“Anti-Brahminism” may not be a perfect, systematic ideology but it undoubtedly is a powerful philosophy which once moved and still moves millions of people not only among Hindus in India but others as well. Since some urban-bred people cannot so much appreciate the importance and significance of this most powerful indigenous ideology, an effort is being made here to go into its different aspects. How anti-Brahminism, a negative concept, can be an ideology, a philosophy ? It is being described so for want of any other appropriate name. When Brahminism can be a philosphy, why not anti – Brahminism ? Suffice it to say that the revolt against the domination of Brahmins & even those non-Brahmins immediately below them in the Hindu caste hierarchy by those who have suffered at the hands of Brahminism has played and continues to play a great role in shaping the Indian society and politics. Anti-Brahminism has been therefore the central them of all protest movements in India from centuries- from the days the Aryans invaded India. However, anti-Brahminism cannot be confined merely to a revolt against the Brahmins alone but all those non-Brahmins also who subscribe to their value system. Brahminism is, therefore, more dangerous than Brahmins. Because, the Brahmins themselves have been the victims of Brahminism. From the Buddha, the greatest enemy of Brahminism, Basaveshwara, Guru Nanak, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, to Mahatma Phule, Narayana Guru, Ambedkar, Lohia and Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy, all of them rank among India’s most virulent crusaders against Brahminism. Therefore, anti-Brahminism can be considered as the most indigenous among the different secular ideologies of India. Social of political leaders can ignore this ideology only at their peril. What gives teeth to anti-Brahminism is the caste system which is a specific Indian phenomenon. Caste is the curse of Hinduism with its ascending scale of reverence and descending degree of contempt. Anti-Brahminism believes that the caste structure with the Brahmin standing at the apex of this deathless pyramid is the root cause of exploitation, inhumanity and slavery in India. The Brahmin domination has the religious sanction & the Brahmin hereditary priesthood plays a central role in perpetuating Brahminism. Therefore, anti-Brahminism calls for destruction of its three major institutions- the “Sacred Scriptures”, the caste system and the priestcraft. This is the quintessence of its philosophy. Including the Brahmin every Hindu has been the victim of Brahminism, particularly the Untouchables, many of whom have sought refuge in other religion to escape its tyranny. Women, including women among Brahmins, have suffered silently from the barbarity of Brahminism. Even Vivekananda and Gandhi, two of its greatest pillars, were forced to speak out against the havoc caused by Brahminism. M. N. Roy and Nehru both Brahmins, had also lent powerful support to anti-Brahminism. Democracy and caste cannot coexist, they said. Anti-Brahminism has thus become the most powerful ideology that did not fail to move a single social, cultural literary and political movement in India from the days of Jainism, over 2,500 years ago. Every political party was rocked by it. Even the Communist parties are not spared and many splits have taken place because the Indian Marxists refused to heed the pulls of this ideology. Mahatma Phule of Maharashtra is considered the father of this anti-Brahminism in recent times. Author of several books on this philosophy and the founder of the powerful Satya Shodak Movement, he described Manusmriti as an unholy book. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, an Untouchable, was mainly inspired by Phule who belonged to a (gardner) backward caste. Anti-Brahminism also became the ideology of a powerful social, cultural and political movement for realising the Dravidian identity of Tamils. Founded in 1944 by Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy, the DMK of Annadurai came as an offshoot of DK in 1949. EVR improved upon this philosophy and ridiculed the Hindu gods and the Hindu religion itself. Hinduism (its correct name is Brahminism), he said, is founded by Brahmins to exploit the poor, illiterate, ignorant masses. The abolition of Brahmin priestly services was his basic programme. Ambedkar follows a similar line of thinking. He says the caste deadens, paralyses and cripples the people. It has ruined the Hindus and has destroyed, demoralized and devitalised the Hindu society. Ranked among the greatest thinkers and philosophers of modern India, Ambedkar in his innumerable books, has given a call to free every woman & man from the thralldom of “sacred scriptures”. He also considered the priest as the real villain of Brahminism. Both Ambedkar and EVR dubbed Brahminism as a reactionary philosophy. What did anti-Brahminism achieve ? By reviving the glorious cultural and social traditions of the original inhabitants of India before the Aryan invasion, it helped them to find their roots, get a self-identity, a self respect. Phule, Ambedkar and EVR said shudras and atishudras (Untouchables) with tribals were the original inhabitants of India before the Aryan invasion. They had enough historical evidence. To condemn the Brahmin as a stranger in Tamil Nadu has become a handy weapon of the non-Brahmin to beat the Brahmin with, but the popularising of the myth of their Dravidian orign also gave to the Tamil non-Brahmin Hindus both an identity and a self-confidence, says E. F. Irschick. Evidences have also been found to prove that the Tamil society was free from idol- worship and caste system before the Brahminism invaded. The Indus Valley Civilisation has conclusively proved that the Aryans were not the first or the most important creators of Indian culture. Father Heras said that Tamils were the purest cultural descendants of the Indus Valley. Brahminism being a proseletysing religion it savagely persecuted Jains and Buddhists and reconverted them to Hindu- ism, a new name given to Brahminism after the death of the Buddha. Murder and torture of Buddhists and Jains is cited by many historians. Behind the DK-DMK slogan of “Tamil for Tamilians” lies the conviction that Aryans are the aliens and non-Brahmins are the Dravidians. Anti- Brahminism has thus brought a new awakening, a new pride among the non- Brahmins, and convinced them that their poverty and suffering were due to Brahminism. The emphasis given to social revolution has made them conscious of their exploitation at the hands of Brahmins. So much so, many non-Brahmins preferred the British rule to Brahmin rule. Both Ambedkar and Periyar EVR boldly said so. It is this anti-Brahminism that drove EVR out of the Congress and made him found the Self-Respect Movement. Later, he launched an agitation for separate Dravidastan. EVR also said the so- called nationalism is nothing but Brahminism in another form. The growth of RSS, Jan Sangh (now BJP) has confirmed their fear. Lohia has contributed a great deal to the promotion of anti-Brahminism in the Hindi heartland. Lohiaites all over India are today in the vanguard of the anti-Brahminism. It is to be noted that all the leaders of anti-Brahminism came into conflict with the Indian Left movement for ignoring the basic principles of its philosophy. All of them warned that Marxism, an alien philosophy, cannot take roots in India as long as it fails to attack Brahminism and its three pillars. Ambedkar said Brahminism and capitalism are the twin enemies of the working class and thus both must be attacked simultaneously. He criticised Dange, the lone Lenin Order winner in India, and other controlling the Communist parties as a “bunch of Brahmin boys”. EVR was also critical of the Brahmin domination of the Communist parties. So too Lohia. Caste being the principal contradiction in India, its elimination should be our prime effort. One of the greatest impacts of anti-Brahminism was on education. Phule and Ambedkar launched an education drive among the low castes laying stress on anti-Brahminism in their books. Ambedkar has set up a chain of educational institutions. Both Phule and Periyar introduced anti-Brahmin interpretation to the Puranas. Ramayana and Mahabahrata, the epics, are interpreted as a fight between Brahmins and non-Brahmins. Bon- fires of Gita & Manusmriti, which spread the poison of Brahminism, became popular. Ambedkar himself publicly burnt Manusmriti in 1927. Periyar entered temples and broke idols, burnt scriptures, tarred hotel name boards bearing Brahmin names, cut Brahmin tufts. His most popular programme which turned out to be a mass movement is the “self-respect
