The RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat in an issue of Organiser, the
mouthpiece of RSS, recently called for a revision of the reservation
policy, revealing the hitherto camouflaged policy of the RSS towards
social justice. In reality, RSS is against reservations for socially deprived
sections of Indian society. But declaring this openly is not easy. When
Hardik Patel in Gujarat started his agitation demanding either reservation
for the powerful Patel community or scrapping of the whole reservation
policy, only then did the RSS supremo summon the courage to express
the real views of his organization.
The reservation policy has its importance in giving opportunities to the
weaker sections of Indian society that have been deprived of even
human status by the caste system since centuries. Even today, gross
social discrimination against dalits is practiced in many parts of the
country. In May 2013, when Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, in the
state sponsored report “ Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions
on Equal Opportunities: A study of Gujarat”, it is mentioned that caste
discrimination is just a matter of ‘perceptions’. This truly reflects the
mindset of an RSS Pracharak. As we all know, dalits comprise onesixth
of India’s population and their majority still live at the bottom of
the social hierarchy and are routinely discriminated against and subjected
to many forms of violence. Can you call it a matter of ‘perception’ ?
Despite reservation, dalits are forced to do menial jobs while upper
castes corner most of the top jobs. A majority of landless labourers are
dalits. A recent survey found that on an average dalit family incomes
are 40% less than upper caste incomes in rural areas, while this gap is
a shocking 60% in urban areas. There are repeated incidents of murder,
lynching, rape and arson against dalit families. But the RSS wants to
wish away this brutality by claiming that the caste system in its mythical
‘pure’ form is actually a unifying force for Hindu society.
The ideology of the RSS is based on ‘Hindutva’, which is inseparable
from the varna and caste system. The RSS believes in the caste system,
according to which each must perform his/her duties without complaint
as per their place in the caste hierarchy. The RSS has no love for the
dalits and adivasis. It expects that the dalits and backward communities
must perform their duties in accordance with the Dharmashastras (Hindu
scriptures) which the RSS lauds as ideal. Narendra Modi has even said
that dalit manual scavengers feel spiritual pleasure in doing their work.
In the year 2007, a collection of Narendra Modi’s speeches to IAS
officials at various points of times were compiled in a book form named
‘Karmyog’ and published by the BJP govt. of Gujarat. Here is what
Modi thinks of manual scavengers’ job:
“ I do not believe that they have been doing this job just to sustain their
livelihood. Had this been so, they would not have continued with this
type of job generation after generation……At some point of time,
somebody must have got the enlightenment that it is their (valmikis’)
duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods; that
they have to do this job bestowed upon them by Gods; and that this job
of cleaning up should continue as an internal spiritual activity for centuries.
This should have continued generation after generation. It is impossible
to believe that their ancestors did not have the choice of adopting any
other work or business.”
(Pages 48-49, Karmayog, Narendra Modi)
Cabinet Minister VK Singh compared to the horrific Sunpedh incident
of two dalit children being burnt alive to the death of a dog.
So, what is the real RSS view of dalits and where do they derive it
from? To understand this, it is necessary to briefly explore the history
of the varna/caste system. This is all the more necessary because the
RSS and its multiple fronts are constantly trying to rewrite history and
claim that the caste system was introduced only by the Mughal rulers
and before that everybody lived in harmony and equality. As we show
below, nothing could be further from truth. Ancient Hindi scriptures are
full of praise for the varna system, and explicitly spell out the inferior
dehumanized status of ‘lower’ castes.
Varnas / Caste System and Dharamashastras
The Four Varnas (Chaturvarnya) system based on duties depends on
birth. The caste system is called Jati Vyavastha. Jati means birth and
hence the caste system is actually a Birth System. This caste system is
unique in human history and is only found in Hindu society. Another
feature of the caste system is that it is a hierarchy with superior and
inferior castes. Such is the tenacity of this hierarchical concept that
even within castes, the sub-castes consider themselves above or below
others.
