"'",1 ' " ,,'L -,'.~ -" ,-- ",- ,. ' "JNSIGHT

••.••• ~ _---~ - ll1iLL- ----LLIB

EXPERIE,NCE +lNTROSPECTION + EXPRESSIONVOL I No 2 a MAGAZINE of the AMBEDKAR STUDY CIRCLE OCT 2004I

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Editorial "ARE WE HINDUS"

Page 3Dalit youth at a cross road

Page 6Iyothee Thassar: Reclaiming History for Brahminical

hegemony. Page 9

Knowing Ambeqkar, seeking an identityPage 12

"Everyone has to convert"Page 14

Ambedkar Jayanti SamarohPage 17

Towards an emancipatory politicsPage 19

Letters with insightPage 21

_11~lll-'~

Page 22

511R GRP~!.-J&xrl ,~1f.1cpPage 24

~ 'R11f\rf: ~"JT ~?ttR ~T

Page 256CFl' ~: 'QCf) ~ffi..::>. '\

Page 27

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For submission of articles please contactAnoop Kumar, 122, Periyar, Shamuel Tharu 205 Chandrabhaga,Ashokan, English Journalism IIMe, Pratap, 234, Narmada, Sweta, 04,Tapti, Shaweta Anand, NGO M,magemenL lamia Millia Islamia. Oremail.usatinsight@rediffmaiI.com

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;J..

Are we Hindus? What IS

Hinduism? What is the

relationship between Hinduismand the caste system? What is13rah Il1in ism?

ARE WE HINDU'S?birth. We can never question whatTulsidas has said about· us or whatRama did to Sambukha. Krishna,himself says in the Gita. that theessence of dharma is to uphold thevarna/caste system. Vie have also to

The time has come for us to except that Ekalavya was wrong ingrapple with such questions. We his efforts to perfect archery.h~l\'\: been constantly told that we How can we worship Saraswati \\'henarc part of a glorious, tolerant we were denied education throughoutreligion called Hinduism which history? How can we bow beforehas a five Lakshmi when the

thousand year INSIGHT EDITORIAL fruits of our labourold history. But is this true? were taken away and religiousAre wc really a part of this shastras maintain that sudras (OBCs)religion. If it is so then it is the and chandalas (SC/ST) don't have the\\'orst religion which teaches its right to enjoy property or wealth?adherents to hate their own If we are not part of this religion, thenreligious brothers and sisters. it becomes logical why \ve undergoThere is no other example of any such exploitation and suffer suchother religion which hatred and discrimination. Then itdiscriminates among its own becomes very clear that this religionlollowcrs. was created to give religious sanctityWe have to undcrstand a very to the caste system, which wassimple thing. For a follower of cunningly devised to expropriate theIslam. the Quran is a sacred text, fruits of labour of the productivesimilarly for a Christian, the masses.Bible is a source of reverence to If this is the case then it becomes

god. Therefore, if we consider apparent that Hinduism is theourselves as Hindus we have to acceptable mask given to the castetreat Brahininical religious texts system by an exploitativelike the Vedas, Puranas and the Brahminical caste.Manusmriti as sacred. We have " This then raises the question, if the

to believe that caste was created Brahmins were powerful enough toby almighty Brahma and we are maintain a caste syst~m, why did theylowest of the lowly: born to serve have to give it the disguise of

the upper casks. We will always Hinduism. The answer is simple.rcmain untouchables, polluted by Hinduism was created as a reaction to

3

the colonial British empire. With Hindu festivals, and Hinduismthe coming of oolonialism, the became the religion of subcontinent.Brahmins and upper castes The orientalists did the rest. Notrealised that their age old having access to any informationhierarchy was being threatened. except that which Was given to themOne of the main reasons why the by their Brahminical collaborators,Hindu princes were unable to the Orientalists were blind to the 110n­withstand the attacks by the Brahminical sides of Indian cuiture.British was because their armies They "discovered" Hinduism'sonly consisted of a few castes. "glorious" past and then related allThe Princes could not command the other cultural traditions in idea to

the loyalties of the Dalits and the. this Brahminical superstructure.tribals. ,-------------, The creation of HinduismThis fact lead to the How can we that subsumed the caste

realisation by the worship system within itsclf wa~Brahminical upper Saraswati when an added boon to thecastes that there was we were denied Brahmins. This allowed

a need to rc-form education them to prevent anyBrahminism into throughout colonial intervention into

Hinduism. The history. the practices of the castepurpose of this 1---------' system as it now becameproject is clear. The upper castes an "internal" "rellgious" matter. Thisneeded to create an artificial also lead to the creation of the reform

majority so that they could movement that tried to show thatdemand concessions on par with I-{induism was trying to modernise.the Muslim elite. The British But what it was in effect doing was awere also involved in the public relations exercise. For none ofHinduisation project. The British· the really cruel and discriminatoryused the already established practices of Brahminism wereexploitative caste order to their touched.benefit as they knew that the Wi~hthe arrival on the pblitical sceneBrahmins would shift their of Tilak and Gandhi, this exercise isallegianccs to whomsoe'ver was no longer hidden. Hindusih1 was nowin power: Be it the Mughals or be openly used as a' meth~d to mobilizeit the British. the masses (SC/ST/OBCs) against theBrahmins used misinformed British~ But when. the masses beganEuropean orientalists like Max to resist their inclusion into theMuller to create the myth of the "Hindu" fold,' Brahminical double"Hindu", Ovemight, Brahminical speak became a common tactic.texts became Hindu texts, Gandhi is a good example of thisBrahminical festivals became double speak. Gandhi himself upheld

