Rediff.com - Anti Brahminism Should Stop !

June 24, 2006

The first article published by rediff on Brahmins as an

underprivileged community, brought a flurry of reactions, mostly of

surprise : " What, Brahmins as toilet cleaners, coolies, rickshaw

pullers, priests earning less than Rs 150 a month... How is it

possible, we always thought that Brahmins were a rich, fat, arrogant

community? "

Many Brahmins and faithful followers of Vedic faith expressed online

their relief that someone was speaking about their plight, that for

once they were not attacked, made fun of, ridiculed. Of course there

were also a few hostile e-mails, accusing the author of anti-Dalits

bias.

One would have thought however, that at a time when reservation was

the hottest journalistic topic, the media would have seized this

story and made it its own. After all, isn't impartial journalism to

show both sides of the story?

Don't you think, for instance, that the discovery that all 50 Sulabh

Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi are cleaned and looked after

by Brahmins -- traditionally the task of the lowest of the lowest

caste -- and that this noble institution was started by a Brahmin,

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, makes a wonderful story, both for the print and

electronic media?

That is what I believed, at any rate. So when I discovered that the

Art of Living Foundation was conducting workshops for all coolies,

irrespective of their religion and caste of the Delhi railway

station -- and that quite a few of them were Brahmins -- I thought I

could share this story and the Sulabh Shauchalayas scoop, with a few

journalistic acquaintances, who would jump on it with glee.

Unfortunately I was very wrong.

Initially, some young journalists were enthusiastic and joined us in

our investigation. We expected the story to hit the headlines soon

and be taken up by the entire press, hungry for something different

than the strike of the medicos, or Arjun Singh's adamant attitude.

But nothing happened.

We called them day after day, proposed some more data, but still no

story came out. Then one of the young journalists, working for one of

the largest media outfits in India told us off the record that the

sub-editor, backed by the editor, had killed the story in true

journalistic freedom.

The second scenario we encountered was stone silence : the star

anchors, bureau chiefs, editors of national English newspapers whom I

personally contacted, either did not return my calls or were evasive.

Third scenario: Downright hostility : " You're a right winger, a pro-

BJP-RSS journalist " etc. What does truth and investigative journalism

have to do with the BJP (who by the way did no more than the Congress

for the Kashmiri Brahmins, for instance, when it was in power)? I

don't know.

Some journalists, initially willing to do a story, backed out after

some time under the pretext that the data was not solid enough. Not

solid enough? Does flimsy and unchecked data ever stop the Indian

media to publish slanderous stories in the recent past?

Then, I came to the conclusion that more than fifty years later, the

Nehruvian culture which directly brainwashed two generations of

Indians in certain thinking patterns, has survived today. Actually,

you have to go farther back than Nehru . For Jawaharlal was a true

end product of Macaulay's policy of creating Indians who would be

Indians by the colour of their skins, but British in their

thinking . Thus, the English outlook on India survives today in

India's intellectual class, particularly the journalists, who often

cast a Westernised, anti-spiritual, pro-minority, anti-majority, un-

Indian, anti-Brahmins and other upper castes -- look on their own

country .

It is true that Nehru started from a positive volition : How to solve

India's huge class and caste disparity ? How to appease a Muslim

minority which ruled India ruthlessly for ten centuries and was not

ready to be ruled by those who were for a long time Islam's pliant

subjects?

But Nehru went overboard . He made the paupers of yesteryear the

saints of modern India, allowing some states to literally hound out

Brahmins . He twisted history and thanks to

docile historians, made of cruel Muslim invaders and rulers, the

benefactors of medieval India.

He went to the extent of excusing the razing and sacking of thousands

of exquisite temples all over India, by saying that Muslim invaders

such as Babar did it because these temples were full of hidden gold

and jewels, damning again indirectly the poor hapless Brahmins, who

were beheaded by Muslim invaders, crucified in Goa by the Portuguese

Inquisition, vilified by British missionaries, and morally crucified

today by their own brothers and sisters.

It is true that Brahmins may be paying today for the excesses of

yesterday . In ancient times, as Sri Aurobindo wrote : ' A Brahmin

was a Brahmin only if he cultivated the spiritual temperament and

acquired the spiritual training which alone would qualify him for the

task.'

But once Brahmanism became merely hereditary, arrogance, complacency

and casteism became rampant, ultimately bringing the downfall of

Brahmins, a downfall which the Dalai Lama defines (for his own

people) as Black Karma.

Thus, thanks to the lingering influence of Nehruvianism, 'Brahmins'

remain today a dirty word, even in the face of reality : that Dalits

have considerably come up since 1947 in Indian society, that no

nation in the world has done so much for its underprivileged (India

had a Dalit President -- did the US ever have a Black President?).

But the intellectual elite of India, which never mentions these

facts, continues to hide its face in the sand like an ostrich,

refusing to see the reality.

