Murders of Brahmins

DECCAN INQUIRER

Bi-Weekly e news paper

Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. .. Vol.19....Issue.79 .............. 05/10/2023

An appeal to Honourable Supreme Court of India & National Human Rights Commission

Legally prosecute Mr. Uday stalin & Mr. Priyank Kharge for hate speeches

Basically we are all human beings and must respect each other. Nobody is superior or inferior. All are Equals.

We respect every human being as a human irrespective of his caste or religious background. But this respect must be reciprocated by all.

Hereby we demand government of india , National Human Rights Commission and Supreme court of india :

To order Tamilnadu state police to register case against minister Mr.Udayanidhi stalin and DMK spokesperson Mr. Rajiv Gandhi for their hate speeches against hindu community and legally prosecute them.

To order Karnataka state police to register case against ministers Mr. Priyanka Kharge & Mr.G.Parameshwar for their hate speeches against hindu community and legally prosecute them.

To legally prosecute public , MPs , MLAs who make derogatory remarks against Brahmin community.

To provide government support to poor brahmins on par with poor dalits in education, self employment , government service.

To make public the details about Massacre of Brahmins in Maharashtra & other states in 1948 and afterwards.

To make public action taken against the perpetrators of massacre.

To declare late Tamil politician Periyar as insane and remove all his casteist remarks , rantings from public domain , government records.

The Brahmin Files: Why atrocities on Brahmins remain one of the best-kept secrets in independent India

India is a complex nation. Sir Vidia Naipaul realised this after his multiple visits. When he first came to the land of his forefathers in the early 1960s, he was appalled at the overwhelming sight of filth, poverty and lack of basic hygiene all across. It was “an area of darkness” for him, with no scope for redemption. Decades later when Naipaul visited the subcontinent again, he was much more forgiving. He was ready to scratch the deadwood of the old civilisational body ravaged by centuries of depredation, destruction and deprivation. He could comprehend the mind of India, bursting and bubbling with ideas that would at times seem irrational and nihilistic but still active and awake. India was witnessing “a million mutinies”.

Of the many fault lines across the country, Naipaul’s exploration of the “Little Wars” in Tamil Nadu was a tragic saga of how one of the oldest and richest cultures of the Indic civilisation was allowed to be undermined, ravaged and even attempted to be uprooted in the name of Brahminism. Without denying the excesses of the caste system, the fact remains that most campaigns against Brahminism were organised and orchestrated by those inimical to Hinduism per se: A Brahmin was targeted because he was seen as a symbol of a civilisational Bharat. The missionaries attacked him because he was regarded as the biggest hurdle in winning “India for the Christ”, a fact attested by Abbe JA Dubois in Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. The British saw him as a unifying force of nationalism rising against colonial rule. Worse, post-Independence, the Left joined the forces to villanise him, for he was seen as the spiritual/religious/intellectual fountainhead against the Godless communist diatribe.

While Brahmin atrocities are among the most widely studied phenomenon, atrocities on Brahmins remain one of the best-kept secrets in post-Independence India. Not much is recorded on how Brahmins faced institutional/societal persecution in Tamil Nadu after 1967 when the DMK came to power. As a young Tamil Brahmin confessed to Naipaul, it was “not easy for Brahmin boys nowadays”. They were mocked at schools and colleges, faced discrimination in job opportunities, and were incessantly ridiculed by ‘rationalists’ in every walk of life. Overnight, with the government appropriating temple property and resources, a Brahmin was reduced to being “simply the conductors of rituals, the purohits, and certainly there was impoverishment”.

A temple in south India, however, wasn’t just about worshipping. It was more of a socio-economic institution, simultaneously running its own schools and hospitals, and building dams and granaries for adjoining villages. A temple was also the patrons of arts. So, the state takeover of temples in the name of Brahminism threatened to not just destroy the traditional hold of Hinduism over the masses, but also impoverished the society at large, making it overtly dependent on the mai-baap state for everything. It changed the dynamics of Hindu society vis-à-vis state: In the past, society would be an autonomous body running its own socio-economic-cultural affairs, with sporadic state interventions during emergency situations. In the name of fighting Brahmanism, Hindu society was weakened, turned parasitic and made to habitually look state-ward for help and assistance. First British (read Dharampal’s The Beautiful Tree for the British role) and then our own states inflicted with the virus of coloniality sucked dynamism and entrepreneurship out of Hindu society.

