India is a pure land where gods reside in the beautiful plains of Ganga including those enchanting Himalayas. The assumption that Dalits also known as untouchables are different from a normal individual is infecting the country. Imagine that one day a person asks someone his/her name and then moves on asking if he/she is a Dalit. What would the person’s reaction be? Such a question will not only offend the upper class but also the Dalit. Dalits have not committed any sin, have they? Does the Dalit not have the same red blood as a Brahmin (priests or teachers, highest caste in India)? Does he not suffer the same pain as any Brahmin will go through if they are both in the same situation? Why do we distinguish between Brahmins and Dalits? Why are Brahmins placed on the top and Dalits in lowest? Why is there such segregation amongst the people when they all should be the same? Once M.K Gandhi, the father of the country said, “If untouchability lives, Hinduism must die.” I would like to qualify this claim by M.K Gandhi. Gandhi was against those people who assumed that untouchables are different from the normal citizens of the nation and used to treat them in an inappropriate way. Gandhi believed that Hinduism had the power to remove these thoughts from such thinkers and also that the whole concept from the land. This quote can be seen with different prospective. In this essay, I am looking at it from the prospective of M.K. himself as well as the other major prospective. Is it Hinduism that gave birth to Dalits and if so does it have the power to remove it from its root? It is the mentalities of the people that are leading to untouchability.
The assumption is that Hinduism has given its followers the opportunity to be a better part...
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...ar toli (a small colony segregated from the village for the Dalits- leather workers). Once a village head got his son taken TC from a school, when he came to know that a Dalit was appointed to prepare the mid-day meal for the school students. “In Rajasthan's Dholeria Shashan village near Pali, newcomers are interrogated, and if they are scheduled castes, entry is tough.”- These are the words, from the article mentioned above. “The National Commission for Scheduled Castes in Chandigarh admitted that it receives 3-4 complaints daily. Ajmer district police reportedly has recorded 360 cases pertaining to SCs/STs over the last 18 months. In UP, over two dozen such cases were filed in the last six months.”- These are the words, from the article mentioned above.
Two tigers do not share the same territory. Let’s make a decision, what should live Hinduism or untouchability?
Some of the most prominent aspects of Hinduism are the atman and samsara which is one the clearest distinctions between Hinduism and other religions. When Krishna states, “I have never not existed; nor have you, nor have these lords of men. Nor will we cease to exist, all of us, from now onwards” (Bhagavad Gita, 185), he is referring to the atman or the human soul which is believed to have always existed and will continue to exist. And when he says, “Just as one throws out old clothes and then takes on other, new ones; so the embodied self casts out old bodies as it gets other, new ones” (Bhagavad Gita, 187), he is talking about samsara and reincarnation. It is from this text, where Hinduism gets its defining characteristics. As long as the Gita continues to be relevant in India so will these philosophies. It reinforces the idea of reincarnation, the soul, and duty which shapes the way the Hindus live their lives. The goal for a Hindu is to break out of samsara and achieve Brahman, and according to the Gita, fulfilling one’s dharma is the way to accomplish this. The Bhagavad Gita is significant to Hinduism, because it has helped Hindus identify an ultimate goal and teaches them how to achieve
Hinduism is a religion with no known founder, with its understandings and actions developing over thousands of years. This religion has roots from the Aryan people’s religion, when they invaded India at 1500 BCE. The Aryans created a caste system when they invaded India so their kin would remain in power. Hinduism has absorbed and accepted this caste system as a large part of their religion. They believe in reincarnation, which is being reborn after you die, and Samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. If the person completes their dharma, the rules of their caste, and live a good moral life then they advance to the next caste, but if they do bad in their life then they remain at their caste level or they are downgraded. The most respected caste group is the Brahmins, they are high priests, making them very religious, and they are the closest in the caste system to reaching moksha, release from samsara or entering paradise. Another way of viewing moksha is that their Atman, the soul, gets reunited with the Brahman, the universal spirit. They then infer that everything that does not exist forever, unlike their Atman, are not real, which they call a veil, also known as Maya, because it is not permanent. Along with reincarnation there exists karma, similar to the idea what comes around goes around, so if you live an immoral life, your future lives will be a punishment. Guidance for priests and rituals are written in the most ancient Hindu scriptures called Vedas. The Rig Veda is the most important scripture out of the Vedas. The Upanishads, however, explain the Vedas through a teacher student dialogue, this helps anyone learn the Vedas much easier. Finally, the rituals described in these scriptures incl...
The origins of Hinduism can be traced back to the Vedic traditions of the Indus Valley Civilization (Mittal and Thursby 23) where as Buddhism can be seen as originating from Hinduism, and yet they are seen as two completely different religions. Why? These religions do share some of the same practices, however there are also vast differences. The caste system is a major social institution of Hinduism, but Buddhism rejects the caste system. Buddhism opposes the idea of a soul, while Hinduism perceives the soul as being one with Brahman. Moksha and Nirvana are both the release from saṃsāra, but the pathways to attaining release are dissimilar.
They are the lowest members of the caste system. In ancient times,they were not allowed to even come to the cities or village of the other caste during day time or even walk the same streets where a man of other caste walked. As far as a social discrimination go even the shadows of Dalits was considered impure. In Hindu believes that a lowest caste came to earth to serve their punishment from the other previous life. Even in today’s modern world the Dalits are not even welcomed to an upper caste home as I have learned from the society that I grew up on. Hindus believe that whatever a Dalit touches becomes a impure as well. The untouchables are like the low working class in modern United states they mostly lived on fringes of society, unknow and uncared from other social classes and caste. Lavanya Sankaran of The New York Post writes that the caste system is locked firmly into a place of birth and a rigid structure of social rules. Sankaran is trying to referee this to how the low caste members have disadvantage over the social orders than the those in upper caste
As for the community, Hinduism is understood by everyone and is related to others as it notices other aspects of faith. An important concept of Hinduism is the interrelationship between all things in mankind. (Monk et al, p. 48).
