Declaration of War on Brahminism
[The last speech delivered by Than Thai Perivar on 19 12-1973 at the meeting held at Theagaraya Nagar, Madras, before his death is published with the permission of Brother K. Veeramani, general secretary of the Dravida Khazhagam].
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
This meeting is convened to explain the resolutions passed at the recent conference of the eradication of social degradation. I think I am addressing in this place after a long time. The people of this place are hearing me after ten years. As such they might not have had the opportunity of hearing me in the recent past. Before commencing the meeting Com. K. Veeramani recited the prologue denying the existence of god. You heard him say:
“There is no God
There is no God
There is no God at all He who created god was a fool
He who propagated god is a scoundrel
He who worships god is a barbarian”.
I will explain what he uttered word by word later on.
Brahmins are not natives of this land. As a wandering tribe they came to India. Yet they have debased us. They call us low and degraded by caste. We do not have the right to step into the sanctum sanctorum of the Hindu temples. They say that God gets polluted by our touch. They assert that the Shudras have no right for marriage. They proudly proclaim that our country has attained freedom. But even after the dawn of independence they term us as Shudras, which means that we are born of prostitutes. Are we to accept that our mothers are all prostitutes? Are we to accept that we are born of Brahmins. All the Hindu Shastras classify us as Shudras only. It is not only the Hindu religion that calls as Shudras. Even the Constitution of India imposes the title Shudra on all of us. According to the present Constitution we are all shudras. It is not known as to who wrote these Shastras. No one is able to say when these Shastras were written. Is
there anything more dishonest and deceitful than this anywhere in the world.
Some people simply say that some risitis wrote the Shastras in the early age of human history. Some people say that a person called Vasistar is the author of these shastras. Controversy has risen about this. There are others who say that it is Narada who created the shastras. Even this is disputed by others who say it is Yagnavalkya who wrote the shastras. All that we are able to understand is that the shastras were created by some one not known to the people. That is why they are unable to say clearly as to who is the real author of these shastras. All that we learn is that some Tom, Dick and Harry created the shastras.
What is said. more about the longevity of these people? Narada is said to have lived for over five crore years. When was he born and where was he living for so long? They say that he lived some two to three kalpas before this Kaliyuga. A kalpa is equal to five crores of years.
Where is the historical proof for their statement? Is it possible for anyone to believe that a person could live for so many years. Do you think it right to accept these baseless statements.
Comrades! You know the judgments given in courts today are based on these so called puranas. Is it a right and just thing? Is not this practice absurd? That is why I say that the rulers are irresponsible. They are a shameless lot. In what other way can I describe them.
You heard Com. Veeramani referring to the Hindu law. Who is a Hindu? What is meant by the term Hindu? When did this word come into being? You find different versions stated in the Hindu literature.
The Brahmin literature comprises the Ramayan, the Mahabharata, Vishnu Purana, Kanda Purana and so on. Our Tamil pundits also have Pancha Kaviyam, Aiyinthu Ilankannan and so on, as their literature. Is there any reference to the term Hindu in any of these books? (To be continued)
Periyar’s Declaration of War on Brahminism, (pp.1 to 2) Translated by A.S. Venu & revised (1st edn. 1993) by Prof. S. Malli Raja, Dravidar Kazhagam Publication, 50 EVK Sampath Road, Madras – 600 007
