The untouchables’ revolt in India: Will the Brahmins suppress the Dalits again?

[N.Siddiqui]

India need to criminalize caste based oppressions. Put these people in jail. And it need to be a federal crime, or whatever that may be in India.

For example in the US, assault is not a federal crime, it's a local issue. However, if it's assault because of racism, it's a hate crime and the federal government would be involved. The person will be charged with a local crime but the Feds will charge a hate crime with severe penalty that will send the criminal to federal prison.

The system which divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work) and dharma (the Hindi word for religion, but here it means duty) is generally accepted to be more than 3,000 years old.

How did caste come about?
Manusmriti, widely regarded to be the most important and authoritative book on Hindu law and dating back to at least 1,000 years before Christ was born, "acknowledges and justifies the caste system as the basis of order and regularity of society".

The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616

 

[oFFbEAT]

While the Indian Constitution outlawed untouchability and caste discrimination, it did not abolish caste itself. This was realised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, who called for the ‘annihilation of caste’ itself. It may be time for the government and society to reorient themselves towards this goal and begin the process of ending India’s system of apartheid.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-pape...ash-Indiarsquos-apartheid/article14818155.ece

Yes! it did not abolish Caste altogether in order to reverse the process of discrimination to some extent. People who were forcefully kept at the lowest strata of the society for millennia were given governmental backup in the form of reservation, monetary assistance etc. to pull them upwards.
BUT I agree, it's time to abolish any and all trace of the system altogether. There should not be any reservation/privileges etc. for anyone in government or in society. Brahmins should not hold the birthright to worship in temples, it should be a system like the Christian priests, anyone can choose to become one.......

 

[Ajaxpaul]

Dalits are to be blamed. They have taken this shit for 5000 years. Ambedkar was a great person but he messed up big time by comprising with a hindu casteist baniya like Gandhi. Unlike Jinnah he comprised his communitys interest for his personal political interests.

I am not a fan of any religion. Converting to Islam is the only solution to end this oppression. Because the Brahmins are scared to mess with Muslims.


Such strick laws exist in India. But what happens is that the North Indian upper caste police refuses to register complaints by dalits.

We are all scared of muslims...Lol. Not a fan of any religion but want everyone to convert to islam..... Is it intentional or you like being an idiot ?

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Yes! it did not abolish Caste altogether in order to reverse the process of discrimination to some extent. People who were forcefully kept at the lowest strata of the society for millennia were given governmental backup in the form of reservation, monetary assistance etc. to pull them upwards.
BUT I agree, it's time to abolish any and all trace of the system altogether. There should not be any reservation/privileges etc. for anyone in government or in society. Brahmins should not hold the birthright to worship in temples, it should be a system like the Christian priests, anyone can choose to become one.......

Abolishing caste system will take some doing...or it is undoable?? Ambedkar stopped short of Abolishing it as this is a part and parcel of Hinduism, so the buck stops here.

Reservations as high as 50% for Dalits/SC/ST/OBC castes might make them less despondent and help them in education and govt. jobs, but it is also emboldening the very caste system, like an anomaly is tried to stop another mistake. But this is the solution now...talking about reservations.

It puts a huge burden on India's education system and education standards, quota's never proves better. Also bitter feelings in other higher castes like the recent Patel Pattidars protest asking for quotas like the low castes...

 

[BlackIndian]

We are all scared of muslims...Lol. Not a fan of any religion but want everyone to convert to islam..... Is it intentional or you like being an idiot ?

Kyu hua? Kache me tatti ho gayee?

 

[Chhatrapati]

Converting to Islam is the only solution to end this oppression.

Islam is not a faith to come running to escape an oppression.
It will only create further resentments among communities. If they want to end it, they need reformers, not conversion spree.

 

[BlackIndian]

Islam is not a faith to come running to escape an oppression.
It will only create further resentments among communities. If they want to end it, they need reformers, not conversion spree.

Unless the dalits revolt like tribal maoist. I see no end to their sufferings. The state has done absolutely nothing for dalits and tribals.

 

[oFFbEAT]

Abolishing caste system will take some doing...or it is undoable?? Ambedkar stopped short of Abolishing it as this is a part and parcel of Hinduism, so the buck stops here..

Yes, it is very difficult to stop but I think it is doable......a matter of long discussion.

Reservations as high as 50% for Dalits/SC/ST/OBC castes might make them less despondent and help them in education and govt. jobs, but it is also emboldening the very caste system, like an anomaly is tried to stop another mistake. But this is the solution now...talking about reservations.

It puts a huge burden on India's education system and education standards, quota's never proves better. Also bitter feelings in other higher castes like the recent Patel Pattidars protest asking for quotas like the low castes...

Contrary to popular belief,the reservation/quota system does not put any burden on education system, neither it reduces its standard. Studies have shown that, without caste based social discrimination and without reservation, the percentage of 'lower caste' population in top educational institutes and in jobs would be the same as it is with reservation (note: quotas are decided according to the actual percentage of the population).
Reservation only ensures the percentage as there is discrimination.
Without reservation, the 'lower caste' meritorious people would be marginalized and hence the argument of loss of merit due to reservation, is bogus.
I couldn't find any weblink of the study I'm talking about (I read it in a newspaper) but found a related link (given below).

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/quotas-do-not-hurt-efficiency-says-study/article6857563.ece

 

[Mamluk]

That is not true , in fact, a person from the 'lower caste' named B. R. Ambedkar drafted India's constitution. The 'caste system' contradicts the basic tenets and is no longer in existence according to the constitution.

Ambedkar was disgusted by Hinduism and its caste system and became Buddhist. He understood constitution cannot change Hinduism.

