The failure of anti-caste movements

The curse of the caste system as it obtains now or as developed in the course of the past several thousand years is not peculiar to Dravidian or non-Dravidian States. It was and continues to be very much alive throughout the country with all its ugly trappings. Movements to eradicate the system have taken shape in various parts of the country at various times but have failed to continue as a sustained effort. THE CASTE system which developed in India in the course of the past thousands of years, besides being a blot on the fair name of Hinduism, has been a source of acute social disharmony and oppression of the lower castes by the upper castes. Economic distress and educational backwardness aggravate the misery of the lower castes. Social reformers have, from time to time, come on the social scene and attempted to eradicate the evil. The Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu was born as a force to fight the caste system. Spearheaded by the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar in Maharashtra the movement had achieved a measure of success but has failed as a sustained action. This article is an attempt to pinpoint the reasons for the failure of the movements as a sustained fight against the age-old social evil in Tamil Nadu.

Untenable view

There is a view among some social scientists that Brahmanism had been given shape as the ideology of the ruling class in the middle of the first millennium B.C. with intelligentsia claiming cultural purity and sacredness to the exclusion of the vast majority of the people. This view is untenable. History will show that there were very few rulers among Brahmans during the period. The Vedic religion, the one and only religion practised by the people during the period, had assigned the practice, propagation, interpretation and teaching of Vedic knowledge and conduct of the rituals dictated by the Vedas as the specific and only duties of the Brahmans. They were patronised by the rulers who needed the guidance and advice of the Vedic pundits in establishing and running the administration in just and righteous manner. The nexus between the ruling class and the Brahmans had developed in this way. The shantistava or the benediction pronounced at the conclusion of all religious rituals runs thus:

"Let the king who rules the country in just and righteous manner be in good state of health and welfare. Let the cows and Brahmans be well and let all people of the world be happy''. (Cows and Brahmans were held in high veneration in those days).

The benediction specifically states Loka samastha sukhino bhavanthu i.e. `let all people of the world be happy'. This would show that the vast majority of the people were not excluded from the thoughtful regard by those performing rituals for the welfare of the world. No deliberate exclusion of any section of society had been made by either the ruling elite or the intelligentsia. Unlike in the present age the spread of education had been a difficult process in those days with the needed infrastructure being not available in required level and standard.

In the Hindu religious rituals, the above benediction is uttered even to this day. Long before the first millennium B.C., Lord Krishna (Himself not a Brahman), while performing the charioteer's duty for Arjuna in the Kurukshetra war, had in the course of his famous philosophic discourse to Arjuna on the battle field (The Bhagawad Gita) stated that the "four Varnas (Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra) are created by `me' in accordance with the mental make-up of and the specific duties required to be performed by people''. (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter IV, verse 13). The categorisation was duty-specific or job-specific and had no intention of dividing society into higher and lower classes. According to the system, the ruling class has to be Kshatriyas and not Brahmans. Post-Vedic history would show that this duty specific categorisation had held ground. That degeneration of the system paved the way for the caste system in the course of a long period of time is an unfortunate phenomenon which can be attributed to the dynamics of social change and evolution. Even the best of systems can get corrupted and become a curse by passage of time. There were exceptions even in those days when non-Kshatriyas had become rulers and the mode of seeking advice from the Brahmans an accepted line in administration.

Indian identity

There is a misconception among some people that the `Indian identity' was essentially the creation of the elite and that the same elite had claimed that Sanskrit, the Vedic tradition and the Vedanta constituted the `Indian culture' which was later projected as `Hinduism', the majority religion of the country today. In essence the implication being that the non-Brahmana Varnas were excluded from this culture and hence from Hinduism. Historically because of the pre-eminence of the Vedic knowledge, the language of the Vedas and the scriptures, namely, Sanskrit had been held sacred. Due to this, Sanskrit had been considered as the Deva bhasha the language of the gods. Sanskrit as a highly developed language had also been adopted as state language by most rulers. Most regional languages had developed by absorbing copiously from the Sanskrit vocabulary and grammar. Incidentally the development of regional languages has been one of the causes even for the decline of the study of Sanskrit.

Although the Indian culture has been shaped through the past several millennia, when the Vedic knowledge had been the most important branch of intellectual discourse and writing, other secular subjects such as medicine, astrology, architecture, etc., also came under the broad sweep of Sanskrit literature. The primacy given to spirituality and study of the philosophy contained in the Vadas had made Sanskrit language pre-eminent besides its place as state sponsored language. The advent of other religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Islam in later periods could not make much inroad into the entrenched Vedic religion being practised by the people in the post-Vedic, medieval and later periods. The majority of the population therefore continued to practise the religion propagated by the Vedas though certain accretions and beliefs had crept in during the long course of history. It is thus the "Indian identity'' came to be identified with the Vedic religion and not due to any attempt by the elite.

The passage of several centuries however saw the development of cultures based on the newer faiths which raised the richness of this Indian identity and shaped it as the present pluralistic culture. Liberal accretions due to regional intelligentsia providing a diversity of interpretations leading to development of local customs and lifestyles based on them are also a factor in the development of the `Indian identity'.

The caste system as developed through thousands of years does not have the sanction of the Vedas. In fact the Tantra Sastra, an important branch of Vedic practice, insists that no differences of castes or even religions should be applied while practising. Even the four Varnas described in the Puranas and texts do not have the evil caste connotations as they are now. Intermarriages among people of the four Varnas were freely in vogue even during the post-Vedic period. It will be seen that the caste system had developed not only in one geographic area or region but was a pan-India phenomenon. In fact, the term "Brahmanism'' was never envisaged to be a caste in the Vedic and the post-Vedic periods. The literal meaning of the term "Brahmana'' is one who knows about the "Brahman.''