Brahmanism, thus, was an excuse. One can understand the nature of anti-Brahmanism in Tamil Nadu — which Naipaul says was a movement of the middle castes, and not all non-Brahmin castes — from the fact that it offered no protection to lower castes. In fact, some of the most brutal attacks on the Scheduled Castes took place post-1967 during the DMK regime. In 1969, for instance, 40 Harijans were burnt alive by Thevars, a powerful middle caste. A similar pattern can be seen in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where Dalits often find themselves at the receiving end of Yadavs’ fury.

So, what did Tamil Brahmins do? They just moved on, without any fight back. This tendency of ‘moving on’ has been a typical Hindu phenomenon, especially among Brahmins. They don’t get stuck in a quagmire, they build an alternative universe and try to restart a new life. Which is not a bad thing for self-sustenance. Moving on may be good, but forgetting is not. After all, as the saying goes, “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.”

It is this tendency to move on and restart life silently that has ensured the atrocities on Brahmins remain the least known phenomenon. Even the organised killings of Brahmins, especially in Maharashtra, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi are confined to the realm of speculations. How many people died? No one knows for sure. How much property was destroyed by the arsonists? Again, there are no definite answers.

The Brahmin Files Why atrocities on Brahmins remain one of the bestkept secrets in independent India

It’s pure luck that American scholar Maureen LP Patterson thought of researching on the aftermath of Gandhi's murder on the Maharashtrian Brahmins, especially the Chitpavans, to which sub-caste Godse and Savarkar belonged. It was sheer coincidence that PL Inamdar, lawyer of DS Parchure, one of the accused in the 1948-49 Red Fort Trial, thought to pen down his memoirs. And Congress chief minister of Central Province decided to validate his devotion for Gandhi when he made grandiose claims in his book about how he facilitated the persecution of the Brahmins soon after the assassination.

Had there been no such accidental documentations, the 1948 Brahmin pogrom would have remained hidden in the dark. Incidentally, while Indian press was silent about these killings following the Mahatma’s assassination on 30 January 1948, The New York Times, a day later, while quoting The Associated Press, reported that “15 people were killed and more than 50 injured before an uneasy peace was established” in Bombay. This was just Day 1 of the pogrom and covered Bombay alone!

According to Patterson, the anti-Brahmin riots began in Bombay, Pune and Nagpur, and then spread to Maratha strongholds of Satara, Belgaum and Kolhapur. Initially, it was spontaneous, where Chitpavans and those with Godse surnames were targeted, but later other Brahmin sub-castes and surnames were attacked too, with active connivance, support and participation of Congress leaders who exploited the age-old Maratha anger (at the Peshwas sidelining the descendants of Shivaji) to push their political agenda. Caste and politics joined hands to unleash independent India’s first pogrom — and in this ruling Congress, just like in 1984, played the dubious role of both assisting as well as assembling and even leading the rioters.

Exposing the Congress’ dirty hands, Patterson mentioned how lorries reportedly owned by a leading Maratha Congressman took the protestors to “Brahman [sic] wards”. In February 1948, one thousand of their houses were officially burnt down, and an unspecified number were killed... one family with Godse surname reportedly lost three male members, she said.

More disconcerting was the role of the then Congress chief minister of Central Province, Dwarka Prasad Mishra, who in his memoirs unwittingly exposed the Congress’ role in the entire episode. While explaining how Brahmins were being attacked and their homes and hearths set on fire, he conceded that “those who indulged in these unlawful activities also included a large number of Congressmen belonging to non-Brahman (sic) communities”. In fact, in Nagpur and Berar the troublemakers were mostly Congressmen, some being even office bearers of the various Congress committees, he informed. “Among those arrested by the police, there were more than a hundred Congressmen and I was immediately subjected to pressure for their release,” Mishra wrote boastfully.