 

[ashok mourya]

Brahmins are basically like mulhas in Islam and pastors in Christianity .They are mainly perform the day to day rituals of idol worship,Hindu marriages,hone entrance,new business starting...even isro sends a satellite after a prayer ritual by a brahmin...only few brahmins are bad...most of brahmins are poor...Most of dalit n upper caste fight are between Khatriyas n lower section of dalits..Brahmans are mostly not involved.

 

[Kabira]

Brahmins are basically like mulhas in Islam and pastors in Christianity .They are mainly perform the day to day rituals of idol worship,Hindu marriages,hone entrance,new business starting...even isro sends a satellite after a prayer ritual by a brahmin...only few brahmins are bad...most of brahmins are poor...Most of dalit n upper caste fight are between Khatriyas n lower section of dalits..Brahmans are mostly not involved.

You are right, in news never seen any brahmin being involved in fight. It's always some thakhur or rajput getting jealous of dalit over one reason or another. Brahmin get bad name because they wrote manusmriti in which they are on top and rest of the population below them. Likely because they were only literate people left.

Its more like classic case of landowner vs servant in villages.

 

[ashok mourya]

Islam is not out of this untouchability menace in India.In India dalit Muslims are untouchables.Even most Muslims are considered untouchabkes in India.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit_Muslim
But caste and untouchability is a lived reality for Muslims living in India and South Asia," Dr Aftab Alam, a political scientist who has worked on the subject, told me. "And untouchability is the community's worst-kept secret."

Studies have claimed that "concepts of purity and impurity; clean and unclean castes" do exist among Muslims groups.

Image captionMost of India's 140 million Muslims are descended from local converts

Image captionMany believe that Dalit Muslims - and Christians - deserve affirmative action benefits like their Hindu counterparts
A book by Ali Anwar says while Dalits are called asprishya (untouchable) in Hindu society, they are called arzal (inferior) among the Muslims. A 2009 study by Dr Alam found there was not a single "Dalit Muslim" in any of the prominent Muslim organisations, which were dominated essentially by four "upper-caste" Muslim groups.

Now a major study - possibly the first its kind - by a group of researchers reveals that the scourge of untouchability is alive and well among Indian Muslims.

Prashant K Trivedi, Srinivas Goli, Fahimuddin and Surinder Kumar polled more than 7,000 households across 14 districts between October 2014 and April 2015 in the populous northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

'Food from different plates'
Some of their findings include:

• A substantial proportion of the "Dalit Muslims" report that they do not receive an invitation from non-Dalits for wedding feasts, possibly because of a history of social segregation.
• A section of "Dalit Muslims" testify that they are seated separately in non-Dalit Muslim feasts. Almost a similar proportion of respondents confirm that they eat after the upper-caste people have finished. Many say they are served food on different plates.
• Around 8% of "Dalit Muslim" respondents report that their children are seated in separate rows in classes and also during school lunches.
• At least a third of them state that they are not allowed to bury their dead in an "upper-caste" burial ground. They do so either in some other place or in one corner of the main ground.
• Most of the Muslims offer prayers in the same mosque, but in some places "Dalit Muslims" felt discriminated against in the main mosque.
• A significant section of "Dalit Muslims" also feel that their community is seen as being associated with menial jobs.
• When "Dalit Muslim" respondents were requested to share their experiences inside homes of upper-caste Hindus and Muslims, around 13% of them reported having received food/water in different utensils in "upper-caste" Muslim houses. This proportion is close to 46% in the case of upper-caste Hindu homes.
• Similarly, around a fifth of respondents felt that upper-caste Muslims maintained a distance from them, and a quarter of "Dalit Muslims" went through similar experiences with upper-caste Hindus.

Caste-related prejudices are found among all religious communities - including Sikhs - in India. Parsis are possibly an exception.

"But a belief that caste is a Hindu phenomenon since caste system derives legitimacy from Hindu religious texts, has dominated thinking of governments and academia since the colonial period," says Prashant K Trivedi.

So he and his co-researchers believe that "Dalit Muslims" - and Christians - deserve affirmative action benefits like their Hindu outcaste counterparts.

The moral of the story: you can try to leave caste in India, but caste refuses to leave you.

You are right, in news never seen any brahmin being involved in fight. It's always some thakhur or rajput getting jealous of dalit over one reason or another. Brahmin get bad name because they wrote manusmriti in which they are on top and rest of the population below them. Likely because they were only literate people left.

Its more like classic case of landowner vs servant in villages.

Actually most of brahmins are poor like dalits.

 

[Kabira]

Actually most of brahmins are poor like dalits.

This doesn't seem to be the case. Most brahmins are more educated then average dalit and obviously richer also. Even being priests they likely earn more then average dalit in village.

 

[ashok mourya]

This doesn't seem to be the case. Most brahmins are more educated then average dalit and obviously richer also. Even being priests they likely earn more then average dalit in village.

Actually 10% of brahmins are elite others are ordinary farmers.Yes education level is high among them but because of there caste they can't to jobs considered inferior.Like working in meat industry,setting non veg shops,municipality jobs etc..

 

[Kabira]

Abolishing caste system will take some doing...or it is undoable?? Ambedkar stopped short of Abolishing it as this is a part and parcel of Hinduism, so the buck stops here.

Reservations as high as 50% for Dalits/SC/ST/OBC castes might make them less despondent and help them in education and govt. jobs, but it is also emboldening the very caste system, like an anomaly is tried to stop another mistake. But this is the solution now...talking about reservations.

It puts a huge burden on India's education system and education standards, quota's never proves better. Also bitter feelings in other higher castes like the recent Patel Pattidars protest asking for quotas like the low castes...

There is nothing to abolish. There is no caste based discrimination in Indian law. Its up to individuals to treat each other with respect and not discriminate.