The curse of the caste system as it obtains now or as developed in the course of the past several thousand years is not peculiar to Dravidian or non-Dravidian States. It was and continues to be very much alive throughout the country with all its ugly trappings. Movements to eradicate the system have taken shape in various parts of the country at various times but have failed to continue as a sustained effort. This is the fact, also, with the Dravidian movement. The reasons for this can be analysed as follows:

Relevance lost

In Tamil Nadu, the movement started by Periyar failed because it was not focussed so much against the all-pervasive caste system as against "Brahmanism''. It should be noted that even upper caste non-Brahmans were part of the movement against "Brahmanism" along with the lower denominations in the caste hierarchy. The percentage of Brahmans in the total population is so low and the movement specifically targeted against Brahmanism that after achieving the vanquishment of the Brahmans the movement naturally lost its relevance and militancy. When the oppression by Brahmanism came to an end, rivalries, against one another among the non-Brahman castes resulted. Economic disparities worsened the situation. Even when the anti-Brahman movement was in progress, oppression of the Dalits by the non-Brahman upper castes and the backward castes was in existence, but in the thick of the movement which had gained powerful momentum under the leadership of a dynamic leader, the intra-non-Brahman caste rivalries and caste based oppression of the Dalits by higher castes did not show up. But, when the anti-Brahman movement weakened the rivalries among the non-Brahman castes and oppression of the Dalits by the higher castes came to surface and the anti-Dalit stance became pervasive.

Economic vulnerability of Dalits due to their dependence on the more well-to-do upper and backward castes added to the conflict. The statutory reservation regimen to Dalits added fuel to the already simmering fire and conflicts between backward castes and Dalits became common. As a result every denomination of the backward castes started demanding benefits such as reservations.

An important reason for the gradual weakening of the movement started by Periyar is the advocacy of rationalism and atheism. The Indian society irrespective of whether Dravidian or non- Dravidian is firmly rooted in religion and worship of God. Using rationalist arguments to oppose the caste system and religion- based superstitions has had very little effect among the people who have deep moorings in a culture having adherence to religion. The opposite, that is, teaching religion on the right lines and specially the absence of sanction for superstitions and castes in the correct religious tenets would have been more effective in rooting out these evils.

Rigid structure

The peculiarity of the caste system is the existence of well- defined structure of the castes and even sub-castes within castes. Intermarriages between members of one caste and another and even among sub-castes are frowned upon by members. The structure becomes more oganised and rigid when a particular caste suffers a perceived disadvantage in getting benefits from the government. In any society, a person takes pride in the identity of the caste he belongs to. Associations of members to unite them are organised by most castes. The "Thevar Peravai'' and "Nadar Sangham'' are examples. Such organisations are in existence practically for most castes whether forward, backward or Dalit.

All the movements so far for the cause of eradicating caste system and its evils are conducted by members of the oppressed castes and they generally help only in creating ill-will and disharmony between the oppressor and oppressed castes. A dangerous dimension is added by the formation of political outfits based on caste affiliations. Even elections are fought under the aegis of these parties hoping to garner the support of the caste people. They specifically seek benefits and political empowerment by highlighting castebased disadvantages rather than creating a bond of love and fraternity among castes. The movements do not eschew attitudes of conflicts and confrontation. An atmosphere congenial to development of inter-caste fraternity is not even thought of. The leaders of such movements seek patronage from other political parties in furtherances of their limited objective of gaining benefits and political empowerment and thus form what is now known as "vote banks''. The mainstream political parties are more than willing to support them. The result is perpetuation of the system rather than eradication.

A prerequisite

One prerequisite for the total eradication of the caste system is to separate the conferment of benefits in relation to castes from the higher purpose of creating a lasting bond of love and fraternity between members of various castes. The focus should be to educate the members about the absence of any basis for caste differences in the religious tenets. Any effort by the government to eradicate the caste system is bound to be ineffective because of the need at present to categorise people as MBC, FC, SC/ST etc., in order to extend the various statutory benefits such as reservations. Similarly formats for applying for jobs or admission to educational institutions also call for information about the caste of the applicant. In effect the differences of castes are perpetuated rather than obliterated. Even the child is made aware of his/ her caste and the benefits which accrue due to it repeatedly during its education. Indian society is afflicted with not only social evils like the oppressive caste system but also severe economic backwardness in every stratum of society. The latter is widespread irrespective of caste difference. Economic backwardness is the prime reason for the Dalits to depend upon the more well-to-do backward and upper castes and thereby being subjected to social indignities in addition to economic exploitation. Economic betterment, therefore, will go a long way in countering oppression of Dalits by the higher castes. This needs a multipronged action programme.

Further, instead of a caste-based reservation regime, if economic criterion is adopted for reservations and other benefits, the need for categorising the community into a large number of castes and perpetuating the difference through a statutory system can be eliminated. This will also discourage caste groups from demanding for inclusion in the list of those entitled to the benefits. The percentage of upper castes in the population is very small, the economically backward among them who will be entitled to reservations will in effect be a small proportion of the population entitled to reservations. The larger portion of the benefits will therefore go only to the economically backward among the backward and SC/ST.

T. R. ANANDAN

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