This letter is in reference to the front-page article, “Revolt by the Untouchables Augurs Changes in India” that appeared in the Washington Post (Nov. 30, 1991). I wish to thank its foreign service editor, Steve Coll, for bringing to the American public the untold sufferings of the Dalits (the Untouchables) of India.
Their sufferings are unmatched to anything anyone has ever endured in the history of mankind because this is a system perpetuated and well protected for over 3,000 years in the name of a religion and its teachings and scriptures. (Dr. Laxmi Berwa: DV Feb. 1 ’92 p.20).
I am, however, compelled to point out several inaccuracies and statements that need explanation in the article.
- The article says, ” …. leaders like Mahatma Gandhi promised to build a casteless society”. In actuality, this is far from the truth. Gandhi never ever worked for a casteless society. In fact , he worked tirelessly throughout his life to preserve and protect the evil caste system (sanctified racism) of his brahminism (presently referred to as Hindu religion). Gandhi never opposed the caste system. He lived and died not only as a caste man, but also a fanatical Hindu who revered the obnoxious ‘caste-at-birth’ doctrine of his Hindu religion. He has justified in several of his writings and speeches for the existence and the preservation of the caste system. Though he said that he wanted to eradicate ‘untouchability’, he did not do anything worthwhile towards this goal. As a matter of fact he did everything in his power to keep the Untouchables as the obedient and permanent slaves of Hindus. This is the reason why Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief Architect of the Indian Constitution and the greatest intellectual that India has produced in recent history, said Gandhi was “the No.1 enemy of the Untouchables”. Gandhi saved brahminism at the cost of the Untouchables.
DRINKING URINE
- The village school principal (an upper caste/ Hindu) was quoted to say, “No questions like this had been raised in 400 years …. We have been living in this village very peacefully, very happily”. What the principal was in fact saying was that the Untouchables have been our obedient slaves all these years and the upper caste/Hindus have been happily sucking their blood without anyone questioning. As long as the Untouchables strictly follow the caste dharma and rules, the upper caste/Hindus will say that everyone is living peacefully in the village. Since the Hindu religion sanctions the Untouchables to be slaves of the upper caste/Hindus, the sufferings of the Untouchables will not question the human conscientiousness of the upper caste/Hindus.
The minute the Untouchables start questioning the reasons for their lowness bestowed upon them from birth, the upper castes/Hindus say that peace has been destroyed and they need to teach the Untouchables a lesson by way of murder, rape, arson and humiliations of every kind including forcing them to drink human urine and eat human excreta. The police, the judiciary and the politician are all together in this game of preserving the status quo of Hindu religious caste system.
- India has over 50 million bonded labour children between the ages of 4 and 14 years old. The number for the adults is said to be three times as much as the children. Generations after generations live in slavery because of the unscrupulous upper castes/Hindus who cheat the poor, innocent and illiterate “low caste” people. Then they call these poor people as “unreliable debtor”.
GREATEST LIE
- The greatest lie and hypocrisy of the Hindus is when the village principal says they treat the Untouchables “like members of their own family … We promised them that we are all brothers”. How can such blatant lies even be repeated? If the Untouchable were the family members of the upper castes/Hindus, how is that the Untouchables cannot take water from the same well, cannot enter Hindu temples, cannot enter the streets where the upper castes/Hindus live, cannot touch a Hindu, to list just a few atrocitious Hindu religious evil acts. Why was a social boycott instituted on the entire Untouchable community for simply filing a case against a murder?
- The village principal says again, “Their (the Untouchables) leaders misguided them … We want to pressure them to live here peacefully”. The principal was in fact saying that the upper castes/Hindus want the Untouchables to be their permanent slaves as usual following the Hindu caste code. Then everyone will live peacefully. If anyone questions even the basic human rights of the Untouchables, then the peace of the Hindus is disturbed. The result is that the Untouchables are mercilessly butchered with the full support of the official machinery. And at the same time, the upper caste Hindus shed crocodile tears and put the blame on the Untouchable leaders for everything.
What a shame! If a school principal, who is supposed to teach his students the truth, love and compassion, can lie like this, what kind of future can one envisage for the 160 million Untouchables in a truly free India where all human beings will be treated equally as human beings. It might take another 1,000 years, if these unfortunate Untouchables get lucky. Because neither the Hindus nor the International Community gives a damn about the single largest community in the world who has been oppressed and exploited for the last 3,000 years without anyone questioning !!. Not only are the Hindus sick, but it appears that the International community is also sick for ignoring these people for such a long time.