Apart from the Four Varnas there is a vast population which is out of
the Varna system altogether and no law givers or Dharmashastras
consider them a part of the social system. This is ‘last birth’ or Antyaja.
The dalits and adivasis are ‘Antyaja’, out of the caste system and hence
theoretically not members of Hindu society. That is why Dalits are
called outcastes.
It is claimed that the Four Varna system evolved from the ‘Purursh
Sukta’ of Rigveda. The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas evolved
about 1500 BCE and took centuries for completion. The tenth Mandal
of Rigveda is the latest and is thought to have been created in 800 BCE
and only in this tenth Mandal, and only once in the whole of Rigveda, is
there mention of four Varnas.
The Purush Sukta hymn of Rigveda says: “Brahmanosya mukhamasid
bahu rajanyah kritah, Uru tadasya yad vaishyah padbhyam shudro
ajayat.” (Explanation – when the Purush was sacrificed in yajnya the
priests questioned how to define the sacrificed Purusha’s body parts.
Then his head is Brahmin, arms are rajanya (Kshatriya), thighs Vaishya
and feet are Shudra.)
This tenth Mandal was created when the Aryans settled in the Ganga
valley. They abandoned nomadic life. Cultivation was the principal
occupation and pastoralism was subsidiary which in the earlier nomadic
life was the principal activity. Settled agriculture and use of iron
implements produced surplus and the Aryan society became stratified
into classes. It was to justify this class division based on the cultivation
economy, that the Purush Sukta was created. To say that the caste
system or Varna system sprang from the Purush Sukta is like
placing the cart before the horse, and is unscientific. Actually, after the
division of society in classes the Purush Sukta justified it as a divine
system.
State power controls the producers of material production that is
necessary for the existence of society and helps the exploiters to retain
maximum surplus in their hands and lets the producers eke out bare
subsistence. Even the Four Varnas were arranged in two groups – the
Dvijas i.e. twice born – first born from mother’s womb and second
after initiation – which was a minority and the vast majority were
Shudras. The Shudras were engaged in production while the Dvijas
were largely parasitical, being engaged in priesthood, ruling or commerce,
according to their place in the Varna hierarchy. All of them lived on the
labour of the producers who were the Shudras.
For smooth functioning of the class-divided society and exploitation of
the toiling masses, indoctrination of the exploited was necessary and
the Purush Sukta was used to declare the system as divine. The
Dharmashastras which were the jurisprudence of the time explained
that the Brahmins originated from the mouth of Brahma and so on. The
Shudras were born from the feet of Brahma and it was their divine duty
to carry the burden of the dvijas or upper three Varnas.
The practice of dharma is explained in various ‘smritis’, the most
notorious of which is the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu). It formulated
many inhuman laws for Shudras. For instance: they cannot possess
property, as they themselves were the property of the three higher
varnas; if a Shudra abuses a Brahmin his tongue should be cut, whereas
if a Brahmin abuses a Shudra a nominal punishment was suggested; if
a Shudra beats a Brahman his arms should be cut; if he listens to the
Veda, molten lead should be poured in his ears; if he recites the Veda
his tongue should be cut; if a Shudra happens to be a witness in a
dispute or case, his testimony can be believed only when he drinks
poison and does not die, or is put in the fire and does not burn.
Manusmriti is supposed to have been codified by the second century
AD. It presents in totality the system of jurisprudence of Hinduism. In
the year 1927, Dr Ambedkar burnt a copy of Manusmriti for its total
disregard of principles of equality, justice and humanism, as a part of a
massive Satyagraha held at Mahad in Maharashtra.
The Organiser (Nov, 30, 1949, page 3), the organ of RSS, gave vent to
its ideas regarding Masusmriti : “in our constitution, there is no mention
of the unique constitutional developments in ancient Bharat. Manu’s
laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia.
To this day laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration
of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to
our constitutional pundits (read Ambedkar) that means nothing”.
