Document Title



सत्यमेव जयते

Scientific Hinduism

Book 2

Brahminical (caste) Hinduism: a system of institutionalised oppression

Sanjeev Sabhlok

Draft 19 August 2013

|The effects of caste discrimination on India’s almost 200 million Dalits are strikingly similar to that of race |

|discrimination: social stigmatization, physical segregation, lack of access to education and social advancement, |

|under-representation at all levels in government, business and the organized labor market.  [Source] |

|In Hinduism, ‘the type of birth you take in this world, and the conditions of your existence here are all determined by what|

|you did in your earlier existences. You may even be born as an animal, says the Upanishad, if the karma is very bad’ |

|(Vivekananda) |

|* * * |

|I once met a Mahar, who, fearing that I was going near him and that my purity might then be defiled in case I touched him, |

|and that he might incur the sin of defiling my purity, cried out at once and made his caste known to me. I got into |

|conversation with him. I found that Mahar, though illiterate, could repeat many verses of Tukaram, Namdeo and Chokhamela. He|

|appeared to be well acquainted with the theories of Karma and Bhakti, and of transmigration of soul. He believed that though|

|he was a Mahar in that birth, by some misdoings in his past life, he was going to become a Brahmana in the next birth, as he|

|felt the desire for learning Sanskrit, and reading Gita and Puranas. He conceived that these desires were clear indications |

|of the better birth which he was going to get in his next life. |

|I do not know how far such sentiments exist in other members of the tribe. Bid it is not improbable that very many of the |

|low castes believe, or are made to believe, that they justly suffer in this condition as a retribution for the sins which |

|they did in the past life. [THE HISTORY OF CASTE IN INDIA by SHRIDHAR V. KETKAR (1909)] |

Contents

1. We, the self-respecting humans, are born free. 1

1.1 Equal status in Charvaka Hinduism 2

1.2 Equal status in Islam and Christianity 2

1.3 Alleged equal consciousness in Vedanta 3

1.3.1.1 Shankara learnt Advaita from a “low caste” Chandala, but he never really got the point, did he? 3

1.4 Say no to caste 4

2. Caste is immoral from first principles 5

2.1 Violation of basic ethical principles 5

2.1.1 Denial of equal status 5

2.1.1.1 Lower castes called foul names 5

2.1.1.2 Sudras treated like children 5

2.1.2 Denial of equal liberty 5

2.1.2.1 Subtle model of race domination, not race extermination 6

2.1.3 Destruction of self-respect 6

2.1.4 Different justice for different castes 6

2.2 What’s wrong with eugenics, scientific racism, Hindutva and Hindu caste system? 7

2.2.1 A worldview that groups disparate people together on GENETIC (birth based) criteria is collectivist: 7

2.2.2 These worldviews violate the basic principle of equality of status of mankind: 7

2.3 Hypothesis: India’s caste system contributed a CRITICAL justification for global racism 8

3. Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE 10

3.1 Control over key life events 10

3.2 Careful ‘domestication’ (victim-consent) of the oppressed 10

3.3 Obnoxious suggestion that others ‘pollute’ us 11

3.4 Possible link of ‘pollution’ with beef eating 11

3.5 Blaming victims for their plight 12

3.5.1 Vivekananda chastised non-Brahmins 12

3.6 Economic discrimination 13

3.6.1 Lower castes not likely to be given jobs 13

3.6.2 Lower castes regularly cheated in economic trasactions 13

3.7 Mistreatment and humiliation of lower castes/ outcastes 13

3.7.1 Shivaji’s humiliation 13

3.8 Untouchability, and violence against the outcastes 19

3.8.1 GK Gokhale’s comment on untouchability 19

3.8.2 Extract from Gandhi 19

3.8.3 Oppression of Dalits 20

3.8.4 Jagjivan Ram humiliated 20

3.8.5 Ambedkar humiliated 20

3.9 Violence 21

3.9.1 Killing Dalits who removed a dead cow’s hide 21

3.9.2 Some illustrations of violence 21

3.9.3 Dalit literature shows the magnitude of oppression 21

3.9.3.1 Dalit journals 21

3.10 Mistreatment and humiliation of women 21

4. Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed? 22

4.1 Indian average national IQ is extremely low 22

4.2 How can we explain the superior (on average) intellectual performance of the Brahmin ‘caste’? 26

4.3 Self-perception of the Dalits 28

4.4 My revised model of IQ that includes pre-birth IQ factors and links with freedom, to explain GDP 29

4.5 Increase in IQ expected among the Dalits once oppressions is eliminated 29

4.6 Narrowing the IQ gap with China 30

4.7 Disproving the myth of race will require abolishing caste 30

5. Do the oppressed make the rules? Of course not. 32

5.1 Summary 32

5.2 Vedas 34

5.2.1 Rig Veda 34

5.3 Dharmashastras 34

5.3.1 Manu’s laws 34

5.3.2 Taittiriya Brahmana 35

5.3.3 Vishnu Smriti 35

5.3.4 Apastamba Dharma Sutra 36

5.3.5 Vishnusmriti 36

5.3.6 Vashishtha Dharma Sutra 36

5.4 Ramayana 36

5.4.1 Beheading of Sudra Sambook 37

5.5 Support from Vivekananda and other leaders 37

5.6 Ambedkar, however, denied that Brahmins created caste 37

6. Do the oppressed defend caste? Of course not. 39

6.1 Vivekananda glorified Brahmins 39

6.2 Har Bilas Sarda thought caste was efficient 40

6.3 Bhai Parmanand thought caste is required for social duties 40

6.4 Hindu Council: “The Caste System” by Raj Pandit Sharma 41

7. The hereditary and biological (racist) underpinning of caste 42

7.1 The give away is in its name: Varna Vyavastha 42

7.2 Further, caste is 100 per cent biological (hereditary) 42

7.3 The leakage in ‘colour’ through marrying “lower caste” women 42

7.4 Foolish arguments denying the biological (‘race’) basis of caste 43

7.4.1 “But there is no real difference in skin colour!” 43

7.4.2 Ambedkar did not think skin colour underpinned caste 43

7.4.3 Soli Sorabjee, Andre Beteille and the Government of India 43

7.4.4 Anthropologist Dipankar Gupta of Jawaharlal Nehru University 44

7.5 Learned Hindus have clearly expouned the race basis of caste 45

7.5.1 Through caste “our forefathers protected themselves from interfusion with an inferior race” (Harendranath Maitra) 45

7.5.2 “Why has the white complexion of our forefathers now become black?” (Vivekananda) 45

7.5.3 The original “Aryans” were from Abyssinia, the people with “frightful shapes” (Dayanand Saraswati) GET THE RIGHT ONE 46

7.5.4 Analytical perspective confirms perceived biological difference (Badri Raina) 48

7.6 Buddhist literature clearly refers to the common perception of caste being linked with birth 50

7.7 Top Indian experts see clear links with race, at origin of the concept 50

7.7.1 Ghurye thought that caste started with ‘race’ 50

7.7.2 The original migrations into India 53

7.8 Caste and eugenics: further proof of its strong links with race 53

7.8.1 The Caste System: “a Great Eugenic Movement in the truest sense of the word”. Btw, if you are a girl, avoid marrying a hairy man. 53

