Identity
Friday, August 03, 2007
, Posted by PBJ at Friday, August 03, 2007
I am an Indian, a Hindu, yet I don’t believe in
God!
From my childhood onwards I used to believe that I’m an Indian. During my school days I came to understand that I’m a Hindu (Reason: Many of my school mates used to go to the church where as I didn’t). Later when started to confront life I realized that I’m a Dalit (or Scheduled Caste as our Constitution designate us), the petty outsiders and untouchables in Indian caste hierarchy. But as I passed my adolescence I noted that I don’t believe in God! So that was what I am an Indian-Hindu-Dalit-Atheist!
For westerners who love to see India as a Hindu country or a civilization of cosmic mystery, or a test-dose democracy it would be difficult to understand my stand. And for that matter for many of my fellow Indians too, who see India through the prism of narrow Hindutva ideology. But for me it’s a very natural position because I believe that my country is heterogeneous, secular, democratic, republic.
As an Indian…
For many in the West, India is a non existent state, just as Winston Churchill who couldn’t imagine India more clearly than the equator. They believe that India is some thing that was created by the British from the eerie wilderness of Asia. Many in India also believe this concept. These anglophiles don’t realize that ours is an ancient culture, flourished on the banks of river Indus, at least 3000 years ago. This is the land which gave birth to some of the pioneers in Mathematics and science like, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Bhaskara and Brahmagupta. The cunning economist and political thinker Koutilya was born here. So was Vatsyayana who wrote the masterly Kamasutra. Oldest religions in the world- Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism were originated here. It is a land where Christianity flourished when it was unknown to the English. Ancient travelers like Al-Beruni of Iran have given a detailed account of his travels to Hindustan. The word Hindu has its origin in Persian language. It represented the people who used to live on the banks of the river Indus (Sindh). The concept of India is not a British invention. Centuries before the westerners arrived India was there in the minds of foreign intellectuals like Al-baruni as a nation. The people across this land had a sense of Indian-ness. That passion was at its peak during the eras of two great Indian rulers namely Ashoka and Akbar, the former a Buddhist ruler and the later a Mughal.
I’m a Hindu…
Whatever be the present day meaning of the word Hindu, it was a great civilization that flourished on the banks of sindh. It was a civilizational wonder not only for its age but also for its tolerance of heterodoxy. The streams of thought it entertained varied from the exotic spirituality of the Vedic traditions to agnosticism of Buddhism and Jaininsm to pucca atheism of the Charvaka and Lokayata schools of thought. The ancient Sanskrit text “Sarvadarshanasamgraha”(The Essence of all Ideologies) written by Madhavacharya clearly describes all those in a single book. In that spirit I AM A HINDU. That is why ancient scholars refer to the Hindu-Muslims, The Hindu-Christians etc.
The rise of Hindu nationalism during the late 1980s and 1990s to the mainstream politricks of India as given a completely new dimension to the word .it now represents an ideology which is a heady mix of distorted study of Indian history and a grotesque illustration of nationalism . it gives out to the West an image of a communally divided and politically unstable India {in the past also The West have misunderstood our country. Many a political prophets has predicted death of Indian democracy, but that hasn’t happened. But for a brief period of emergency under Indira Gandhi, India has remained more or less as a commendably successful democracy. And in all likelyhood it would remain so. } the demolition of Babri-Masjid and the communal riots that followed gave the Hindutva ideologues a much needed momentum. Riding on that BJP- the political face of Sangh Parivar- became the single largest political outfit in India and manages to lead an ad-hoc coalition government. Under this government, the BJP ruled state of Gujarat witnessed the worst ever communal riots in the post Masjid-demolition era. With the auspices of the union government there were overt and covert efforts to communalise school education. (These mistakes were to great extend rectified by the present Government). According to the Hindutva Ideologues the word Hindu stands for a way of living which they proclaim as Indian. They prefer to neglect the fact that India is the country with in the largest Muslim population in that sub-continent.( second only to Indonesia in the world.) and Christianity arrived India even before it reached Europe and America. For over 1000 years India was under Muslim rule. Before that for many centuries India was a Buddhist Kingdom.
It was under the great Buddhist ruler Asoka and Mughal ruler Akbar that India reached the pinnacle of its historical and civilisational achievements. Forgetting all these they project the intolerance of a few non-Hindu emperors. (Aurangazebe, often the main villain). They speak about the temples and religious institutions destroyed by the outsiders, but fail to see the atrocities committed by the Hindu rulers against the Buddhists after the decline of Mourya Empire. The historical truth is that these things happen in everywhere in the world. The Spanish invasion of Latin America is a similar case. Even otherwise we cannot blame the present generation for the deeds of their great ancestors.
Another aspect of the so called Hindu culture is the stark fact that That never was the culture of the masses. Most of the common people lived outside the mainsteam in the highly caste ridden Indian society. Even their Gods were considered ‘Mlechha*’ by the upper caste. I will return to this when I discus about my Dalit Identity.
Being a Dalit…
The term dalit literally means ‘the oppressed’. Historically that is what they are, Outsiders in their own land- with no ownership over land or knowledge. They had no rigt to education, no right to live as their fellow Indians used to. They were the ‘untouchables’- a socially discriminative custom somewhat similar to Apartheid.
According to the Brahminical version of the Hindu culture, they fall outside the varnas system and have historically been prevented from doing any but the most menial jobs. In the Indian caste hierarchy the top-class, Brahmins are believed tobe originated from the head of the creator, kshatriyas from the chest Vysyas from thigh and the Sudras frm the legs. The dalits where outside this system practically treated in par with animals.
(TO BE CONTINUED) മൈ ടൂറിസം directory
islandholidayskerala.com
dissent, protect, prevent, politics, India , kerla, Maoists, Maoism, Insurgency, extremism, violence, non- violence, identity
Being a Dalit…
The term dalit literally means ‘the oppressed’. Historically that is what they are, Outsiders in their own land- with no ownership over land or knowledge. They had no rigt to education, no right to live as their fellow Indians used to. They were the ‘untouchables’- a socially discriminative custom somewhat similar to Apartheid.
According to the Brahminical version of the Hindu culture, they fall outside the varnas system and have historically been prevented from doing any but the most menial jobs. In the Indian caste hierarchy the top-class, Brahmins are believed tobe originated from the head of the creator, kshatriyas from the chest Vysyas from thigh and the Sudras frm the legs. The dalits where outside this system practically treated in par with animals.
(TO BE CONTINUED) മൈ ടൂറിസം directory
islandholidayskerala.com
dissent, protect, prevent, politics, India , kerla, Maoists, Maoism, Insurgency, extremism, violence, non- violence, identity
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