And what were these laws which RSS adores even today?
Two most revolting dictates of the Manusmriti are: 1) The Shudras
must wear torn and discarded clothes of the upper Varnas, must eat
left-over food of the upper Varnas and use broken earthen utensils. 2)
To dehumanize the Shudras, the Manusmriti went to the extent of
declaring that the names of the Shudras must be filthy. These laws
were forced especially on Dalits and also women. This law of personal
names was actually practiced in Indian society. Even up to two
generations ago, Dalit Mahars had such ugly names as Hagrya (shit),
Bhikarya (beggar), Janglya (savage), Fakirya (beggar) etc. The name
of the grandfather of the writer of this article was Phandya (treacherous)
and great grandfather was Fuktu (beggar). His father-in-law was named
Janglya. The Manusmriti not only dehumanized Dalits but also
suppressed their personality ruthlessly. They had no right to choose
even good names for themselves.
Other Dharmashastras and epics follow the same brutality towards
dalits. They imposed disability on Dalits, deprived them of access to
education and dehumanized them. And this went on for centuries. This
was not in any way for the mental satisfaction of the higher castes, but
to maintain class and caste dominance over the system of exploitation.
The Dharmashastras, Epics, Smritis, Dharmasutras are the pillars of
the unjust Hindu society on which feudal jurisprudence of the caste
system rested. One cannot imagine Hinduism (and of course Hindutva)
without these pillars.
The RSS and the Caste System
The ideology of the RSS and its Hindutva is based on these ancient
scriptures. The former RSS supremo M S Golwalkar wrote in his Bunch
of Thoughts that the Dharma is a way of life. It must be noted that by
Dharma he means Varnadharma and not religion. While glorifying the
Varnashram system in his Bunch of Thoughts, Part-2, Chapter X he
wrote under the title ‘Nation and its Problems’ that “Society was
conceived of as the four-fold manifestation of the Almighty to be
worshipped by all.” On the caste system he said, in the same chapter –
“Castes were in those ancient times too, continuing for thousands of
years of our glorious national life ….. They serve as a great bond of
social cohesion.”
Further glorifying the caste system Golwalkar wrote, “If the caste system
had really been the root cause of our weakness, then our people should
have succumbed to foreign invasion far more easily than those people
who had no castes.”
It must be stressed that none of Golwalkar’s casteist and communal
writings have ever been repudiated by the RSS. Thus the RSS
wholeheartedly supports the caste system. It talks about samarasata
(assimilation) and not samata (equality). It wishes that each caste must
retain its identity and it should survive, not be annihilated.
It is interesting to note that the very formation of RSS was done partly
to combat the influence of a massive non-brahmin movement in the
late nineteenth century led by the founder of Satyashodhak Samaj, Jyotiba
Phule (1827—1890) and Savitribai Phule, challenging the stranglehold
of Brahminism and its associated patriarchy. Dr. Ambedkar described
Jyotiba Phule as ‘India’s first systematic theorist of caste’ and ‘the
most radical 19th century opponent of it’ who desired nothing less than
the complete smashing of its oppressive structure. He along with his
wife Savitribai started the first school for shudra-atishudra girls in 1848.
People like Tarabai Shinde – author of the famous tract ‘Stree Purush
Tulana’— who has been termed the first feminist thinker of India’ or
‘Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, who formed the first labour organization
in India, were active workers of Satya Shodhak Samaj’.
Dr. Hedgewar tells his biographer Mr. C.P. Bhishikar in his biography
‘Sangh Vriksha Ke Beej’ that one of the reasons behind the formation
of RSS was the way the non-brahmin movement had raised its head.