7.9 Strong skin colour preference in India 61

7.10 The mistreatment of foreign ‘white’ women tourists in India 61

8. Rationalisation for oppression through hierarchies of the soul 62

8.1 The soul is (re)born into a caste based on its karma 62

8.1.1 Gandhi’s view 63

8.1.2 Vivekananda’s logic for reincarnation of the “soul” is very good, but DNA and evolution explains much better 64

8.1.3 J.N. Farquhar’s findings 66

8.2 Charvakas rejected reincarnation 66

8.3 Buddhists rejected reincarnation of soul?? 67

9. Lots of red herrings thrown in to confound the truth 68

9.1 Red herring: Caste is not determined at birth 68

9.2 Red herring: Caste is not intrinsic to Hinduism 68

9.3 Red herring: Caste is a professional association 69

9.4 Red herring: Caste is class 69

9.5 Red herring: there was never any discrimination, anyway 73

9.6 Red herring: Caste is cultural 74

9.7 Red herring: Other countries have a caste system, too 75

9.8 Red herring: Many reform movements opposed caste so it is not an issue 75

9.9 Red herring: Caste is dying, hence irrelevant 93

10. The escape from oppression 95

10.1 Reform that (at least partially) worked 95

10.1.1 Brahmo Samaj 95

10.1.1.1 Raja Ram Mohun Roy (India’s first classical liberal) was also the first MAJOR opponent of caste 95

10.1.1.2 Some of India’s major Brahmo Samajis 95

10.1.2 Aryan (noble) Brahmins discarded their sacred thread 180 years ago. Any Aryan Hindus found today? 96

10.2 Reform that failed 97

10.2.1 Buddha 97

10.2.2 Shankara 98

10.2.3 Bhakti movements 98

10.2.4 Dayanand Saraswati and Arya Samaj 100

10.2.5 Ramakrishna Mission 100

10.2.6 Gandhi – a reformer but great racist and believer in caste 101

10.2.7 Periyar 103

10.2.8 Rajiv Malhotra’s advice 103

10.3 Net effect of the challenge of Christianity: Hinduism split into four 104

10.4 Conversion to other religions cannot help 104

10.4.1 To Christianity 104

10.4.2 To Islam 104

10.5 Why going to another organised religion is like going from the frying pan into the fire 104

10.5.1 Organised religions SYSTEMATICALLY shuts out critical thinking 104

10.6 Five methods to end the oppressiveness of the caste system 105

10.7 No role for government in removal of caste 108

10.8 Are Dalits not interested in removal of caste? 108

10.9 Escape into reason: Scientific Hinduism 108

10.10 Only higher castes oppose the abolition of caste 108

10.10.1 A Hindu writing in Mahratta in favour of caste 109

11. Economic explantion for the persistence of caste 110

11.1 Lohia’s explanation 110

11.2 Kaivan Munshi’s explanation 110

11.3 Free markets and social minimum 110

12. An outline of Scientific Hinduism 111

12.1 Scientific Hinduism rejects the concept of caste 111

12.1.1 There is no soul, or at least no proof of soul/God that I can personally confirm 111

12.1.2 Even if there is a soul, it visits the earth only once 112

12.1.3 Classical liberalism and caste are polar opposites 113

12.2 Scientific Hinduism the plausibility of Vedanta 113

12.2.1 The need to ask for proof: Vivekanda’s pre-vedanta days 114

12.2.2 But Vedanta still represents the best in Hinduism 114

13. References 115

Appendix: India’s official position regarding caste discrimination 118

GOI position regarding caste 118

In 1965 GOI agreed that caste groups were downtrodden 118

In 1996 GOI linked caste to class 118

In 2001 GOI said caste is not anyone else’s business to discuss 118

International position on caste 119

In 2002 CERD confirmed opposition to caste discrimination 119

In 2009 CERD re-confirmed opposition to caste discrimination 119

We, the self-respecting humans, are born free.

Classical liberalism rejects inequality of stautus and demands equal freedom for all humans (within their own nation, i.e. a place where they pay relevant tax). While much of Hinduism (particularly Advaita) is compatible with science, reason and liberty, and has been, on average, the most tolerant religion on this planet, it is fundamentally incompatible witih key aspects of equality of status and liberty.

The key problem with Hinduism is the caste system. This system of differentiation amongst Hindus (and others) on basis of their birth, without regard to their work in real life, is both immoral in itself, and leads to significant immorality among Hindus during their life.

That doesn’t mean Hinduism is particularly immoral. All religions have institutionalised immorality. None is free of this basic charge. All organised religion smacks of an attempt by priests and ‘intermediaries’ to control the rest of their ‘flock’.

This book is based on some research I’ve conducted over the past few weeks.

Why have I picked Hinduism for such detailed analysis?

First, India’s low ‘national’ IQ. Why would this be so? Because of low nutrition (which I’ve covered in Book 1) but also because of the caste system. India performs very poorly, with the lower castes performing far worse than even the national average. This can only be explained by the great harm caused by caste. I’ll discuss this in detail later.

Second, given my close association with Hinduism (being what I was born and brought up as, being what I’m married into, and being what many of my friends and colleagues belong to), I explore the immorality of Hinduism more sternly than I explore the immorality of other religions.

Third, being born as an Indian, I remain particularly keen that India revert to its ancient status as a sone ki chidiya, a great prosperous nation. I care for India’s largest religion more than I care for other religions.

In the end the world will be better off by getting rid of all religion, and escaping into reason. Only reason can save mankind from its own follies.

I don’t “belong” to anyone, to any religion or “civilisation”. I belong to me, and I’m an ordinary human being. That’s all I need to be. I ask questions, and recommend the best ways forward for India and for the world – based on answers derived from these questions. My contribution is to offer ideas and leave it to others to consider, on the test of reason.

Ambedkar’s summary of Brahminical Hinduism

Dr. Ambedkar came to the conclusion that, “A religion which glorifies ignorance and impudently preached inequality, hatred, divided human beings into multitudinous Castes and sub Castes, sanctioned poverty and adopted economic measures to keep the majority of its followers poor, illiterate, ignorant, disunited and divided was nothing short of infamy.”[1]

In this regard it will be invaluable to read Ambedkar’s essay Annihilation of Caste, before reading the rest of this book.

Regardless of how it started, the problem of the immorality of caste has became bigger over the centuries. No doubt there were attempts to fix it, such as through Brahmo Samaj and others. But Vedantic Hinduism – which in many way mimicks key elements of Buddhism managed to not only get back those who deserted Hinduism in favour of Buddhism, but imprisoned those who returned into the same caste hierarchies from which they had fled.

But the time the British arrived in India, caste was already a huge blot on mankind, on par with slavery. It took British scholars a century or more to even remotely understand the matter, but their understanding remained incomplete.

Enter Raja Ram Mohun Roy

It needed an Indian scholar to understand the problem and realise that caste was entirely incompatible with liberty and equality of status – two revolutionary ideas introduced in Great Britain by the liberals in the 17th century.

And once he realised that caste was immoral, he had no option but to start a new religion, called Brahmo Samaj, a religion without caste.

But given the challenges of communication and hidebound attitudes within the Indian society, this religion didn’t go far. And I belive it did not stand as much for reason as it should have.

Abolishing caste is an urgent necessity

Regardless of the action people may choose to undertake after they personally reject their caste, the fact remains that caste must be abolished.

Just like slavery continued across the world till classical liberals challenged it repeatedly, for a century or more, so also caste must be challenged.

Caset is far more subtle than slavery, being a form of ‘self-slavery’ – in which the slave (victim/lower caste) accepts the FAKE rationalisation provided by higher castes, and believes he has to obey the higher castes lest his ‘next life’ be adversely affected.

Slavery was relatively easy to abolish. Caste will take much more effort and determination.

It must begin with an understanding of the problem and alternatives at hand. This booklet is a compilation of my initial research. It documents the harm caused by caste and how it can be brought to and end.

Like all my work, this draft will remain in the public domain and I will work on it as time permits. It should be treated as work in progress.

1 Equal status in Charvaka Hinduism

Charvaka was a revolutionary critical thinker and rejected the idea of soul and hence caste. Total equality of all humans was a mandatory requirem ent in this model.

2 Equal status in Islam and Christianity

Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains are EQUAL within their religion. Why not Hindus?

Islam and Christianity are known for their insistence on equality. But only Christian takes this to the next level: of looking after the oppressed. In many ways, the idea of looking after the oppressed is missing from Hinduism.

NOTE: It is true that if an Indian converts from Hinduism to any other religion, he is likely to carry his ‘caste’ along with him. That is much to do with the deep inroads into the mind made by the caste system, not a requirement of these other religions.

3 Alleged equal consciousness in Vedanta

In some ways, Vedanta is close to Buddhism by considering the common consciousness in all humans. Through revival of Vedanta, Sankara was able to revive Hinduism. But he did not reject caste outright. And there lies the problem.

1 Shankara learnt Advaita from a “low caste” Chandala, but he never really got the point, did he?

I wasn't aware of this story but after I chanced upon it twice in a single day, I researched this further and found that is it is quite well known and widely discussed. Well, if there's ANYTHING useful we can get from this story, it is that caste is wrong. It is a FALSE idea and must be discarded.