And rampant anti-Brahmanism and upper castes, first used by the

Muslim invaders, then by the British colonialists and missionaries,

is still in vogue at the hands of Nehruvians, Marxists, Indian

Christians and politicians in search of the votes of Dalits and

Muslims, which combined together make and unmake prime ministers.

Yet, Brahmins and other upper castes have played an invaluable role

in Indian history, as Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh

Shauchalaya Movement remarks : 'Society sustained the Brahmins and

other upper castes earlier, who upheld the Hindu scriptures and

Hindu culture. Today Hinduism is on the decline day-by-day. There is

a lack of ancient knowledge. No political party has objected to

reservation thanks to vote-bank politics. People have a very short

memory. They have forgotten the contribution made by Brahmins to our

society .'

And who says that Brahmins are anti-Dalits.Some of India's top

avatars, saints and gurus were of low caste and are still worshipped

today by all upper castes. Valmiki, the composer of the Ramayana, was

a fisherman ; Ved Vyasa, the epic poet of the Mahabharata, which also

contains the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible of Future Humanity, was the son

of a fisherwoman ; Lord Krishna was from the shepherd's caste. And

are not today's Amritanandamayi or Satya Sai Baba of low caste birth?

Don't they have millions of Indians,

many of them Brahmins, bowing down to them?

Anti-Brahmanism has to be stopped !

This inter-caste war, triggered by the politicians' greed for votes,

has to be defused.

FACT, my Foundation, which conducts exhibitions on persecuted

minorities, whether the Kashmiri Pandits, the Christians, Buddhist

Chakmas and Hindus suffering in Bangladesh at the hands of

fundamentalists in Bangladesh, or the Tibetans facing a cultural and

spiritual genocide in Tibet, decided to take things in hand.

We started, with the help of a few dedicated friends, a film on

Brahmins as an underprivileged community. This film will lead to a

photoexhibition and hopefully to a book .

All testimonies and documents are welcome.

The future of this country lies in a unified India, where all castes

will find their just place, where all will feel Indians first and

belonging to this caste or that one, after.

Francois Gautier

------------------------

Note - : The above is excerpt of an article.

June 24, 2006

The article by Mr Francois Gautier is an eye-opener! I was knowing that Brahmins in independent India were not well- to -do and were, in some cases, forced to accept vocations not acceptable to upper castes. But, it was a news to me that Sulabh Shauchalayas in Delhi are all manned & managed by Bhrahmins. It is a pitiable condition. I think, it is high time that we revert to the Varna- Ashram system prevelent in Vedic times where the Varna of a person was decided by his qualities & not by his birth. Only a person having qualities like a Brahmin should be called a Brahmin & not otherwise. And, primarily, such people, who are Brahmins in the real sense of the word, ie engaged in educating the society and guiding it in proper direction, should be taken care of by the society. A person should be known by his profession/vocation & quality, but NOT by his birth. Then only is there a chance of recovery of this once great country. So, let us revert back to the Varna-

Ashram system of old. That way, we can get rid of the reservation system also as only people really interested in studies will go to the adademics; others will turn to vocational studies. I think our leaders in the society should think about this problem, discuss it threadbare and form a policy in this matter. Francois Gautier <ksmani21 wrote: The first article published by rediff on Brahmins as an underprivileged community, brought a flurry of reactions, mostly of surprise : " What, Brahmins as toilet cleaners, coolies,

rickshawpullers, priests earning less than Rs 150 a month... How is it possible, we always thought that Brahmins were a rich, fat, arrogant community?"Many Brahmins and faithful followers of Vedic faith expressed online their relief that someone was speaking about their plight, that for once they were not attacked, made fun of, ridiculed. Of course there were also a few hostile e-mails, accusing the author of anti-Dalits bias.One would have thought however, that at a time when reservation was the hottest journalistic topic, the media would have seized this story and made it its own. After all, isn't impartial journalism to show both sides of the story?Don't you think, for instance, that the discovery that all 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins -- traditionally the task of the lowest of the lowest caste -- and that this noble institution was

started by a Brahmin,Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, makes a wonderful story, both for the print and electronic media?That is what I believed, at any rate. So when I discovered that the Art of Living Foundation was conducting workshops for all coolies, irrespective of their religion and caste of the Delhi railway station -- and that quite a few of them were Brahmins -- I thought I could share this story and the Sulabh Shauchalayas scoop, with a few journalistic acquaintances, who would jump on it with glee. Unfortunately I was very wrong.Initially, some young journalists were enthusiastic and joined us in our investigation. We expected the story to hit the headlines soon and be taken up by the entire press, hungry for something different than the strike of the medicos, or Arjun Singh's adamant attitude.But nothing happened.We called them day after day, proposed some more data, but still no story came out.

