Hindu Caste Racism: Vile defamation of Periyar

Saturday 22 October 2011

Vile defamation of Periyar

Chandrabhan Prasad's article titled "The Periyar Legatees" published in countercurrents.org at http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-prasad230904.htm (and previously published in the "Pioneer") is a vile defamation of Periyar based on baseless statements, lies and false quotes. It is an inept attempt to misrepresent Periyar as anti-Dalit and anti-Muslim, while Periyar worked for the total annihilation of the graded caste supremacist system by seeking to destroy the Brahman and allied "twice born" caste supremacy that sustains this bigoted system. Periyar never hated minorities or Dalits, and Chandrabhan Prasad's article is full of vile falsehood aimed at defaming Periyar. Parties such as DMK, ADMK and MDMK cannot be used to assess or value Periyar's legacy because all these parties broke away from Periyar and his ideology, and have nothing to do with Periyarist thought. Periyar championed the cause of Dalits in many agitations, speeches and writings and was clear (just as Ambedkar was) that as long as the caste supremacist graded system remained, both backward castes and Dalits cannot be emancipated.

Periyar never attacked Muslims but called upon Dalits to convert to Islam. Periyar never preached hatred against religious minorities. Chandrabhan Prasad should be clearly deluded to maliciously state a lie that "Periyar's deep hatred toward minorities is well-known". Periyar is well known as a man who preached destruction of Hinduism and who called for Dalits to convert to Islam. Periyar was never known as a man who preached hatred towards religious minorities. On the contrary he was the enemy of Hinduism and Hindu fanatics who preached hatred against religious minorities. Periyar and his true Periyarist followers are seen as enemies of Hinduism and Hindutva, who defend religious minorities against the hatred of Hindu fanatics. As an atheist and a rationalist Periyar criticized superstitions, rituals and all religions, but he was primarily for the destruction of Hinduism and annihilation of the caste system. Periyar advocated conversion to the monotheistic egalitarian religions of Islam and Christianity as an escape from caste bigotry. There are countless speeches and writings in which Periyar has praised Islam and Muslims. He asked the Dravidians (the collective racial term he used to refer to backward castes and Dalits) to be friendly towards Muslims but rise against Brahmans. Hence, Periyar never preached hatred against religious minorities such as Muslims or Christians. Chandrabhan Prasad does not know any of Periyar's true writings or actions, and he makes sweeping false statements to defame and misrepresent Periyar. Chandrabhan Prasad misuses a few unreferenced and unsubstantiated quotes (falsely attributed to Periyar) out of context and misinterprets them to state lies to defame and misrepresent Periyar as anti-Muslim and anti-Dalit. To use a handful of unreferenced and unsubstantiated false quotes out of their context of time, situation and history to blemish the 94 years of Periyar's life against Hinduism and caste system by stating lies is grossly ridiculous. Periyar was essentially against Hinduism and the caste system, and to falsely claim that Periyar hated minorities and Dalits are gross lies which belies ignorance at best or malicious falsehood to defame Periyar at worst. Anyone who knows Periyar's life principles and ideology would only laugh at those like Chandrabhan Prasad who state lies to associate Periyar with all that Periyar opposed. Periyar campaigned against Hinduism and minority bashing Hindutva fanatics. Periyar even justified Muslims using violence to defend themselves against violence of Hindu fanatics. Hence, to state Periyar hated Muslims or religious minorities is a gross and ridiculous lie. Similarly Periyar sought the annihilation of all castes and the destruction of the caste system, and to state Periyar was against Dalits is a laughable lie. Chandrabhan Prasad blindly uses unreferenced and unsubstantiated false quotes and bogus statements cited by Ravi Kumar (which was translated by S.Anand) without any knowledge of Periyar's life work, agenda, principles and goals. Chandrabhan Prasad has no knowledge of Periyar's primary goals and uses a few unreferenced and unsubstantiated false quotes from the 94 year life of Periyar to state lies about Periyar. Chandrabhan Prasad does not know Tamil and has no way of knowing the fundamental principles of Periyarism which are mainly elucidated and recorded in Tamil. The malicious agenda of the likes of Ravi Kumar, S.Anand and Chandrabhan Prasad seems to be to state lies to misrepresent Periyar in order to prevent the spread of anti-Hindu and anti-caste rationalist ideology of Periyar. The quotes attributed by Chandra Bhan Prasad to Periyar (in his anti-Periyar writings) were taken from those unreferenced and unsubstantiated quotes used by S. Anand and Ravi Kumar in their writings, which are all dubious and cannot be authenticated as Periyar's statements, since S. Anand and Ravi Kumar have failed to reference these statements and quotes to the exact page numbers and volume numbers of the book in which they are allegedly published. Chandra Bhan Prasad, S. Anand and Ravi Kumar misuse and misinterpret these unreferenced and unsubstantiated false quotes out of contextual history to defame and distort Periyar's views with malicious false statements.

