Christian Service To Be Written In Letters Of Gold

Hinduism vs. the movement of Untouchables  

1.Introduction  

We are thankful to the Christian Conference of Asia for having given us an opportunity to present the case of the Dalit, the Black Untouchables of India forming over 20% its 1,000 million population. (V.T. Rajshekar, Dalit – The Black Untouchables of India, Clarity Press, USA, 1987). Christians have rendered such a signal service to the liberation of Untouchables that it can be written only in letters of gold when we rewrite the Indian history. Once kept out of Brahminism; now called Hinduism, as outcastes, the Untouchables of India today present the world’s cruelest form of Apartheid before which the South African racial segregation and other Black problems of US and UK pale into insignificance. But, alas, the Indian Apartheid has received hardly any world attention as India’s Brahminical ruling class has kept it a closely guarded secret.  

BONELESS WONDER  

If the Untouchables are what they are today, it is only because of Hindu religion, which, they say, is followed by about 85% of the Indian population. The correct name of Hinduism is Brahminism, imported to India by the Aryan invaders. Hinduism, considered the world’s most ancient religion, has no parallel in the world.  

A bundle of contradictions, a boneless wonder, words such as Hinduism, Hindu, or Hindustan not at all figures in the Sanskrit “sacred scriptures” of Hindus. These scriptures do not even give a name to this religion. It has no founder. It has no single god. It has neither a church nor one single text like the Bible or Quran. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life.  

The question: “Who is a Hindu?” can be answered only in the negative: one who a Muslim is not, Christian or a Parsi is a Hindu. Its priests are unique in the world. They not only belong to one caste (Brahmin) but a hereditary pest. At least 95% of the Hindus do not know their “holy books”. Most of them do not even regularly visit temples. At least 30% of the Hindus are not admitted into Hindu temples.  

CASTE RIVALRY AMONG HINDU GODS  

Therefore, Hinduism cannot be defined except that we can identify that a Hindu is one who is by birth. The Hindu is one who is not a Muslim or Christian, that means Hinduism can be defined only negatively. Caste system, of which untouchability is a part, is the foundation on which Hinduism is built. You remove caste, the Hindu edifice falls like a house of cards. So, every Hindu must have a caste. Without a caste there can be no Hindu. Nay, caste system is the other name for Hinduism. Caste and untouchability are deathless because they have divine sanction. Even the Hindu gods belong to different castes. And one God fights with another god because of caste rivalry.  

Hinduism is, therefore, a vast mad house. Nay, the maddest house in the whole world. India, because of this, has become a sick country and its sickness is affecting the health of other countries. Look at Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, UK, USA, Canada, etc. True, Hinduism is practiced only by the Brahmins who form the apex of the caste pyramid. They form not even 5% of the Hindu population and yet as “gods of earth” they control everything – all the property and privileges. And, therefore, rightly constitute India’s ruling class, supplying every Prime Minister that India had (barring three or four for a very, brief period) since “independence”. None can rule India except the Brahmin. This is the power that Hinduism has conferred on the Brahmin, who is called the Bhoodevata, God on earth.  

BRAHMINS KILLED BUDHISM  

Hinduism is so powerful that though an alien religion, being an Aryan import, it devoured every protest movement including the most liberating Budhism, which was destroyed and driven out of India over 2,000 years back. Brahmins led by the Adi Shankara literally slaughtered Budhists. Budhism today reigns in other parts of the world but not to be found inside India – except for a feeble attempt made by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Saviour of the Untouchables and the new rising star of India, at the far end of his life by himself embracing Budhism along with several millions of Untouchables.  

Efforts are being made to strengthen Hinduism -claiming it to be a religion of over 85% of Indians – and the government itself is actively helping the process making the Christians and Muslims nervous and making them feel that the Government in India is pro-Hindu. A fundamentalist Hindu nazi party called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is vigorously at it by fanning communal flames and periodically resorting to torture of Untouchables, Tribals, Muslims and Christians. The aim of the RSS is to clamp a class-caste fascist dictatorship, before which the Hitler’s nazi rule will pale into insignificance, crush the Untouchables and castrate the minorities. 

2. Untouchables & Tribals, original inhabitants of India: 

Untouchables and Tribals who together make a formidable third of India’s population are the original inhabitants of this ancient country. But the invading Aryans drove them out and those who fled to hills and forests became Tribals and those driven out of village limits became Untouchables.  

