I really wonder what made you to invite me to speak on this subject because we have been critical of the Indian church particularly the Roman Catholic church.
Though the members of your church, meaning Christians, are almost 80% indigenous people— Dalits, Tribals and Backward Castes — your religious order being mostly upper castes has been misleading its followers by indoctrinating them in the alien Brahminical philosophy.
So, you have to bear with me, tolerate me for my criticism of this poisonous philosophy that has kept our people enslaved. Please note, India is not Aryan but anti-Aryan, if history is taken as our guide. I must have delivered scores of lectures in different parts of India to church leaders, written many books and published over 100 articles in Dalit Voice on this subject criticising the church leadership. But I am sorry to say the church leadership is not interested in listening to us.
This is because the church leadership is mostly upper caste and it wants to please Brahminical rulers by teaching philosophy ruling the country.
DALIT CHRISTIAN RESERVATION
The single most important example to prove this point is the CBCI (Catholic) and NCCI (Protestant) half-hearted approach to the question of reservation to Dalit Christians who form about 80% of the Indian Christian population.
However, I want to make it clear that we are fully aware of the great services of the church to Dalits which can be written only in letters of gold. (V.T. Rajshekar, Why Dalits Hate Hinduism?, DSA-2004).
Before elaborating the philosophical question that divides the church leadership from the laity, it is necessary that I place before you the country’s population statistics which are deliberately hidden from the public. (See table)
I
Brahmin 3% 15%.
Kshatriya & Vaishya 2%
Shudra 10%.
II
SC 20%, 65%
ST 10%
BC 35%
III
Muslim 15%, 20%.
Christian 2.5%
Sikh 2.5%.
Total 100%
India’s population is now put at about 1,110 millions which can be broadly divided into three segments.
The second segment comprising SC/ST/BCs is subjected to daily war and violence —not from Christians, not from Muslims, not from Sikhs but only from one section—the first one.
GROWING CHRISTIAN/ MUSLIM POPULATION
Particularly the Muslim and Christian population is growing daily and a day may come when they will overtake the rest. This is a welcome development.
A Backward Caste leader from Bangalore has written a book titled India on the Path of Islamisation.
Yet another point. Dalits are not facing any problem from the Muslim, Christian or Sikh. Our people are kicked, killed, burnt, raped and their little property destroyed only by the first segment which can be called Hindu.
India’s 10% Tribals and 35% BCs are also having the same enemy.
Even among the 15% Hindus, its 10% shudras equally hate the Aryan savarnas.
That means the villains are the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas who together form just 5% of the population. They only can be called Hindu.
The so-called “sacred scriptures” are all produced by these 5% Hindus who alone are the pure Aryans and who, according to their own version, are not indigenous— but foreign-born. We really wonder how the Christian church, which once liberated our people, has fallen a prey to this alien Brahminical philosophy.This is the problem I want to place before you. I have brought with me three important philosophy books. None of it written by the victims of Hinduism but by the Hindus only and one by a world-famous German philosopher and a Nobel-laureate, Albert Schweitzer, Indian Thought & Its Development, (Wilco Edition, 1980). (2) History of Hindu Imperialism by Swami Dharma Thirtha, a Hindu monk (Nair) written in 1941 and (3) Arun Shourie, a Punjabi Brahmin, a top BJP leader and a cabinet minister under Vajpayee, titled Hinduism: Essence & Consequence (Vikas).
DEFECTS OF HINDUISM
All the three books need your close study because they are written by impartial scholars (two great Hindus and great admirers of Hinduism).
I am deliberately not quoting from Dr. Ambedkar because the Hindu rulers call him anti-Hindu.
Albert Schweitzer’s Germany had scores of philosophers headed by Nietzche, all admirers of Hinduism.
Schweitzer’s complaint against Brahminism, which is hiding under a new name (recently coined) Hinduism, is that it is “other worldly”. Everything is mithya (false). The Hindu should take no interest in this world.
What is shocking is that the Indian church religious leadership is influenced by this Hindu philosophy of “life negation” instead of the philosophy preached by the very founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ.
Christ founded his kingdom of god on this earth and asked Christians to love thy neighbours.
ARUN SHOURIE CRITICISES HINDUISM
But the Brahminical philosophy has no place for ethics but Jesus asked his people to take deep interest in this world attaching highest importance to ethics. Brahminism is other worldly because there is no room for ethics in it.
Christians are famous for their service to humanity. But take the much richer Brahmin temples like the Tirupati, Kashi, Puri. Do they undertake any service? They serve only themselves. Their jati.
This is because the Brahminical philosophy, as contained in their scriptures nowhere talks of serving the society. That is why no Brahmin institution serves the society like the church.
But here and there you may get some vague hints of ethics, service or some such thing but Arun Shourie, who was my editor when I was in the Indian Express and devoted several years to study the entire lot of “sacred scriptures”, says nowhere the Brahmin scriptures speak of service to humanity.
But these Brahminical scriptures running into thousands and thousands of pages are notorious for word-mongering. Those who have nothing to convey, say it in a forest of words.
The intention is to confuse, confound, mystify and frighten us.