One can comprehend the gravity of the situation from the fact that even someone of the stature of Veer Savarkar could be saved from bodily harm only with police intervention. His brother, Narayanrao Savarkar, however, wasn’t that lucky and was hit with stones and mortars till he fell down. He was later admitted to a hospital with severe head injuries.

Such was the Congress’ role in aggravating violence against Brahmins that even Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel expressed his anger at the manner in which the situation was allowed to deteriorate. In his letter dated 5 June 1948, he wrote to Bombay chief minister BG Kher, saying the “fear of further reprisals by perpetrators of evil and wrong-doers can hardly be a justification for treating such wrong-doers with leniency... Such things are done under a spirit of mass hysteria, and leniency shown at one time is soon forgotten, more particularly it is ignored when the scene of another mass hysteria sets in.”

The Brahmins of Maharashtra, like their Tamil counterparts, deserted their homes and hearths and decided to move on and move into safer environs of cities like Bombay and Poona. It helped them cope with the crisis. It helped them restart life again. But it also kept their plight undercover.

They continue to face prejudice and intolerance, especially in Tamil Nadu where discrimination has been institutionalised in the name of fake Aryan versus Dravidian binary. The notorious colonial myth of the Aryan invasion, which was later appropriated wholeheartedly by communists, has long been debunked intellectually. But politically, it remains a force to reckon with down south.

Brahmins are the new Dalits. And in the season of The Kashmir Files, they too need a ‘File’ of their own. For the sake of justice and fair play. For humanity. And of course for the sake of history.

Call to Mr.Uday Stalin & Mr. Priyank Kharge

Is caste , religion of hindu bashing corrupt politicians incurable diseases like AIDS , CANCER , CORONA ? But for the sake of a blabbering foolish nobody should demean a caste or religion he belongs to. All religions , castes must be respected.

Mr.Udhayanidhi stalin and Mr. Priyank Kharge you are a constitutional functionary behave responsibly. Mind your tongue Don't speak against any religion or caste. Creating enmity between castes or religions is a crime.

As per constitution every one are equal. Dravidians , even Dalits are not greater , not superior , just EQUALS. Even forward castes , brahmins are not greater , superior , just EQUALS.

Periyar used to blabber like an insane in the same fashion. If a commoner makes the same comment like you against a community , against dravidians , against dalits police take action at lightning speed , big protest marches taken. Just take the recent example of movie star Upendra uttering a proverb swift action by police and protest marches. Even after directly condemning a community and threatening eradication what Action against Priyanka kharge & Parameshwar ? In turn when others make derogatory remarks against Hindus, Brahmins no action. Consider the statements of above politicians & their supporters.

Also read hate speech by DMK spokesperson Rajiv Gandhi ,

https://www.opindia.com/2022/06/dmk-spokesperson-rajiv-gandhi-genocide-tamil-brahmins-periyar-killing-model ,

SHAME SHAME.

Few castes even didn't participate in india's freedom struggle against british rather few of them were working in british government. but today same people are enjoying full benefits of freedom. But police are unfit, they won't take action against powerful for hate speeches.

Is your christian religion great ? Didn't it conduct inquisition , murders in many countries including india ?

Didn't Muslim invaders loot our motherland , desecrate our temples. Hindus never propagated hindu religion by sword.

No religion, caste is great , superior or inferior. Learn to take positive things from every religion , every caste leave aside negative ones. Respect all religions & Castes. Be a human being first stop hindu bashing , brahmin bashing.

As per your view your religion , your dravidian brothers are only perfect ideal human beings on earth. Then ideally GOLDEN AGE should be in TN & Karnataka , why there is utter corruption in TN & Karnataka ? Why dalit atrocities by your dravidian brothers on dravidian brothers ? Why there are human rights violations in TN & Karnataka ?

