoting community investigations are required to cohesion, this move by the Dalit estab lish the cause of Solidarity Network is divisive, without dissatisfaction. merit and not supported by the majority of Dalit communities within the UK, many of whom feel there is Moreover, close examination of the more than adequate provision within Dalit Solidarity Network report existing legislature to prevent this kind suggests it is politically motivated. For of discrimination. instance, one particular case history cited, allegedly proving caste There is also concern that further discrimination, describes how an legislation could be counterproductive Indian immigrant was helped by an and actually encourage discrimination upper class family living in the UK to against higher caste members. establish himself in this country. He Moreover, as the case history from the lies to them about his background and No Escape report illustrates, trying to

27 establish whether a person was an effort to preserve communal, discriminated against because of their regional and vernacular based groups. caste or some other factor would be a legal minefield. Given the diverse Such community living gives Hindu nature of socio-cultural groups within youth a sense of belonging and self- the UK, such legislative reforms could respect, key factors in facilitating their open the floodgates to a plethora of progress both academically and lawsuits. socially and avoiding the isolation from the UK society as is arguably seen in If anecdotal evidence is to be believed some Afro-Caribbean and Muslim then statements from all sections of adolescents. the Hindu community should be collated and, no doubt, there will be As previously discussed, Hindus have incidences of discrimination integrated well into the UK community experienced by other communities yet, in line with their ethos, have because of their caste. resisted the pitfalls of ‘homogenisation’ and loss of cultural identity. Hindus For example, there are a growing have incorporated the qualities of both number of attacks and abuses against their parent culture and that of the Brahmin Priests both in India and in western host community. This has led the West. The perpetrators are often to community-based groups emerging from within the wider Indian in order to preserve their unique community and fuelled by Christian culture, language or traditions. Since evangelical elements. time immemorial in the UK, there have always been a number of social There is a worrying trend in India and institutions, clubs and lodges beyond to vilify the Brahmin caste promoting common beliefs and values blaming it for the social and economic based on religious or ethical lines. problems seen today. This anti- Brahmanism is fully exploited by Hindus too wish to preserve their certain politically motivated groups. core beliefs and identities. How can this not be allowed to extend The recent shameful heckling by to who they wish to socialise fundamentalist Christian senators of with or whom they choose as a American Hindu Priest Rajan Zed, life partner? This is surely a invited by the US Government to offer fundamental freedom for each prayers in the United States Senate an d every one of us, one in House, is a stark reminder of the deep which there is no harm per se hatred some Christian politicians have and which enables Hindus to of Hinduism. They described the maintain their distinct identities solemn Hindu prayers for peace as “an while simultaneously enriching abomination before God.” These very the diverse cultural milieu. same politicians use caste as a pretext for their unrelenting support of evangelical missions in India.

By far the only ‘caste system’ apparent within the UK based Indian Diaspora is

28 7. Dalits and HCUK

Hindu organisations - including the HCUK anticipates that within one Hindu Council UK - continuously try generation, issues related to caste to dispel myths about the caste discrimination can be resolved. system through education in schools Current trends in marriage are and colleges. Dalits are already encouraging this and suggest affiliated to many Hindu Hindus are readily linking up with organisations, including Hindu partners of different castes or Council UK. So it is all the more regional backgrounds. There are too regrettable that a British organisation a growing number of interfaith purporting an end to caste relationships emerging. The discrimination has itself perpetuated supposedly intolerant ‘upper castes’ prejudice against the Hindu Council. in the Hindu community are far more relaxed in such matters than CasteWatchUK has incessantly suggested by groups such as snubbed HCUK by not allowing them CasteWatchUK or popu larly to participate in various high profile depicted in the media. conferences related to caste. Although HCUK would welcome an opportunity to speak at such events and present the true Hindu perspective on caste, this has not happened. The only participation offered has been for a Hindu Council representative to attend as an ‘observer’ and witness a highly orchestrated and biased diatribe against the Hindu caste concept. Despite such responses, the Hindu Council will continue to strive to eradicate erroneous depictions of caste within Hinduism and its key objective of promoting harmony and unity among all Hindus and between communities.

29 8. Conclusion

The Caste system has been used as The Caste system should and will a stick to beat Hindus for the last ten undergo reforms in the social arena. centuries. Muslims, the British, Th rough education and enforcement Christian missionaries, secular of existing legislation, unjustified historians, communists, Pre and discrimination and abuse will be Post-Independence Indian eliminated and the original concept politicians, journalists and various of caste re-established. Every indigenous socio-economic groups, human deserves dignity and respect all of them have sought to exploit the and the Hindus of the UK can set a caste system for their own selfish precedent in thi s, leading the way ends. for others to achieve this end.

Sadly, this has only added to the sense of inferiority that many Indians feel about their own culture; the caste system is often portrayed as the ultimate horror, while social inequities continue to persist in theoretically egalitarian western societies.

The question arises: who has the right to judge the caste system offensive by western standards, Dr Raj Pandit Sharma when racial groups have been isolated, or crowded into reserves (in February 2008 the case of the American Indians or Australian Aborigines) where they can only atrophy and disappear?

Historically, Varnashram has enabled Hindu civilisation to survive repeated invasions. It has made Indian society stronger. It has served a purpose, performed certain functions, and met appropriate needs at appropriate times in history.

Certainly, India's caste customs may once have had a rationale. Today, it has outlived its usefulness. Although not yet stagnant, caste is experiencing a transformation, fuelled by the impact of modernisation.

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