VERSION OF STORY IN DALIT LITERATURE

|The great Sankaracharya of Kaldi, famous for his ideologue Advaita once came across a Chandala who was on his way to Harighat.|

|He, being aghast of the presence of an untouchable told the latter to stay away from his sight. To Shankara’s utter dismay, |

|the Chandala raised some pertinent questions from the same Advaita. “Whom are you telling to keep away, Acharya the |

|fountainhead of all knowledge of Vedas and Upanishads! This body or the atman which resides in this body? Your body and mine |

|are made of the same substance, as pots of varying sizes and colours are made of the same clay. So one such body cannot ask |

|the other of the same to stay away. Are they not part of the same illusion?” |

|Source: Swaminathan Venkat, The Dalit in Tamil Literature-Past and Present. Indian Literature Sahitya Akademi, Delhi P.17 (as |

|cited in VOICE OF DALIT IN SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE by Aswini Kumar Mishra) |

HOW BRAHMINS APPROPRIATED THIS AND CONVERTED THE CHANDALA INTO SHIVA

|Sankara, the great Hindu philosopher and reformer, was one day coming from his bath in the Ganges when a drunken outcast |

|accidentally touched him. “How dare you touch me?” he exclaimed. The outcast replied that since the same Supreme Spirit is in |

|all, how could his touch contaminate, and proceeded to expound the philosophy of Oneness. Sankara listened in wonderment and |

|humbly acknowledged that he was right. Whereupon the outcast stood revealed as Shiva Himself, and Sankara fell at His feet. |

|Source:  HINDUISM: The World-Ideal by Harendranath Maitra (1916) |

Also:



Instead of Sankara REJECTING CASTE he continued to teach caste, so that his future disciple Vivekananda continued to teach caste, even though he was teaching advaita.

In my view ADVAITA AND CASTE ARE FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE.

I totally deny this nonsense about the Chandala being "Shiva". The ONLY evidence we have is that Shankara was caught out by his HUGE EGO and Brahminical arrogance. He didn't get the message of TOTAL EQUALITY which is the key message of advaita.

The ONLY way Advaita can make sense is through total equality of all humans, of all human consciousness. Anything less is utter nonsense.

4 Say no to caste

Caste is fundamentally EVIL. It might appear harmless on the surface but its approach must necessarily lead to evil consequences.

There is NO redeeming feature in the caste system. There were arguably some economic “advantages” of caste in an agricultural society but these came at great cost: of lowering the self-respect of the people. In the end, that has DESTROYED their potential.

I have no doubt that feudal serfs in Europe would have tested very poorly on intelligence (IQ), just like the Dalits do (on average). But the moment feudalism was abolished, others started marrying the erstwhile serfs, and through education and the industrial revolution EVERYONE got an equal chance to develop.

But I’m afraid the situation in India is so dire that even if the caste system were abolished tomorrow, there would be very few inter-caste marriages. And so the progeny of the Dalits and Sudras will remain handicapped as they don’t get the environment necessary for their children to develop.

Swami Ramdev runs the Bharat Swabhiman movement today, but that would not have been necessary if there was no caste system. The caste system is destroying the sense of self-worth of billions of people.

The best swabhiman movement in India will be to DESTROY the caste system, lock stock and barrel. I encourage you to SAY NO TO CASTE.

Anyway, that is the BASIC PRECEPT of Scientific Hinduism.

[pic]

Caste is immoral from first principles

1 Violation of basic ethical principles

Caste is EVIL. Pure EVIL. There is no redeeming feature in the caste system. Its immorality is deeply rooted within the soul.

Not being a religious person (nor caring for any religion), I focus purely on ETHICAL principles. While there a lot of problems with caste, I will start by focusing on the two main philosophical ones (liberty and equal status) which confirm its deep immorality.

1 Denial of equal status

1 Lower castes called foul names

I’m not good at recognising caste titles. We have had a culture in our house of ignoring caste. The first time I met my future wife I thought that she was Christian because she used to walk to the church with a Christian friend of hers, and I thought most people from NE India were Christians. Turns out that Goswamis are “Brahmins”.

While I don’t know which of the following derogatory names apply to which caste, I’ve collected a few names from cursory reading of the literature.

Dasa, Dasysu, Raksasa, Asura, Avarna, Nisada, Panchama, Mletcha, Svapaca, Chandala, Achchuta, Harijan, Chura in Punjab; Bhangi or Lal-Beghi in Hindi; Mahar in Marathi; Mala in Telugu, Paraiyan in Tamil, and Pulayan in Malayalam.

2 Sudras treated like children

|Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas, these were the three twice-born orders, belonging to the original Aryan stock. They |

|conquered the non-Aryans, who by race and tradition were inferior. After their gradual conquest, these also became members of |

|the Hindu family, but with inferior rank. These are the Sudras. By this means our forefathers protected themselves from |

|interfusion with an inferior race. |

|In India, with all our caste, there was never either class feeling or race antagonism. The division of this community-family |

|of the Hindus into caste groups was evolved for the division of labour, and the giving to all of the right of equal |

|opportunities within his own particular sphere. |

|True only the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaisyas could read the Vedas, and the Sudras were debarred. One does not give higher |

|mathematics to children. |

|Source: HINDUISM: The World-Ideal by Harendranath Maitra 1916 |

2 Denial of equal liberty

Equal liberty is a right in itself. Every Indian must get equal liberty and equal opportunity to succeed. The idea of denying 40 per cent of the Indians a chance just because of the caste is obnoxious in the extreme.

1 Subtle model of race domination, not race extermination

Hindu racism does not demand extermination of other castes. It is happy enough to snub and look down upon its ‘inferiors’. It is particularly upset (like withi Gandhi) if ‘whites’ look down upon the upper castes as in any way inferior to ‘whites’.

Christophe Jaffrelot writes:

|The main conclusion of this enquiry seems to lie in the ambivalent response of the Hindu nationalist ideologues of the 1920s |

|and 1930s to the European biological theories. These ideologues had inherited a ‘traditional xenology’ where the racial |

|criterion was minimized compared to the degree of orthopraxy: the caste system reveals here its integrative capacity inasmuch |

|as everybody can find a place in it according to one’s rank. All in all, the hierarchical principle of the caste system makes |

|the eugenic criterion of elimination difficult to apply: the exclusion can only be partial; it takes the form of a rejection |

|at the periphery but not outside the whole of the society. |

|This does not mean that the Hindu nationalist ideologues did not expound a racial theory. They did so, but it was more a |

|racism of domination than a racism of extermination. This specificity was again in accordance with the ‘traditional xenology’:|

|the Other is not excluded but he can be only integrated at a subordinate rank. The members of minorities who refuse to become |

|Hinduized are bound to remain statutory second-rate citizens from the Hindu nationalist point of view. This kind of |

|discrimination is, indeed, nothing but a form of ‘upper caste racism’. [Source: Religion, Caste, and Politics in India  By |

|Christophe Jaffrelot] |

3 Destruction of self-respect

This is the most insidious of all: that the lower castes have co-opted themselves into this system.

|Another aspect of caste system is the way it survives with the support from lower castes. The upper castes do not have to |

|dominate them with the rule of gun. Lower castes justify their subordination by discovering folklore of their kind and offer |

|justification of their own subordination through a moral discourse innovated by themselves rather than by upper castes. Lower |

|castes have legends and myths that justify their lowly situation and transform it into a symbol of sacrifice and luster. Lohia|

|gives an illustration from fisher-folk’s life. The Kaivarts (fisher-folk caste) who presumably number more than one crore |

|population tell stories about their mythical ancestors, who were simple, un-greedy, brave and generous and who lost everything|

|to other ancestors of Kshatriyas and other high castes because of their greater greed and deceit. The current lot of misery is|

|attributed to the unending succession of sacrificial acts for the sake of high principles. This sacrifice is seen not as an |

|active principle that seeks change but as a passive submission to the caste order. This sort of mythical sacrifices is |

|wide-spread among the lower castes. They secure their subordination. |

|Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohia’s Immanent Critique of Caste |

4 Different justice for different castes

The Dharmashastras are full of instances where justice/punishmenet depends on caste.

“Lord Macaulay was a social revolutionary who, by drawing up the Indian Penal Code, made all Indians equal before the law” [Chandra Bhan Prasad]

Macaulay wrote:

|to go to India itself for an instance, though I fully believe that a mild penal code is better than a severe penal code, the |

|worst of all systems was surely that of having a mild code for the Brahmins, who sprang from the head of the Creator, while |

|there was a severe code for the Sudras, who sprang from his feet. India has suffered enough already from the distinction of |

|castes, and from the deeply rooted prejudices which that distinction has engendered. God forbid that we should inflict on her |

|the curse of a new caste, that we should send her a new breed of Brahmins, authorised to treat all the native population as |

|Parias!  [Source] |

2 What’s wrong with eugenics, scientific racism, Hindutva and Hindu caste system?

1 A worldview that groups disparate people together on GENETIC (birth based) criteria is collectivist:

All these three – eugenics, scientific racism and the Hindu caste system – are a form of collectivism – a perspective that combines a LOT of people on the basis of brith-based characteristics. This worldview has policy implications.