If you really want to eradicate , eradicate corruption , eradicate frequent dalit atrocities by non brahmins in TN & Karnataka , eradicate atrocities on brahmins & other communities.

We respect all religions & castes. We respect both of you too, learn to behave speak appropriately.

#udayanidhi #stalin #dmk #tamilnadu #thehindu #publictv #indianexpress #sci #supremecourtofindia

@rajbhavan_tn

@CMOtamilnadu

@rashtrapatibhvn

@Udhaystalin

@Sunnewstamil

@TNpolice_cz

@Priyankkharge

#priyankkharge

Mr. Priyanka kharge you are partially right. Religion without equality or humanity , is no religion at all. There is no perfect religion, caste on earth , every religion , caste has both good parts & bad parts. Need of the hour is reformation of people's mindsets which in turn evolves religion. But every religion , caste should be respected not hated. Hate is reciprocated by hate , whereas love , brotherhood , compassion begets the same.

Do remember there are cases of atrocities on dalits by dalits. There are many sub castes in dalits , right hand dalits don't make matrimonial relationships with left hand dalits. Left hand dalits cannot build houses and live as neighbours with right hand dalits.

One more example, our Constitution of India was written by copying many repressive british era laws. Many laws which profess iniquity like different marriage laws , different property laws for different religions , Reservation, IPC , etc. Do remember by enacting these laws government itself has committed CRIMES of human rights violations. Laws , Constitutions which doesn't respect equality , humanity , equitable justice is no law at all , is no constitution at all.

Does all these means our book of Constitution must be hated & scrapped?

No , basic structure , fundamental principles of our Constitution is ideal , good but our laws should be amended as per need of the hour. Already many governments have amended laws. It is a progressive sign.

In the same way our religions should be reformed , people's mindset should evolve.

HUMANITY is greater than religion and law of the land.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar against Permanent Reservation

https://e-dalit.blogspot.com/2023/08/drambedkar-against-permanent-reservation.html?m=1

Atrocities on Brahmins by Dalits

Editorial : Caste Hatred & Independence

Persecution of Brahmins in India is similar to Persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.

We truly need INDEPENDENCE from our caste identities , we need independence from identification of an individual by caste , religion. We as a society need change of mindset.

We Common people have not got INDEPENDENCE. It is a shame even after 76 years of independence from britishers , we are still following repressive colonial era rules. Many colonial era rules were copied into Constitution of India. Flawed Reservation policy is also a copied version of colonial era law. Britishers practiced APARTHEID by the name of reservation.

Till date ACCOUNTABILITY OF POLICE , MINISTERS AND JUDGES is absent in rule book.

Many Indians have misunderstood indian history by looking through prism of British historians. As per those historians for all evils which happened upto British rule brahmins were solely responsible. How is it possible for 5% population to rule over 95% strong populace ? Does that mean rulers, kings , village heads who belonged to others castes were weak & meek ? No those rulers were mighty , their kingdoms were wealthy. They have enforced many welfare measures. But nobody credits good deeds of these rulers to brahmins , only gives credits of bad deeds of rulers to brahmins. Double standards.

Brahmins were made as scape goats for all the crimes , misdeeds committed by non brahmin rulers against dalits , others. True brahmins were accomplices in the crime , but the main criminals were non brahmin rulers.

In these 76 years of independent india 95% of government service posts and 95% of MPs , MLAs are non brahmins. Ideally GOLDEN AGE should have descended in India but opposite has happened. Corruption is everywhere in government hospitals , offices , police stations , illegal detentions , 3rd degree tortures in police stations is wide spread. Murders of journalists , RTI activists , false fix ups in cases is rampant. Is this INDEPENDENCE ?

Caste hatred murders are frequent , tribals are illegally evicted from forests for industrial projects without appropriate rehabilitation. Atrocities on dalits are frequent. Just take examples a dalit lady district magistrate was threatened by accomplice of a state chief minister. Dalit girls were raped by a religious pontiff. Drinking water tank in a dalit locality was mixed with human excreta and all dalits in the locality were made to drink that water for weeks. A dalit judge was dismissed from service for upholding tribal rights. A high court judge made threats to a dalit munsiff judge. There is more. Perpetrators in all these cases are non brahmins.

