PRDS and the Dalits Resistance

7/24/2019 PRDS and the Dalits Resistance

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2/15

Alrto

".

DALIT

RENAISSANCE

p

I

I

3

I

Essay

set

by:

The

Aceoolatlon'of Kerala History, Publication

g666ittao


3/15

l

P. R.

D.

S.

.T

AND

.-"t.

onlr

RENArssdcE

fT

p-$

,

ffi$

Prof.

P.

M;

Abraham

(Dept.

of

English,

Catholicate

College,

pathanamthitta)

r

F.

P.

.1996-Feb-

$

Contribution

a


4/15

PUBLISHER'S

IUOTE

The

promine.t

historians

of

modern

period

have

adopted

the

views

that

history

is

not

a

mere

narration

of

events,

but

it

is

a

lesson.

ln

other

words.

when

history

is

examined

in

a

new

prospective,

it

produces

a

diff

erent

lesson. Every

history

has such

as

aspect

of,

political

regeneration.

The

current

reference

to

the

"history

of

the

Keezhala

people,,

is

to

be

approached

in

this background.

professional

historians

and

intellectuals

have

presented

the

history

of

'Keezhala peo-

ple'

(Depressed

people)

either

in

a

distorted

manner

or

parti-

ally.

their

history

has

often

been

under

estimated.

And this

is

the

rbsult

of

the dornination

of

the

"Whites,,

{(SAVARNA)

fhis

srirall

book

is

intended

to

throw

light

on

the

p.

R.

D.

S.

(Prathyaksha

Raksha

Daiva

Sabha)

movement

that,

Sprang

up

the

Renaissance

of

lndia.

Traditional

books

on

history

have

Unanimously

ignored

this

movement.

It

was

in

Kerala,

that for

first

time

in

lndia,

the

resist-

ance

of the

Dalit community

began.

This

was in

connec_

ted

with the

Ayyan

Kali

Movement

and the

p.

R.

D.

S.

movement.

lt

is

either

because

historians

are

not aware

of

the

Dalit

activities

in

Kerala

or

because

they

wanted

to

keep the

movement

in

the dark.

They

concentrated

on

Raja

Ram Mohan

Roy,

Dayananda

iSaraswathy

and

Sree

Narayana

Guru

in

forming

the

history

of lndian

Renaissance,

Majority

of

historians

have

presented

a

l(erala

Renaissance

with no

reference

at

the conversion

to

christianity

such

an

approach

is

an

attempt

to

justify

the

Hindu

Sway

as

part

of

the

upper

class

domination.

The

history

of

the

Dalits

show that

they

faced

two

fold challenges' in

history-

i.

e. of conversion

to

Christianity

and subjection

to

Hinduism. To them,

Hinduism

wasan

opp-

ressive

political

institution

and Christianity

was

a drewing

force

to

identity

crisis.

P,

R.

D,

S.

tried to over

come

this

identity

crisis.


5/15

6

Vedas

was

given

by

Dayananda Saraswathy

and

Rajaram

Mohan

Roy.

Their

idea

was

to

reform

religion'

Whatactua-

lly

happened

was

the

spranging

up

at

different

levels

o

f

anticaste,

non-brahman

movements.

As

a

protest

against

high

caste

sway,

the ',Sathaya

Sodhaka

Movement"

of

Jyothi

Bafule

in Maharashtra,

Ambedkar

Movement;

"Swab

himana

Movement"

in

Tamil

Nadu,

"Ad-dhorn

Movement"

in

Punjab'

"Adi-Hindu

Movement,'

in M.

P.

Nama

Subhra

Moverqent"

in

Bengal.

and

in

Kerala,

Srde

Narayana,

Ayyankali

and

P' R.

D. S.

movetrents

sprang

up.

Raja

Ram

Mohan

Roy

and

Da-

yananda saraswathy

were

not

spokes

men

of

the

Bhakthi

Mouarn"nt

advocated

by

Tukaram,

Ram

Das

anC

Kabeer'

Yet.

what

their

movement

reveals

is

the

inherent

weakness

of

the

'Bhakthi

Movement'.