We are lucky, today, that the majority of the world’s nations are democracies. This has only been the case in very recent times. For the greater part of human history, society has subscribed to the belief that birth is the most important determinant of one’s future. In Elizabethan England, this was especially true. Those born into the nobility enjoyed a lifetime of privilege, while those born outside of their ranks mainly existed to serve them. A century later, the British encountered an even stricter form of this belief when they conquered India. The Hindu caste system, which dictated one’s future based on birth just as British society did, was deemed even by the English to be excessively restrictive. After gaining control of the Subcontinent, the conquerors attempted to supplant the caste system with the semblance of a meritocracy. The new subjects of the Empire, instead of embracing this imposition of a foreign culture’s values, responded with general unrest and discontent, showing that no society, no matter how unfair or prejudiced, tolerates interference well. Shakespeare’s King Lear demonstrates the same concept: that any violation of society’s conception of the natural order brings chaos, and that the only way to restore harmony is to conform to the expectations of that society.
“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134).
Both Hinduism and Buddhism are concerning the suffering of individuals and try to signal a path to self-awakening for people. Both Hinduism and Buddhism believe in reincarnation, which is a natural part of the world. The final objectives, either moksha or Nirvana, are similar to each other, that is being perfectly peaceful, understanding all things, and being liberated from the chain of reincarnations. In Hinduism, common people and individuals who are born into low-rank castes would find and achieve moksha much harder than upper-castes, such as Brahimin, simply because of their base hierarchy. However, Buddhism rejects the caste system and the privileges of the Brahmin priests. “There is no such thing as an institutional hierarchy to make final decisions about the truth, and each person must make such decisions for himself or herself” (Bresnan, p.185). The universal path to awakening, according to Buddhism, does not discriminate one depending one’s inherent caste, so the path distinguishes individuals from their strict morality and disciplined orientation. At this point, Buddhism has greater potential for success in terms of ameliorating the suffering of each individual and society as a whole
The Portuguese word casta means race, or breed, and Hindus have traditionally interpreted this as different levels of society, known as the caste system used in India (“India caste system”). The caste placements are commonly associated with a specific occupation, for example, a priest is a member of the Brahmin caste, and a merchant is a member of the Vaishya caste (“BBC - The caste system”). A Hindu is born into the caste that their parents are ‘members’ of, and as a member of that caste, they must marry in the caste, perform the expected occupation of that caste and eventually die as a member of said caste. The lowest caste of the system are the Dalit, or ‘untouchables’ as they are more commonly known. Members of this caste are also born into it, but because of their extreme conditions of living in poverty, they were too despicable to be considered a part of the caste system. These ‘untouchables’ were usually found begging on the streets and did not have a job that fell into the categories of the caste system, therefore were severely looked down upon by all othe...
The ideology of gender equality is present in Hinduism, but is not followed within the religious community or in the Indian society. Despite the single chromosome difference between genders, this biological variation has multifaceted religious, social, and economic implications. The question remains how religions such as Hinduism or Christianity can emphasize spiritual equality, yet condone, perpetuate, and justify the practice of gender inequality especially in the work force. This issue of patriarchy affects woman not only in India, but also throughout the world including the United States. In order to evoke a change within society, it is important to understand the mechanisms and justifications for spiritual equality without societal equality and how Hinduism might be able to bring India closer social equality.
Divided into four major social categories, the caste system categorizes Hindus, who act accordingly to their caste, into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. Another class, the “untouchables,” is considered outside of the system. These five different classes of society define each person greatly. Castes are unchangeable and rarely intermarry. This social division is yet another example of how religion disbands organizations of people.
The history of tribal oppression in India is an old one. “The Sanyasi Revolt”, “The Wahabi Movement”, and “The Naxalbari Rebellion”, are evidence of the tribal outcry that appropriately foregrounds their requirement for fundamental rights as citizens of the country. Even after sixty six years of independence, India’s rural poor and tribals are lamenting under the curbing effects of destitution, unemployment, undernourishment, illiteracy and human trafficking. For these people, the notions of liberty, equality and democracy have no meaning at all. Though the country is free from the bondage of foreign rule, their repression and prejudices still continue leaving them dependent on their new masters.
Human right is a dynamic concept and endeavours to adapt itself to the needs of the day. The Dalit human rights have to be taken to the center stage of any political and social movement in the country. Dalits have to spearhead this human right movement and all progressive forces should join their hands with them. In this 21st century it is absolutely necessary that common people need to be sensitized about the prevailing atrocities against Dalits. Education and enlightenment can go a long way to break the social, economic and cultural shackles that have bound Dalits. Capacity building, awareness generation and developing leadership skills among women can help them gain confidence to raise a voice against violence and assert their rights. Dalit organizations, NGOs and Human Rights bodies could play a vital role in the above identified areas. Dalit is a social force, a cultural symbol and has a historical background. Dalit women are estimated to contribute eighty per cent of total labour to strengthen the national economy. Ambedkar rightly said “Rights are protected not by laws but by the social and moral conscience of society”. Dalits are not voiceless, and capable to raise their voice. To conclude, there is a growing need to capture violence of Human Rights of Dalits so that talent and potential of Dalits can be used for development of the nation. Dalits need to be empowered with their basic rights. So, voice of the voiceless is voiced here and that should be heard by society and the mainstream as
The current manifestations of the caste system are now far more generalized across the Indian subcontinent than was the case in former times. Caste as we now recognize has been endangered, shaped and perpetuated by comparatively recent political and social developments. This is evident even i...