Prime Minister Modi spent several years as a pracharak of the RSS
before becoming the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001. In 2008 he
published a book which contains short life histories of 16 people that
had a great influence on him. It is not surprising that one of these is MS
Golwalkar, whom Modi describes in glowing terms.
mouthpiece of RSS, recently called for a revision of the reservation
policy, revealing the hitherto camouflaged policy of the RSS towards
social justice. In reality, RSS is against reservations for socially deprived
sections of Indian society. But declaring this openly is not easy. When
Hardik Patel in Gujarat started his agitation demanding either reservation
for the powerful Patel community or scrapping of the whole reservation
policy, only then did the RSS supremo summon the courage to express
the real views of his organization.
The reservation policy has its importance in giving opportunities to the
weaker sections of Indian society that have been deprived of even
human status by the caste system since centuries. Even today, gross
social discrimination against dalits is practiced in many parts of the
country. In May 2013, when Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, in the
state sponsored report “ Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions
on Equal Opportunities: A study of Gujarat”, it is mentioned that caste
discrimination is just a matter of ‘perceptions’. This truly reflects the
mindset of an RSS Pracharak. As we all know, dalits comprise onesixth
of India’s population and their majority still live at the bottom of
the social hierarchy and are routinely discriminated against and subjected
to many forms of violence. Can you call it a matter of ‘perception’ ?
Despite reservation, dalits are forced to do menial jobs while upper
castes corner most of the top jobs. A majority of landless labourers are
dalits. A recent survey found that on an average dalit family incomes
are 40% less than upper caste incomes in rural areas, while this gap is
a shocking 60% in urban areas. There are repeated incidents of murder,
lynching, rape and arson against dalit families. But the RSS wants to
wish away this brutality by claiming that the caste system in its mythical
‘pure’ form is actually a unifying force for Hindu society.
The ideology of the RSS is based on ‘Hindutva’, which is inseparable
from the varna and caste system. The RSS believes in the caste system,
according to which each must perform his/her duties without complaint
as per their place in the caste hierarchy. The RSS has no love for the
dalits and adivasis. It expects that the dalits and backward communities
must perform their duties in accordance with the Dharmashastras (Hindu
scriptures) which the RSS lauds as ideal. Narendra Modi has even said
that dalit manual scavengers feel spiritual pleasure in doing their work.
In the year 2007, a collection of Narendra Modi’s speeches to IAS
officials at various points of times were compiled in a book form named
‘Karmyog’ and published by the BJP govt. of Gujarat. Here is what
Modi thinks of manual scavengers’ job:
“ I do not believe that they have been doing this job just to sustain their
livelihood. Had this been so, they would not have continued with this
type of job generation after generation……At some point of time,
somebody must have got the enlightenment that it is their (valmikis’)
duty to work for the happiness of the entire society and the Gods; that
they have to do this job bestowed upon them by Gods; and that this job
of cleaning up should continue as an internal spiritual activity for centuries.
This should have continued generation after generation. It is impossible
to believe that their ancestors did not have the choice of adopting any
other work or business.”
(Pages 48-49, Karmayog, Narendra Modi)
Cabinet Minister VK Singh compared to the horrific Sunpedh incident
of two dalit children being burnt alive to the death of a dog.
So, what is the real RSS view of dalits and where do they derive it
from? To understand this, it is necessary to briefly explore the history
of the varna/caste system. This is all the more necessary because the
RSS and its multiple fronts are constantly trying to rewrite history and
claim that the caste system was introduced only by the Mughal rulers
and before that everybody lived in harmony and equality. As we show
below, nothing could be further from truth. Ancient Hindi scriptures are
full of praise for the varna system, and explicitly spell out the inferior
dehumanized status of ‘lower’ castes.
Varnas / Caste System and Dharamashastras
The Four Varnas (Chaturvarnya) system based on duties depends on
birth. The caste system is called Jati Vyavastha. Jati means birth and
hence the caste system is actually a Birth System. This caste system is
unique in human history and is only found in Hindu society. Another
feature of the caste system is that it is a hierarchy with superior and
inferior castes. Such is the tenacity of this hierarchical concept that
even within castes, the sub-castes consider themselves above or below
others.
