Strategies - Practices Context Of Casteism

Strategies - Practices Context of casteism M C Raj

Introduction India is once again passing through a socio-economic-poitical and cultural struggle. The Hindutva forces are trying vehemently and have succeeded to some extent to establish a socio-political system that will establish the economic hegemony of the dominant castes in India. When the British colonizers were leaving India there was a major conflict within the Indian society initiated by the Hindutva forces. They wanted to establish a Hindu Nation, a nation based on the dominant cultural values as enshrined in the Vedas1, Puranas2, Smirits3 and Tantras4. They did not succeed. Through vote bank politics they are on the brink of achieving their objective of constructing a cultural nationalism that will take over the Nation-State in India. Their success will announce the dawn of a new phase in the hegemonic history of Brahminism. The new phase will mark the transfer and consolidation of power in the hands of the conventional foes of the poor and the marginalized people, the Dalits, the Women and the tribal people of India in a liberalized Globalization context. This will be a major site of violation of rights of the people of India. India is not one country. It is a multiplicity of countries. India does not have one culture. It is a multicultural society. India does not have one language. It has thousands of languages. It does not have one people with one identity. It has people belonging to different religions and castes. The people of India who have been traditionally oppressed and marginalized in the name of caste have started asserting their rights and fighting back on many 1. Vedas are philosophical and theological writings of Hinduism that promulgate the religious doctrines of Brahminism. 2. Puranas are the story forms of transferring Brahminic doctrines to the common people. 3. Smritis translate the Brahminic Doctrines into normative order and normative prescriptions. 4. In popular understanding Tantra means trickery. They are instruments of popular consumption and internalization of what is said in the Puranas.

fronts. This has resulted in escalated violence by the supposedly non-violent dominant caste and in increased violations of the Human Rights of the people by the State. The Indian State is a conglomeration of the dominant caste-class forces. The resistance and resurgence of the hitherto marginalised people is another site of violations of rights. In this Paper I try to explain how dominant caste forces have established and perpetrated systemic and structural violence, exploitation and oppression of the Dalit people, depriving them of their dignity, selfrespect, land, labor, education, livelihood and life itself. I also trace the history of the strategies and programs of the Dalit people for claiming and gradually establishing their legitimate rights in the context of the emerging Nation-State in India.

Origin of Caste System One of the major projects of Brahminization is the establishment of the caste system as a social order. It is graded inequality dogmatically ushered into this world. S. Radhakrishnan who is acknowledged as one of the best Indian philosophers offers the following about the origin of the caste system. “The Purusa Sukta has the first reference to the division of Hindu society into the four classes. To understand the natural ways, in which this institution arose, we must remember that the Aryan conquerors were divided by differences of blood and racial ancestry from the conquered tribes of India. The original Aryans all belonged to one class, every one being priest and soldier, trader and tiller of the soil. There was no privileged order of priests. The complexity of life led to a division of classes among the Aryans. Though to start with each man could offer sacrifices to gods without anybody’s mediation, priesthood and aristocracy separated themselves from the proletariat. Originally the term Vaishya referred to the whole people. As we shall see, when sacrifices assume an important role, when the increasing complexity of life rendered necessary division of life, certain families, distinguished for learning, wisdom, poetic and speculative gifts, became representatives in worship under the title of Purohita, or one set in front. When the Vedic religion developed into regulated ceremonials, these families formed themselves into a class. In view of their great function of conserving the tradition of the Aryans, this class was freed from the necessity of the struggle for existence. For those engaged in the feverish ardor of life cannot afford the freedom and the leisure necessary thought and reflection. Thus one class concerned with the things of spirit came into existence. The Brahmins are not a priestly class pledged to support fixed doctrines, but an intellectual aristocracy charged with the molding of the higher life of the people. The kings who became the patrons of the learned Brahmins were the Kshatriyas or the princes who had borne rule in those days. The word Kshatriyas comes from Ksatra, “rule, dominion”. It has the same meaning in the Veda, the Avesta and the Persian inscriptions. The rest were classed as the people or the Vaisyas.” The following is said of the Brahmins,” In his own house he dwells in peace and comfort, to him for ever holy food flows richly, to him the people with free will pay homage-the king with whom the Brahmin has preced-

ence... The division into Aryans and Dasyus is a racial one, being based on blood and descent”.5 Babasaheb quotes from Katyayana about the origin of the four castes. “There is no difference of castes; this world, having been at first created by Brahma entirely Brahmanic, became (afterwards) separated into castes in consequence of works. Those Brahmans (lit. twice born men), who were fond of sensual pleasure, fiery, irascible, prone to violence, had forsaken their duty, and were red-limbed, fell into the condition of Kshatriyas. Those Brahmans, who derived their livelihood from kine, who were yellow, who subsisted by agriculture, and who neglected to practice their duties, entered into the state of Vaisyas. Those Brahmans, who were addicted to mischief and falsehood, who were covetous, who lived by all kinds of works, who were black and had fallen from purity, sank into the condition of Sudras. Being separated from each other by these works, the Brahmanas became divided into different castes”.6 Purusa Sukta of Rg Veda gives the narration of the creation of the world in many verses. Verses 11 and 12 pertain to the Caste system. Verse 11, “When (the Gods) divided, the Purusha into how many parts did they cut him up? What was his mouth? What arms (had he). What (those objects) are said (to have been) his thighs and feet”. Verse 12, “The Brahmana was his mouth. The Rajanya was made his arms; the being called the Vaishya, he was his thighs, the Shudra sprang from his feet”. Commenting on this is the following;” The Indo-Aryan society has an official gradation laid down; fixed and permanent with an ascending scale of reverence and a descending scale of contempt. The scheme of the Purusha Sukta is unique in as much as it fixed a permanent warrant of precedence neither time nor circumstances can alter”.7

Caste – Division of Laborers Many Hindu scholars have tried to justify this system of graded inequality through philosophical discourses. However, the type of exclusivism that caste system has effected in the society cannot be wished away, nor can it be pushed under the carpet through pious and high sounding philosophical gongs. The general argument forwarded in the legitimization of the caste system is that it is a division of labor. It is the way that the Hindu society has been ordered and that it has worked well for millennia. First of all it must be said that it is not a division of labor. As Dr. Ambedkar clearly points out it is a division of laborers. It is a division 5 . S Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Vol.1, pp.111-112 6 . Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol.5. pp.193-194 7 . T H P Chentharassery, Ambedkar on Indian History, p.41

of people. Our next question is why did the Brahmin propagandists choose this way of organizing society? There must be a specific purpose behind this way of organizing the people. Caste system is not something that is natural. It is not commonly prevalent in the natural societies. The Black people of Africa, the Adivasis of Asia and the Dalit people were not organized on caste basis. Why then did the Aryans bring caste system into India? It is because they found that this system was one of the best tools for them to keep the society in eternal division and through that division to perpetuate their hegemony in the larger society. But also within the Aryan society itself it came handy to establish and maintain the superiority of the Brahmins over all the other caste people. The third aspect is that the caste system has worked till now because of the total objugation of the Dalit people by the Brahminic forces all throughout history. They have ensured an all-round surrender of the Dalit people through the technologies of unrestricted oppression, manipulative co-option, perennial dependence, and the denial of education and livelihood opportunities. It is a shame to say that a system has worked well for a long time this way. If the Dalits are being kept in chains as bonded laborers even today and they agree to all the terms and conditions of the dominant caste fellows while being kept in chains can we call it a good system.