So

what

happered

in

lndia

in

the name

oi

Ranaissance

was

a

Hindu

Social

reformation'

But

none

other

than

Ayyankali,

Anlbedkar

and

P'

R'

D'S'

movements

suited

the

spiritual

developrnent

and

defence

of

the

Dalit

people. Before

the

beginning

of

Ambedkar

Movement

llSZ+,1Oiher

oalit

Moveme

nts

had

become

prominent'

They

lrad

come

into

beaing

against

the

social

reformatory

views

of the

national

Renaissance.

,,

Kerala,

in

the

last

quater

of

the

1 9th

century

presented

in

its

acute

form.

the

identity

crisis

faced

by

the

Dalits

in

India.

Kerala

was

comprised

of

three

Kingdoms

(Travancore,

Cochin

and

Malabar)

Colonialisgr

made

this

a

period

of

Con-

flicts.

There

conflicti were

furihered

by the

activities

of

Chr-

"

stian

Missionaries

and

the

conversions

made

by

them

with

';;i;

"id

;nd

initiative,

there

broke

out

the

"channar

Mutinv"

182g.

This

may

be

regarded

as the

first

explosion

of Ben-

aissance.

The

Channars

were

the

people to

climb

up

palm

trees.

"Vaikunda

Swami

Movement

"was

an

active

movement

among

them

at

that

time.

This

was

in

southern

Travancore'

Wehavetobearinmindthatthecomplicatedcaste

system

in

Kerala

was

strikinglY

anywhere

else

in lndia'

The

R

are

to

be

viewed

in

this

light

compartments.

The

NamPootheri

fromoutside.Kshatriyas,Nair's,thetemplefolk'TamilVellalas


6/15

7

Chettys,

Konginis,

Syrian

Christians,

Muslirns

belonged to

the

upper strata,

Ezhavas, Channans,

Parayas,

Pulayas,

Kuravas,

and

the

like

were

of the

lower

strata.

The

Nairs

among

the

upper

classes-weie

toGsid-erea

to b1

the

agents

of Brahrnin

supremacy.

They

were

the

combrador,

caste

(linked

.caste)'

ln

1875,

they

formed

20%

and

constituted

60% among

the

land

lords. There

were

about

14700

Nairs

in

Government

service.

They

were

exempted

from

land

tax'

The

Ezhavas

formed

the

upper

layer

among

the

low

castes'

According

to

the

census

in

1815,

they

constituted

1sil,.

They

were

eng-

aged in

coconut

forming

and

tapping

toddy.

ln

the

1gth

century, cocongt

products

had

much

demanded

ln

Europe'

This

in

turn,

a

large

number

of Ezhavas

rich

There

were

well-to-do

Ayurvedic

Physicians

among

them'

ln

11902

the

first

meeting

was

held

to

form

the S.

N.

D.

P' 16

out of 60

of

the

participants

were

Ayurvedic

Physicians'

Below

the

Ezha-

vas

were

Pulayas,

Parayas,

Kuravas

and

the

like

They

were

slaves social segregation

and

untouchability

were

in

prbctices.

An

Ezhava

had

to

keep

a

distance

of

30Ft

from

a

Brahmin,

A Pulaya

had to

stand

gOft

away'

An

Ezhava

had

to

keep

a

distance

ol 12 Fl

From

a Nair

and

a

pulaya,

60Ft:

The

dis-

tance

to

be

Kept

was

well-defined.

ln

Kerala

slavery

was

strictly

practised. According

to

Dr'

Robin

Jef

ry, in Travancore

alone

there

were

1

,

30,000

slaves'

(Decline

of Nair

Dominance,)

The

slaves

of the

Government

were

rented

out

to

private

capitalists.

Dr.

Jefty

also

states

that

irr

Charrganacllerry,

it

was usual

.on

marl


7/15

o

(,

cOirvei't

frOnr

Ezireva

waii

oi"Jrined

pi.iest.

But the

converted

Ez -:a'trs

lrad

nn

social

crrntacts

witl"

thc

cclnverterl

pulayas.

ln

1870

and

in

1880,

the1,

didnot

tool

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PRDS and the Dalits Resistance