The Rev. M.S.S. Raju, Director of the Hebrew Christian Theological Open University, Vijayawada, gave me a xerox copy of the article, “Dr. Ambedkar and the Jewish people” (reprinted in the News from Israel, Nov.91 from the Bombay daily, The Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Oct. 3, 91), in which the Israeli Consul in Bombay, Glora Becher (DV. Jan. 1 92, p.19: Zionist ghosts coming to the very doorsteps of Muslims in India”), recalled Dr. Ambedkar’s interview to a Jewish Journal from Bombay in Nov. 1941 and Babasaheb’s praise for the Jews and his comparison of the Jews with the Untouchables as both are the world’s oppressed people. The Israeli diplomat then concludes:
“It is only natural that the Jewish people have always looked at Dr. Ambedkar and his life’s work with absolute admiration. His struggle for the weaker sector of society has found an echo in the hearts of those who for many hundreds of years since their ex expulsion from their promised land Israel were suffering from discrimination and persecution just because of their race, just because of being different from the majority around.”
Jews are “broken Dalits”: The article comparing Jews with our people (Dalits) gave me a shock and the arguments of Rev. Raju gave me a bigger shock.
To find the meaning of ‘Dal’, the Hebrew word from English-Hebrew dictionary, I went to Rev. Raju. His institute is teaching Hebrew for the last several years for evangelical purposes. He gave me his book, Paradesi (foreigner), in Telugu.
The book “reveals” the biblical prophecies regarding the plight of Jewish people. He believes in the biblical prophecies and identified the “broken Jews” as the present Dalits of India.
Dalits to settle in Israel: He visited USA and Israel. He prevailed upon Israel to recognise him as a “broken Jew” and calls himself “Hebri”, the 12th gotra of Jews. As “Hebri” he demanded the Israeli Govt. to take him back to his “motherland”, the promised land to Abraham by the god. He said seven families (including his own) have been allowed to settle in Israel “as they had every right on the promised land to the Jews”.
He has also agreed to write for DV on the origin of Dalits. I am shocked by all these developments. The root word “Dal” made me to search for all these details.
In his visa Rev. Raju has stated his nationality as “Hebri”, though he is an Indian (Telugu) Dalit. The visa also says that his purpose of visit was to fulfil the prophecies of god.
“Jews of India”: I simply can’t believe all these things. I remember, 10 years back you too had compared India’s Aryan Brahmins with Jews and called them the “Jews of India”. Later, on being corrected by Leon Poliakov you admitted your mistake in your book, Who is the Mother of Hitler? (DSA).
Rev. Raju showed me the Hebrew- English dictionary and the meaning of “Dal” is found as “poor”. You often quote the Bible to say “Know the truth and truth shall free you”. So please let me know the truth. The truth of my origin.
It is true that we had said that the root word for Dalit is “Dal” and it is a Hebrew word found in Bible.
But Rev. Raju’s theory that the Dalits are “broken Jews” is yet to be verified. Rev. Raju had met us in Bangalore and had discussed this theory with us. We had then expressed our reservations about this theory.
It is a fact that Jews were always victimised by others. And that was how Babasaheb Ambedkar could compare the Jews with Untouchables who too are victims of racism. Both Jews and Untouchables are victims. If this is the fact, why the Jews have today joined hands with the very brahminical social order which supplied all the philosophy of racism to Nazi Hitler, their chief oppressor? Will the leaders of Jews answer this qustion?- EDITOR.