'-t- .//

the Gita as the most authentic

and sacred of all Hindu text, andas mentioned above the Gita

upholds the caste system asdivine and yet Gandhi makespublic statements claiming thecaste system to be bad.The I)rahminical order today hasmade Gandhi himself divine.It has also assimilated the double

speak of Gandhi into the socialand political practices of ourcountry. On paper, every citizenin this country is equal. But thetruth is elsewhere. On paper,temples are open to all. But thetruth is elsewhere. On paper.marriage i~ a secular act. But thetruth is elsewhere.The truth is in the fact that-the

state has been a party to thespread of this double speak.After independence, this doublespeak became the official statereligion. It was promoted throughthe creation of national holidays,the concretising of history intextbooks, the "official"

publication of such castie~t and anti­Dalit texts like the Ramyana and theMaitabharat. The first gen'::ration ofliterate Dalits took the notion of

Hindu through the education providedby the state. They didn't resist theHindu identity because for the firsttime the state \\BS opening the door ofschools and jobs for them. Theyrealised very well that aconfrontationist mode will be

harmful. But this is no longer thecase. The Daht community owes itsself confidence to the patience of thefirst generation of liberated Dalits infree India. The time has come to ask

questions and challenge dominancewithout fear.

Take the example of yourself.Ask your grandmother did shecelebrate kar\'([choll/h? Did she havc

the time, leisure (or even thceducation?) to read and repeat thcGita? Ask your father how he learnthe was a Hindu? Ask him where he

found the stories of the epics. Inpublic knowledge? Or on state-ownedTV?

Glor"yto those who would keep on their struggle for theliberation of the enslaved in spite of the heavy odds

carping humiliations, ~torms and dangers till thedowntrodden secure their human rights

Blessed are those ~ho are awakened to their duty to thosewho devote their time, talents and their all to the

annihilation of slavery

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

5

Dalit youth at a cross ro·adBy Kshirod MA (CPS)

The debate is going on ... SC, it is constituted by the"It's been 50 years of free India. Constitution, Dalit is not Harijan, thisJ\1l the facilities given to SCs and sinful name is given by Gandhi. Da]itSTs must bc stopped otherwise it is nG~homogenous in nature. But theywi II cause great s(;cial tension in are autonomous in character. It has anIndia." autonomous analytical andDalits arc shouting slogans: ideological background."Reservation is OLlrfundamental Dalit youth are unaware of this. So, toright. We arc not begging for it." get a right vision we have to study inBankrupted intellectuals busy in a systematic manner three categories,writim: for the r---------, namelv, Puranic ornation':'s sake and The Communist histortcal, political andbarking at each other Party of India religious.in thei; caves. had passed a Daiit culture is modern.

Giant politicians are resolution in its but we can not forget our

getting the polit-bu~eau in history. The past is ouropportunity to play 1~42: The. experience, present is ourdirtv games with the MuslIm League IS infrastructure and we are

pcoi)l;s' sentiments. a political party extracting . knowledge

]t is a pity that no and the Sched~le from the past and presentsystematical analysis Caste FederatIOn to create social harmony.is done about Dalits' a communal Historical perspectives:social, cultural and party" We, the mool nivasis ofeco-political prospects. Dalit India are living .as second-classyouth of India are at a crossroad. citizens now. We have lost our satta

They are searching for their (power), and India that is Bharatidentity. Who are they? Are they became the Aryabhumi Bharat!Hindu or not? If yes, what is the History is shown that Aryan's cameground reality in thIs social from the Volga to the Ganga. Theorder? If not, then are they Indus Valley civilization had existedMuslim or Christian? Dalit is not many years before the Aryanmerely a community, but it is a" migration. The coins of the Indussymbol which represents an ideal civilization were marked with trees,culture of our glorious past. It is snakes, bulls etc. This stronglynot simply named by a political indicates that it was not influenced byact, it has emerged from a sOl:io- Aryan culture because AryanscuHur"l revolution. Dalit is not (Hindus) believe inpratima puja (god

b ,/"

and goddess in the worshipe,rs pose a great threat, andsei up Gandhiown image) but Dalits (non- as the tranakarta (saviour) ofaryans) were nature lovers. But lmtouchables. I want to ask them,th~ upper easte intelligentsia why in 1932 did Gandhi discriminatebegan to claim that Indus while promoting separate electorateCi\"ilization is Aryan civilization. to Muslims and denying separateBut it is not only a claim they electorates to Dalits? In 1917, themade on history. The rootless Congress passed a resolution toAryans came to our motherland, .. remove untouehablity only tothey became masters, they suppress the Achuthistan ·and separatehijacked our culture and labeled electorate demand. Bal Gangadharit .llyohhulJ1i 8110ral. Dalits have Tilak was one step ahead. He stated:been ensla\"(~d for centuries. Why should felli, la11llidia,Loosing ,'{\WI salla. bhumi satta blacksmiths. potters go toand ral salla. Parliament? They should do theirPolitical P"ospccts: Dalit youth tradition job at their level best.is in dilemma. Now-a-days two The Communist Party of India hadnational parties. the BJP r-------..., passed a resolution in itsand the Congress playa It is shameful po lit-bureau in 1942:major role in India. Most that the "The Muslim League is aof the Dalits have . gurudakshina political party and therecognised that the BJP festival Schedule Casteis a deadly anti-Dalit observed by Federation a communalparty. But the Hindus to party". These clearlymisconception remains uphold the show the brahrninicalthat the Congress is pro- "thumb- tendencies of comradesDalit and large numbers cutter" Guru who were ready toof Dalits still owe legacy negotiate with thepolitical allegiance to L- __ -'- ...J minorities but were afraidthe Congress. But neither to deal with caste as it would questionCongress nor BJP are pro-Dalil. their own hegemonistic identities. TillBoth Manuwadi parties are two today Marxism has been used by thesides of the same coin. The BJP so-called "upper-caste" intelligentsiais a black snake in green grass as a liberal mask to deny the Dalitand the Congress is a green snake movement its space.in green grass. Before In early 1980s the BSP emerged as aIndependence neither Gandhi .nor Dalit party. But it has diverted fromthe Congress had a special socio-cultural phenomena and hasagenda for the Dalits. Gandhi been accused by many of being neo­used to write articles for Dalits in bfahminical. This political situationHarijan magazine. Gandhians·· where all the political parties seem to