Graded Inequality The Brahminic order has been toying with Dalit identity, as it liked. Originally, when caste system came into being in India the Dalit people were clubbed into the Shudra identity. Shudra then was an identity for all those who did not belong to the three castes that were identified within the gambit of caste system. In popular story as narrated in the Mahabharatha Shudra was the fourth grouping in the caste system. When Arjuna goes to Kurukshetra he saw in front of him host of warriors who brought him up, who played with him, who studied with him, his friends, his team mates, his class mates, his brothers, cousins, his teachers etc. He had to fight a war against them and kill many of them and win the war over them. They never learned together to do this to one another. He would never imagine the exercise of the art of war against those who taught him that art. He refused to take up to the bow and the arrow. Then Krishna, the schemer, who was also the charioteer of Arjuna, took him away from the battlefield and started his long religious discourse so as to convince Arjuna that he should fight the battle of Kurukshetra. The discourse, apart from many other discourses also has a popular version of the caste discourse.8 The Brahmin comes from the head of 8 . Extracts of the discourse as given in Mahabharatha. “I myself have created the arrangement known as Chaturvarna assigning them different occupations in accordance with the native capacities. It is I who am the maker of this Chaturvarna (Gita. IV.13) The educated should not unsettle the faith of the uneducated who have become attached to their occupation. He himself should perform the occupation of his Varna and make others perform theirs accordingly. An educated man may not become attached to his occupation. But the uneducated and dull-minded people who have become attached to their occupation should not be spoiled by the educated by putting them on a wrong path by abandoning their own occupation. (Gita. III. 26,29) Oh, Arjun! Whenever this religion of duties and occupations (i.e. this religion of Chaturvarna) declines, then I myself will come to birth to punish those who are responsible for its downfall and to restore it.” (Gita. IV.7-8)

Brahma. The head is ascribed a superiority because of its thinking function. By implication it means that feeling is an inferior function. Those who have knowledge have the highest status in society and in religion. By implication it means that those who have been the opportunity to acquire knowledge and will be treated low in society. Brahmins, having emanated from the head of Brahma have the karma of learning, acquiring knowledge and teaching. The next caste of people who are a grade lower emanate from the shoulders of Brahma. They are the Kshatriyas, the warriors. Even today in the modern battle shoulders are crucial. For the bow and arrow shoulders are essential. The Kshatriyas have the karma of fighting in the battlefield. At this juncture Krishna utters his famous dictum that one should perform his karma without ever looking at the result. The consequence of one’s action is not the responsibility of the subject who acts but belongs to the karma of the object. The next ones in the caste ladder are the Verity’s. These are the traders. In those days, as it is these days in many parts of the world, the traders had to move from place to place to mobilize raw materials as well as to sell their products. Thighs were the focal point for traders’ movement to different places. Since the Verity’s originated from the thighs of Brahma their karma is to trade and make a living. It is their profession. The profession of the Brahmin is to acquire knowledge and do all such things that are related to the realm of knowledge. The Kshatriya’s profession is to fight in the battlefield. The feet, though used primarily for seasoning the land for cultivation, is also used for multiple purposes. Those who made cultivation as their profession, the farmers are primarily the Shudras. They originate from the feet of Brahma. It must be remembered that before modern technology arrived farmers and agricultural laborers used to season the slushy land for paddy cultivation by stamping over it the whole day. But then those who played a supportive role to the farmers such as the carpenters, the blacksmiths etc. were also Shudras. Not only they, but also all those others who did all sorts of menial jobs belong to this last grade in the caste. Status is attached to each caste according to their gradation. In the course of time the Shudra identity was restricted to those who allowed themselves to be co-opted into the Aryan religion and accepted their gods. They also agreed to their women being used by the Aryans either through marriage or otherwise. Those who refused to accept the gods brought by the Aryans and maintained their independent indigenous identity were pushed out of the mainstream and they later became a separate category of people called the untouchables. In India all those who have a history of untouchability are the Dalits.

Shudras – The Lowest Caste Before we go in detail about the untouchables let us have a look at what the Aryans have to say about the Shudras when the Shudras and the indigenous people were identified as one category. Some have asked as to why we should be once again highlighting what Manu or others have written about us centuries ago.

True, we need not be once again mentally colonized by the evil discourses of the Brahminic forces. But now we must understand that it is not possible any more to colonize our minds and therefore, we should make our people aware in a considered manner of the historical injustice and dominance that have been perpetrated on us. Only when we understand that, will our people be able to recognize the causes of our present existential objugation. Unless our objugation is problematized with all its causative factors and other compulsive factors our alternatives will not be appropriate. We may be administering wrong remedies to the right disease. Apart from that it is also necessary to show to our people the shenanigans of the dominant forces so as to arrest any further objugation. Volume 7 of Dr. Ambedkar’s writings and Speeches traces these Brahminic ascription and norms vis-à-vis the Shudras. “The Brahman caste is sprung from the gods; the Shudras from the Asuras” “The Shudra must not be spoken to when performing a sacrifice and a Shudra must not be present when a sacrifice is being performed” “Food touched by a (Brahman or other high caste person) who is impure becomes impure but not unfit for eating. But what has been brought (be it touched or not) by an impure Shudra must not be eaten” “Some call that Shudra a burial ground. Therefore, the Veda must not be recited in their presence” “If a Brahman dies with the food of a Shudra in his stomach, he will become a village pig (in the next life) or be born in the family of that Shudra” “If he (Shudra) places himself on the same seat with his superior, he shall be banished with a mark on his buttock. If he spits on him he shall lose both lips. If he breaks wind against him he shall lose his hind parts. If he uses abusive language, his tongue. If a lowborn man through pride give instruction (to a member of the caste) concerning his duty, let the king order hot oil to be dropped into his mouth. “Now if he listens intentionally to (a recitation of) the Veda, his ears shall be filled with (molten) tin or Lac” “For he who tells him the law and he who enjoins upon him (religious) observances, he indeed together with that (Shudra) sinks into the darkness of the hell called Asamcrita” “One duty the Lord assigned to the Shudra - service to those (before mentioned) classes without grudging”

“(The name to be chosen should be) auspicious in the case of a Brahmin. Indicating power in the case of a Kshatriya Indicating wealth in the case of a Vaishya And indicating contempt in the case of a Shudra” Babasaheb has taken the above from many Brahminic literature such as Apastamba Dharma Sutra, Brihaspathi Smriti, Gautama Dharma Sutra, Vishnu Smriti, Manu Smriti etc.9 The discourses change in character and tone after the Dalit people were cast aside as untouchables. Though the term used is still Shudra these discourses largely refer to the untouchable people. Babasaheb sums up in his own words in ten point all that is prescribed for the Hindu society vis-à-vis the untouchables. 1. The Shudra is to take the last place in the social order 2. The Shudra was impure and therefore no sacred act should be done within his sight and within his hearing. 3. That the Shudra is not to be respected in the same way as the other classes. 4. That the life of a Shudra is of no value and anybody may kill him without having to pay compensation and if at all of small value as compared with that of the Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya. 5. That the Shudra must not acquire knowledge and it is a sin and a crime to give him education. 6. That a Shudra must not acquire property. A Brahmin can take away his property at his pleasure. 7. That a Shudra cannot hold office under the State. 8. That the duty and salvation of the Shudra lies in his serving the higher classes. 9. That the higher classes must not inter-marry with the Shudra. They can however keep a Shudra woman as a concubine. But if the Shudra touches a woman of the highest class he will be liable to dire punishment. 10. That the Shudra is born in servility and must be kept in servility forever.10 Further Babasaheb brings out the following from the Manusmriti.

9 . Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol.7., pp. 40 - 52 10 . Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, op.cit., pp.55-56

“Manu, the Law Giver gives legal recognition to the institution of the four Varnas. To lay down the law of the four Varnas seems to be the principal object of Manu’s code. This is clear from the opening verses of the Code. They state that: 1.1.The great sages approached Manu, who was seated with a collected mind, and, having duly worshipped him, spoke as follows: 1.2.Deign, divine one, to declare to us precisely and in due order the sacred laws of each of the (four chief) castes (Varna) and of the intermediate ones. Not only he gives it his legal sanction; he makes it incumbent upon the King to uphold the institution: VII.35. The king has been created (to be) the protector of the castes (varna) and orders, who, all according to their rank, discharge their several duties. VIII.24. All castes (Varna) would be corrupted (by intermixture), all barriers would be broken through, and all men would rage (against each other) in consequence of mistakes with respect to punishment. Manu makes breach of Caste a sin and prescribes three different punishments to one who has become a Patit by loss of caste.