Chandrabhan Prasad's article uses abusive terms against Periyar and is grossly defamatory. It falsely portrays Periyar "only" as a leader of the so called "Shudras" (which Chandrabhan Prasad uses restrictively to describe only the backward classes). Periyar was (and is) a leader of all peoples oppressed by Hinduism and the caste system - both the backward castes and Dalits, and was never against religious minorities such as Christians and Muslims. This is why Periyar is seen as an anti-Hindutva icon hated by the Brahman and "twice born" castes who are seeking to sustain the graded caste supremacist system under the garb of Hindutva by targeting Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities. Chandrabhan Prasad plays into the classic Brahmanical "twice born" agenda of permanently pitting backward castes and Dalits against each other so that the graded caste supremacist system and Brahmans with allied "twice born" castes' status as upper castes controlling the Indian state establishment can be sustained for posterity. Chandrabhan Prasad claims total lies as quotes of Periyar. For example, the quotes preposterously attributed to Periyar as ridiculing Ambedkar are blatant lies. Periyar never ridiculed Dalits for seeking education, housing and jobs from the Government, but on the contrary Periyar advocated the destruction of caste ordained degrading and inhumane occupations and called for jobs, education and empowerment of Dalits. Periyar never ridiculed Babasaheb Ambedkar, on the contrary Periyar famously said that he accepts Dr.Ambedkar as his leader and asked all to follow him by accepting Dr.Ambedkar as their leader. Total lies have been written by Chandrabhan Prasad to defame Periyar. Periyar was an anti-caste revolutionary and a rational humanist who wanted the total annihilation of the caste system and liberation of Dalits. "Twice Born" caste supremacists (upper castes) led by Brahmans are using some writers to malign and defame Periyar by stating lies about Periyar, because "twice born" caste supremacists are threatened by Periyar's radical opposition to Brahman's and "twice born" caste supremacists' control of the Indian Central Government by calling for an alignment between backward castes and Dalits for a total annihilation of the caste system.

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HINDU CASTE RACISM

A blog against the racism of the Hindu caste system. The Hindu caste system is nothing but a system of racism founded on on descent (birth) based supremacy and bigotry that degrades and imprisons people in a system of vertically graded caste inequality of descending inferiority and ascending superiority, with each caste considered as inferior and superior to castes above and below in the vertically graded bigoted system, with the "twice born" Hindus led by Brahmins (at the summit of the caste system as the "most superior" caste) unleashing this bigotry to divide and rule the Indian working (Dravidian - Mulnivasi) masses. The castes lower to the "twice born” Hindu castes are degraded as "Shudras" (backward castes) by the Hindu scriptures who were traditionally restricted to physically laboring vocations and excluded from education, wealth and governance for millennia, until the advent of British rule. The “Shudras” (backward castes) are segregated from Dalits (who are enslaved at the bottom of the caste system as outcasts - untouchables). Dalits are bonded to the most degrading and inhumane labour while being subjected to heinous and manifold forms of physical segregation called “untouchability”. The "twice born" racist supremacist castes [Brahmins (priestly caste) - Baniyas (“Vysyas” or traders’ caste) – Kshatriyas (regal castes)] lord over as the ruling class of castes controlling the government, central (federal) government bureaucracy, army officers corps, top judiciary, business corporations, elite academia, arts and the mainstream media. Dalits are in the receiving end of violent atrocities, untouchability and segregation perpetrated by all Hindu castes (caste Hindus) above Dalits in this vertically graded and bigoted caste system.