?-

/f

representing similar ideas has Religion i3 nothing but a drug whichresulted in a situation where dictates human beings surrenderwayward youth are searching +or before injustice, exploitation, slaverya path in a dense socio-economic and mass manslaughter. Dalitsand political fog. zealously SUPPOli the causes ofReligious ideologies: From the Muslims and Christians but they arcpuranic age we have witnessed not coming in support of the Dalitguru Dronacharya cutting the movement. Their only intention is tothumb of Ekalavya. It is convert people into their religion by

shameful that the gurudakshina lady-paddy-hen-pen (tl:at is, by veryfestival observed by Hindus to non-religious means). Like Hinduism.uphold the "thumb-cutter" Guru Christianity and Islam are based onlegacy. Now the thumb cutter blind belief and are most unscientific.have become throat-cutters in Especially now, Clu'istianity possesIndia. Kama was not allowed to the greatest danger to the Dalitfight with Arjuna because he was movement.the son of a charioteer. Dalit haw to bring out a clear andPre-Ambedkarite movement concrete vision. We should learn

started from the Bakthi from our history what factors mademovement. It had an agenda to the Dalit movement a failure againcarry out spiritual reform within and again. Dalit movement should bethe social order. Then the ,in no party but remain in the politicalconversion movement started. process. The socio-cultural and eco­Dalits converted to Buddhism, political movement should go hand inSikhism and Christianity. hand.Christianity was able to maintain ,We need to read more philosophy ofthe conversional flow Ambedkar, Phule', Periyar, Kabir andsuccessfully. The existing Buddha and must maintain religiousscenario is such that most often neutrality. Dalit concepts should notDalits are being converted into by materialistic, it should be moreChristianity. They are taking it as' soientific informed by' an ethicalan alternative but it, is fake. value ...

You must abolish your slavery yourselves. Do not dependfor its abolition upon god ora superman. Remember that

itis 110tenough that a people are numerically in the.majority. They must be always watchful, strong and self­respecting to attain and maintain success. We must shape

our course ourselves and by o~rselves.Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar

g

Reclaiming History frornBrahminical hegemony

Iyothee Thassar was a leading Madras Mahajan Sabha was a groupDalit intellectual and leader who of English educated upper casteplayed a big role in constructing professionals, who were trying toDalit consciousness before organise into a lobby to extractBabasaheb emerged. Fifty years concessions from the Britishbefore Babasaheb took diksha of government. For this they had 1O giveBuddhism, .....•.................................... ~ the impression

Thassar had ~ IYOTHEE THASSAR ~ that ~hey we:ealready started a : : engagmg mmassive social: (1845-1914) ~ social reform inand intellectual order to convincemovement based on a Buddhist the British about their social use. In

understanding of the repressive .. their 1892 meeting, Thassar said "Wenature of the Brahmin social have heard that God and Temple areorder. His influence on the Dalit common for all castes of the world. if

movement . in general .and that is so why are the people of ourBabasaheb in particular has been community not allowed to enter

of an inspirational and political Vishnu or, Shiv temples. By sonature. allowing them won't they prosperBorn in the th~n .Madras through mutual love and won't thePresidency in 1845, Thassar was religion also be strengthened."a practitioner of Siddha medicine Immediately all the upper casteandwas a Tamil savant. Angered Hindu delegates stood up and startedby the practice of untouchability, shouting that they (the pW'ayars)Thassar's first reaction was to try should not be allowed into temples.and democratize or reform One delegate from Tanjavur, stood upBrahrninical Hinduism. But as and explained, "For untouchables wethe following incident shows he have gods like Maduraiveeran,was trying to. diange a rock into· Katteri and Karuppannan: and gods

. gold. like Shiva or Vishnu do not belong toIn 1892, on invitation,. Iyothee you."Thassar participated in the annual The reaction of the upper casteconference of the Ma-dras Hindus was swift, unanimous andMahajan Sabha as' a unwavering. Rejection however didrepresentative of the Parayar not have the desired effect ofcommunity (then untouchable). subduing the Dalits. Under the new

.. q

or

circumstances it only servcit to 1. The struggle c:gainst the socialradicalise them. Iyothee Thassar irrationalities of Brahmin ismset out to think of the reasons 2. The struggle against casteism andbehind such a vociferous and regionalismalmost violent resistance from 3. Rediscovery of the original andthe Brahminical castes. casteless TamillDarvidian

This lead to a sustained Buddhist identityinvestigation into history, culture 4. Construction of a rational religiousand literature. This brought him philosophy and practice, andto the conclusion that 5. A re-interpretation of the,.-----------,the violent behaviour The violent subcontinent's religio-of the Brahminical behaviour of the cultural history.people towards the Brahmincal To promote his ideas he