The Dalit People – The Outcast(e)s and Untouchables When the Aryans came into India the indigenous people were not one homogenous group. There were many groups of them living with or without close interactions. The groups that lived were not identified as caste. There were at least ten groups of the indigenous people in India when the Aryans arrived. “The Kol-Bhil of Koibhajan (now called Bharat) having ten tribes (viz.Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu, Puru, Kuru, Panchala, Bharta, Tritsu and Dasyus11) were living in this country without any discrimination before the coming of Aryans. The Aryans came here, applied the policy of ‘divided and rule’, propounded the theory of casteism and converted all our ten tribes into about 6000 castes and also sowed the seeds of discrimination among our people”.12 The Dalit community is a casteless community. Dalitism is castelessness. Since people in India have internalized caste very much they cannot think of natural groups except as caste. Even Christians 11. The word, though clearly applied to superhuman enemies in many passages of the RG Veda, is in several others applied to human foes, probably the aborigines, especially in those in which the Dasyu is opposed to the Arayan who defeats him with the aid of the gods. The great difference between the two is their religion. The Dasyu are styled “not sacrificing”, “devoid of rites”, “addicted to strange vows”, “god hating” and so forth. Thomas R. Trautmann, Aryans and British India, p. 208. 12 . Subhas Chandra Musafir, A Section of Educated Dalits have Become Mini-Brahmins, Dalit Voice, July 15-31, 1999, p.22

and Muslims in this country are considered to be different castes in many regions. It is a mistake on the part of the British to have registered the different communities of the indigenous people as sub castes. Manu, the Hindu Law-giver has prescribed the following punishment to those who associate with the Dalits. XII.60. He who has associated with outcasts, he who has approached the wives of other men, and he who has stolen the property of a Brahmana become Brahmarakshasa. In this life the punishment which a Patit has to undergo was twofold. One was excommunication. The nature and character of excommunication prescribed by Manu has been prescribed by him in the following terms: XI.181. He who associates with an outcast, himself becomes an outcast after a year, not by sacrificing for him, teaching him, or forming a matrimonial alliance with him, but by using the same carriage or seat, or by eating with him. XI.182. He who associates with any one of those outcasts, must perform, in order to atone for (such) intercourse, the penance prescribed for that (sinner). XI.183. The Sapindas and Samanodakas of an outcast must offer (a libation of) water (to him, as if he were dead), outside (the village), on an inauspicious day, in the evening and in the presence of the relatives, officiating priests, and teachers. XI.184. A female slave shall upset with her foot a pot filled with water, as if it were for a dead person; (his Sapindas) as well as the Samanodakas shall be impure for a day and a night. XI.185. But thenceforward it shall be forbidden to converse with him, to sit with him, to give him a share of the inheritance, and to hold with him such intercourse as is usual among men. The other was disinheritance. IX.201. Eunuchs and outcasts, (persons) born blind or deaf, the insane, idiots and the dumb, as well as those deficient in any organ (of action or sensation) receive no share. XI.186. And (if he be the eldest) his right of primogeniture shall be withheld and the additional share, due to the eldest son, and in his stead a younger brother, excelling in virtue, shall obtain the share of the eldest.”13 13 . Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Writings and Speeches, Vol.5., pp.172-174

Origin of Untouchability The popular way of describing how untouchability came into existence is narrated in the Ramayana. Trishanku who is a native king is brave and good. He was also a handsome person. Therefore, he wanted to reach heaven (remember this is an Aryan narration) with the same body. Since Vasishtha, whom he approached for help advised him against attempting anything like that Trishanku approached the sons of Vasishtha. Unable to bear his insistence the sons of Vasishtha cursed him and said, “Be you a chandala”. What is a chandala? Ramayana narrates that further. The next morning Trishanku woke up a different person altogether, an untouchable, ugly of form, attired in dirty clothes. He was driven out of his kingdom and Vishwaamitra takes pity on him and says “O, king, I have heard of your righteous rule. I offer you refuge; be not afraid. I will arrange for the sacrifice, which will enable you to enter heaven in your own body. And in this very chandala form you shall reach heaven despite your Guru’s curse. Of this you be sure”.14 Vishwaamitra transfers all the powers of his Tapas to gain entry into heaven for this chandala king, who in his chandala body rose to heaven. The world saw the power of Vishwaamitra’s Tapas. However, as soon as Trishanku reached heaven Indra pushed him down saying,” Who are you, entering heaven with a chandala body? Trishanku fell from heaven, head downwards, screaming, “O Vishwaamitra! Save me!”.15 The paradigms of Brahminization of the country as well as of identity transformation for the people of this land are manifest. ·They are not supposed to look good and have a beautiful body. If ever they happen to have a beautiful complexion then the Aryans will change them into ugly looking ones through their curse. ·The other side of the paradigm is that the darkish, ugly looking natives have been cursed by the heavens. ·The native people should never aspire to go to heaven on par with the Aryans. Not only this land but the next world also belongs to them. The natives belong neither here nor there. That is why when Trishanku fell from heaven Vishwaamitra stops him on the way and the chandala king is hanging between heaven and earth. ·If the native kings or their people aspire to reach heaven it is possible only through the austerities of the Aryans. Only through their power can something be done in the heavens and with gods. However, even if they manage to reach the heavens they will not be acceptable to the gods and will be pushed down. The natives can at the 14 . C. Rajagopalachari, Ramayana, Bhavan’s Book University, p. 22 15 . C.Rajagopalachari, op.cit., p.23

most reach a place in between heaven and earth and can remain as the stars in the sky. The development of such paradigm of objugation was purported to assure the complete submission and co-option of the Dalits. One after another the native kings were either subjugated or were killed and there was a design behind this. According to Ramayana, one of the core epics of Hinduism, Rama their god destroyed 14000 Dalit Ancestors.

Untouchability – Objugating Stratagem Untouchability and caste are mental construct of a diabolic mind specifically aimed at taking away all the resources of this land and objugating the people of this land in return. Brahminism produced innumerable discourses for the establishment of untouchability as a divine order for the peaceful running of the society. Dalits do not believe in untouchability. The core value of Dalitism is inclusiveness. Therefore, untouchability is outside the purview of a Dalit worldview. In its very construction untouchability is negative. To identify a people as untouchables is the worst thing than can happen to human civilization. Untouchability can be a punishment in human design of things. How it can form an identity of a people based on religious doctrine and sanctioned by philosophy and theology is beyond all human comprehension. The untouchability that has come to stay as an ascribed identity to the Dalit people is a mental construct, part of an objugating stratagem. Untouchability is metaphysical. It belongs to the realm of the mind. In the realm of the mind we need to see what is the cause and what is the effect. Where does the cause of untouchability lie? Does it lie with the one who is ascribed untouchability or with the one who ascribes untouchability? There is only one possible pollution in the mental realm of the Dalit people according to the Brahminic paradigms. This pollution is the refusal to accept Brahminic gods, religious dogma, customs, rituals and other practices of Hinduism. If this is the actual cause of the mental pollution and uncleanness for which untouchability is ascribed then it must be ascribed to all those who refuse to accept Brahminism as a way of life. However, Hinduism does not ascribe untouchability to people of other religions. If the cause of untouchability is the pollution in the minds other than the rejection of Brahminism then it can be only acceptance of untouchability as a mental category. The Dalit mind is not a reception center of the dogma of untouchability. In fact, in the Dalit mindset there is no space for untouchability. It is a mindset that likes to touch and be touched. It welcomes all. It provides unlimited space to all people. The Dalit mindset is the victim of this discourse of pollution and its consequent untouchability. Untouchability is suffered both in mind and in body. The effect of the discourse of purity-impurity and pollution falls on the Dalit community as a whole.