The stigma of untouchability (racism) is not confined to Untouchables alone. In fact, one caste is untouchable to the other “Hindu” caste. Ascending order of reverence, and descending degree of contempt. But what are called as Harijan – meaning the “children of god” in the words of M.K. Gandhi- suffer not merely from untouchability but unapproachability, unseeability, unspeakability, etc. Dogs and cats are let inside a Hindu house but not an Untouchable.  

Therefore, every village in India has become a ghetto, which is the worst part reserved for these born bonded slaves, reduced to skeletons, who are expected to render free service to the Hindus without expecting any return. They do all the menial jobs: cleaning, sweeping, scavenging, agricultural operations, carrying dead cattle and eating its carcasses. Building constructions. Every dirty job. While the men are Untouchables, the women can be enjoyed by the upper caste (Hindu) men. This is the concept of Hindu justice.  

NO PLACE FOR DEMOCRACY UNDER HINDUISM  

Democracy and social justice have no place under Hinduism. But the country’s Constitution has forced the government to introduce some “socialist reforms”. But with the advent of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, even these concessions and reservations are disappearing. So, we live under such serious contradictions and perpetual clashes between the fascist ideology of Hinduism and the socialist slogans of the government forced by the country’s Constitution prepared by Dr. Ambedkar. The Constitution has given the Untouchables some paper “reservations” in jobs etc. but privatisation has killed even this little mercy.  

Untouchability (sanctified racism) among Hindus is thus a unique phenomenon unknown to humanity in any other part of the world. Nothing like it is to be found in any other society -primitive, ancient or modern. Sociologists and historians of India are not interested in the problems of Untouchables because they all belong to the upper caste. Nay. You will be laughed at and ostracised if you talk about it publicly.  

3. Why beef-eating Brahmins became vegetarians:  

The first organised protest movement against Brahminism was aunched by the Budha and Untouchables joined it en masse. Dr. Ambedkar has discovered that before the Aryans invaded India, the language of India was Tamil. He said the war between Budhism and Brahminism and the defeat of the former resulted in its followers being driven out of the village limits. Brahmins, who were the deadliest enemies of Budhism, adopted the trick of sabotaging Budhism by infiltrating it. They conducted a war against Budhism both from without and within. And after vanquishing Budhism, they inflicted untouchability upon those defeated.  

Another ingenious method the Brahmins adopted to destroy Budhism was to give up beef-eating and become strict vegetarians. The Brahmins were the most gluttonous beefeaters, and the Vedic texts have any number of references to their indiscriminate killing of cows and eating them. Killing brought them joy. In fact, cow was then reserved for the Brahmin stomach.  

The Brahmins also excelled in drinking intoxicating liquor, sex and such other merry making. When the Brahmins gave up eating beef other Hindus also followed them. If the non-Brahmins underwent one revolution by giving up beef-eating, Brahmins underwent a double revolution. They gave up eating meat for the first time and became vegetarians.  

“To my mind, it was the strategy which made the Brahmins give up beef-eating and start worshipping the cow. The clue to the worship of cow is to be found in the struggle between Buddhism and Brahminism and the means adopted by Brahminism to establish its supremacy over Buddhism”. (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: Untouchables, W&S Vol. 7 p. 345).  

Why the Brahmins resorted such a reckless adventure, a supreme sacrifice of giving up their greatest pleasure in life? Dr. Ambedkar says:  

“Without becoming vegetarians, the Brahmins could not have recovered the ground they had lost in its revival, namely Buddhism”. (Ibid p. 346).  

JEWS OF INDIA  

Brahmins – whom we have described as the “Jews of India” (V.T. Rajshekar: Brahminism, DSA- 2002), have beaten the Jews in craftiness, deceit and treachery- wanted to beat extremism by extremism. It is a fantastic strategy. The only way to beat Budhism was to go one step forward and become Vegetarians.  

Today, Brahmins (barring those in Kashmir and Bengal) are vegetarians and non-drinkers, though the yuppies among Brahmins have once again started meat-eating and drinking.  

Non-violence was absorbed into Brahminism which from the day of the defeat of Budhism went on changing its name and recently it came to be called Hinduism. The Vedic religion of Brahminism was sacrificed to save Brahmins and destroy the revolutionary philosophy of Budhism and thus permanently condemn India to slavery and serfdom. That is how India, which has the world’s largest but the most famished cattle population, turned into a cow-worshipper because of the triumph of Brahminism over Budhism. It was a means adopted by Brahmins to regain their lost glory. This supreme sacrifice of the Brahmins proves that the “Jews of India” are prepared to go to any extreme and make any compromise to save Brahminism.  