In the caste system, for instance, people are treated differently by Hinduism just because of the caste in which they happen to be born. So also under scientific racism which leads to policies such as prohibition of marriages between different "races", or blocking an entire "race" from entry into a nation (e.g.White Australia policy).

2 These worldviews violate the basic principle of equality of status of mankind:

Scientific racism divices humanity into races based on alleged biological differences. Caste system divides Hindus into different castes based on alleged differences in their soul. Hindutva philosophy divides people into "Indian" religions vs. others.

Vedanta/Scientific Hiniduism/ classical liberalism, on the other hand, insist on the commonality of all humans.

[pic]

As you well know I oppose ANY attempt to discriminate (under the law) between the equal status of all humans.

That's perhaps one fundamental reason why I'm broadly comfortable with Vedanta but very uncomfortable with Hinduism as commonly practiced, and with all religions.

And that's also why I oppose eugenics and 'scientific racism'.

Any philosophy that LABELS people on basis of birth characteristics and then discriminates against them is fundamentally dangerous.

That's one reason why socialists/ Nazi fascists and Hindutva (BJP) think alike. They don't mind classifying people into groups.

I don't classify people into groups. Each individual is different, and must be judged on his/her own merit.

3 Hypothesis: India’s caste system contributed a CRITICAL justification for global racism

The more I think about it, the greater is the likelihood that the Indian caste system was a major contributor to – if not the DRIVER of - global racism.

Here are the facts:

The Europeans including the Dutch and British were extremely poor and lived TRULY short and brutish lives before the industrial revolution. Everyone wrote about India as the great nation of the world. Nothing could beat the splendour of India in those days. India absorbed MOST of the world's gold and produced most of the world's luxury goods and spices.

To discover a way to reach India and get its goods cheaply, Europeans went searching helter skelter across the world – some going east and some going west!

They finally reached India in 1600 as SUBORDINATE traders, living below the thumb of Indian rulers.

There was no possibility of these subordinate Europeans even remotely imagining themselves as "superior".

By 1757, through a range of fortuitous circumstances, the British managed to get real territory in India.

Most importantly, by that time they were becoming economically better off with the industrial revolution. Capitalism was finally discovered by Adam Smith (although a primitive version of it had been discovered – and implemented – by Chanakya 2000 years earlier).

SO THE REAL BASIS FOR RACISM STARTS WITH 1757

Before 1757 the Europeans were puny barbarians and subordinates of Indians. They couldn't even speak as equals, leave alone imagine they were "superior".

By the early 1830s William Jones had discovered connections of Sanskrit with European languages. This gave HOPE to the British that they might have been superior in some way in the past, despite thousands of years of well-documentedtribalism and barbarism (save a few exceptions here and there).

Most importantly, they found that Brahmins had a particular role in the caste hierarchy, which was based on skin colour.

But even then, there was no real racism, only a glimmer of HOPE that the "whites" might in some way be "superior". No bugles of "superiority" were pulled out. The only sense of superiority that seems to have emerged was some mention about the lack of recent scientific progress in India, in comparison with RECENT advances in the West. And a sense that there were these ghastly customs like sati.

Then came the Aryan theory with the Brahmins ("WHITE") AT THE TOP. Max Muller claimed the "Aryan invasion". That was a real breakthrough in the "RACIAL PRIDE" of the Europeans.

This was when the British finally started seeing themselves as "superior" to most Indians (not Brahmins, though).

And they audaciously (and justifiably!) put themselves ON TOP OF THE BRAHMINS. Why? Because they were "white", and their language had common roots with Sanskrit! So if a brown Brahmin leads the pack in India, then the White Brahmin must lead the global pack.

It seems to me that racism peaked between 1860s and 1950s – being driven by the "Aryan" myth.

The Aryan myth was nothing but the Europeans thinking they were at the top of the world's caste system.

In this way the Indian caste system, combined with the increasing economic clout of the British, created (or at least stoked) the delusion of "white" racism.

Without the caste system there would have been NO HOPE of the "white" "races" seeing themselves "superior" to anyone else. They might have become the rulers but never thought of themselves as a "superior" "race".

QED.

Not just destruction of liberty but oppression and VIOLENCE

I don’t intend to even briefly cover the extensive oppression, tyranny and violence of caste. This chapter merely provides a glimpse. I’m not covering violence in detail, but statistics of caste based violence are widely available on the internet.

1 Control over key life events

Brahmins control the oppressed Hindus at key points in their life: birth, marriage and death. By acting as intermediaries between Hindus and the unseen ‘spirits’, they accrue power.

2 Careful ‘domestication’ (victim-consent) of the oppressed

As a result of these control mechanisms, the lower castes have been domesticated. There has been significant co-option in the elevation of oppressive Brahmins by Hindus. At least the upper castes are perfectly ‘under control’. There remain some difficulties in controlling intelligent Dalits like Ambedkar, but the average Dalit is well ‘under control’, having by now lost the intelligence and ability to understand how they are being controlled.

Regardless of the merit or otherwise of the caste system (it is extremely immoral; a great evil), there seems to be (almost) no doubt that Brahmins do have some above-average intellectual skills.

The greatest skill that some of the most intelligent specimens of this 'caste' brought to the table, of course, is the very idea of the caste system. There can perhaps be nothing as "smartly designed" as the caste system in which you chant mantras that call others inferior and YET manage to get these "inferiors" running around you to be part of the "system" – and to give you dakshina.

The Brahmins insult others openly. The Dharmashastras, written by the Brahmins, are full of insults for other castes.

Manusmriti: One should consider a Brahman ten year-old and a Kashatriya hundred year old as father and son; but of them the Brahman is the father. A Shudra is not worthy of respect on the ground of his wealth or knowledge no matter how high he may be.

Taittiriya Brahmana: The Brahman Caste is sprung from the Gods; the Shudras from the Asuras (daemons).

Vishnu Smiriti: The name to be chosen should be auspicious in the case of a Brahman, indicating power in the case of a Kashatriya, indicating wealth in the case of the Vaishya and indicating contempt in the case of the Shudra.

And of course, many Brahmins have never hesitated to humiliate Dalits like Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram. Plus the usual humiliation of women – and insistence on a son to undertake funeral rites: which is the cause of the great tragedy of the missing girl children of India. If Christian priests have behaved badly, then Hindu priests have behaved much worse – and have managed, very cleverly, to build a constituency that doesn't challenge them. The Pope is on the defensive. But the Brahmin is still supreme – and able to chant his (sometimes vile) mantras without any push back or questioning.

It takes great intellectual prowess to design an abusive system and make the victim thank you for it!

The caste system is a web which you can't enter or escape from, without paying the Brahmin.

3 Obnoxious suggestion that others ‘pollute’ us

|Caste is simply not a system of inequalities between castes of purity and castes of pollution. Such a neat division of labour |

|is not there in the caste system. There are grades of pollution, followed by rules of precedence in matters of education, |

|religion, commensality, marriage, economy and so on. Such rules of precedence exclude not merely Dalits from various sectors |

|of human life. They also exclude Sudras, Vaisyas, non-Vedic Brahmins as well as all women across caste divisions. Caste is |

|thus a hierarchy of grades/ranks of people subdivided by the different rules of precedence in matters governing human life, |

|where the Vedic Brahmin male occupies the top of hierarchy with Dalits occupying its bottom. |

|Vedas and Puranas were seen as two different sources of knowledge. Vedic Brahmins occupied superior status over Puranic |

|Brahmins as the Vedic knowledge preceded Puranic knowledge. Brahmin male occupied superior status over Brahmin women in |

|matters of knowledge. Women of any caste and all non-Brahmin males were excluded from education system by caste practices. |

|Violation of such rules by any group invited proportionate physical punishment. Such punishment rules varied from region to |

|region. |

|Even, untouchables are divided by rules of precedence. Malas think that they are superior to Madigas in Andhra Pradesh and |

|assume that the latter are untouchables. Politically, a Mala may claim that he is a Dalit but does not hesitate to |

|ex-communicate Madigas and their assertions for self-identity, thus debunking his entire claim for a Dalit identity. |

|Source: Arun Kumar Patnaik, Lohia’s Immanent Critique of Caste] |

4 Possible link of ‘pollution’ with beef eating

|The Veda Vyas Smriti contains the following verse which specifies the communities which are included in the category of |

|Antyajas and the reasons why they were so included |

|L.12-13 “The Charmakars (Cobbler), the Bhatta (Soldier), the Bhilla, the Rajaka (washerman), the Puskara, the Nata (actor), |

|the Vrata, the Meda, the Chandala, the Dasa, the Svapaka, and the Kolika- these are known as Antyajas as well as others who |

|eat cow’s flesh.” |

|Generally speaking, the Smritikars never care to explain the why and the how of their dogmas. But this case is exception. For |

|in this case, Veda Vyas does explain the cause of untouchability. The clause “as well as others who eat cow's flesh” is very |

|important. It shows that the Smritikars knew that the origin of untouchability is to be found in the eating of beef. |

|Source: Ambedkar: |

5 Blaming victims for their plight

1 Vivekananda chastised non-Brahmins

For the other castes he had some harsh words, and challenged them to learn Sanskrit.