Harijan – Co-opting Stratagem Another important sub-project of identity transformation as part of the main projects of Brahminization is the identity of Harijan that is given to the Dalit Communities. By excluding the Dalit communities from the caste system Brahminism has virtually closed its doors from the Dalits. The original intention was to exclude the Dalits from its peripheries. But then, when the protests against this evil system were mounting, especially through the emergence and spread of Buddhism the Brahminic forces began to sit up and think back. There was immediate counter strategization for keeping its fold intact. The technology of co-option was unleashed. Buddha has been declared as another incarnation within the Hindu pantheon. The modern avatars of this Brahminic ploy have let the doors of reservation open to those who convert themselves to Buddhism while closing them to those who convert themselves to other religions. Having succeeded in co-opting Buddhism, Brahminism does not see any resistance to its hegemony. In recent times however, Dalit communities have begun to assert themselves as the indigenous people of this land and have started exposing the cozenage of Brahminism. Counter discourses have been developed to effectively arrest the onslaught of Brahminism as a hegemonic rallying point. The neo-Brahminic forces understood this impending danger to their hegemony and they started their stratagem not to let the Dalit people off their hook. By hook and crook they want to have the Dalit communities in eternal bondage. The sub-project of the modern era started sometime in 1920 with one Narsi Mehta of Gujarat who called the Dalit people as Harijans. The reason for his choice of this name is a reflection of the mental corruption that has set in the Hindu culture. It was invented as a term of abuse. Brahminism has succeeded in legitimizing prostitution by taking it into the temple through the Devadasi system. Devadasis are generally Dalit women. When the question of representation and identification came up for discussion during the British regime the Dalit people had to be given an identity. It was the suggestion of this Mehta to identify the Dalit people as Harijan. Jan means people. Hari is one of the Trinity of Brahminism. Harijan means the people of god. It is a high sounding word. But the real meaning is different from what it sounds like. His meaning is that the Dalit children are born out of temple prostitution, the Devadasi system. They do not know the name of their fathers. Nor will the mothers be able to remember the name of the true father as many Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and others prostitute the Dalit women in the vicinity of the temple. Since the Dalit children are born out of the sexual act that takes place in the temple and since they do not know to which caste they belong and since they do not have a caste they must be called the children of god, Hari Jan, Harijan. It was in this highly derisive meaning that this name was given to the Dalit people. It was an attempt to rub salt into an injury.

Double Speak of Gandhi Later, in the political struggle M K Gandhi needed to keep the Dalit leaders and Dalit communities with him for support and solidarity. If the Muslims had to be taught a lesson the Dalit communities had to be prevented from joining forces with them. There was all the possibility they would join the Muslims. The technology of co-option had to be further sharpened to keep the Dalit communities within the Hindu fold. During the communal award dialogue his own fear was that the “untouchable hooligans will make a common cause with Muslim hooligans and kill caste Hindus”.16 He also made the following plea in one of the meetings, ”I am here today to ask for a reprieve for my caste Hindu Brethren”. 17 Gandhi put up a show that he was a champion of the Dalit people and shed crocodile tears on their behalf. Though a Baniya by caste, he was Brahminic through and through in that he had something in his mind and spoke something else to people. He gave the name HARIJAN to the Dalit people once again and made it stick on them with the stamp of his appropriated authority and his apparent sympathy towards the untouchable people.

Labor and Communication According to Habermas, labor and interaction are the two basic process of social synthesis.18 The Brahminic society denies precisely these two things to the Dalits. While allowing labor to the Dalits it denigrates the same by attaching it to caste and not allowing mobility of labor. While it sticks some labor to some castes it removes the price label of the same labor and replaces the same with caste label. By labeling labor through caste it makes it a free labor. Through the caste system it has effectively prevented interaction. Babasaheb points out that in the Hindu cultural milieu there are no common actions, there are only parallel actions. Hinduism kills public spirit. The Brahminic society prevents existence in communication. “There is an utter lack among the Hindus of what sociologists call ‘consciousness of kind’. There is no Hindu consciousness of kind. In every Hindu the consciousness that exists is the consciousness of his caste. That is the reason why the Hindus cannot be said to form a society or a nation. There are however many Indian whose patriotism does not permit them to admit that Indians are not a nation, that they are only an amorphous mass of people. They have insisted that underlying the apparent diversity there is a fundamental unity which marks the life of the Hindus in as much as there is a similarity of habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts which obtain all over the continent of India. Similarity in habits and customs, beliefs and thoughts there is. But one cannot accept the conclusion that therefore, the Hindus constitute one society. To do so is to 16 . Quoted from M.Desai 1953, by G.Aloysius, Nationalism without a Nation in India, 1998, p.184 17 . Quoted from Pyarelal 1932, by G. Aloysius, ibid,p.184 18. Political Discourse, Explorations in Indian and Western Political Thought, Ed. by Bikhu Parekh and Thomas Pantham, p. 182

misunderstand the essentials which go to make up a society”. (Babasaheb Ambedkar). Therefore, as long as Brahminism survives social synthesis is impossible in Indian politics. As long as Brahminism and Casteism thrive social disintegration will be increasing. Habermas believes that a normative order can act as a harbinger of peace in any social revolution. Even if there are different communities a Normative Order can bring peace in a revolutionary and in an evolutionary context. However, when normative order is further consolidated through normative prescriptions there will be a real danger. Normative prescriptions, only in as much as they are confined within the ambience of the life world action of a community can be the vanguard of peace. When there is a differential application of the normative prescription, namely, one set of prescription for one community and another set of prescription for another community then it becomes an external disturbance for the community. This is the way the Brahminic normative order and normative prescriptions have functioned in the society for millennia. They continue to do the same even in the post colonial Indian society. As long as the Hindutva, Brahminic forces continue to apply this differential normative order and prescriptions to different castes and communities in India, as long as they strive to bulldoze the identities of people with a single Hindutva identity there will be no peace. The responsibility for promoting and preserving peace lies at the very doorstep of those who point an accusing finger at the oppressed people as the destroyers of peace. What underlies this accusation is the veiled threat that if the Dalit people and the minorities do not tread the path laid out by the dominant forces they will be taught a lesson. No one can expect lasting peace in a context of such veiled ‘invitation’ to subjugate oneself.

Untouchability - Tool of Violations In India, as in many other countries of South Asia, the violations of right to life and dignity assume barbaric dimensions in the caste system. The State in India is not only an active conniver with economic forces of exploitation but has an identity with that part of the civil society which assiduously seeks to maintain caste hegemony it has established over the indigenous people and women. Untouchability is the demon that acts as the agent of caste system. While the violations of Human Rights in many other countries assume an individual dimension, in India, which is governed by a ruling caste, it is a whole people who are denied their rights. Though legal rights are enshrined in the Constitution of India, civil rights are constantly being violated through the collaboration of the State machinery.

Roots of Untouchability

If the forces of Globalization have succeeded in disintegrating the local people socio-economically and culturally, Casteism did it long ago and is continuing to make the Dalit people the worst victims of its hegemony. If globalization with its ideological roots in capitalism has created a class of people who are subjugated and makes them to struggle for survival Casteism with its ideological roots in Brahminism did it much earlier and created untouchability in its worst inhuman forms. It objugated the indigenous people to such an extent that even after three millennia it takes pride and legitimizes, through multifarious discourses, the establishment and sustenance of such a social organization. Therefore, we may arrive at a position that the sources of violations of Human Rights in India are religion, caste and the economic system.

