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* The contents of the article are the ideas of its authors and may not reflect the group policies or the ideas of the moderator -------------------------------------------------------------------- [11] From: Sukla Sen <suklasen@yahoo.com> Date: Wed Aug 31, 2005 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Re: Re Viji's post -- Racism's Biblical basis Dear Friends, Along with many right wing (malicious) myths, there ???re quite a few left wing (well meaning) myths contending for space in the marketplace of ideas. The controversy around ???Hinduness???, or otherwise, of the Dalits and Adivasis, to my mind, belongs to the same category. First of all, we must recognise that Dalits and Adivasis are two very different categories. Not that these two are two different homogenous blocks. But Adivasis are far more disparate ??“ both ethnically and culturally. I do not have much idea about Manusmrit. But what I know, in Hinduism, prevalent practices ??“ which again vary pretty widely, override, any particular scripture. And unlike Semitic religions, Hindus do not have any centrally recognised authority ??“ a religious head or scripture. I also guess that the Manusmriti is not even a ???religious scripture??? in the strictest sense of the term. And as regards Brahminism, there is hardly any standard template. Brahmins from the East partake fish and meat quite liberally from olden times. In fact animal sacrifice is a widespread practice in many temples. The ritual is presided over by Bramhin priests. They normally get the chopped heads as their due for the services rendered together with money and all that. In most of the North India things are pretty much different. In Kashmir, I??™ve been told, in many temples, the Brahmin priests have Muslims assistants. This is something unthinkable in the rest of the country. Saraswat Brahmins from the South, associated with the Mangalore region, are known for their love of fish. Brahmins by and large from the North, even today, are either strictly vegetarian or they suffer from an uneasy conscience, if they??™re not. Now coming back to the Dalits, let??™s take up the case of those who??™ve not converted to either Christianity or Islam. There??™re Dalit Sikhs. And, as we know, a large chunk of the Dalits, mostly Mahars from Maharashtra, became Buddhists under the political and moral leadership of Dr. Ambedkar. The moot point evidently is: what about the rest? To my knowledge, in Hindu literature of the olden days the Dalits used to be called Ati-Shudras. They were outside the (normative) four Varnas, and apparently Manusmriti doesn??™t deal with them. There seems to be a popular misconception here. But Shudras are, in all probability, today??™s OBCs ??“ and not Dalits. Now coming back to the bulk of the Dalits - who??™re not Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or Buddhists, in order to determine their religion one can follow essentially two methods ??“ objective and subjective. The objective method would demand a comprehensive study of their religious rituals/practices, deities, scriptures/mythologies, the profile / religious backgrounds of the priests and so on and so forth. Their secular/semi-secular social practices need also be examined. In so far as my knowledge goes, in spite of the gross mistreatments they??™ve been meted out over the ages, they do broadly follow mainstream Hindu practices. But their practices, at the same time, bear stronger imprints of local roots, which in most of the cases are also adopted by the local (Hindu) upper castes, albeit to a much lesser extent. (So we find many temples dedicated to local deities, hardly worshipped elsewhere.) Not only that, there obtains also a strong tendency towards adoption of the norms of the (Hindu) upper castes, in a much stricter manner - in terms of both religious and secular practices, along with the improvement in economic status. This, M N Srinivas has called the process of Sanskrtisation. Now let??™s come to the subjective, or self-image. How many instances one has come across where the Dalits, in a situation of collective violence, one-side or otherwise, based on religious identities, have sided with the non-Hindu communities against the ???Hindus???? That??™s, of course, not to deny the violence that the Dalits face almost routinely both from the upper and middle castes. These days increasingly from the latter category ??“ with their rising social and economic status. The clinching evidence, however, is the famous declaration of Dr. Ambedkar: ???I??™ve born a Hindu, but will not die as one.??? (Never mind Kancha lliah.) While the same methodology will apply also in case of the Adivasis, they fall in a different category altogether. Many of the Adivasis communities from the North-East, e.g. the Riangs of Arunachal, have their very distinct identities. A new trend has also emerged. Many Adivasi groups have started reclaiming their original identities - the Meities of Manipur or Gonds from Chhattisgarh. But bulk of the non-converted Adivasis has, and recognises, strong links with Hinduism. One of the reasons is Hinduism is far more amorphous and openended and has very strong indigenous roots. One another indicator, of course, would be how do these people describe themselves ??“ whether as ???Hindu??? or ???others??? during census enumeration? I personally do not think that the claims that the Dalits, or for that matter Adivasis, are non-Hindus are going to serve any meaningful purpose, as far as ???secularism??? is concerned. There??™re more productive lines to be followed. But the right of an individual/community to designate oneself whatever way one chooses to must be considered sacrosanct. It must not be circumscribed under any pretext whatever. All attempts to the contrary must be determinedly countered. Sukla Vijay K <s_humanist@...> wrote: Regi P George <george_regi@...> wrote This is a very new knowledge! that you start counting Dalits and Adivasis as a part of Hinduism! in which part of the manusmriti are you going to accomodate the Advasis? or in your which brahminical notion an adivasi is coming? -------------------------------------- [2] Subject: <ttn_empower@sancharnet.in> International development jobs Hundreds of development jobs abroad http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indiadebates/message/380 ATTENTION --------- * Published solely for non-commercial information purposes. * Neither the group nor the moderator has any links to the organisations mentioned. * The moderator has not verified authenticity of the claims or offers of jobs/vaccancies mentioned here. * Extreme personal caution and discretion adviced. the.moderator India Debates |
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