Why Hindus lag behind in Kerala by Dr C I Isaac

[Guest guest]

Namaskar Mitra,

 

Why Hindus Lag behind in Kerala by Dr C I Issac, Head of the PG Department of

History, CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala. This article appeared in the Hindu

Voice, Mumbai edition. At the end of the article is a comment by a Malayali

friend Sandy. Yu can mail me yr insights too that I could add to the mail.

http://esamskriti.com/html/inside.asp?cat=704&subcat=703&cname=kerala_hindus

 

A powerful field that can control society is education. At present, the

education sector in Kerala is under the control of minorities, who are

politically influential and economically sound through the remittances made by

Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs).

While minorities run 3340 schools in the state, the entire Hindu jatis are in

possession of just 194 schools. Muslim and Christian communities manage 223

arts and science colleges whereas all Hindu jatis together manage only 42

colleges (vide 'Matrubhumi' daily, September 28, 2002). Out of the 433

professional colleges, only 86 are government-owned, 89 are Hindu-managed while

258 are managed by the minorities (G.K. Suresh Babu, 'Kesari Annual, 2004).

Though all minorities are permitted to impart religious education in their

institutions, this right is denied to Hindu institutions. Moreover, Hindu

students in minority institutions are forced to study moral science, which

infuse anti-Hindu sentiments in them. This is the best known Kerala model of

secularist-democratic paradigm.

Why does it happen so? No doubt, the reason is that Hindus are economically and

politically a marginalized group in Kerala. If the lessons in history of

ancient civilizations were destroyed by Semitic religions' invasion, the

situation is not very different for Hindus in Kerala. A major share of the

state exchequer is spent on education. The last 48 years reveal that only one

Hindu minister handled the portfolio of education and that, too for a period of

four years and three months. Otherwise, for the rest of the period, this

portfolio has been handled by ministers belonging to only minority communities.

The minority ministers, who managed the portfolio of education, helped only the

minority community managements in an out-of the way manner. Lending a helping

hand to minority institutions was similar for both, the Right and the Left

coalitions. Both coalitions still follow minority appeasement as their de facto

policy. This will result in an alarming situation.

Of the state's 199,000 schoolteachers, the Hindu share (inclusive of SCs/STs) is

just 38 percent. According to the 1997 statistics, Kerala had 14200 college

teachers of whom 76 percent belonged to minority communities (G. K. Suresh

Babu). All these statistics show of an unorganized, demographically

ever-shrinking Hindu community of Kerala.

In health care also, the minorities have an upper hand. The Hindu community owns

just ten hospitals against 928 belonging to the minorities ('Matrubhumi').

Similarly, the Hindu share in the industry, agriculture and commerce is 28, 24

and 28 percent, respectively. At the same time, the Muslim share is 30, 23 and

40 percent and Christian share is 35, 40 and 36 percent, respectively

('Matrubhumi'). I think, like the Hindus of Kerala, no other community in the

world is marginalized as much. In several sectors, Hindus lag behind but in the

case of suicides, they are leaders. Kerala's suicidal rate is above the national

average; it is 30.5 for every one lakh population. A recent NGO study reveals

that 92 percent suicides were committed by Hindus. 6.5 percent by Christians

and 1.5 percent by Muslims. Insolvency is the main reason for the mass suicides

in Kerala.

The Kerala government's allotment of new self-financing professional colleges

has come as a rude shock to the marginalized Hindus of Kerala. Due to the

economic backwardness of the Hindus, it is difficult to compete with the

minority communities for starting professional colleges. The result will be

that those socially and economically backwards in the Hindu society will be

kicked out of competition. In medical education field alone, the Hindus will

lose 250 seats every year. The Hindus coming in the purview of reservation will

lose 3800 engineering seats and 100 MBBS seats every year. After two decades, in

the SC/ST section alone, there will be a shortage of 74000 engineers and 2000

doctors at the present rate.

Education and economic progress are closely linked with Kerala life. Therefore,

any imbalance arising in the educational field will be reflected a hundred

times in the economic scenario. In the near future, because of educational

backwardness alone, Hindus will be forced to live on the periphery of society.

In the democratic process, votes are decisive factors. No doubt, the numerically

ever-shrinking Hindus will lose relevance in the political structure of Kerala

in the near future. Since Independence, for every decade, the Hindu population

in Kerala has been falling at the rate of more than 1 percent. If this trend

continues, within three decades, Hindus will lose their majority statues in the

state. At present, technically the Hindus are the majority community. But the

minority religious groups have a clear sway over the political, economic and

educational fields of Kerala. It is no wonder that Hindus of Kerala, who are

destined to be minority in the near future, will be thrown out of all fields of

socio-economic activities. This will be a great tragedy for Hindus.

In 1947, Muslims in India were a minority community. They were 24 percent. But

even that marginal strength of the Muslims led to the division of India. Today,

Nagaland and Mizoram have turned into Christian-majority states. In these

states, discontent and insurgency, along with divisive tendencies, have

surfaced. To a large section of the Christian brethren, the Hindus have become

an indigestive element in the northeast. If so, what will be the history of

Kerala after three decades?

End of matter,

Comments from a Malayali friend Sandy - "Hindus in Kerala are a fractious

divided house—Namboodiris/ Brahmins-Nairs-Ezhavas, each one looks down on

the caste below. Vairety of factors, perhaps the decades of communist rule, the

rise of the downtrodden castes like the Ezhavas.

Another very important reason is the abysmal lack of enterprenurial skill

amongst Hindus. The other communities particularly the Syrian Catholic and

Muslim communities have huge clout and patronage, which translates into

educational clout, by sheer dint of the their business capital."

With Prem

sanjeev