Prevalence of Untouchability Today A common discourse that is produced and dispersed with an evangelical zeal is that caste discrimination is a thing of the past and that all stories of caste atrocities are concocted. It must be stated here that such a discourse is in fact fabricated as a self-defense. The reality of India as reflected even in the caste dominated media is that caste discrimination, and the ‘terrorist’ practices attached to it continue even today in as crude forms as it used to exist centuries ago. ∙The latest in the series of caste killings is the one in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh. The Nation-State is an active collaborator in perpetuating such heinous crimes against the Dalit people in different parts of the country. “Nonetheless, the police would not bestir themselves. The minions of law and order, rumor had it, partook the sweets distributed ∙An example of such a state ofeven affairs is the of cleansing of the chamberby ofthe B Prasad, a tycoons’ men as soon as Guha Niyogi’s murder was an accomplished fact.from Dalit, and Additional District Judge in the Allahahabad High Court with water It was a most curious spectacle. The identity of those who actually shot Ganga by Ashok Kumar Srivatsava who took over from the Dalit Judge. him through the window of his bedroom and those who financed them-was no secret; some of them bragged openly about what they had done. The If such a however thing could take the places where justice is expected to be police would notplace even in register first information reports.....The meted out to the Dalit people, one can easily imagine other where the prosecution of the case, it is obvious from the observations ofareas the judges, State is most involved. The done matter went theadduced Parliament discussion was shoddily and the upped evidence hadfor wide gaps; theand was given a ceremonial burial after some ritualistic protest. the guilty ones were Government, it seemed could not care less whether brought to justice or not”.19

All the accused in the Karemchedu murder case of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh, were acquitted recently for lack of evidence. Compare this with the case of Shankar Guha Niyogi whose murderers were also let free for lack of evidence. The State, which has to file, the case in all such events makes a weak case to be presented to the court with intended loopholes so that in the course of time the dominant powers could get away scot-free.

The recent atrocity on the Dalit settlement in Kodaikanal by the State machinery because the Dalits decided to boycott the elections is representative of the way the State represses democratic dissension of the Dalit people.

Untouchability - Operating Forces Add to this also the caste bias of some judges as evident from the ‘Ganga cleansing’. This is not a case in isolation to be dismissed as an aberration. Speaking of the Supreme Court of India, R K Garg writes: “The citizen is often shocked; why did the Supreme Court lean in favor of vested interest? The reason is simple. Laws are enacted to recognize or to create old and new rights. These rights become vested rights defended by vested interest. The Courts are there to enforce these rights. By habit, training, and equipment, judges get used to paying an awesome respect for vested rights, which are the bedrock of the legal framework given to them for administering justice”.19 Referring to the Shiva Sena and Hindutva forces that represent the dominant side of the contemporary nationalistic discourses, Jyothi Basu has remarked recently that they are barbarians. This is not an individual opinion. A more scientific exposition of such a statement comes from Ashok Mitra: “The Shiv Sena Maestro is joyously ensconced in the knowledge that he is above the law, the government at the Center is frozen by the fear of him, the government nominally in charge of the administration in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra is in any case under the thumb of the Shiv Sena boss. A no-nonsense applied philosophy has assumed center stage. Much in the style of the Austrian ex-corporal in the closing days of the tottering Hindenburg regime, the Shiv Sena chief is spreading the legend that law is what he says it ought to be and order is to let loose his bandicoots on whosoever he does not approve of. It is pointless for the Amnesty International to tell us any further about the nitty-gritty of human rights. A government exists at the Center, State governments at one level down the echelon, it does not matter though, India has already attained a state of total lawlessness”. 20 The case of the

Shiv Sena chief is taken here as an exemplification of the dominant caste rot that has set into all veins of life in India. 19 . Professor D.N.Sandanshiv, Human Rights and the Primacy of the Constitution’s Directive Principles, Untouchable! Ed. by Barbara R Joshi, pp.130-131 20 . Ashok Mitra, Guilty Must be Punished, Deccan Herald

That untouchability has not been removed in a country, which boasts of a high level spirituality is an indication of the sham that runs through the live veins of the ruling caste oligarchy. While speaking of the imperialism of the West is in place what about the imperialism of Bharat over a large section of the people from whom it inherited this land? For the Dalit people the immediate enemy is Brahminic imperialism. Shouting about Western cultural invasion from rooftops does not make much sense to the Dalit people because they experience the hegemonising shenanigans of the dominant caste forces day in and day out in their lives. Public memory is short and therefore, it may be well to remind us of the Statement of Ashok Singhal about the present President of India who said that Mr K R Narayanan does not know the culture and history of India. Is it a sheer accident that not a single Dalit has been appointed in the last 30 years in ICHR?

The Extent of Untouchability Some forward the argument that the recent increase in the atrocities on Dalits is an indication of a higher level of awareness among the Dalit communities about themselves. It is only now that these atrocities are being reported. There is truth in this viewpoint. However, it must be stated firmly that the atrocities on Dalit people, as on women, have been there for centuries. With the rising Dalit awareness of their identity and rights, these atrocities have been increasing recently with a qualitative difference. These are now carried out systemically and structurally. The decade of development during Indira Gandhi’s regime registered more than 40,000 cases of atrocity against the Dalits. According to a recent report in the Deccan Herald of 29 July 1998, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi made gave the following details to the Parliament. “Despite the Constitutional mandate, untouchability is prevalent in 12 States - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Uttar cultural Pradesh rights and Pondichery”. The a) Whenever the Rajasthan, Dalit people assert their and

report further that it the is prevalent in a mild form in sixcastes. States and refusestates to accept hegemony of dominant TheUnion Territories,Tsundur Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Delatrocity in Andhra Pradesh and Himachal the one inPradesh, Badanavalu hi. The of rest of the States where, accordingfrom to the untouchability is Karnataka are just two examples the government South. not practiced are the North Eastern States and West Bengal. Therefore, we may conclude the Government has accepted the prevalence untouchability in b) that Whenever the Dalit people assert their economic of rights by the whole of India. laying a claim to natural resources, especially to land. The Soolanayakanahalli atrocity in Tumkur District and the recent one in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh are large-scale atrocities that remain fresh in our memory. Today The whole Dalit Untouchability - Causal Factors community in a village has to pay a heavy price for a land between individuals. It is notdispute only the number of atrocities but also the type and the reasons that count. We may identify three major causes for the increasing atrocity on Dalits. c) Whenever the Dalit people assert their political rights by courageously taking recourse to the provisions in the Constitution and independently participate in the legal system of the country.

The killing of Shri Krishnaiah in Bihar by the Rajputs needs a special attention. He was the District Magistrate, a Dalit from Andhra Pradesh, of the Indian Administrative Service and was murdered in broad day light by the Rajputs(reported to be Anand Mohan and his wife Lovely Anand). The Rajput community of Patna later celebrated the courage of the murderers and Anand Mohan is today a member of the Parliament. The broad day light killing of Thiru Murugesan of Melavalavu village in Madurai district of Tamilnadu elected as the President of the panchayat is just a replica of the umpteen number of such cases all over the country.

Untouchability - Increase in Evidences We may note the following as some examples of the atrocities on the Dalit people in the Independent India. ∙1.

61 people were killed while sleeping, most of them Dalits, in Laxmanpur Bathe of Bihar on 01 December 1997 by the Ranvir Sena. Those killed included 27 women-8 of them pregnant- and 17 children.21 ∙2.

Anita(30) of Randevi village, under the Nakud police station was stripped, her face blackened in front of the panchayat and her bottom thrashed with shoes for naming two of her Jat neighbors in a case of theft at her house.22

21 . Liberation, January 1998 22 . Usha Rai, Hindustan Times, 18 September 1997

∙3.

A Lucknow police sub-inspector forcibly took a Dalit woman to a private guesthouse to entertain his guests and the woman was later repeatedly raped by the group, even as a constable stood watch.23 ∙4. Chandavva who was sleeping with her 14-day-old baby was attacked and thrown out. An irate mob set fire to the huts with kerosene. The life long earnings, food grains went up in flames in from of their eyes. They were on the streets with clothes they were wearing. This was the common scene in the Dalit localities of Halepet, Buddhanagar and Diggi Agasi of Shahadpur town, which witnessed unprecedented and extensive anti Dalit riots on August 19, 1997. The sub-castes of Dalits, Holeyas and Madhigas were targeted by the furious non-Dalit mob.24 ∙5.