Dalit organizations and brahmin haters who frequently abuse brahmins , where are your voices against these atrocities ? Dalits , non brahmins make slur , casteist remarks against brahmins but no action is taken. When a brahmin does the mistake of casteist remarks police action , protest March is taken at lightning speed. Take recent case of kannada movie star Upendra. Why this double standard ? Shameful.

Casteist remarks made by dalit is wrong , if made by brahmin it is also wrong , if made by non dalit / non brahmin that too is wrong. However there should not be double standards.

Brahmins are suppressed by apartheid policy called reservation. College admissions denied , scholarships denied , jobs denied , self employment loans denied. Food , livelihood snatched away in the name of land reforms act , Temple priest jobs snatched and those still serving priests are not paid equal wages , statutory minimum wages. In 1948 thousands of brahmins were murdered , massacred. Is this true independence we struggled for ?

SHAME.

Whenever a non brahmin makes derogatory comments against brahmins , massacre of brahmins no action is taken. If a brahmin is accused of making derogatory remark law swings into action at lightning speed , protests March taken.

Is this equitable fair justice ?

Basically we are all human beings and must respect each other. Nobody is superior or inferior. All are Equals.

We respect every human being as a human irrespective of his caste or religious background. But this respect must be reciprocated by all.

Hereby we demand government of india and supreme court of india :

To legally prosecute public , MPs , MLAs who make derogatory remarks against Brahmin community.

To provide government support to poor brahmins on par with poor dalits in education, self employment , government service.

To make public the details about Massacre of Brahmins in Maharashtra & other states in 1948 and afterwards.

To make public action taken against the perpetrators of massacre.

To declare late Tamil politician Periyar as insane and remove all his casteist remarks , rantings from public domain , government records.

Let us truly build our motherland BHARATH as per following spirit :

Where the mind is without fear

and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up

into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by Thee

into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom,

my Father, let my country awake.

Jai Hind. Vande Mataram.

Your's

Nagaraja M R

Read :

India's Failed Independence

https://e-dalit.blogspot.com/2023/08/indias-failed-independence.html?m=1

Reservation for neo dalits

https://e-dalit.blogspot.com/2023/07/pil-reservation-for-neo-dalits.html?m=1

Maharashtran Brahmin Genocide – 8000 Killed

Perpetrator: Indian National Congress & their supporters

Year: 1948

Number: 8000 Brahmins murdered

Following the assassination of M. K. Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, with Narayan Apte, who were Maharashtrian Brahmins, Brahmin localities of Pune and Satara saw a Hindu Genocide of Maharashtrian Brahmins, orchestrated by Indian National Congress, along with other Brahmin-hating groups. This Brahmin genocide remains, to date, one of the most suppressed atrocities on Brahmin Hindus.

Brahmins were killed, Brahmin women were raped, shops and houses were set on fire, livelihoods destroyed, and many Brahmins forced to flee, to save their lives and future generations.

‘It’s written in “City, countryside and society in Maharashtra states” that in Aundh state alone the barbarity spanned across 300 districts in all thirteen thalukas. Maureen Patterson concluded that destruction was more cataclysmic in Satara, Kohalpur. The properties of Veer Savarkar were also swindled and torched by the perpetrators. Dr. Narayana Rao Savarkar was stoned to death.’

R. Sooraj Kumar

Narayana Rao Savarkar and his family were pelted with stones, as they tried to escape from their residence. He was gravely injured and eventually succumbed to his injuries on 19 Oct, 1949.

Estimates were that 8000 Brahmins were killed, with no record or estimate of how many were forced to flee.

From the account of Sooraj Kumar Bhargav

“Angry mobs pillaged, burnt and looted the homes of hundreds of innocent Brahmin families, and many people were killed. All on the baseless assumption that all Brahmins were complicit in the assassination of the Father of the Nation.”

Arvind Kolhatkar, eyewitness.