To them Brahminism became more important than India. Every foreign invader was invited by them to serve their selfish ends. India today is one of the poorest countries of the world, a sick nation, because of Brahminism. (V.T. Rajshekar: India as a Failed State, DSA-2004). Not only if the Untouchables are to be saved but if India itself must be rescued, Brahminism will have to be destroyed. That is why the Untouchables, being the original owners of India, have decided to escape from the tyranny of Brahminism.

4. India is not a “nation”: 

The Hindu nazi terrorists now led by the RSS often boast about the “Indian nationalism” or “cultural nationalism”. They are spending a lot of money and time to rouse this “national patriotism” among Hindus. But is India a “nation”?  

Each religion – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Hindus – constitutes a different but perpetually warring nation. Muslims (15%) and Christians (3%) are being persecuted by the Hindu “majority”. Apart from this, the Untouchables (20%) and Tribals (10%) each constitute a separation “nation”. Sikhs are rightly demanding a separate nation – Khalistan. Linguistically, geographically and ethnically India is deeply divided. Besides, each caste is a separate “nation” within the so-called Hinduism. (V.T. Rajshekar: Caste – A Nation Within the Nation, Books for Change, Bangalore, 2002).  

Hinduism is thus a vast prison- house of warring nationalities. Nationality is a social feeling. It is a longing not to belong to any other group. This is the essence of what is called a nationality and national feeling. But in India race, language and country do not suffice to create a nation. A nation is a living soul, a spiritual principle.  

“Suffering in common is a greater bond of union than joy. As regards national memories, mournings are worth more than triumphs, for they impose duties, they demand common effort. (Renan quoted by Dr. Ambedkar in his book, Thoughts on Pakistan, Thacker & Co., 2nd edition – 1945, p.17).  

As consciousness increases along with literacy and other factors, Muslims, Christians and each caste within Hinduism will clamour for separateness and some people expect India to be torn to pieces in course of time.  

The Hindu ethos stands for division and disintegration and not for unity. The seeds of destruction are within Hinduism itself. Nobody needs to destroy it. Hinduism will destroy itself. Because the Hindu house is built on hatred. The engine of hatred drives a Hindu.

5. Apartheid in India – A world problem: 

The Untouchables of India constitute the worst form of Apartheid. The Afro-Americans are employed as household servants in White houses, and therefore, they are not Untouchables. But India’s Untouchables are kept outside, segregated in all areas. Their very touch, look, even though leads to pollution. You can make out a Black man from the colour of the skin but not so the Untouchable. He may be fairer than the Brahmin. Nobody can identify an Untouchable by the mere skin colour.  

Therefore, the Indian Untouchability like the Black problem is not a problem arising out of colour prejudice. It is a mental problem created by the caste system. That makes it the most serious problem in the whole world. But, alas, no world body, the UN, International Court of Justice, Human Rights Commission or anybody for that matter, has ever bothered about the Untouchables who in sheer number excel the American Blacks or for that matter the Palestinians or any other struggling group.  

For the first time India’s Black Untouchables took their case to the UN at Durban (2001) comparing casteism with racism but suffered a defeat because of the Brahminical rulers’ stiff opposition.  

Therefore, ours is a world problem of the greatest magnitude needing the highest priority.  

The only people to spare some thought to the Indian Apartheid are the Christians. The World Council of Churches and the CCA have done a lot. And because of this they have invited the wrath of the Indian ruling class. If the Christians are interested in saving India and thereby the Untouchables they will have to intensify their efforts.

6. Class & caste: India’s twin great divide: 

While every other country in the world is divided into rich and poor (class division), India has not only its rich and poor but also the high and low castes. In India, the people are not only divided horizontally as rich and poor, but also vertically into high and low castes – one cutting across the other. That means the Brahmin belonging to the “highest caste” may be sometimes poor, but an Untouchable government official may be rich. This is the most baffling problem faced by no other country in the world.  

If other countries must destroy only the “class”, we in India have the twin menace of “class” as well as the “caste”. Since the loyalty of both the rich and the poor is first to their caste (nation), it is difficult to unite the poor of a caste against the rich of their own caste. The frequent “caste wars” in India have conclusively proved that “poor” Hindus will not join hands with Untouchables. – – who are economically the poorest and socially the lowest. 