In 1977 in the State of Uttar Pradesh alone 92,000 Dalits were deprived of their allotted land and there is no record of how many of them were killed.25

Untouchability - Forms of Practice and Penalties The type of reign of terror that is perpetrated on the Dalit people gives generally the picture of the forces that boasts of a superior culture but is truly in need of civilization. For those who live in the cities blissfully unaware of what is happening to millions of their fellow beings around the country the following may be shocking. It is important to remember that we are speaking of things that are taking place in 1998 and we are only one year and a half away from the 21st century. ∙The Dalit people are served coffee and tea in hotels in separate glasses, which they themselves have to wash. They have to stand outside the hotel and sip their coffee. ∙They are not allowed entry into places of worship. In many places the Dalit masons construct the temple but as soon as it is dedicated the Dalit people become untouchable. ∙In village festivals they will be served meals separately only after everyone else has finished and only the leftovers will be served to them. ∙The Dalit people are not allowed to draw even drinking water from tube wells of the government in the dominant caste streets.

23 . Pioneer, 3 September 1997 24 . Indian Express, 28 August 1997 25 . Untouchable, Ed.by Barbara R. Joshi, p. 119

∙The Dalit people are also forced to perform conventional caste ‘jobs’ free of cost. Such duties include announcing the death of dominant caste person to relatives of the person wherever they may live; digging graves; removing dead animals; beating drums during funeral processions and village festivals; free labor during village festival etc. ∙Any dissension on the above said matters will immediately be met with a thorough beating up of the Dalit people in order to teach them a lesson. When that fails there follows a social boycott of the Dalits, which practically is an economic boycott. In the event of a boycott the Dalits will not be allowed to walk through the main streets of the village, will not be given any provision in the shops, will have no entry into the flour mill to grind their grain. Dalit women will not be allowed into the fields at dusk to ease themselves, will not be given any work in the fields till the Dalits agree to the terms and conditions of the dominant caste people. If anyone gives the Dalit people job in his field he/she will have to pay a fine.

Sites of Violations These sites of violations of rights are common to both the forces of Globalization and that of Brahminization. ∙Male Domination - Objugation of Women ∙Domination over Nature, Ecology ∙Assertion of Religious Superiority, assertion of one caste as supreme - caste first; assertion of the individual as supreme - individual first ∙Assertion of cultural superiority and paradigms of universalism. ∙Based on religion - for Normative order, normative standards and normative prescriptions ∙Religion for you poor (heaven in the next world) - wealth, power and status for us (in this world) ∙Purity-Impurity; Superior-Inferior; Heaven-Hell; This world-Next world; Earth-Heaven; Body-Spirit; Rationality-Emotion dichotomies ∙Cultural Unity - Cultural Diversity (Diverse Groups are enemies) ∙Criminalisation of objugated people

∙Claim to absolute truth, ownership of Truth, their science is more truthful, Universal science Vs Perspectivism ∙Civilization - Barbarism discourse ∙One Nation, One people, One culture, One language, One religion discourse ∙Privatization, Liberalization, Democracy - the economic agenda of both ∙One is to judge-the other is to be judged, not worthy of ruling Alternative The Organization REDS in Tumkur District of Karnataka in Southern India, who is a meaningful partner of ICCO has evolved many alternatives not only for its work but for the whole Dalit community in India. To this extent More than ten books have been produced, some of them are voluminous on the Dalit people. The Strategy of Dalitization visualizes not only a different India but a different world when governance goes into the hands of Dalit and other indigenous women of the world. Dalitization

The type of transformation that is visualized and desired by the Dalit people is called Dalitization. This is not going to be a single stroke event. Many projects of Dalitization are evolved in this recent history of Dalit resurgence. The ultimate goal of the projects of Dalitization is to make all indigenous people of the earth to walk towards an unbroken future. In the course of the transformation of civilization many more projects will emerge. For the time being the following projects of Dalitization may be made the best use of. 1.The Project of Opening Horizons

This project refers to the strenuous endeavor that needs to be made by all indigenous people to establish the cosmic people in the path of native wisdom that will have strong foundation in the ripple impact of the cell systems. Wisdom cannot be commercialized in the cosmic order of governance. Wisdom belongs to all people in the way their cell systems are equipped to hold it and nurture it. Knowledge systems of the world will be completely open to all people of the earth and will be made available to all. There will not be a privileged class of intellectuals who will have ownership over knowledge systems. It will be the responsibility of the United Supreme Council of Communities to make sure of access to systems and structures of knowledge. There will not be any selective distribution of know-

ledge and information as prevailing in contemporary world systems. Knowledge is for all people of the earth. Preferential treatment will be given to women and indigenous people of all nations in order to rectify the historical denial that has been done to them vis-à-vis education and learning. In the project of Dalitization all financial allocations will be made to make knowledge and information available to all people, especially to those who have been denied access to knowledge and information historically. This process of opening up horizons will take into serious consideration the historical injustice that was done to groups of indigenous people in the denial of access to knowledge and information. Community Education will be an essential ingredient of the development of wisdom in this project of Dalitization. Community education will be an effective strategy of striking a hitherto non-existent congruence between emotive and cognitive order in the society at large as well as in the learning individual. All communities of people will have absolute freedom to educate the children of their communities in their history and culture. The State will have no deterministic role as to what should be taught and what should not be taught in the communities of people. However, the State will ensure that no dominance will come into any effective play in the Mechanisms and Instruments of National governance.

2.The Project of Land Recovery

Communities of people belonging to the dominant order have till now treacherously expropriated the land of the indigenous people through multifarious shenanigans. One may be reminded of what Bishop Desmond Tutu has said of the White people. He said that when the White people went to Africa a few centuries ago they had their Bible in their hands and the Black people had their land with them. After the While rule in the Black country, today the Black people have the Bible of the Whites in their hands and the White people have the land of the Blacks in their hands. It is easy to make a statement like this. Who will give back the land to the Black people? The same type of betrayal has taken place in all parts of the world. The worst of it has been done to the Dalit people. Land grabbing by the dominant caste people through illegal means continues unabated till today. Land is a significant location of drawing life and energy for the indigenous people. This is also the key locale of violation of many rights of the Dalit people. In order not to give back the stolen land at all dominant order has enacted many strict laws of private ownership of land. In post modernist capitalistic form of governance the economic forces have free access to all land of indigenous people through governments. This project does not visualize deprivation of land for the rich. However, there must be a sustainable level of land for all indigenous families of all nations. To that extent the United Supreme Council of Nations will ensure that those who have amassed unreasonable extent of land as personal property will have to give up some of it. Land will be taken from those who have excess only in as much as it is required for the sustainability of all

people. There will be no attempt to strike uniformity among the people in terms of possession of the extent of land. There can be many variants in land ownership. However, all people of the earth must have land. Such a re-distribution of land to all indigenous people will not be the responsibility of national governments but will be that of the United Supreme Council of Nations. 3.The Project of Wisdom March