Dalits was not people towards started a weekly journalbecause of any the Dalits was called "Tamilan". Throughmeaningful notion of not because of his movement Thassar

purity-pollution. It any meaningful moved on to a morewas because the notion of purity- generalised understandingDalits were originally pollution. It w~s of history and culture. HeBuddhist. because the realised that what appearsUsing folk traditions, Dalits were today as traditions in the

stories and memory originally realms of culture andhe was able to retrace Buddhist. religion are not the genuinethe history of the .. i truth of histOl'y, they areDalits that had been distorted by instead a distorted picture.the dominant Bnihminical With this understanding he cameculture. This understanding lead upon a crucial fact. It is commonlyThassar to form the Sakya recognised that the popular religiousBuddhist society in 1898. The myths beliefs and practices and themovement spread very fast g~neral folk and oral traditions of theamong the various districts of the su\bcontinent are seen as related to theMadras Presidency and also Sanskritic-Shasthraic-Brahminicalspread overseas with the migrant culture. This is what leads us to thinkTamil labourers. of local deities as distortions of Hindu

The movement attempted a gods (for example.· Hanuman) andsystematic and historical local myths as distortions of thedeconstruction of the dominant sanskrit epics. Thassar new point ofHindu religious premises· and view led him to look at these localexclucivist cultural practices. The " traditions through the earlier andmain aim of his movement morally universal truth of Buddhism.included: His research led him to re?lise that

Co Ij

the common factor between thevarious local traditions of thesubcontinent was notBrahminical but was in fact

Buddhist. This understandinglead him to reeognise the linksbetween local Indian folklore and

the religious mythology ofBruma. Celyon (now Sri Lanka)and Tibet.

According to him, the Dalits(then untouchables) had beenfoIlO\\('rs of the casteless and

morally unified path of theBuddha. The Dalits became mostshunned and hated because oftheir J3uddhist beliefs. In realitythe Brahman-Dalit social stand­oJl must be seen as due to their

contradictory religio-ideological

c0mmitments.

The relevance of Iyothee Thassartoday is crucial. There is a urgentneed for people across India to followThassar's example and study thefolklores and oral traditions of Indiaand free these cultural mores and

practices from the hegemony ofBrahminism. For too long no\\' hasBrahminism being usurping theunique and egalitarian cultures of thiscountry and imposing on them theirpatriarchal and exploitative culturethrough distortion.To restore the non-Brahminicalnature of these traditions is a

fundamental step in creating a crisisin Brahminism and denying theirculture the right to claim our historyand our present.

The originator of Jai Bhim (in 1937) was Babu L. N.Hardas, a strong follower of Ambedkar, Chief Secretary ofthe Independent Labour Party and In-Charge of C.P andBerar. Hardas was not comfortable with "Jai Rama-pati"-- (p.·esumably a reference to Ambedkar) -- with which hewas greeted. A Moulavi explained to him the meaning ofSalam Alekum, a greeting among the Muslims. From

this, he got the idea of Jai Bhim.It would be clear that Jai Bhim did not originate from Jai

Hind. May be it is other way round. When Christians meetthey shake hands and touch cheek to cheek -- jowl to jowl,when Muslims meet they embrace each other. Thus both

have got culture of bodily contact promoting 'bhai chara'-- brotherhood. We Dalits seem to have emulated Hindu

culture of saying Namaste and folding our own handsover the opposite person, as if tp suggest -- "Keep away

from me".CI

Knowing Ambedkar, Seeking an IdentityReflections r.n the need for a sense of self

By P,-abodhan Pol MA (CIIS)We arc living in the 21 st Century For 2.000 years Dalits were enslavcd\vhere therl' is only onc medium and trcated \\orsc than animals.to present and prove ourselves. lv1ahatmd I)hule \\as the lirst pcrSl)!lThat medium is competition. It to strike vehel11<:ntlyagainst the cvilhas now become the only source institution or caste. Later. :\mbeclLlI'of our sustenance. In this fierce led the mO\'emCI'L and illuminated it

battle many Dalits arc proving He \\as a person or immcnscthemselves and leading scholarly presence. He \\as the lirstthemselves to victory. But there Indian to receive the DSC rrom

are several l)roblcms I) "t'd t·•.. · Londl)n School ort a I I en ", IS

faced b.,.· ma!1\ Dellit t' f '. Fcon()1l1ics. \Vhen he cam'.:.. no an m enol-vouth that thc\ arc 'd t't b t't' back to India hc had much. i en I Y U I IS

yet to ovcrcome t ,"f ~;cope to Iivc his Iilc'.. I a 00 or our .Todav. many Dalits d I t l.uxuriouslv but he dIdn't'.' eve opmen .. ~ ...are facll1g a problem I I HIS .,6 years 01 actIveregarding their identity and this public life was totally dedicated to theproblem is psychologically cause or the dO\\'ntrodden.obstructing their day-tn-day lives Ir there was no Daiit mO\emcnt ledand careers. This in1eriority by Ambcdkar what would OLircomplex is the direct result of condition be no\\'. It is a question thattheir background. It doesn't needs to be asked by every Dalit whoessentially mean that they come is shy of his/her identity.from an economically poor Many Dalits perceive Dalit identity inbackground. They are many so- a negative \vay. They feel awkwardcalled elite Dalits who always and inferior to be Dalits. Thiskeep away from Ambedkar and inferiority complex occurs due to lackthe Ambedkerite movement. of consciousness and this occurs due

These Dalit youth (both the poor to lack of exposure to Ambedkeritcand so-called elite) have thought. It is very clear that thoseforgotten Ambedkar and his Dalits who feel awkward about theirrevolutionary work. Many Dalits' Dalit identity are indirectly acceptingwant to be Dalits only to extract the caste system because they areconcessions and reservation. but accepting inferiority vis-a-vis othersthey have forgotten that it was on the basis of caste.because of Babasaheb that they It boosts our confidence with the]lave access to these concessions. knowledge Lilat we are not inferior

/2.