|NON-BRAHMINS ARE LAZY |

|To the non-Brahmin castes I say, wait, be not in a hurry. Do not seize every opportunity of fighting the Brahmin, because, as |

|I have shown, you are suffering from your own fault. Who told you to neglect spirituality and Sanskrit learning? What have you|

|been doing all this time? Why have you been indifferent? Why do you now fret and fume because somebody else had more brains, |

|more energy, more pluck and go, than you? |

|Instead of wasting your energies in vain discussions and quarrels in the newspapers, instead of fighting and quarrelling in |

|your own homes — which is sinful — use all your energies in acquiring the culture which the Brahmin has, and the thing is |

|done. Why do you not become Sanskrit scholars? Why do you not spend millions to bring Sanskrit education to all the castes of |

|India? That is the question. The moment you do these things, you are equal to the Brahmin. That is the secret of power in |

|India. Sanskrit and prestige go together in India. |

| As soon as you have that, none dares say anything against you. That is the one secret; take that up. [Source] |

6 Economic discrimination

1 Lower castes not likely to be given jobs

|Male Hindus are more likely to discriminate against low caste Hindus |

|Job applications were made for entry level white collar jobs which were based in Chennai and advertised on job search web |

|sites between March and December of 2006. Two resumes were sent for each job vacancy, one being randomly assigned a high-caste|

|sounding name and the other a low-caste sounding name. The resumes depicted applicants of approximately the same level of |

|productivity. On average, a high-caste applicant had to send 6.2 resumes to get one callback while a low-caste applicant had |

|to send 7.4 resumes to get one callback, a difference of approximately 20 percent. |

|The nature of the audit study also allowed me to look at the variation in callback gaps associated with recruiter and firm |

|characteristics. The effect of low caste on callback is negative for male recruiters and for Hindu recruiters, but it is |

|positive for female recruiters and for non-Hindu recruiters. |

|The effect of low caste on callback is negative for firms with a larger scale of operations (with multiple domestic offices or|

|with foreign offices) but positive for firms with a smaller scale of operations (without multiple domestic offices or without |

|foreign offices). |

|Caste Based Discrimination: Evidence and Policy, Zahra Siddique, September 2008, The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) |

| |

2 Lower castes regularly cheated in economic trasactions

|During the study of the ‘Discrimination in Food Security Programme’ conducted by the Indian University Grants Commission |

|(UGC), the present UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat (a dalit) and Joel Lee of Columbia University (USA), it was found that |

|discrimination in quantity, quality, price, favouritism and Untouchability is rampant across the country. The result is |

|startling enough to make the government re-orient its food security programmes. |

|With Casteism heavily dominating the ‘Public Distribution Programme’ (PDS), Dalits are not only denied access to food, but are|

|also made to pay more money for lesser quantity and are charged higher prices. Of the total 521 Villages surveyed in five |

|States: |

|Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh- almost 40% reported that Dalits were found to be receiving |

|lesser quantities for the same price as compared to the Upper Castes. [Source: The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the |

|Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Today’s World By Chanan Chahal] |

7 Mistreatment and humiliation of lower castes/ outcastes

1 Shivaji’s humiliation

Shivaji’s humiliation by “Brahmins” was as abominable as humiliation by Aurangzeb

I hold Shivaji in the highest esteem. I don't have any heroes any more but he was a hero during my teenage years. In class 10 in school I played a lead role in the school Shivaji celebrations organised (Kendriya Vidyalaya, Picket, Secunderabad) in 1974-75. I wrote an English play about Shivaji, and then directed and acted in that play. I also painted

Shivaji’s exploits in watercolour paintings for the exhibition.

Never did I bother to inquire into his “caste” or even his religion (he, too – it is my understanding – was a believer in individual merit, not in someone's caste or religion).

But yesterday, while exploring the caste system, I came across this fact – that Shivaji was humiliated by Brahmins during his lifetime.

Why? Because he was a “Shudra”!

What kind of a religion is this which disrespects real achievements and contributions but pretends that people’s status must be determined by IMAGINARY past achievements in a life that no one has any clue about! The re-birth myth is a curse on India.

It is unfortunate that Shivaji bothered to get a “Brahmin” to crown himself king (at HUGE expense – he managed someone to FAKE his background). He should have chosen the most learned person in his kingdom, regardless of the person’s religion or caste.

I now feel even more disgusted with Brahminical (caste) Hinduism than ever before.

|“Shivaji keenly felt his humiliation at the hands of the Brahmans to whose defence and prosperity he had devoted his life. |

|Their insistence on treating him as Shudra drove him into the arms of Balaji Avjji, another victim of Brahmanic pride. The |

|Brahmans proclaim[ed] a social boycott of Balaji Avaji who had ventured to invest his son with the sacred thread. Balaji |

|naturally sympathized with his master and tried to raise him in social estimation by engaging Ganga Bhatta who 'made Shivaji a|

|pure Kshatriya.” [Sarkar, Jadunath. Shivaji and His Times. Calcutta: MC Sarkar & Sons, 1919. |

|Further:  |

|“Shivaji’s descendant, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, was not allowed to chant vedic mantras. The reasonwas they were shudras and |

|hence had no right to worship or be worshipped in vedic tradition. A very recent example is of Pandarinath Patil of Chikhali |

|dt., Buldhana. He was insulted for chanting the mantra, Omkar. Even today, all Sankaracharyas are Brahmin by caste.” [Source] |

|Basically, everyone seems to be misusing Shivaji’s legacy to further their “cause”.  |

|‘Dalits see him as the champion of the outcastes because he was one king who employed their services in his fight against his |

|enemies; Hindutva historians see him merely as a Hindu king ranged against Muslims, seeking to establish a Hindu swarajya; |

|Marathas see him only as their foremost leader who fought Muslim rulers on one side and Brahmin bigotry on the other side; |

|while Brahmins have written about Shivaji as a king who achieved greatness because he was guided by Brahmin sant and |

|advisors.’ [Source] |

|Whatever the political use people are making of Shivaji, one thing is clear: the Brahmins seriously insulted this fine |

|gentleman. |

|Here are my research findings about Shivaji’s insult from his own religion. |

|This is what I first came across: |

|From The Evil of Caste: The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Today’s World By Chanan Chahal |

|If birth of the Shudra was so pure just because feet are closer to the mother earth, then what happened in the case of Shri |

|Shattarpati Shiva ji? |

|It is a well known historical fact that, Shivaji, after having established a Hindu kingdom in the Western part of Maharashtra,|

|thought of proclaiming himself a king by having a coronation ceremony performed by a Brahman. But he was denied by the |

|Brahmans by proclaiming that Shri Shattarpati Shivaji was a Shudra by birth. Therefore the coronation could not be performed, |

|because he was not a Kashatriya. Even though the Kashatriyas had failed to defend the state, or regain it, from the Moguls, it|

|took a Shudra warrior to take it back. |

|Brahman’s refusal to crown Shivaji, meant lot of the tribes would not follow him in battle, because he was not a legitimate |

|king duly crowned, so Shivaji offered ten times as much to a Brahman called Gagabhat from Benares to perform the coronation |

|ceremony on 6th.June 1674. Even then the Brahman would not touch him with his hands to anoint his fore-head instead he used |

|his left toe. The name of Shivaji is mentioned with great pride throughout India, as one of the greatest warriors who stood up|

|to the mogul might, but to a Brahman he was nothing, but a Shudra.” |

|Not willing to believe just one source, I investigated further. Here are the results of a few of my attempts to confirm this |