Dalit people have been characterized as a people who do not have the capacity to think deep. This ascription has come after banning education and the possibility of learning. However, now it is evident that given a chance Dalit people can even overcome any hurdle and prove their mettle in the field of philosophy. The many volumes of Babasaheb Ambedkar bear ample evidence to the existence of a discipline School of Philosophy among the Dalit people. He is our star. No doubt! But he has risen from us. He did not descend from above. He is not the only one. There are thousands of others throughout history. Starting from the mythical Valmiki who is an untouchable and wrote the Ramayana Epic for the Brahmins one can enlist huge volumes of names of Dalits who have produced thesis after thesis. Vyasa who wrote the Mahabharata is a Shudra Intellectual. When Brahminism needed someone to write the Constitution of post-British India they chose the untouchable Ambedkar. This book is a humble attempt by a Dalit along with many thousands of Dalit ancestors, as well as contemporary Dalit writers. In this Project of Wisdom Recovery the specificity of all indigenous systems of knowledge will be given equal status. Wisdom can only be different according to cultural specificities. There can be no universal wisdom worth its name. Wisdom becomes wiser only when multiplicity is recognized. When wisdom is imprisoned in the narrow confinement dominant groups it becomes very unwise. Therefore, ‘universal truth’ and ‘only truth’ will have no legitimacy within the Project of Dalitization. Many truths and multiple ways will be the order of the Projects of Dalitization. The specific nature of this Project is the formal recognition that will be accorded to all indigenous systems of knowledge irrespective of whether they are written down in black and white or not. All value systems that are alive within living communities, even if they are not written down, even if they are not brought under the highly sophisticated abstract levels of logical discourses will be recognized as Schools of Philosophy under this Project. Financial allocations will be made to enable intellectuals emerging from indigenous communities to put down in writing whatever wisdom lives in communities of people with their own cultural manifestations and symbols. 4.The Project of Cultural Resurgence

Dalit culture is unique and specific. It is one of the world cultures that still keep alive the innateness of a community and lives by its worldview and value systems

derived from this innateness. Unfortunately though, it has lost many of its manifestations and symbols to Brahminism. It is now in the danger of losing all its symbols and live by a subverted culture. The many values which have made the Dalit community survive the unrepentant assault on its dignity and life are much alive in the community of Dalit people. Dalit immanence has a strong value fundament. This immanence is what existed when the Aryan race rose to rule this region. It marked the arrival of a transcendence that is the handiwork of an order that was hell-bent on heaping indignity on the natives of this country. However, it is not enough to have the values deep inside the community. The Dalit values must come alive with surging enthusiasm and get integrated into the Mechanisms and Instruments of National Governance and guide the destiny of this nation. In this Project of Dalitization conscious and concerted efforts will be taken to integrate Dalit culture as an essential and inseparable part of Indian culture. Dalit culture is the progenitor as well as the precursor of all that can be termed as Indian culture today. However, it will not be an attempt to claim Dalit culture as the only culture of India. There are many other cultures in this country. Dalit culture generously recognizes the space that belongs to all such legitimate cultures that are drawn from the history of this region. Therefore, In this Project of Dalitization there will be a legitimate space for multiple cultures. If this cultural paradigm is recognized and received well there is no question of a universal culture that pertains to India. In a vast country like India which is a multiplicity of nations it will be a contradiction to mark anything as Indian culture. There are specific cultures and this Project will recognize the legitimacy of all specific cultures. Appropriate financial allocations will be made for researching on the specific dimensions of Dalit culture and the way other groups and castes have appropriated the specificity of Dalit culture. Based on such researches concerted attempts will be made to extricate Dalit culture from the clutches of dominant cultures and rejuvenate the same to become essential part of Indian culture. This way India will be liberated from much of its hegemonic traditions and dominant order. This Project will be in line with all that is explicated in the section on Culture. 5.The Project of Transforming Civilization

When history of India is written in this country it is a history of the victory of dominance over the indigenous people of the earth, the Dalit people. Dalit history is never given the recognition that it should rightly have. Much of Dalit history also lays buried in the mythical and puranic history of Brahminism. They have been given a quiet burial by the dominant forces of India. They need to be resurrected from the dilapidated rubbles. It is time the world knew of the history of Dalit resilience, of the history of Dalit inclusiveness, of the history of Dalit protest, of the history of Dalit labor, of the history of internal governance by Dalit women etc. It is also of paramount importance that Dalit people themselves knew of their rich

history and be proud of it. Many historical truths lie hidden in indigenous communities of people. If they are not brought out into the open they will never see the light of day any time. The oral traditions of the indigenous people need to be written down and handed over to future generations not only of their communities but also for the entire world. Obviously history and culture go hand in hand. Therefore, in this Project of Dalitization all humanly possible attempts will be made to re-establish the history of this country but giving due recognition to Dalit history and Dalit pre-history. Comparative studies will be made with histories of other indigenous people of the world so that by drawing a common line in the pre-history it will be possible to recognize the mechanisms that led to the objugation of the Dalit and other indigenous peoples of the world. By rewriting the history of the Dalit and other indigenous peoples of the world it will be possible bring back their glorious past into the present so that the future of the world may be freed of the utterly hopeless hegemonic order that is gripping the world today. This Project thus will lay the first possible steps for the slow but sure transformation of civilization. In the cyclic process of the cosmic movement and change transformation of civilization is a must and it can start from the Dalit lessons that humanity can learn from Dalit history. This Project of Dalitization will offer some of the best possible options before the world to survive, sustain and celebrate life by being an essential part of the cosmic order. Appropriate financial provisions will be made without fear or favor to re-write the inclusive history of India, which is the main face of Dalit history. Textbooks and history books will be revisited in this Project so that all people will take pride in owning a history of their own. In the cosmic order, histories of other people become crucial locations of learning wisdom and not feeling low or high in comparison to others. 6.The Project of Dalit Religion

The project of History Recovery should take one naturally to the question of Dalit religion as this has been lost in the mangles of history. So bad is the effect of Brahminic domination in India that many Dalit people and intellectuals are reluctant to acknowledge that there was a Dalit religion among its people. Many left oriented intellectuals without much ripple impact similar to that of the Dalit bodies question the integrity of the revival of a religion for the Dalit people. Such intellectuals sit firmly saddled in the hegemonic foundations of their own religions and question the need for a religion for the Dalit people. Even if one takes the Marxian tool of social analysis religion becomes a must for the oppressed people. According to Marxian tool of social analysis religion is the meaning system in the dominant systems of governance. But as a meaning system, religion can also provide a liberation meaning. Dalit religion does not homogenize the Dalit people. There are many groups of Dalits in different parts of India. The Ravidasis have their own religion. The Valmikis have their own. The Adi Dharmis have their own.

A Dalit religion is proposed to those Dalit who seek a religious path for their liberation but mistakenly embrace one or other of the dominant religions. Ultimately they oscillate a dominant religion and their historico-cultural identities and lineages. Whatever may be the name one gives to the Dalit religion two basic tenets of Dalit religion are taken from their deep historical and cultural roots. These are: a) Worship of Earth as Mother b) Worship of Ancestors. These two become the pivotal points of convergence of the Dalit communities whatever differences they may have among themselves. The strategy of setting aside religion for the personal realms is derived from the incompetent communication of the hegemonic order. Religion has never been ‘personal’ exclusively. Religion has always been of the community and is also now despite the development of pretentious discourses to the contrary. That religion has a vital role in the governance of the world even today can never be disputed by those who are in the world of competent communication. That religion is the foundation of many economic strategies and activities and that religious has given leadership to the evolution of economic systems can never be denied by those who are within the purview of competent communication. After having established absolute dominance over the indigenous peoples of the world through religion the hegemonic order seeks now to dispel religion to personal realms. The subconscious insecurity is that with the same Instrumentality the subjugated people can now become equals and take a substantial portion of the resources of the cosmos for their use. In the deepest recesses of their cell systems the bodies of organic beings belonging to the hegemonic order know that the same meaning system that is called religion can become as much liberative as it was domineering. Dalit religion is a public affair. Dalit religion is politics, is economic and social and all comprehending at the same time. In the Project of Dalit Religion it is a meaning system that will revolutionize the ripple impact in the cell systems of the oppressed people and bring about a hitherto unknown transformation in the order of the human world. This transformed human order will be fine-tuned to slip into the cosmic order. 7.The Project of Internal Governance