All people who live by physical labour or descended from castes bonded to physical labour were derided as “Shudras” (slaves) by the Hindu religion and bigoted Hindu scriptures such as “Mansumiruthi” which codify the caste system, even if they acquire wealth. According to Hindu law, all people who do not belong to “twice born” trio of upper castes (Brahmans, Baniyas-Vysyas and Kshatriyas) are “Shudras” including those belonging to “untouchable” castes. The term “Shudras” literally means “slaves” or “slaves who serve Brahmins” apart from other degrading meanings ascribed to the term “Shudras” by Hindu religious scriptures such as “descendants of prostitutes”, "bastards", etc.

“Shudras” were profanely derided as “descendants of prostitutes” and accorded a “bastard” status by the bigoted Hindu scripture “Manu Smiruthi” and were entailed to serve the Brahmins as the latter’s slaves even if the “Shudra” acquires wealth. Shudras were traditionally proscribed from education despite some of them being land owners. “Shudras” are further divided into hundreds of vertically graded castes with each caste bonded to a physically labouring occupation and professing superiority over those castes below, with the “untouchable castes” at the bottom. “Shudras” were traditionally banned from literacy and education for millennia, until the advent of the British rule. Education was made available to “Shudras” and untouchables only after the advent of the British rule. The Hindu caste system as codified by the Hindu religious scriptures considers all people who make a living by physical labour and all descendants of castes bonded to physical labour as “Shudras” including those derided as “untouchables”, even though the “untouchable Shudras” are also referred to as “Panchamas” or scheduled castes, while the “touchable Shudras” are referred to as “backward castes” in governmental parlance. The so called “untouchables” are further divided into vertically graded castes, who are all forced to live in segregated slums in each town and village across India. The “twice born” supremacist trio off upper castes (Brahmins. Vysyas – Baniyas and Khatriyas) are explicitly excluded from all kinds of physical labour, while being given the monopoly over education, commerce and governance for millennia, which has made the "twice born" trio the ruling elite of the Indian governing establishment. The Indian working masses wholly consist of the backward castes and scheduled castes, who are divided by the caste system of the Hindu religion despite being members of a common working class. Backward castes and scheduled castes were traditionally excluded and banned from education, governance and acquisition of wealth, which started changing slowly only after the advent of British rule and the dawn of the independent India, while the core of the ruling elite still comprises of Brahmins, Baniyas (Vysyas) and Kshatriyas under the religious and ideological leadership of Brahmins.

Even a wealthy “Shudra” still remains only a “Shudra” in the Hindu caste system – as codified and governed by the bigoted Hindu scriptures. According to the bigotry of the Hindu caste system, a wealthy Shudra is still deemed and doomed to be a “Shudra” (“slave of the Brahmin”) who should use his wealth to serve the Brahmin and the latter’s bigoted agenda while wallowing in his inferiorized “Shudra” status in the caste system. Thus acquiring wealth does not abolish the inferiorized and degraded “Shudra” (slave) caste status and the allied caste identity of a person nor does it grant him a social status on par with Brahmins and “twice born” trio of supremacist upper castes (Brahmins, Baniya-Vysyas and Kshatriyas) in the caste system. A famous example of this was the refusal of Brahmins to coronate the Maratha warrior and leader Shivaji as “King” because he was born into a caste deemed to be “Shudra” by the Brahmins. Thus, even a wealthy person cannot escape his “Shudra” status and the allied inferiorized caste identity which are determined by birth and not by wealth. The same applies to the wealthy amongst those belonging to various castes stigmatised and segregated as “untouchables” by the Hindu religion – since acquiring wealth does not abolish the inferiorized and stigmatised “untouchable” caste identity of a person. This is why true advocates of social justice want affirmative action to be awarded to backward castes (Shudras) and scheduled castes (Dalits) irrespective of their economic status.