\\"c arc no mon~untouchables

but are proudBuddhists with

a rich history

and a brightfuture

,I]

Ambedkerite family I feel positJve

about my identity. I came from thearea that is the heart of the

Ambedkerite movement. My parcnts\vere \'cry influenced by themovement and decided to shed the

untouchable icientity imposed by the

Hindu social order. They adoptee!Buddhism and became tme followers

of Babasaheh_ This step ensured thatthey paid attention to educate theirchildren because they had Bahasaheb

as their role model.

Buddhism gaH~ ;'n identity andcreated a sense or eOIllJllon

brotherhood among thefolk1\\ej's of Babasaheb and

ga\"C them the self respect

and ambition to lead a good

life that they were earlierdenied. Now we are no

more untouchables but arc

proud Buddhists with a rich

history and bright future.The fact is that those Dalits who arc

not able to rcalise the potential of theI11O\'el11cnt ha\c to hide their identity

and cannot lead a respectable life.

They li\e in illusion that some day

Hindu society \\'ill accept them. They

forget that the so-called Hindu

society is based on exploitation andhatred towards them. This hatred and

exploitation is the life blood of Hindu

society.Babasaheb understood this fact

clearly and that is why he gave a call

to leave Hinduism. That's the only

,,-ay out for the Dalits to build a

expenence of prosperous and bright future for their

up 111 a progeny.13

due to any divine design but we

were made inferior by vestedinterests.

The objective of the Dalit

Illovement has always been equal

social justice for all. Today. wehave immensely benefited from a

strong Dalit mO\'Clllent for social

justice. The end of ulltouchabilitydocs 11\1t ll1ean the end of the

caste s\stem. We mc in the era of

~I sophisticated cask systemwhere \\e arc s\stell1aticalh and- -

unkno\\ ingly suppressed by casteIllciltal it \.

!\mb,-'dk,-'ritc thoughtlcach,-'s us to tackle

and tight such

problems. Many D,lIit

youth might ha\"(' notfaced caste

ostracisation in life.

This is not any reaSon

to keep yourself awayfrom i\mbedkerism because

some\\here in the bollOI11 of your

heart :-ou feci inferior to others;because SOl11c\\-here in the ncar

future you are surely to be the

target of casteism because you

don't have the guts to stand upagainst it. [f you \vant to live a

confident and happy life youhave to knov,' Ambedkar and his

teachings. The faster you run

away from your identity. the

slower will be your developmentand the closer you '.vill come tomcet humiliation.

On my personal

being brought

II

"Everyone has to convert"An interview with G Alosiyus

How important is the conversion religion. At the time, untouchablesissue toady fOI" DaIits'! (Dalits) wcre also interested inEveryone HAS to convert. Dr integration. This is seen in the factAmbedkar's convcrsion to that lots of temple entryBuddhism should bc secn as a movements lOok place. Thelarger attcmpt to come in terms violence against these efforts ofwith modernity. Modernity means integration by the upper castes \vasthc rise of egalitarian values and phenomenal. This led Drsubsequent empowerment of Ambedkar to convert.depressed societies, Modernity is What is the meaning ofthe test of fire of all pre-modern Buddhism?values. The Buddhism that Dr Ambedkar

In the late 19th Century and early converted to is neither original. nor20th Century many people in India did he take to any existing form oftried to reform their religion to Buddhism. In my opinion, the 22make it democratized, Dr vows (see box) that he took on hisAmbedkar, during the start of his initiation to Buddhism represent hismo\'emenL also tried to do so. understanding of Buddhism. UnlikeThere was too much resistance and others. Buddhism is not a religion.rejection of his effort and he was It is purification and de­forced to find a separate religion mystification of all religion. Thethat would provide Dalits with a . Buddha himself says: "Don'tdemocratic social and spiritual blindly accept my teachings. Verifyspace. them yourself' .. THIS is theWhy should Dalits leave challenge of modernity. It alsoHinduism? symbolized the empowem1ent ofIn the early 20th Century, people repressed people.by and large accepted Hinduism What has been the impact ofbecause it was a territorial term, but conversion'?later political leaders such as Forty eight years after the death ofGandhi made this term communal Babasaheb, there is a feeling thatand defined it as Sanathan dharma his last step, of converting toand gave it a spiritual and casteist Buddhism, has not produced themeaning. This lead to the problem desired results, In my opinion, thisof integrating different is neither the failure of Ambedkarcommunities in one single sacred nor the failure of his movement.

1l{-

He expected large-scale social andeconomic transformation in

independent India.

He hoped that such a

transformation will bring a changein the Brahminical social outlook,but this \vas not tile casco There was

a del iberate attcmpt to sabotage theonset o( modernity in India as itwould threaten the control of the

Brahminical castes over the social

and economic life of the country.

This sabotage occurred through thedenial of universal education.

planned industrialization and lackof social infrastructure.