|story. It appears that this is true. |

|Confirmation 1 |

|“Human rights activist Teesta Setalvad had prepared a hand book of History for the school teachers some time back. In this she|

|pointed out that since Shivaji was a Shudra, the Brahmins refused to coronate him, so a Brahmin Gaga Bhat had to be brought |

|from Kashi, who did the coronation ritual. Since Shivaji was a Shudra this coronation was done with the toe of his left foot |

|by Gaga Bhat.” [Source: SHIVAJI’S STATUE IN ARABIAN SEA by Ram Puniyani, June 06, 2009] |

|Confirmation 2 |

|“as a Shudra or low-caste person, Shivaji had perforce to enact some ceremony by means of which he could be raised to the |

|status of a kshatriya or traditional ruler. Not a single brahmin was ready to do the coronation ceremonial function of the |

|shudra shivaji. To this end, he enlisted the services of Gagga Bhatta, a famous Brahmin from Benaras, who did the Brahminical |

|thing in falsely certifying that Shivaji’s ancestors were kshatriyas descended from the solar dynasty of Mewar and that too |

|the coronation was made by the thumb of the leg only of shivaji belonging to shudra. This coronation ceremony took on June |

|6,1974.” [Source:  ] |

|Confirmation 3: |

|Dalit's Inheritance in Hindu Religion (2009) By Mahendra Singh, Foreword by P.Parameswaran, President, Vivekananda Kendra, |

|Kanyakumari |

|In his book 'History of India (1000 to 1707 AD)', Shiva Lal Agarwala & Company Educational Publishers, Agra, Dr. A.L. |

|Srivastava writes "Orthodox Brahmans in Maharastra were averse to recognizing him as Kshatriya …. At his initiation into the |

|rites of the twice-born (Dwija) Kshatriya, Shivaji's guru and other Brahmans uttered Vedic mantras, but Shivaji was not |

|allowed to utter or repeat them…." . Coming to position of descendants of Shivaji, Dr. Ambedkar in the same above book writes,|

|referring to aversions of Brahmins, "They could do nothing to the two sons of Shivaji, Sambhaji and Rajaram. Shivaji had their|

|upanayan performed in his life-time by Brahmins with Vedic rites. They could do nothing to his grandson, Shahu because the |

|Brahmin had no ruling power in their hands. The moment Shahu transferred his sovereign power to his Brahmins Peshwa their road|

|to repudiation became clear…   There is definite evidence that upenayana ceremony of his successor, Shahu-II, who was adopted |

|in 1777 AD had been performed with Pauranic rites and by the direction of Peshwas. The performance of upanayan of Shahu-II |

|with Pauranic rites was tantamount to his being regarded by the Peshwas as a Shudra". |

|Dr. S.V. Ketkar in his book "History of caste in India writes similarly (p. 60) as, "even today I know of a Brahamana of |

|character sufficiently independent to give up all his Jahagir of 40,000 rupees a year and refuse to perform Vedokta ceremonies|

|in the family of Shivaji". |

|As an ideal king and able administrator Shivaji helped the poor peasants by distributing Zamidar's land and taking minimum |

|revenue. He ensured that justice is given to all and never favored his family at the cost of others. He did not have blind |

|belief in orthodoxy and superstitions and undertook sea journeys. He practiced secularism by placing Muslims in his army in |

|good position. |

|Confirmation 4 |

|“as a Shudra or low-caste person, Shivaji had perforce to enact some ceremony by means of which he could be raised to the |

|status of a kshatriya or traditional ruler. To this end, he enlisted the services of Gagga Bhatta, a famous Brahmin from |

|Benares, who did the Brahminical thing in falsely certifying that Shivaji’s ancestors were kshatriyas descended from the solar|

|dynasty of Mewar. 11,000 Brahmins are reported to have chanted the Vedas, and another 50,000 men are said to have been present|

|at the investiture ceremony, which concluded with chants of, “Shivaji Maharaj-ki-jai!”” |

|[Source: ] |

|Confirmation 5 |

|A Social History of India  By S. N. Sadasivan |

|A most renowned conversion to Kshatriyahood, scintillating for its pomp, conspicuous for its splendour, exorbitant for its |

|cost and extraordinary for its rituals, was of Sivaji, indisputably, the most prominent of all Maratha leaders. Sivaji was bom|

|in April or May 1627 in the family of Bhosales founded by Bhosavant who was a Patil or a village officer. His father was |

|Shaji, a military officer under the services of the Mughals and the Muslim rulers of Bijapur, who led successful expeditions |

|against the powerful Vijayanagar empire. Shivaji's mother was Jijabai. His birth was considered to be the answer to her |

|worshipping a local deity Sivai Devi after whom he was named. |

|Brought up in an ambience of reverence to mythological heroes, Sivaji mastered the art of guerilla warfare developed by Malik |

|Ambar, the Abyssinian minister to the Sultan of Ahmednagar. He by his undaunted bravery, formidable political acumen and |

|exceptional organisational ability offered inspiring generalship to a closely knit army drawn from the bold peasantry and the |

|daring hill tribes and conquered vast territories of Aurangazeb who for his religious intolerance was the most hated of the |

|Mughal emperors. |

|His military genius has belied the mythological monopoly of warfare handed down by the Brahminic fiction to an imaginary |

|warrior clan called the Kshatriy.. As H.G. Rawlinson says: "In appearance Sivaji was a typical Maratha". The Brahmins vied |

|with one another to get into his services and although he was of the opinion that they should strictly confine themselves to |

|religious life, he had appointed a great many of them in his administration from top to bottom. Sivaji borrowed the |

|administrative system of the Mauryas, but neither they nor the imperial Guptas ever attached any importance to Kshatriyahood; |

|yet it is amazing even to a frozen intelligence why Sivaji wanted to get converted himself as a Kshatriya. |

|The Marathas to whom he belonged, is a sturdy peasant community which had its own aristocracy. According to Brahminic standard|

|they are Sudras. Capt. E.W. West, Mountstuart Elphinstone, F.W. Sinclair and a host of other students of society in India, are|

|of the definite opinion that the Marathas are Sudras and most of them are Kun(a)bis (cultivators). The other names parallel to|

|cultivators used in upper India and in Gujarat are Kurmis, Koeris and Kanbis who also belong to the Sudra caste. The Marathas |

|would have remained as self-respecting farmers, had not the Brahmins evolved the social framework of Chaturvarnya and |

|arrogated to themselves exclusively the authority for ordaining Kshatriyas. Sivaji was given unstinted support for his |

|military operations by the swordsmen belonging to the Hill Kolis of Mawal who were made later on Marathas by him. The Brahmins|

|did not protest at this upgradation because in spite of their conversion, the Hill Kolis remained as Sudras within the Sudras.|

|The Brahmins who served Sivaji for manoeuvring his power from behind to their advantage, however, were disturbed when Sivaji |

|legitimately aspired, that he should be made the monarch of the territories he brought by the sword under his control. Unlike |

|in the days of the Mauryas and Guptas or even the Chalukyas, in the 17th century caste system had taken its most monstrous |

|form and the entire mobilisation society was aimed at making caste laws fully enforced in its farthest interpretation. The |

|Brahmins had made everyone a slave of caste and forged laws that the Kshatriyas of their ordination alone were entitled to be |

|crowned as kings. |

|By his deed (karma) Sivaji would have been a super- Kshatriya but the more he conquered, the more his fame spread, and the |

|more was the intra-communal jealousy and envy against him. The Maratha families who were equal to the Bhosales, did not want |

|to be subordinate to Sivaji whom they looked down upon as a usurper and an upstart while they openly pledged their loyalty to |

|Aurangazeb and the Mohammaden ruler of Bijapur. The hostile Marathas repeatedly endorsed the Brahmin view that Sivaji was a |

|Suclra as any one of them and had no right to be a king although they were happy to be submissive to the imperial authority of|

|Aurangazeb and the sovereignty of Adil Shah of Bijapur. |

|His prime minister Moro Pant Pingle, himself a Brahmin, was openly opposed to the admittance of Sivaji as a Kshatriya though |

|he apprised his political master that the Maratha Brahmins were prepared to perform his coronation rites in conformity with |

|non-vedic scheme befitting to a Sudra military leader. The great warrior felt insulted and was in a predicament when he found |

|the Brahmins were unrelentingly treating him as a Sudra. He therefore, admitted to his inner circle Balaji Avji, the leader of|

|the Kayasthas who himself was fighting Brahminic insolence. Avji who had the temerity to invest his own son with the cross |