Every aspect of this genocide points to it being a premeditated crime, targeting a religious community, namely, Maharashtrian Brahmins, who were known for being staunch Hindu nationalists. For mobs of hundreds to suddenly attack Brahmins within such a short period of time would require great ingenuity and extraordinary means of communication, technologically not available at that period. These were not “riots” as often labelled, but a planned genocide, because it was spread over the entire geography of Maharashtra, not just one mohalla or city, using arson, which is not lying around in everyone’s backyard every day. The “mobs” attacking Brahmins knew who they were, where they lived, and had the means to attack them.

“My family stands as a proof.

My grandfather was among the richest merchant in Pune and was having 3 cloth stores then which were gutted in selective killing and property burning incidence.

The family was instantaneously reduced to poverty and we had to sell-off all the properties to reduce the trading-credits. The family recovered out of the losses only by late 70’s.”

Anand Khatavkar

This is one of the genocides for which little information exists, once again, by design. It is otherwise impossible that a targeted massacre of a religious community is neither known, nor documented anywhere properly, except for first hand accounts of those who suffered, and individuals who documented the massacre at the time of its occurrence. There is every reason to believe that all evidence of this genocide was destroyed, along with images and news clips.

Indiafacts

Non-Brahmins themselves Responsible for the Caste System: Dr. B R Ambedkar

Milind SathyeFebruary 15, 2023

A recent statement made by RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat that pandits (the priestly class) created the caste system has stirred up a hornet’s nest (India Today, 2023). These kinds of forays into the old/new arguments about is natural since Indian politics centers around the caste factor. Followers of Dr. B R Ambedkar, considered the “father” of the Indian Constitution, cite his 1916 paper to support their contention that Brahmins created the caste system. Interestingly, Dr. Ambedkar initially blames Brahmins but later exonerates them from this accusation. In critically examining Dr. Ambedkar’s claims, I contend that his arguments are not fully developed. In so doing, I automatically refute Mohan Bhagwat’s argument/thesis.

Dr. Ambedkar’s central thesis in the above paper was that “the superposition of endogamy on exogamy means the creation of caste” (Ambedkar, 1916, para 15). His argument flows like this: Brahmins occupied the top rank in the social hierarchy. They closed the door (through endogamy) for marrying outside the circle (exogamy). Non-Brahmins imitated their example and created their own endogamous habits and practices. Consequently, Brahmins are the “creators” of the caste system.

One can easily discern that Dr. Ambedkar’s arguments are not well-developed. The first question is who put the Brahmins at the top of the social hierarchy? Did the Brahmins do so themselves? If it was so, why would society accept such hegemony? Dr. Ambedkar does not explain. Assuming the Brahmin percentage in the total population currently about four percent has not changed since antiquity, it seems improbable that the rest – the 96 percent — meekly submitted to this Brahmin hegemony. Furthermore, Brahmins rarely wielded political power, which was largely held by the Kshatriyas or the Shudras (Maurya and Gupta dynasties, for example). Consequently, it is unfathomable that a minuscule minority would wield such enormous power. Furthermore, the king could not have unilaterally imposed such a system defying the views of the majority, and that too over the period of a few millennia. It leads one to conclude that the system was a society-accepted voluntary grouping. Brahmins may have contributed to it, they may have used the system to their advantage, but to say that they “created” the system is a rather tenuous claim. The politician and activist in Dr. Ambedkar appears to have overtaken the scholar in him.