Then one of the young journalists, working for one of the largest media outfits in India told us off the record that the sub-editor, backed by the editor, had killed the story in true journalistic freedom.The second scenario we encountered was stone silence : the star anchors, bureau chiefs, editors of national English newspapers whom I personally contacted, either did not return my calls or were evasive.Third scenario: Downright hostility : "You're a right winger, a pro- BJP-RSS journalist" etc. What does truth and investigative journalism have to do with the BJP (who by the way did no more than the Congress for the Kashmiri Brahmins, for instance, when it was in power)? I don't know.Some journalists, initially willing to do a story, backed out after some time under the pretext that the data was not solid enough. Not solid enough? Does flimsy and unchecked data ever stop the Indian media to publish

slanderous stories in the recent past?Then, I came to the conclusion that more than fifty years later, the Nehruvian culture which directly brainwashed two generations of Indians in certain thinking patterns, has survived today. Actually, you have to go farther back than Nehru . For Jawaharlal was a trueend product of Macaulay's policy of creating Indians who would be Indians by the colour of their skins, but British in their thinking . Thus, the English outlook on India survives today in India's intellectual class, particularly the journalists, who often cast a Westernised, anti-spiritual, pro-minority, anti-majority, un-Indian, anti-Brahmins and other upper castes -- look on their own country .It is true that Nehru started from a positive volition : How to solve India's huge class and caste disparity ? How to appease a Muslim minority which ruled India ruthlessly for ten centuries and was not ready to be

ruled by those who were for a long time Islam's pliantsubjects?But Nehru went overboard . He made the paupers of yesteryear the saints of modern India, allowing some states to literally hound out Brahmins . He twisted history and thanks todocile historians, made of cruel Muslim invaders and rulers, the benefactors of medieval India.He went to the extent of excusing the razing and sacking of thousands of exquisite temples all over India, by saying that Muslim invaders such as Babar did it because these temples were full of hidden gold and jewels, damning again indirectly the poor hapless Brahmins, who were beheaded by Muslim invaders, crucified in Goa by the Portuguese Inquisition, vilified by British missionaries, and morally crucified today by their own brothers and sisters.It is true that Brahmins may be paying today for the excesses of yesterday . In ancient times, as Sri Aurobindo wrote : ' A

Brahmin was a Brahmin only if he cultivated the spiritual temperament and acquired the spiritual training which alone would qualify him for the task.'But once Brahmanism became merely hereditary, arrogance, complacency and casteism became rampant, ultimately bringing the downfall of Brahmins, a downfall which the Dalai Lama defines (for his own people) as Black Karma.Thus, thanks to the lingering influence of Nehruvianism, 'Brahmins' remain today a dirty word, even in the face of reality : that Dalits have considerably come up since 1947 in Indian society, that no nation in the world has done so much for its underprivileged (Indiahad a Dalit President -- did the US ever have a Black President?). But the intellectual elite of India, which never mentions these facts, continues to hide its face in the sand like an ostrich,refusing to see the reality.And rampant anti-Brahmanism and upper castes, first

used by the Muslim invaders, then by the British colonialists and missionaries, is still in vogue at the hands of Nehruvians, Marxists, Indian Christians and politicians in search of the votes of Dalits and Muslims, which combined together make and unmake prime ministers.Yet, Brahmins and other upper castes have played an invaluable role in Indian history, as Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh Shauchalaya Movement remarks : 'Society sustained the Brahmins and other upper castes earlier, who upheld the Hindu scriptures andHindu culture. Today Hinduism is on the decline day-by-day. There is a lack of ancient knowledge. No political party has objected to reservation thanks to vote-bank politics. People have a very short memory. They have forgotten the contribution made by Brahmins to oursociety .'And who says that Brahmins are anti-Dalits.Some of India's top avatars, saints and gurus were of

low caste and are still worshipped today by all upper castes. Valmiki, the composer of the Ramayana, was a fisherman ; Ved Vyasa, the epic poet of the Mahabharata, which also contains the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible of Future Humanity, was the son of a fisherwoman ; Lord Krishna was from the shepherd's caste. And are not today's Amritanandamayi or Satya Sai Baba of low caste birth? Don't they have millions of Indians,many of them Brahmins, bowing down to them?Anti-Brahmanism has to be stopped !This inter-caste war, triggered by the politicians' greed for votes, has to be defused.FACT, my Foundation, which conducts exhibitions on persecuted minorities, whether the Kashmiri Pandits, the Christians, Buddhist Chakmas and Hindus suffering in Bangladesh at the hands of fundamentalists in Bangladesh, or the Tibetans facing a cultural andspiritual genocide in Tibet, decided to take things in hand.We

started, with the help of a few dedicated friends, a film on Brahmins as an underprivileged community. This film will lead to a photoexhibition and hopefully to a book .All testimonies and documents are welcome.The future of this country lies in a unified India, where all castes will find their just place, where all will feel Indians first and belonging to this caste or that one, after.Francois Gautier------------------------Note - : The above is excerpt of an article. J S AGRAWAL+91 4027175339/9391047995

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