|thread with the help of like-minded others, managed to create a pedigree for the Bhosale family tracing it back to the |

|maharana of Udaipur. Nevertheless, it was not difficult for the Brahmins to defeat the whole genealogical venture. |

|Sivaji finally approached Visveswar, popularly known as Gaga Bhatta who was a Brahmin theologian well-versed in scriptures and|

|rituals to confer upon him Kshatriyahood as well as to conduct his coronation. Gaga Bhatta was an authoritative provenance to |

|the other Brahmins who had hardened their stand against making Sivaji, a Kshatriya, however conceded to his request on his |

|being assured of a gargantuan fortune he demanded. |

|As a prelude to the confirment of Kshatriyahood and his coronation, Sivaji visited a number of temples and made lavish |

|offerings. To the idol in the Bhavani temple in Tuljapur alone, he gifted a parasol made of pure gold weighing 1.25 mounds. |

|The Brahmins drew up a long list of his sins both by commission and by omission including inadvertent killing of cows that he |

|might have unknowingly committed, during raids or battles for the expiation of which they fixed their own sums which Shivaji |

|paid. At the instance of Gaga Bhatta 11, 000 Brahmins with their wives and children numbering in all 50, 000 souls, had to be |

|sumptuously fed and supplied with clothes and other necessities on a liberal scale for four months, the expenses for which |

|were entirely defrayed by their generous patron. |

|On the coronation day, as Sivaji sat on his golden throne studded with luminous pearls and precious stones, flowers of various|

|kinds made of gold and silver and miniature gold lotuses speckled with jewels were showered over the distinguished gathering. |

|With all the largesse which Sivaji distributed, the Brahmins who suppressed their indignance at Sivaji's conversion to |

|Kshatriya by ritual purification done by Gaga Bhatta, rose in revolt when Sivaji was to be taught vedic mantras (hymns) |

|befitting to a twice- born. They contended that only Brahmins were twice-bom and there could be no true Kshatriya in the modem|

|age. Gaga Bhatta lost his nerves at the resentment of the members of his clan and he suddenly dropped the item from the |

|rituals listed in the programme of the coronation which was performed on June 6,1674 at Raigarh. Besides many fabulous |

|presents, Gaga Bhatta received a reward of one lakh of pounds in his capacity as the archpriest of the function. The title of |

|Kshatriya Kulavamsa Sri Raja Sivaji Chhatrapati was conferred on the Maratha conqueror. The head of the English factory at |

|Surat, Henry Oxenden was an eye-witness to the grand and glittering celebration. Oxenden who presented Sivaji with a diamond |

|ring, noted that he was not at any time allowed by the Brahmins to attend to any other business than the religious ceremonies |

|and the talks pertaining to them. |

|The validity of the prohibitively costly coronation of Sivaji according to the vedic rites, was questioned by a Bengali |

|Tantrik priest by name Nischhal Puri Goswami and a few inauspicious occurrences and mishaps that had taken place within weeks |

|of the coronation, he attributed to the inadequacy of the vedic scheme that Gaga Bhatta followed to propitiate the spirits and|

|goblins. On September 24, 1674 Nischhal Puri conducted a second coronation of Sivaji in accordance with the Tantrik rites |

|after which paradoxically mischance only multiplied. |

|The cost of coronation according to Sivaji's court chronicler Sabhasad was 14, 20, 000 buns. There is however no agreement as |

|to the actual amount involved but according to Jadunath Sarkar: "The coronation exhausted Sivaji's treasury and he was in need|

|of money to pay his troops". |

|Sivaji passed away on April 4, 1680 little less than six years after his coronation but before completing his 53rd year. Them |

|is a general belief that Sivaji before his coronation had passed through the process of Hiranyagarbhayaga for investiture to |

|be a Kshatriya but the English and Dutch records are completely silent on this. Whatever the ritualistic details of his |

|coronation, it abundantly illustrates that even as late as 17th century A.D., the mightiest warriors have become victims of |

|the lam and temptations of Kshatriyahood by the confirment of which neither had they enhanced their military capability nor |

|durability of their domains. |

|Confirmation 6: |

|James W. Laine, A Question of Maharashtrian Identity: Hindu Self-definition in the Tales of Shivaji, in Intersections: |

|Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra (2000) edited by Meera Kosambi |

|I have spent a considerable amount of time studying the Shivabharata (1927; hereafter SBH), a Sanskrit text composed by |

|Shivaji's court poet, Kavindra Paramananda. Though incomplete, and not always accurate in its details, the text provides a |

|rare window not only on the world Shivaji inhabited, but on the view that he wished others to have of him. It is a panegyric |

|which suggests the loftier ideals of the ruling Hindu nobility and their Brahmin servants, and provides a complicated picture |

|of the ways this group at least defined themselves as Hindus and viewed the Hindu-Muslim Kulfurkampf of their era. There are |

|good reasons to see the SBH, like Shivaji's coronation in 1674, as part of Shivaji's attempt to claim Kshatriya status and |

|legitimate rule as a Hindu king or Chhatrapati. Indeed, I am sure that the SBH was commissioned at about the same time as the |

|coronation; its language of royal legitimacy presupposes the coronation. |

|In legitimating Shivaji's lineage, however, the court poet needed to recount the successes of the Bhosle clan, especially the |

|deeds of Shivaji's grandfather Maloji and his father Shahaji, and in these stories it becomes clear that the recent rise of |

|the Bhosles was one fostered by Muslim patrons. Of course, in the seventeenth century Deccan, the sultans ruling from |

|Ahmadnagar or Bijapur (the Nizam Shah and the Adil Shah), depended on the service of petty Hindu rajas, or sardars. Shivaji's |

|immediate ancestors were soldiers of fortune who won the right to tax certain lands by their loyal military service to the |

|Muslim overlords, and although they certainly remained Hindus, they operated in a rather Islamicate world.' The SBH accurately|

|notes that Shivaji's father and uncle were named after a Sufi pir, and that their battles were clannish or with rival Hindu |

|rajas. |

|Also see: |

| |

| |

8 Untouchability, and violence against the outcastes

1 GK Gokhale’s comment on untouchability

|It is absolutely monstrous that a class of human beings with bodies similar to our own, with brains that can think and with |

|hearts that can feel, should be perpetually condemned to a low life of utter wretchedness. We may touch a cat, we may touch a |

|dog, we may touch any other animal, but the touch of these human beings is pollution. And so complete is now the mental |

|degradation of these people that they themselves see nothing in such treatment to resent, that they acquiesce in it as though |

|nothing better than that was their due.  At a public meeting in Dharwar in 1903 [cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN INDIA |

|BY J. N. FARQUHAR,1915] |

2 Extract from Gandhi

|Our woebegone Indian society has branded the Bhangi as a social pariah, set him down at the bottom of the scale, held him fit |

|only to receive kicks and abuse, a creature who must subsist on the leavings of the caste-people and dwell on the dung-heap. |

|Not till the invidious distinction between the Brahmin and the Bhangi is removed will our society enjoy health, prosperity and|

|peace, and be happy. |

|Mahatma Gandhi |

|Harijanbandhu, 29-11-1936 () |

3 Oppression of Dalits

|We are sick of the bondage which the barbarism of Hindu customs imposes upon us; we long to enjoy the perfect freedom which |

|the British nation and the British Government desire to offer impartially to all those who are connected with them as British |

|subjects. |

|We would, therefore, earnestly appeal to the Imperial Government to move on our behalf. We have long submitted to the |

|Jagannath of caste; we have for ages been crushed under its ponderous wheels. But we can now no longer submit to the tyranny. |

|Our Hindu rulers did not recognize our manhood, and treated us worse than their cattle; and shall not that nation which |

|emancipated the Negro at infinite self-sacrifice, and enlightened and elevated the poorer people of its own commonwealth, |

|condescend to give us a helping hand? [Mahars (Dalits) of Maharashtra appealing for help against Hinduism to the British |

|rulers of India (1910), in Memorial to the Earl of Crewe, Secretary of State for India cited in MODERN RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN |

|INDIA BY J. N. FARQUHAR (1915)] |

4 Jagjivan Ram humiliated

|Take Shri Jagjeevan Ram, a life-long servant of the Congress Party, he was a Cabinet Minister of the Congress Government from |

|1947 to his death in 1986. He was acting Prime Minister after the death of Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri. He was invited to |

|inaugurate the statue of Shri Sampurnanand in 1971 at Benares Hindu University, and having completed the ceremony Jagjeevan |