Apart from the Four Varnas there is a vast population which is out of
the Varna system altogether and no law givers or Dharmashastras
consider them a part of the social system. This is ‘last birth’ or Antyaja.
The dalits and adivasis are ‘Antyaja’, out of the caste system and hence
theoretically not members of Hindu society. That is why Dalits are
called outcastes.
It is claimed that the Four Varna system evolved from the ‘Purursh
Sukta’ of Rigveda. The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas evolved
about 1500 BCE and took centuries for completion. The tenth Mandal
of Rigveda is the latest and is thought to have been created in 800 BCE
and only in this tenth Mandal, and only once in the whole of Rigveda, is
there mention of four Varnas.
The Purush Sukta hymn of Rigveda says: “Brahmanosya mukhamasid
bahu rajanyah kritah, Uru tadasya yad vaishyah padbhyam shudro
ajayat.” (Explanation – when the Purush was sacrificed in yajnya the
priests questioned how to define the sacrificed Purusha’s body parts.
Then his head is Brahmin, arms are rajanya (Kshatriya), thighs Vaishya
and feet are Shudra.)
This tenth Mandal was created when the Aryans settled in the Ganga
valley. They abandoned nomadic life. Cultivation was the principal
occupation and pastoralism was subsidiary which in the earlier nomadic
life was the principal activity. Settled agriculture and use of iron
implements produced surplus and the Aryan society became stratified
into classes. It was to justify this class division based on the cultivation
economy, that the Purush Sukta was created. To say that the caste
system or Varna system sprang from the Purush Sukta is like
placing the cart before the horse, and is unscientific. Actually, after the
division of society in classes the Purush Sukta justified it as a divine
system.
State power controls the producers of material production that is
necessary for the existence of society and helps the exploiters to retain
maximum surplus in their hands and lets the producers eke out bare
subsistence. Even the Four Varnas were arranged in two groups – the
Dvijas i.e. twice born – first born from mother’s womb and second
after initiation – which was a minority and the vast majority were
Shudras. The Shudras were engaged in production while the Dvijas
were largely parasitical, being engaged in priesthood, ruling or commerce,
according to their place in the Varna hierarchy. All of them lived on the
labour of the producers who were the Shudras.
For smooth functioning of the class-divided society and exploitation of
the toiling masses, indoctrination of the exploited was necessary and
the Purush Sukta was used to declare the system as divine. The
Dharmashastras which were the jurisprudence of the time explained
that the Brahmins originated from the mouth of Brahma and so on. The
Shudras were born from the feet of Brahma and it was their divine duty
to carry the burden of the dvijas or upper three Varnas.
The practice of dharma is explained in various ‘smritis’, the most
notorious of which is the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu). It formulated
many inhuman laws for Shudras. For instance: they cannot possess
property, as they themselves were the property of the three higher
varnas; if a Shudra abuses a Brahmin his tongue should be cut, whereas
if a Brahmin abuses a Shudra a nominal punishment was suggested; if
a Shudra beats a Brahman his arms should be cut; if he listens to the
Veda, molten lead should be poured in his ears; if he recites the Veda
his tongue should be cut; if a Shudra happens to be a witness in a
dispute or case, his testimony can be believed only when he drinks
poison and does not die, or is put in the fire and does not burn.
Manusmriti is supposed to have been codified by the second century
AD. It presents in totality the system of jurisprudence of Hinduism. In
the year 1927, Dr Ambedkar burnt a copy of Manusmriti for its total
disregard of principles of equality, justice and humanism, as a part of a
massive Satyagraha held at Mahad in Maharashtra.
The Organiser (Nov, 30, 1949, page 3), the organ of RSS, gave vent to
its ideas regarding Masusmriti : “in our constitution, there is no mention
of the unique constitutional developments in ancient Bharat. Manu’s
laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia.
To this day laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration
of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to
our constitutional pundits (read Ambedkar) that means nothing”.