A clear cxamplc of this is thc13uddhi 5t movcment in

Maharashtra. It was deliberately

ghettoized by the Brahiminealruling class. They portrayed themovement as inefticicnt and as a

THE 22 VOWS TAKEN BY BABASAHEB ON 14 OCTOBER 1956I shall have no faith in Brahma. Vishnu and Mahesh nor shall I worshipthem.

• I shall h,l\"c no faith in Rama and Krishna who alT helie'"ed to he

incarnation of Cod nor shall I worship them.

I shall han no faith in 'Gauri', Ganapati and other gods and goddesses ofHindus nor shall I worship them.

• I do not helien in the incarnation of God.

• I do not and shall not belin"e that Lord Buddha was the incanJation of

Vishnu. I helien tliis to be sheer madness and false propaganda.

• I shall not perform 'Shr-addha' nor shall I give 'pind-dan'.

• I shall not act in a manner violating the principles and teachings of theBuddha.

• I shall not allow any ceremonies tc be performed by Brahmins.

• I shall believe in the equality of man.

• I shall endeavour to establish equality.

• I shall follow the 'noble eightfold path' of the Buddha.

I shall follow the 'paramitas' prescribed by the Bnddha.

• I shall have compassion and loving kindness for all living beings and protectthem.

I shall not steal.

• I shall not tell lies.

I shall not commit carnal sins.

• I shall not take intoxicants like liquor, drugs etc.

• I shall endeavour to follow the noble eightfold path and practise compassionand loving kindness in every day life.

• I renounce Hinduism which is harmful for humanity and impedes theadvancement and development of humanity because it is based oninequality, and adopt Buddhism as my religion.

• I firmly believe the Dhamma of the Buddha is the only true religion.

• I believe that I am having arc-birth.

• I solemnly declare and affirm that I shall hereafter lead my life according tothe principles and teachings of the Buddha and his Dhamma.

15

-~~-- -__~c~_~,-,=--_~==-- - ~ __-__-- --- --------- - -- ---- ----------

~()calmovement. lhe media and the

upper castes made it appear that themo\'ement \\as unable to address

the issue or untouchability in acOIl1prehensi\e manner.\\"hat is the future of the stJ'ategyor eonyersion'?

;-\0\\ the situcltion is different. Dueto the la\\ or numbers in

denwcracy. tbey \\<1nt us. Still noone talks about equality, If at allthey arc only willing to providepolitical equality. This meansinclusion in the nation state butexclusion 11()m the nation. Thismakes the need ror c01i\ersion even

more important. The recentattempts by Hindutva forces toincorporate Dalits and adivasis intothe Hindu rold_ only tt) play thcnumber game. makes veryimportant for the Dalit to convertand reject llinuusim and make aclear political and social statement.G .,1/osiyus IS the author ofNationa!is111 frithou{ Nation lIe

did his }\.lphil Fom JNU lIe

worked as all activist for J 5 J'ears

in Jlwrkhand as an activist hefhre

{his, He is currentl\" compiling the

Critic~ll Quest series on D(dit icons

and ideologies,

THE TRUTH ABOUT ,JHA.1.JAR

On 15 October 2002. 5 Dalits were massacred for allegedly skinning ali\'c CO\\, Till nm\ there have been no arrests. VHP activists \\'ho

publicly claimed that the covis life is more precious than a Dalies lilCha\e not 12\ en seen the inside of a courtroom forget a jail.The victims \\ere engaged in their traditional occupation of leathertanning for \\hich they had a government license. On the date ofincident. they had loaded the truck with dead animal skin and weregoing towards Kamal which is known for leather trade and industry.Yirender's (a victim) father Ratan Singh said that the story of skinningof a dead cow is just a cover-up. "We have been doing leather tanningfor three generations. There is no question ofthem skinning a cow bythe side of the road." Dayachand's (a victim) father Budhram allegesth~1tas per his information, the police stopped the truck and asked themfor a hefty bribe. When they refused to pay they were beaten upmercilessly and a case j-egisteredagainst them under the Cow Slaughter(Prevention) Act. Since one of them got seriously injured or pel'hapskilled. the police spread the story that they were killing a cow.1t is mentioned in the FIR lodged by the SHO that these 5 Dalits wereattacked by a mob of around 4000-5000 who were returning back fromDusshera Fair. It is alleged that a group of people saw these 5 Dalitsskinning a CO\vby the roadside and that is how infom1ation was passednn 10 others that some Musiims are engaged in CO\\'killing.This:s a blatant case of murder in which the VEP used police murderto promote its cow nationalism.

It?1

I

Ambedkar Jayanti SamarohAn organisation, a movement, a community

By Vinay Ambcdkar BA (CRS/SL&CS)It's a pleasure ror me to write been working very hard \vith the

about a group which was running group. They collect money from carl:

in illY villagc. ;\s Llr as ! know in the morning to late in the nightthis group has not namcd itself. rrom \'illages near and I~lr. !3u\

but it has earned a grcat namc ror collecting Illoncy was not the (1nl:

itsclr bccause or thc work it has thing th~lt drivcs thclll. The memhers

done. makc people awarc for caste truths/3ut IIrst let mc tell you a Iittie and un itc thcm so that the \\lwlc

about myself. I li\e in Khajuran community can stand as one ullcler

or district Jaunpur in castern the nag that \\as kno\\"l1 as !\mb,:dJ..:ar

Uttar Pradcsh. Khaiuran is a Jayanti Samaroh.

middle sizcd villagc with about In my childhood days. my father \\as

2.000 people hall' or whom arc president llf thc ;\mbedkar JaY~lilliDalits. Samaroh committee. He llsed to

Although it may seem like my arrangc a weckly programmc in

\illage is a typical Indian \'illage nearby villages.

as imagined by Gandhi, it is In the programmes, he and other

different. The Dalits living here members of the group would speak to

have completely discarded their cveryone: men, women. children and

Hindu identity and have gained the aged and cxplain the work that

in process self conJldence and was done by /)r. !\mbedkar for the

political direction. The group J emancipation of Dalits.

am going to talk about had a These activities were eontinucd

major role to play in this. through out the year until Ambedkar

This group celebrates its success Jayanti arrived.

in an annual festival on the 14th When the riay finally came, my father

of April every year, on the and the other members of the group

occasion of "Masihaa" of Dalits - were surprised to see that 500 or 600

Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's- people had Come from different

birthday. villages and over great distances.