If Brahmins created “caste” (which is itself a modern, European term foisted on India, and now enshrined in the Indian Constitution) there would be only two castes: Brahmins and non-Brahmins. However, that would undermine Dr. Ambedkar’s thesis. Consequently, he makes a conjecture that non-Brahmins imitated Brahminical endogamy restrictions. He uses Tardian Law to contend that the prestigious position and daily contacts of Brahmins resulted in the imitation of endogamy by non-Brahmins. Tarde (1843-1904), a French sociologist, offered an explanation of herd behavior and crowd psychology, and proposed the idea of imitation, “conscious or unconscious, as a fundamental interpersonal trait, with imitation of fathers by sons…,” etc. However, the Tardian law refers to nobility or rulers, which in the Indian context would mean the Kshatriya, the Shudra, or the foreign invaders. Yet, other castes did not emulate them. Why was that? Again, why did non-Brahmins only emulate the caste aspect (endogamy) of Brahmins but ignored other attributes such as scholarship, moral values, or their rules for cleanliness? Why did they not emulate the beef-eating practice of Muslim rulers or did they only consider emulating the one on the highest pedestal within the Hindu fold? And if so, why? The aristocrat in Europe too closed doors (endogamy) to the commoners. Why did it not create a caste system in Europe among the commoners? Dr. Ambedkar does not provide an answer.

Furthermore, Brahmin hegemony was in question from the Upanishadic period itself. Buddha (about 500 BCE, according to Buddhist tradition) and many saints thereafter opposed the “caste system”. The idea of a “caste system” is rejected by some scholars who consider it a Western reading of the Jati/Varna categories (see, Farek, et al., 2017). Why were they not emulated? Obviously, there was a larger societal acceptance of it. Consequently, it would be unfair to blame only one section of the society – the Brahmins – who neither had the numbers nor the political power over the past few millennia to somehow impose the system on other sections of the society. Dr. Ambedkar takes a little detour and makes an interesting argument about endogamy (or caste) outside the Hindu groups – for example, Christians would not marry Mohammedans.

Dr. Ambedkar makes a further claim when the economist within him takes over. He considers that caste created the surplus man or surplus woman problem within the endogamous group. To overcome it, a solution of sati was devised, he claims. However, he himself admits that a scientific explanation for the custom is not available. Recent research by Prof. Jain (2016) found that sati was restricted to royals and only sporadic instances of the practice were found. Furthermore, with the abolishing of sati the caste system should have slowly begun to disappear if Ambedkar’s contention is to be accepted.

In the last paragraph of his paper, Dr. Ambedkar contradicts himself. He considers the possibility of an “unconscious growth in the life of a human society”. If that argument is accepted, how does he justify putting the blame on Brahmins being the originators of the caste system? If we consider it a God-ordained system, rebels against the system existed in India since the time of Charvaka, Buddha, and Mahavira. Yet the system survived. Did Brahmins wield some superhuman power for its continuation? Ambedkar himself admits that his conclusion is not “in any way final, or anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the subject”. Does it mean he wrote the paper without sufficient evidence and without considering the repercussions that it would entail for a section of society — the Brahmins?

“Caste” existed long before Manu, Dr. Ambedkar admits, yet he chose to burn the Manu Smriti. Manu just documented the prevailing customs, and proposed rules based on those customs. Was Dr. Ambedkar fair towards Manu then? Furthermore, he contradicts himself by blaming Brahmins for having “fathered” the caste system in para 32 of his paper but later exonerates Brahmins as the creators of caste: “the Brahmins may have been guilty of many things, and I dare say they were, but the imposing of the caste system on the non-Brahmin population was beyond their mettle” (Ambedkar, 1916, para 34).

Dr. Ambedkar chose to convert to Buddhism, but did Buddhism reject the “caste system”? “Buddhism is only a sect of Hinduism. Its tenets are not even novel. It did not, contrary to popular opinion, seek to undermine caste,” says Rawlinson (1919, p. ii).

It would give solace to Mr. Bhagwat, the RSS supremo, when Dr. Ambedkar notes that there is a deep cultural unity though caste parcels it in smaller units, and there was one caste to begin with though ex-communication divided it. The famous Atri sutra also notes all are born Shudra (Kane, 1953).

It goes to Dr. Ambedkar’s credit that he warns against any bias and sentiments overtaking objective judgments. He also welcomes rational disagreements on the topic and in the true spirit of a scholar is prepared to give up his theory if rival arguments are advanced.

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Editor: Nagaraja.M.R.. .. Vol.19....Issue. 72.....10 / 09 / 2023