Therefore, India presents the world’s most baffling paradox where no general mobilisation of the poor is possible.  

Even Budhism, Christianity, Sikhism and Islam have not escaped caste division because originally, they were also “Hindu”.  

Sociologists by and large endorse our opinion that in India “caste” is “class”. A mobile castle is a class. The low castes are all poor and upper castes are generally the rich. But one thing can be said with confidence that in India it will not be possible to launch a “class struggle” without first destroying the caste. At least a simultaneous thrust: a “class- caste struggle” has to be launched. The Indian marxist leadership did not agree with us and that is how the Untouchables of India have rejected marxism. (V.T. Rajshekar: How Marx Failed in Hindu India, DSA-1988). 

 “CASTE IDENTITY”  

The Hindus are also not prepared to destroy their caste because they became rulers only because of their caste identity. Since Hinduism is the other name for caste system, any attack on caste means a direct assault on property and privileges that the caste brings. Since every caste and subcaste stands to benefit from this grand system, no Hindu is prepared to give up the caste.  

The upper castes (Hindus) are making a lot of noise over the conversion of Untouchables to Islam or Christianity. To prevent conversion, they give the false promise of destroying untouchability. Hindu leaders including M.K. Gandhi say that they want to “eradicate” untouchability. But nobody is complaining against the caste system. Because they know that untouchability being the foundation of caste system, it is not possible to remove untouchability alone without destroying the caste system, which in turn means destroying Hinduism. So, when Gandhi and other Hindu leaders talk against untouchability, they are not sincere. Gandhi, whom Dr. Ambedkar described as a Hindu leader and the Enemy No.1 of Untouchables, wanted only a patchwork solution. Gandhi was content with reform, but Dr. Ambedkar wanted revolution and asked Dalits to quit Hinduism and go in for conversion. Religious conversion has proved to be the best, surest and the most nonviolent way of liberating the Untouchables. (DV Jan.1, 2003 p. 20: “Conversion as the best, simplest, surest & the most nonviolent way to liberate Dalits”).

7. Marxists betray revolution: India being one of the poorest countries in the world, all the factors necessary for revolution exist here. But the country is nowhere near a revolution. This is because the marxist leadership is in the hands of the Brahmins who are not ready to launch a struggle to destroy caste as it will affect the property and privileges of their caste. And without destroying the castle, it is not possible to destroy the class. They are not prepared to combine caste struggle with class struggle. That is why the Untouchables have rejected marxism. 

The Untouchables and Tribals are born revolutionaries. Nobody wants revolution more urgently than these two sections. But the marxists have no programme to attract them. The Left parties do not inspire these revolutionary sections. And quite a few of them feel that the marxists in India are not only far from revolution but counter- revolutionary.

8. Religious revolution: As the marxists have betrayed revolution, Untouchables are forced to take the only other path available — the religious solution. Thousands of Untouchables and Tribals, therefore, embraced Christianity. Sikhism, Budhism and Islam and the flow is increasing.

It must be noted that the Untouchables of India are subjected to torture not because they are poor. There are any number of poor in India and the Untouchables are not the only poor. They are only a part of the poor Indians. The country itself has over 50% living below the ‘poverty line”. 

But why Untouchables alone are subjected to torture? Not because of their poverty but their degrading social status. So, the problem of exploitation and poverty in India is due to social causes and not economic factors. 

The main cause of India’s poverty is, therefore, social and next only economic. This has to be clearly understood. The Untouchables are kicked, killed, burnt, raped and their little property destroyed not because they are poor. Poverty is not their problem. They became poor because the Hindus robbed their human rights. 

The social degradation. of the Untouchables having had religious sanction under Hinduism, the Untouchables have no other go but to get out of this gas chamber of Hinduism and seek fresh air under other liberating Islam, religions: Sikhism, Christianity, Budhism etc. Therefore, conversion to other religions has become popular among the Untouchables. Not because after conversion to Christianity and Islam the problem of poverty would be solved. To them poverty is not their No.1 problem. Man cannot live by bread alone. He wants self-respect which is denied under Hinduism. They will get it the moment they get out of Hinduism and convert to other religions. 

The Untouchables have discovered that conversion helps them as-they will no longer be subjected to atrocities. Conversion to other religion, therefore, helps the Untouchables to destroy caste paving the way or rather helping them to go to the next phase: “class struggle”. 