For as long as I can remember, Youth and women participated in

that is, since I have been in a large numbers. We began by

position to reflect about society. garlanding the statue of Dr Ambedkarand people and know the world, and this was followed by many

my father. other family members people talking about the Iile andand people from the village have works of Babasaheb.

/1

After this function, a change inspiration, Suman and his group gobecame evident within the Dalit from village to village perfomling.community. People stopped These performances attract largehiding their identity. Even the numbers of people from allupper-castes attitude and communities and castes. Suman hasbehavoiur underwent a used this platform to demolish habitsconsiderable change. Even I had of idol worship and other Hindunot expected that a simple superstitions and promotedisplay of such Ambedkerite thoughts. The,------ ..solidarity would create I had not impact Suman has had issuch far reaching expected that phenomenal. There is thechanges. a simple rare house that still worshipsAs word of this display of idols but mostly people haveSamaroh spread people such \eft these backwardfrom other places solidarity practices.began to become would create I Although Dalits 111 myinvolved in similar such far village have definitdyactivities in their own reaching progressed in terms of selfvillages as they saw chanees confidence and self respect,the change that the '-------' poverty is still a major issuesamaroh had brought about with to be tackled. Most of the Dalits tillthe community and in the so small strips of land. However, manycalled upper castes. people are slowly getting access toI have been witness to many e~ucation and have been provingmore samorahs with many new themselves with excellence in whichfriends. It has been growing ever field they chose.larger every year and the impact. One of the things that sadden meit has had on my community in most is that it is only the Chamarsparticular and society in general who participate in activities that arehas also been growing. trying to emancipate the community.The change that these samarohs Th~ other Dalits. such as the Dhobisbrought about within the and the Pasis,' who are also ascommunity has made our area·. exploited as the Chamars~ are not asvery receptive to ideas of receptive to the process of change.emancipation. The story' of They have been stuck within theChaitu Suman is good example restrictive structure of Hinduism,of this. Suman is a Dalit singer, which allows them neither growth nordancer, and dramatist and orator. self confidence". This is not true ofHe can perform almost non-stop these castes as a whole but as far as Ifor seven or eight hours. Wit.h have been able to observe this is thecultural techniques and immense condition of the majority of them.

((/ //

Towards an emancipatory ,politicsDalits Christians in Indian civil society

By Durang Basu Mullick MA (CSSS)There are Dalits who converted persecutors and killers from theto Christianity, but are excluded upper-castes.from the official list of scheduled No .wonder that Christian churches

castes made out in the cannot speak up aloud, in the face ofGovernment of India Schedule atrocities against Dalits in the widerCaste Order (1936). The term society. In recent years more andscheduled caste included a more Christian Dalits have been

specification that no Indian involved as leaders of their localChristian shall be ,-----------, communities and havedecreed to be a No wonder that become the main victims

member of the Christian of caste carnages, policeschedule caste. Thus churches cannot brutailities and tam.ets of

for the first time a s~eak up aloud, government action. ~relioious criterion was III the face of Dr Ambedkar had \\Tittenintr~duced in a atrocities that the ~ervices rendered

government document against ~alits in by the missions in theto distinguish the the ':Ider fields of education andschedule castes. society ,medical relief are beyondHowever, those Indian the reach of Dalit

Christian who were converts Christians, they go mostly to benefitfrom the scheduled castes were the high-caste Hindus. 'The Indiansubject to the same social Christians are either too poor or toodis,abilities they suffered before devoid of ambition to undertake theconversion. Christians Dalits are pm'sait of higher education.discriminated against in worship Dr Ambedkar was a sincere well­places, rituals, ceremonies wisher of Indian Christians, contraryrelating to rites of passage, to what most Christians still believe:educational ii1stitutions and that he did not convert to Christianity

hospitals and even in the because he despised that religion.cemeteries. Ambedkar would not convert to' a

Upper-caste clergy have been Christianity which did not do awayknown to tacitly support caste with caste' among its followers andleaders and perpetrators';, of within its churches and which couldcrimes against Dalitsand not wipe away the observances ofmanipulate matters to prevent Hindu socio-religious practices.Dalit victims from registering. Anyone who is fair minded andpolice cases against their knows the unredeemed sufferings of

III

Christian Dalits will appreci&teDr Ambedkar's honesty. For hiinreligion was more a socialstrategy and a politicalinstrument to achieve the

equality and humanity of Dalitsin society.Dr AmbeJkar saw three reasons

why the Christian untouchableshave failed to raise a movement.