The cumulative consequence of more than three thousand years of unmitigated oppression and exploitation of the Dalit people boils down to just one fundamental denial. This is the denial of the right to govern themselves as a community of people. Much of the recognized violations of the rights of Dalit people could have been easily prevented or would not have taken place at all if the Dalit people were able to govern themselves as a community of people. This is the success of the Brahminic order that while not allowing the Dalit people to govern themselves it has allowed them to be plucked away by other dominant religions. Today the Dalit people are governed by the normative order of Brahminism and not by their own internal normative order handed over to them from their ancestors. However,

a normative standard and a normative order are still very much alive within the community though the courage to bring them out into the open is much in want. Just as all other communities of people the Dalit people must have a formal order by which they will be able to ordain their lives drawing strength from the ripple impact in the cell systems of their bodies. This Project of Dalitization can very easily be misinterpreted by vested interests as a claim to separatism. This Project does not mean to stake any claim to separatism in the context of the modern Nation-State. However, this Project of Dalitization is a very clear assertion of the right of the Dalit people to have their specificity. It is ironical that the modern world of enlightenment that attaches an unquestionable integrity to individualism feels so insecure of the Dalit people’s legitimate right to have an internal system of governing themselves. It is not that this is a new thing. It is there very much in the community. However, the dominant groups of the hegemonic order have not allowed the Dalit people to evolve the same in a formal way as that would spell a sure death to dominant caste hold over the land, labour and dignity of the Dalit people. This project of Dalitization seeks to integrate the Dalit people into the national life of the country. However, it refuses to let the Dalit people to become part of the nation in the same way that the dominant caste society desires. The dominant caste society seeks to integrate the Dalit people into national life in their subjugated existence so that the present status quo of graded inequality may continue without being challenged and changed. This Project argues that this is not good for the nation to integrate the Dalit people as a subjugated nation. It will prove to be a weak link in the chain of international relationships. The Dalit people should be integrated the life of the nation as owners of the nation and not as its slaves. Apart from what it means to the nation the Dalit community all over India does not compromise on this question of liberty and equality. Therefore, in the argumentative position of negotiable and non-negotiable the issue of internal governance becomes non-negotiable. This internal governance of Dalit liberation will be realized through the establishment of Dalit Panchayat. In this Project of Dalitization, Dalit Panchyats become a key component. All Government policies and decisions for Dalit development will have to pass through the sanctioning authority of the Dalit Panchayats all over the country. The concept and strategy of Dalit Panchayat is explicated in Dalitology written by the same author.

8.The Project of Don’t Touchability

This project refers to a strong assertion of the Dalit community to protect their women from the aggressive and often violent advances of dominant caste people. It also refers to a self protective mechanism drawn from the innate strength of the community against the barbaric atrocities of the dominant caste

people. This will be a natural consequence to the project of internal governance. When internal governance is ensured and enhanced there will be very little chance for dominant orders to play havoc with the dignity of resilient Dalits. In this Project of Dalitization it is visualized that the Dalit people will be assisted by the United Supreme Council of People to defend themselves against any sort of aggression and assault by residual and compulsive dominant forces. The Supreme Council will allocate required funds for the training and capacitation of indigenous and Dalit women to protect themselves and to protect other people of their values in society. 9.The Project of National Governance

Basing themselves on the strength gained through internal governance the Dalit people begin their march to participate in national governance as a community of people capable of guiding the destiny of the nation to new realms. Dalit communities do not believe in national integration that believes that they should be integrated into the mainstream as they are, a subjugated people. For the Dalit people participation in national governance is their power. The bipolarity of power as dominance and power as resistance will now become a tri-polarity with the addition power as participation. With the strength of the number they have Dalit people will become a political force to reckon with if they have internal governance as a community. Then will this country be redeemed with the inclusive values of governance drawn from the history and culture of the Dalit people. Governance according to the Dalit order will usher in a new era of politics and political governance. This project of Dalitization seeks to establish a national political party of the Dalit people which will sustain itself from the strength of the Dalit people themselves. Pat experiences have proved beyond doubt that the power to govern gained through an alliance with others does not have the strength to sustain itself in the long run on the terms and conditions of the Dalit communities. This is because a community that does not have the strength to govern itself can never hope to sustain a power to govern the nation in its hands. It is a very simple logic. Yet the compulsive desire for the enjoyment of political power drives many in Dalit leadership for a blind pursuit of short term political power. This Project will declare a moratorium on fragmented formation of political parties. It will declare a moratorium for gaining political power in the hands of Dalits until the time when the community has the cultural, historical and spiritual strength to govern itself on its own and thus will be in a sure position to hold on to the political gains that will accrue to it over a period of many decades. Then will the floodgates of participation in national governance will be let open. By the sheer strength of its number the political strength that is thus gained will be unassailable by dominant forces.

10.The Project of Primacy of Dalit Women

It is with a strategic focus that this project of the Primacy of Dalit Women is brought at the end so that it may remain imprinted in the cell systems of the readers. This is the core project in Dalitization. Dalit community is still governed to a large extent by its women in the families. Dalit men may put up a façade of having authority and power. But Dalits know how much of governance women have taken into their hands in running the family. However, there is a general realization that this governance by women has been revived much too late. Having lost many heritages of history and culture, land and dignity Dalit women are the ones who are still providing survival and a semblance of dignity to the Dalit communities. Governance by women is the ancient tradition and culture of the Dalit people. All that is said about future governance of India and of the world is possible only when authority and power for governance are transferred to Dalit women. This may sound a bit far fetched. But that is going to be the future hope of the world. For Dalit women power and authority are two names for responsibility to distribute material and spiritual values. The world must give it a try. If it does not, the cosmic order will strike in such a way that Dalit women may naturally begin to govern. This Project is placed in the overarching context of transformation of civilization. Restoring the primacy of women cannot be brought under the narrow confine of strategies nor of programmes. It is much wider. Its boundaries stretch into the larger horizons of civilization. When women take up the reins of governance it will be the beginning of a new civilization though in Dalit history it will be just another coming back of our past into the future. The present systems and structures of the Nation State and Democracy will slowly dissipate and there will be direct democracy of communities of people in the world. The world cannot bear the beast of burden of such huge militarization, individualization, marketization, consumerism and their incompetent communication. It is bound to burst on the face of the present hegemonic order. The next phase of civilization will be a cosmic civilization led by Dalit and other indigenous women of the world. Dalit community is governed by Dalit women. Such forms of inclusive governance are possible in the body of women in general. However, unfortunately women of the dominant order tend to imitate the male order in their peripheral endeavor to liberate themselves. This is a normal human behavior in communicative interaction though it does not lead to the type of results that women expect to happen. Since the cosmos is filled with dominant cognitive and emotive waves of the male order it is only natural that the cell systems of women are overweighed by these waves. Cell systems in the bodies of dominant caste women find fulfillment in the type of dominance that their men enjoy. Therefore, if governance is with women in general it becomes problematic as in all likelihood it will lead to a replacement of one form of dominance by another form. That is not the

type of governance that will augur well for the whole of cosmic beings and cosmic order. If governance has to be in an order that will not lead to another form of dominance and hegemony it should go to those whose cell systems have not developed the capacity for dominance, arrogant expropriation, aggrandizement and violence. Such human beings who are incapable of sustained violence and hegemony are the Dalit women and other indigenous women. Realization of a world that will be a partner in the cosmic order is possible only when Dalit and other indigenous women begin to govern the world. When this happens all organic beings of the cosmos will be able to exult in the ripple impact in their bodies that the cosmos has reclaimed us instead human beings reclaiming the cosmos. Such reclamation of organic beings by the cosmos will spell the liberation of all human beings and will in effect integrate them into the cosmos as cosmic beings. Let Dalit women lead from the front such integration of all human beings into the cosmic order.

M C Raj Founder Rural Education for Development Society Shanthinagar Tumkur 572 102 KARNATAKA – INDIA Ph: ++91-816-2277026; Fax: ++91-816-2272515 Email: jothiraj12 @rediffmail.com Website: www. Dalitreds.in