Sir,
The cartoon in the Indian Express of July 9 [by Abu Abraham] is in a deplorably low taste. Is it necessary for a principled and sober newspaper to sink so low and indulge in casteism by publishing a cartoon which shows a Brahmin, lathi in hand and a policeman in close support? At this stage of our national evolution, it is just as well to remind the reading public that any number of Brahmins fought for freedom and it was certainly due to the efforts of stalwarts like Rajaji, Satyamurthy, and very many others [including of course the Brahmin Jawaharlal Nehru] that we won freedom. Brahmins are being decried and hounded by some political parties for perpetuating their own pernicious regime no holds barred.
Is there any justification for this Brahmin-baiting? True when the caste system was born, the Brahmin was the preceptor.
It might be said that he practiced untouchability. Yes, he really does, even when he begets a son. He treats himself as an untouchable and does not even go to a temple for a certain number of days – a practice being followed to this day. This ‘untouchability’ descends on him even even when his brother begets a child. The basis of this is ‘tantric’ and only the sastras can give the reason, perhaps bordering on the occult.
The Brahmin has been guilty of untouchability. The British who ruled us have perpetrated greater atrocities on Indians. For that reason, do we massacre every Briton who steps into our shoes? Do Hindus hack every Muslim he encounters because once upon a time Muslim hordes descended on India on a loot-and-plunder spree?
This Brahmin-baiting is irrational and meaningless. Repeating with convenient mutilations, historical situations which are no longer valid in the present context is not going to help the nation which has, not just the four castes, but innumerable such social divisions.
What is required is a healthier understanding of each other’s social practices and ways of life, and a national will to put talents to the best use for building an India which can speak from a position of strength in all platforms of the world.
C. S. SETHURAMAN, Trivandrum.
(Letter to the Editor in the Indian Express on the mass conversions – 14-7-81)