Firstly. the lack of kinshipbetween the educated class andthe mass of lower class ofChristians, which resulted in.

untouchable Christians beingleaderless and unable to mobilize

for the redress of their wrongs.Sccondly, the faulty mentalmakeup of the converts andabsence of any urge to breakbonds since most of them

converted without a positivediscontent or dislike of the Hindu

religious teachings with the resultthat Christianity becomes only anaddendum to old faith. It did not

become a substitute (they cherishboth religions and observe themon occasions appropriate to each.Thirdly, the Christian church··

taught the Christians that. their fallwas due to the original sin of Adam,instead of being taught that their fallis due to a wrong social and religiousenvironment and that for their

improvement they .must attack theenvironment and conquer it.So do Christians matter in India?

According to Dr Ambedkar, they arethe most educated and enlightenedcommunity in India, but have notbeen politically active as acommunity. The most obvious reasonis their small number. But there mustbe other factors to account for this. DrAmbedkar saw two reasons. One, theIndian Christians looked to the

missions for their education, medicalcare and for most of th~ir petty needs.Not being totally dependent on thegovernment they would not mobilize,agitate, educate· and organise theirmasses for effective politicalrequirements. Secondly, the IndianChristians were a disjointedcommunity and like all other Indianswere divided by race, language andcaste. Apart from havinK a commonsource of inspiration their religion has

ho~been a:sufficientiy unifying force.

Christian DaHt IdeologyFOI' we are both Dalits and Christians, we are both Indians and oppressedIndians, we· are both human beings and Christian. beings, we areaccountable to both: the author of our faith and to the state. We areresponsible both to the community of Dalits and to the church and both tohumanity and Christianity •. 1'his means both te~po~1 and spiritual,religious and political concerns converge in this ideology. The sum of suchan ideological perspective emphasizes both the alienation and aspiration,the dilemmas and opportunities ofthe Christian Dalits. - DBM

/I

I am so glad to see your obvious). I urge readers to questioninitiative. Can Insight not have a all that they have within rationally,column where reactions to the and not use 'imposed notions' (ofarticles published in the last past years) of any nature as means ofedition can be given? For getting into groups for the sake ofinstance, I would like to social security. Giving loudcomment on Ashokan Nambiar's 'naras'(common in JND) is a veryarticle titled. 'Re-inwntiag the good tool for venting OJlt excessiveselL exploring a new world'. It is energy (that's what I did a fewa ycry simple article. straight times!) and most people should do itfrom the heart and to me. the sometime. but only after carefullymost relevant. The understanding considering the issues which touchthat one constantly has to them most on a day to day basis. Realintelligently undo the past issues to me are those which 25 alearning (of any form) to do erson you are afraid to confront

justice to present LETTERS within.timcs is \"Cry true" WITH Shaweta AnandSimilarly, I might INSIGHT .lamia Millia Islamiahave taken myPunjabi lineage for granted all I congratulate Ambedkar Studymy life. of course unwittingly, Centre in its efforts and commitment

much like the writel who (after in dissemi~ating Ambedkar's ideas; itenough exposure to the reality of is only through widespread discussionan unjust society) chose to come·· that Ambedkar's relevance for theout of his shell. For that, he present can be more widelyparticipated actively in caste- understood and established.related discourses in his Many of my students "and I readuni\"ersity and subsequently Insight with much interest. When Irealized that a lot had to be saw it and asked my students whetherundone from his 'upper' caste it was possible to bring out somethingself-feeding self. Being on like this here, they only said one~ampus, my first realizations of word: "impossible'!; pointing to howanything "political" were in the important it is for your team to carryform of the 'SFI ideology'. I got on the good ~work that you have ­my space/freedom in party begun through Insight toactivities (that was very mainstreamize Ambedkar's ideasimportant to me because being a through circulation iri print medium.woman I find myself struggling So do continue with your efforts.for my freedo-!l1 Nikhila HaritsaEVERYWhERE, of course in Dept of Englishdifferent fOffilS, both subtle and Pondicherry University

21

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Four DaIits students suspended inl\1howDr. Babasaheb Ambedkari-.Iationa! Institute of Social Sciences is a reputed researchinstitute of Madhya Pradesh and is located at the birth place of Dr. Ambedkar. On the

night of 10/10/2004 at 9.30 pm four students (Ratnesh Kumar, Anand Kumar, RakeshChouhan and Sukhram Kakodia) of the Institute, were warned to return to their hostelsby a security guard who claimed to be acting on the orders of the Registrar.On refusing to do so, they were confronted by the Registrar who was allegedly drunk

and who hurled filthy abuses at them. This behaviour is apparently common behaviourwith the Registrar, L.S,Solanki. Solanki is also infamous for imposing archaic rules

such as banning boys from wearing shorts and lowering the girls hostel deadline.The students, fed up with his abusive behaviour tried to file a FIR against him. Theyapproached two police stations but were tumed back.

In the morning when they approached the acting Director General of the Institute Prof.A,L.Sharma, they were told that they had been accllsed of thrashing the Registrar andbreaking his car windows.

The registrar has filed a case against 11 boys and has suspended four students from the

hostel. It is widely felt in Mhow that the Registrar is acting on the behalf of Prof.A.LSharma who is considered to be an.RSS sympathizer. Together they .have beenvitiating the atmosphere of the Institute since ProfNandu Ram (currently AmbedkarChair JNU) left the post of Director General. All four boys who were suspended arepassionately involved in the Ambedkerite movement and this is only an attempt to

I victimise them. Such provocation are not new, In January 2002, a similar' incidentoccurred in Hyderabad Central Unive:-:ity. It is our view that Brahminica! faculty canhide behind the police only for so long. Should such provocation continue, the ~t1pper"

lcastcswill get a taste of the perseverance and commitment of the Dalit studentcommunity in India as they did in Hyderabad. /.------.- ---.-----.--

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