From: gayathri@ec.ecn.purdue.edu (Gayathri Krishnamurthy)
Subject: Re: Brahminism & Indian politics
Summary: Re: Brahminism & Indian politics
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 18:02:20 GMT

In article <w_32t+l@rpi.edu>, vijays@vccnw09.its.rpi.edu (S. Vijayakumar) writes:
> 
> Keywords: Mandal-Periyar
> 
> The Brahmins are dominating everything in INDIA. Even the BABRI MASJID
> issue taken up by the VHP people, a few days after the announcement
> of SC verdict uphelding the MANDAL COMMISSION report, may well be
> a trick to change the main topic away from MANDAL & IT's implementation.

Forgive my ignorance, but I never knew that to be a VHP member, you have
to be a Brahmin.

> I don't really know why these BRAHMINS even after coming to a 
> nice country like USA, don't change their attitudes and think rationally.
> They want to portray EVR as Dravidian Racist. But I can quote
> at least six to seven personal incidents where the BRAHMINS have
> proved themselves to be real RACISTs.

Really ? You talk about thinking rationally but even you seem prejudiced.
Much of today's Brahmin population is being blamed for the sins (real and
imagined) of their forefathers. Even now, there is widespread Brahmin hatred
in places like Erode - a Brahmin friend of mine was beaten up by some
people as he was returning from a cinemahouse at night - he didn't even belong
to the place, he was just there on a business trip. His only crime was that
he went about with vibudhi and kumkum and looked like a pucca brahmin - this
he learnt from the curses labeling him a "paappaan" (slang for brahmin).
A little over a year back, K.Veeramani went about encouraging his followers
to go on a "poonool aRuppuththittam" (a campaign where people went about
cutting off the threads around a brahmin's neck - threads that are considered
sacred) - and the editor of Ananda Vikatan condemned it saying "Some people
may consider marriage as a system where women are enslaved. But for that 
reason could you go about cutting off the mangal sutras of married women ?".
So I do think there is some justification for people like Veeramani and EVR
being called Dravidian Racists (for weren't these the people who created 
divisions like Dravidian and Aryan, lumping Brahmins under the latter 
category ?). As far as TN is concerned, the only oppressed people seem to
be the SCs. They are still poor, and there is untouchability in many villages.
I don't think people forming the business and farming communities like the
Chettiars, Mudhaliyars, Pillais, Gounders etc were oppressed by the Brahmins.
Several of these communities are rich and powerful, and in fact, many of 
these communities had also oppressed the SCs. So it's not fair to blame the
Brahmins alone for all the ills of TN. This kind of hatred and prejudice will
not take us anywhere. IMHO, the SCs are the ones that really need the umbrella 
of reservations at least as far as TN goes. Even this doesn't seem to help
much, as the only ones to benefit from this - at least as far as a university
education goes, are the richer people among the SCs. There should be some more
incentives/scholarships for the SCs - esp the poor SCs in villages.


> There is no need any opposition to mandal. The BRAHMINS should
> ask to themselves, the following question:
> HOW MANY PERCENT OF NON-BRAHMINS ARE GETTING INTO I.I.Ts of
> INDIA, which with our money exports Zillions of BRAHMINS abroad?

Hmmm....Interesting ! I never knew that I.I.Ts screened the caste
column of applications and saw to it that Brahmins form the majority 
of those picked. Thanks for enlightening me !


> INDIA LIVES IN VILLAGES. THE MIDDLE CLASS(SOCIALLY BACKWARD CLASSES,
> INCLUDING the SC,STs) are the real BACKBONE of INDIA.
> THE BRAHMINS IN INDIA AND ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD SHOULD REALISE,
> that UNTIL the POWER IS DISTRIBUTED TO THESE REAL PEOPLE,
> they can never live in PEACE; WHATEVER the TRICK they play.
> KUDOS to people like you. We are for HARMONIOUS SOCIETY. 

We can't live in harmony unless people stop blaming certain communities
(Brahmins, Muslims) for all the ills that plague us. There are poor people,
rich people, prejudiced, violent and good people in all communities. 
Generalizing that *all* people in a certain community are racist is hurtful
and provokes hard feelings. So,taking attitudes like "Us versus Them" will 
only breed discord and enmity and achieve no useful purpose.

> I am a person with strong BACKGROUND IN the spiritual aspects
> of HINDUISM and I respect it. But HUMAN BEINGS should first be
> HUMAN BEINGS. they should try to respect others equally.
> WE NON-BRAHMINS should really fight hard to GET BACK SOCIAL 
> JUSTICE in INDIA.

IMO, real social justice can only be done when the lot of the poor people in 
India (regardless of caste) improves. They are the ones that grow poorer 
even as the politicians in the country divide the people in all possible ways
(rural-urban, north-south, upper-caste-lower-caste, Hindu-Muslim) and call
for re-elections at the drop of a hat (just imagine the expense to the already
overburdened taxpayer who can't even afford to buy gasoline and can't afford 
even vegetables when elections are about to be held), instigate riots
etc damaging public property built from the taxpayer's hard-earned money. Real
social justice can only be achieved if we - the educated and reasonably well
off people - stop blaming each other and get down to contribute something for
the country regardless of where we are (and regardless of what caste, what 
relegion, what language etc). In the U.S presidential elections, Ross Perot
said something on the lines of "Can we tolerate the fact that the next 
generation of Americans will be the first to do worse than its parents ?
That's what will happen if the current economic policies are followed."
Do our politicians even think about this ? The fact that every generation of
Indians is struggling harder and has lesser buying power ? I think we should
stop blaming each other and do something for the country - working harmoniously,
forgetting caste, race, relegion, and regional affiliations. These factors are
raked up by the politicians with narrow political goals. Perhaps it'd help
to see what is wrong and not who is wrong.
Just my 2-penny worth.....

Gayathri.
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email address :- gayathri@ecn.purdue.edu
Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you !!