Dr. Ambedkar chose Budhism after a 20-year-long thinking on the subject but unfortunately Budhism, having been considered a part of Hinduism, has proved to be destroying untouchability because those who embraced Budhism along with Dr. Ambedkar are still treated as Untouchables by the Hindus. So, the Untouchables mostly prefer Christianity and lately in one state, Tamil Nadu, the trend is towards Islam.

9. Role of Christians: To repeat, the sickness of Hinduism is contagious that it has not spared any other religion. Those who went over to Christianity carried their caste with them and we have evidence that to gain more members, the Church, leaders allowed the converts to keep their caste identity. There are even today separate churches and graveyards in the church for Untouchable converts.

But one thing: Christianity or Islam does not have scriptural sanction for caste. Anybody fighting against caste within the church or Islam, will get support of their religion. But not so under Hinduism. That is why inside the Church in India, there is a powerful movement to fight caste discrimination. Despite the caste distinction the Untouchable converts to Christianity are today emotionally and psychologically much better than their counterparts who preferred to stay behind in Hinduism. 

The trend towards Islam in Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India, is a new development that has rattled the Hindu clergy. Even the government has expressed alarm and there are fresh moves to ban conversions and stop the flow of foreign funds to India. There are charges that Arab countries are financing the conversion drive, but government investigation did not prove it. It is only a few thousand Untouchables who embraced Islam in Tamil Nadu.  

Mass conversion to Islam is not new to this area but the upper castes (Hindus) and the Hindu nazi terrorist party, RSS, are worried about this trend because a Hindu considers Islam as the most inveterate enemy of Brahminism. Islam has no caste distinction. The Untouchables are attracted to this because of its egalitarianism. Even some Christian converts have opted to Islam.

10. Hinduism is anti-human: The above account is sufficient to convince anybody that Hinduism is not only anti-democratic but anti-human. Even the Brahmins, the custodians of Hinduism, have not benefited materially from this suffocating religion. Hundreds of Brahmins have fled the “holy” India and settled in beef-eating “unholy” US, UK and Gulf countries. Quite a few of them are still complaining of their own poverty in India. 

Foreigners are likely to be deceived by the propaganda of nonviolence, the Gandhian ahimsa. But as representatives of the Untouchables, we would like to blast this myth. Nowhere in the world can we get a set of people who are more violent and blood-thirsty than the Hindus.  

Hinduism is no doubt dying. Christianity and Islam have a better future in India. Urbanisation and scientific development have set fire to the very citadel of Brahminism. But what keeps the dying Hinduism alive are the two main props: caste system and the karmatheory — the belief in rebirth, predestiny. 

The Hindus talk about democracy and socialism but “majority rule” in *India has resulted in majority tyranny on the minorities who are reduced to the level of second-rate citizens — a persecuted minority. India will soon plunge into a bloody communal and caste war 

Christianity has helped millions of Untouchables to get liberation. The Tribals of the North-Eastern India are today a force to be reckoned with because of Christianity. Al those who went over to Christianity are definitely better off than those who stuck to Hinduism. If Christianity must attract more followers, it must immediately set its house in order by getting rid of the caste within the church as far as possible. Secondly, it must 4 render all-out help to Untouchables and Tribals.

11. Solution: 

The Untouchables of India are so weak —socially, economically, culturally, politically and even physically — that they no longer have the patience to wait for a revolution, which has proved elusive. Therefore, instead of waiting endlessly for the revolution, they have decided to seek their own solution to their problems. 

1. The first and the foremost programme is to quit Hinduism and seek refuge in any religion that assures them social status. Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Budhist organisations must step up the drive for religious conversion. 
2. Constitutional reservations to Untouchables having been sabotaged by the Hindus and reservations in private sector an impossibility, they will have to go in for more radical remedies. They will fight for a separate electorate and separate settlement. They are currently scattered all over India and live in isolated ghettos. Being in a minority, thoroughly disarmed and totally dispossessed, they face danger to their life, property and the honour of their women. So, to get safety and security they have to seek a separate settlement and separate electorate. And pending such a settlement, Untouchables are also planned. (V.T. Rajshekar: Separate Electorate & Separate Settlement, DSA-19986).
3. Every Untouchable is asked to carry an arm for his self- protection. 
4. International organisations, UN and particularly Christians and Muslims have a duty to support the liberation struggle of the Untouchables. Our struggle needs to be linked up with the other struggling groups of Blacks, Burakus, Palestinians and other friends. 

V.T. Rajshekar: Christians & Dalit Liberation, (DSA-2000).