GODS HATING EACH OTHER
The whole thing is so abstract. Absurd. Just a jungle of words without any meaning or significance.
Brahminical scriptures repeatedly say: “Everything is false”. If everything is false, why the Brahmin priests do not reject money which is also false?
What is very glaring is one god hating the other god. All their gods fight between themselves like we mortals. These Hindu gods like human beings are all worst womanisers and all heir goddesses are sexy like our film actresses.
The Hindus say god is one. If this is so, why they talk of 33 crore gods? If god is one and the only one with several names and forms and if he is indivisible, why this rival claims and conflicting salesmanship?
HINDUISM NOT A RELIGION
Shankara (or Shiva) is called the foremost of all gods. If god is one how could there be a ranking?
The entire “sacred scriptures” can be summed up as a book of law — not religion. A book of do’s and don’ts.
How can we Dalits, the original residents of India, find any relief in a such a law book?
In the book, History of God, Keren Armstrong, a Roman Catholic British nun, discusses only three religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Why she did not include Hinduism?
Because Hinduism does not fit into a religion which needs a prophet, a god and a single, universally accepted holy book. Hinduism has none of it. So it is not a religion.
WHY DR. AMBEDKAR REJECTED HINDUISM
Hinduism is like that elephant and seven blind persons. All things to all men — chaotic, but entertaining, confusing to keep the slaves under permanent bondage without the slave being aware of it.
That is why Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Father of India, rejected Hinduism or Brahminism.
Brahmins attach lot of importance to sin. But any sin can be washed off if you bribe the Brahmin.
At the very entrance to every temple you can see a list of sins and the bribe money to wash off the sins.
No religion gives so much importance to faith. The Gita stresses faith again and again.
The faith in the scriptures and the guru should be unquestioned. But both are Brahmins.
But unquestioned faith is a fascist philosophy.
There is another important thing which the church leadership has not critically examined.
Whenever Hinduism is criticised for lack of ethics, its defenders quote Upanishads asking people to work. But what do they mean by this work?
What they mean by work is rituals, sacrifices. You do penance, fasting, sacrifice. Pay Rs. 1 lakh to Tirupati temple you will get moksha. Very simple. That is what Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhwacharya mean by action.
KRISHNA’S SEX SPORTS
Yet another beauty is both the saint and the sinner can quote from the same scriptures and defend their words and deeds. Such is the ambiguity of the scriptures which lends to any interpretation.
Look, Krishna’s sex acts are fully justified —though any other person doing it would have been dubbed a sex maniac.
The most obnoxious part of the scripture is the creation of the caste system and the high and the low. In the Gita, The God Krishna himself says he is the creator of the caste system — which is the principal cause of India’s continued fall.
We the Untouchables are its worst victim. That is why we rejected Hinduism.
Hindus talk of sarvejana sukhino bhavantu. How can everybody be happy when (15%) the upper castes are controlling all the power, wealth, its media and military might? Can the wolf and lamb co-exist? Sarvejana sukhino bhavantu is a dangerous philosophy to help the Brahminical Social Order.
MANU’S CONSTITUTION
Manu Dharma has made the Brahmin the ruler. But the constitution of India did not scrap it.
Look at the argument: The Brahman is omniscient because the scriptures have emanated from him. The scriptures are valid because they have emanated from an omniscient being. What fantastic argument.
Karma is another dangerous philosophy which has kept the Indians backward and unthinking. Karma is the curse of India’s fall.
The Karma philosophy helps the rich, meaning the upper castes, to remain rich and keep the SC/ST/BCs permanently poor and suffering.
The karma theory has killed the spirit of rebellion in India. That is why India never had any revolution.
Another big propaganda is “Hinduism is the most tolerant religion” in the world. But I was arrested four times for criticising it.
ARRESTED FOUR TIMES
But what is meant by this “Hindu tolerance” is it tolerates people eating meat, atheists and following any tradition — of course without questioning the Brahminical Social Order.
If you question the Brahminical order, then you can see the real face of the Hindu tolerance.
They killed M.K. Gandhi himself. And justified it quoting the very same scriptures.
When Christians embrace Untouchables, who are disgusted with the slavery inside Hinduism, they are arrested, their churches burnt. Does it not prove the naked intolerance and the fascist face of Hinduism?
How then do you say Hinduism is the “most tolerant religion in the world”?
Hindu India has become a vast intellectual wasteland because of Hinduism. It is killing its victims silently without the victim being aware of it.
NUNS NEGLECTED INSIDE CHURCH
Indigenous philosophy is opposed to everything that is Brahminism. That is how Budhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam found large followers.
The person who gave a big thrust to this indigenous philosophy is Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Father of India.
Right now India is witnessing a war between Brahminism and Ambed-karism and the victory will be ours. In this we need the support of the church, particularly the Catholics who constitute the country’s largest church.
We are more interested in the support of the religious women who are the most dedicated, selfless.
The religious order of women form a big majority inside the church but they are under the domination of the menfolk. The nuns have to defy the overlordship of the men and we will support you in your liberation struggle.
[Lecture on “Indigenous philosophising: Dalit perspective”. Catholic University, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, on Sept.20, 2007]