|Ram went away. Then the statue was taken down, because it was polluted by the touch of an Untouchable. So it was purified with|

|mixture of ‘Punch Gov’46, according to the ritual stated in the religious texts, the necessary substances are mixed with |

|water from Ganga and washed for 21 days, then the pollution created by Untouchable’s touch is purified. Shri Jagjeevan Ram’s |

|life-time service to the nation came to washing with cow’s urine and cow’s dung? He was deliberately chosen to be humiliated. |

|It was designed to send a message to the wider public that Caste along with its prejudices is very much alive. No matter how |

|high a position an Untouchable acquires, but he is still an Untouchable in the eyes of the Hindus. |

|Source: The Evil of Caste:- The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Today’s |

|World by Chanan Chahal |

5 Ambedkar humiliated

|Dr. Ambedkar is accepted to be the father of the Indian Constitution, a giant amongst scholars and the first law minister who |

|wrote the constitution. He has undertaken enormous economic and legal reformation to uplift Indians, especially Dalits, how is|

|it no Hindu Pundit ever referred him or called him Pundit? In-fact, Dr. Ambedkar’s intelligence and humanity cannot be matched|

|by any Pundit alive or dead in the history of India. But they just think about him as a dalit. If such a great and a noble man|

|like Dr. Ambedkar is treated like this, then how can Dr. Sharma maintain that caste system is profession-based? |

|Source: The Evil of Caste:- The Caste System as the Largest Systemic Violation of Human Rights in Today’s |

|World by Chanan Chahal |

Someone on FB said that he tought of Ambedkar as a Brahmin. I asked – did anyone tell him that during his lifetime? Was he given ANY regard by the Brahimins at any point in his life? His personal experience with Gandhi was very unpleasant.

|Ambedkar had a few meetings with him and came out feeling insulted and looked down upon. Listen to Ambedkar's own voice, here.|

|What shame that he felt slighted by Gandhi. My opinion about Gandhi has plummeted seriously after this discovery. |

| |

9 Violence

1 Killing Dalits who removed a dead cow’s hide

|Jhajjar |

|five Dalits … were lynched to death on October 15 in Jhajjar district for hiding a dead cow.  local Vishwa Hindu Parishad |

|leaders had held a victory procession after the public lynching, how they had decided to reward the killers and claimed that |

|they had burnt 'Ravana'. VHP leaders in Delhi such as Giriraj Kishore had already claimed that the life of a cow was more |

|precious than that of a human being. |

|[Source: ] |

2 Some illustrations of violence

India's "Untouchables" Face Violence, Discrimination

Google and you’ll find plenty of evidence.

|A Dalit man was beaten to death and at least 12 others, including old women and children, severely injured as upper castes in |

|the village allegedly attacked them for trying to hoist the national flag outside a temple belonging to the community. |

|Source: |

3 Dalit literature shows the magnitude of oppression

There is now a significant amount of Dalit literature which confirms oppression in the voice of the oppressed.

1 Dalit journals

Dalit Voice

Bheem Patrika, published since 1958, is our longest-running Dalit periodical []  Founder-editor Lahori Ram Balley

Ambedkar Journal

DALIT VOICE



10 Mistreatment and humiliation of women

I’m not discussing the effects of son-preference in Hinduism in this booklet since that is a separate piece of work in itself. But let it be remembered that caste has real effects. Caste and social oppression can lead to serious effects on a nation’s economy and future prospects.

Deliberate lowering of intelligence of the oppressed?

Those under the control of Brahmins don’t even know they are being controlled since their intelligence has beey systematically degraded over the centuries.

1 Indian average national IQ is extremely low

The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Indians is around 80-85, with SIGNIFICANT potential to increase

|A few years ago, while writing Breaking Free of Nehru, I had come across data that showed that Indians had a particularly low |

|average IQ (of around 85). I'm fully aware of the HUGE problems with IQ tests and the fact that it is very hard to arrive at |

|substantive data on IQs. Also, other methodlogical issues. |

|But I do think there is something "indicative" or useful in these tests. Based on this I wrote in BFN: |

|"This figure is based on measurements conducted in India by a range of different researchers over decades. Despite the |

|methodological issues that the underlying data may raise, I have little doubt that this IQ difference is real (I would be |

|pleased to be proven that this is an error.) We can’t simply shrug aside a difference of this magnitude; we should try to |

|explain it" |

|I thought that's a given. No one has questioned the data since 2008 when my book was published. Tens of thousands of copies |

|have been downloaded, and most people on FTI claim to have read it. |

|However, Shantanu Bhagwat of FTI has now stated on FB: "Sanjeev: I completely disagree with your assertion on low Indian IQ. |

|Since when did entire populations/ segments of society start having low IQs?" |

|Well, for Shantanu and many others who might not have come across this what I assumed was widely known information, I've |

|quickly reviewed the literature again and here are my results: |

|Sources |

|IQ and the Wealth of Nations by Dr. Richard Lynn and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen. See also the scattergram at |

|. Also see: |

| |

|See tables: |

|National IQs calculated and validated for 108 nations by Richard Lynn and Gerhard Meisenberg, Intelligence 38 (2010) 353–360 |

|Wikipedia: |

|The consistent hierarchies of IQ and achievement reported in Lynn's synthesis can be summarized as follows: |

|East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans) (Average IQ of 105) |

|Europeans (Average IQ 100) |

|South East Asians (Average IQ 87) |

|North Africans (Average IQ of 84) |

|Sub-Saharan Africans (Average IQ of 67) |

|Australian Aborigines (Average IQ of 62) |

|National IQ and National Productivity: The Hive Mind Across Asia by Garett Jones, George Mason University |

|[pic] |

|Also: Richard Lynn “Race differences in intelligence: A global perspective,” in Mankind Quarterly, Spring 1991, Vol. 31 Issue |

|3. |

|A further article notes: "In the detailed data for South Asians, there is a distinct smaller cluster between 90 and 100, and |

|another bigger cluster between 80 and 90, closer to 90. But then there are a bunch of scores that go as low as 75 which bring |

|down the average to 84." [Source] |

|On the I.Q. of Nations; Smart, Smarter and Smartest? |

|Also read this: |

| |

| |

|This is particularly eye-opening (and problematic):    |

|What this article needs is a robust rebuttal based on the argument I've provided in BFN (self-respect/liberty based). I do not|

|see "Dalit" IQs being "stagnant" or low in the future with greater liberty and dissolution of the caste system. |

|I recall having read a major list of Indian IQ studies that spanned decades. Let me list whatever I can find now: |

|Fitzgerald, J.A. and Ludemall, W.W. 1926 The intelligence of Indian children. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 6, 319-328 |

|Sinha, U. 1968 The use of Raven's Progressive Matrices in India. Indian Educational Review, 3, 75-88. |

|Kamat, V.V. (1964) Measuring Intelligence of Indian Children, 4th ed. Bombay, Oxford University Press. |

|Das, Jishnu & T. Zajonc (2010) India shining and Bharat drowning: comparing two Indian states to the worldwide distribution in|

|mathematics achievement. Journal of Development Economics 92: 175-187. |

|Anupama Bhave, Roli Bhargava and Rashmi Kumar,  Validation of a new Lucknow intelligence screening test for Indian children |

|aged 9 to 15 yr, J Pediatr Neurol 2011; 9(2) |

|KULKARNI SD, PATHAK, NR, SHARMA CS. Academic Performance Of School Children With Their Intelligence Quotient. NJIRM. 2010; |

|1(3): 12-15. |

|Badaruddoza and Afzal  M (1993). Inbreeding depression and intelligence quotient among North Indian children. Behaviour |

|Genetics 23: 343-347. |

|Badaruddoza (2004). Effect of inbreeding on Wechsler intelligence test scores among North Indian Children. Asia Pacific |

|Journal of Public Health 16(2): 99-103 |

|Dr. Analpa Paranjape (2004). A comparison of performance on Indian Child Intelligence Test (ICII) of children with mental |

|retardation and learning difficulties. |

| |

|Bhatt MC. Adaptation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children for Gujarati population [PhD dissertation]. Ahmedabad |

|(Gujarat): Univ. of Gujarat; 1971. |

|Ranganath, Priya and Sayee Rajangam (Bangalore). Intelligence quotient in mental retardation. Disabilities and Impairment |

|Vol.21 (1) 5-9. In the present study, the IQ level was test on 426 children (261 boys and 165 girls) with MR who visited |

|the Division of Human Genetics, St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore, IQ levels of ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download