And what were these laws which RSS adores even today?
Two most revolting dictates of the Manusmriti are: 1) The Shudras
must wear torn and discarded clothes of the upper Varnas, must eat
left-over food of the upper Varnas and use broken earthen utensils. 2)
To dehumanize the Shudras, the Manusmriti went to the extent of
declaring that the names of the Shudras must be filthy. These laws
were forced especially on Dalits and also women. This law of personal
names was actually practiced in Indian society. Even up to two
generations ago, Dalit Mahars had such ugly names as Hagrya (shit),
Bhikarya (beggar), Janglya (savage), Fakirya (beggar) etc. The name
of the grandfather of the writer of this article was Phandya (treacherous)
and great grandfather was Fuktu (beggar). His father-in-law was named
Janglya. The Manusmriti not only dehumanized Dalits but also
suppressed their personality ruthlessly. They had no right to choose
even good names for themselves.
Other Dharmashastras and epics follow the same brutality towards
dalits. They imposed disability on Dalits, deprived them of access to
education and dehumanized them. And this went on for centuries. This
was not in any way for the mental satisfaction of the higher castes, but
to maintain class and caste dominance over the system of exploitation.
The Dharmashastras, Epics, Smritis, Dharmasutras are the pillars of
the unjust Hindu society on which feudal jurisprudence of the caste
system rested. One cannot imagine Hinduism (and of course Hindutva)
without these pillars.
The RSS and the Caste System
The ideology of the RSS and its Hindutva is based on these ancient
scriptures. The former RSS supremo M S Golwalkar wrote in his Bunch
of Thoughts that the Dharma is a way of life. It must be noted that by
Dharma he means Varnadharma and not religion. While glorifying the
Varnashram system in his Bunch of Thoughts, Part-2, Chapter X he
wrote under the title ‘Nation and its Problems’ that “Society was
conceived of as the four-fold manifestation of the Almighty to be
worshipped by all.” On the caste system he said, in the same chapter –
“Castes were in those ancient times too, continuing for thousands of
years of our glorious national life ….. They serve as a great bond of
social cohesion.”
Further glorifying the caste system Golwalkar wrote, “If the caste system
had really been the root cause of our weakness, then our people should
have succumbed to foreign invasion far more easily than those people
who had no castes.”
It must be stressed that none of Golwalkar’s casteist and communal
writings have ever been repudiated by the RSS. Thus the RSS
wholeheartedly supports the caste system. It talks about samarasata
(assimilation) and not samata (equality). It wishes that each caste must
retain its identity and it should survive, not be annihilated.
It is interesting to note that the very formation of RSS was done partly
to combat the influence of a massive non-brahmin movement in the
late nineteenth century led by the founder of Satyashodhak Samaj, Jyotiba
Phule (1827—1890) and Savitribai Phule, challenging the stranglehold
of Brahminism and its associated patriarchy. Dr. Ambedkar described
Jyotiba Phule as ‘India’s first systematic theorist of caste’ and ‘the
most radical 19th century opponent of it’ who desired nothing less than
the complete smashing of its oppressive structure. He along with his
wife Savitribai started the first school for shudra-atishudra girls in 1848.
People like Tarabai Shinde – author of the famous tract ‘Stree Purush
Tulana’— who has been termed the first feminist thinker of India’ or
‘Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, who formed the first labour organization
in India, were active workers of Satya Shodhak Samaj’.
Dr. Hedgewar tells his biographer Mr. C.P. Bhishikar in his biography
‘Sangh Vriksha Ke Beej’ that one of the reasons behind the formation
of RSS was the way the non-brahmin movement had raised its head.
Prime Minister Modi spent several years as a pracharak of the RSS
before becoming the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001. In 2008 he
published a book which contains short life histories of 16 people that
had a great influence on him. It is not surprising that one of these is MS
Golwalkar, whom Modi describes in glowing terms.
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें