Brahmins and Dalits (was : Jnanasambandar:)

[nanda chandran]

>I don't think nobody in their right mind would question the fact that
>historically dalits had the bad deal, and the brahmins were privileged by
>the caste rules they helped to formulate and preserve.

Ofcourse, nobody's denying that dalits are at a disadvantage now.
But the question is what's the reason for their status? Everybody
- the Vedic ideal, the caste system, the brahmins, the landed classes
and even the dalits themselves - is involved in this deal. But how
much of it can be attributed :

1. directly to Vedic ideal and its caste system,
2. indirectly to Vedic ideal and its caste system,
3. to brahminism (which is but the practical implementation of the
   Vedic ideal and its caste system),
4. to the landed classes and
5. to the dalits themselves.

In the current political scenario, the Vedic ideal and its caste
system is identified with brahminism and the whole blame is thrust on
them. The primary reason for this is that the brahmins themselves
are a peaceful lot and will never raise a finger to protest against
it. The orthodox brahmin will ignore it and concentrate on the
preservation of dharma, while the modern brahmin flees abroad.

The landed classes, as long as they still possess the land don't care
what's going on. The political classes use the opportunities created
by the denial of the brahmins in the governmental educational and job
sector - to satisfy the dalits and other backward classes - and in
that process get their votes. Ofcourse, by such political gimmicks, only a
small minority of the "deprived" classes actually benefit, while the
majority of them are still sunk in poverty with no sign of relief.

And the big question - what's all this got to do with Indology?

The root of this whole problem lies in Indology - when I did the apportion
of blame for the current caste mess, I missed out the most important culprit
- the Christian missionary - who used this tool called Indology to
misinterpret the Vedic ideal and the caste system to discredit Hinduism, so
that he could contribute to the "harvest" of Souls to his Lord and savior.

As they say in Tamil, "A thorn has to be removed by a thorn". The problem
created by Indology has to be solved by Indology itself.


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