In a brand-new Valmiki mandir at Ludhiana, devotees flock to worship their Poet-Saint Valmiki who wrote the Ramayana. They also visit the Ram and Hanuman temples in the city but there is no statue of Valmiki.
Bhagwan Valmiki is associated with our caste. We are Safai karamcharis. People know this and it’s not that they have anything against Valmiki Maharaj, they don’t want to have anything to do with us because of our caste. So this statue is never installed in a Ram mandir, says Chowdhury Yashpal, manager, Ghati Valmiki temple.
The Valmiki traditionally scavengers and still considered Untouchables even among the Dalits. earlier tried to stake their claim on the Ramayana and Hinduism by keeping names like Danav and Asur. But they now want to establish their own religion called Advaiti with its own gods, rituals and temples. And this process appears to have been hastened by the recent Gohana incident where an entire basti of Valmikis was gutted by the upper caste Jets in Haryana.
After the incident not a single Hindu party, whether the Shiv Sena, RSS or BJP helped us. So why should we remain Hindu. We will establish our own religion and be known by that name, not Dalit,said Dr. Devi Singh Asur, a writer of Sangrur.
But more difficult than adopting a new dharma will be breaking away from Hinduism. The Valmiki have traditionally identified themselves with Hinduism which believes in caste system. So, they can’t give up the Ramayana and yet call themselves Valmiki. said Professor Surinder Jodhka, Dept. of Social Sciences. JNU.
Armed with a separate religion, they now want to assert their identity as Valmiki and not Dalits for economic gains. Ravidas is are involved in the leather trade and the business is flourishing. They studied, became officers and politicians and helped their caste. The Valmiki could not do the same. (NDTV).
