What Does Society Ask of Us Today?

Our mistake today is in not recognizing that such conditions, as our ancients had to live in, no longer apply and that in the present it is the economic and educational status and skills that count and that our much longer lives, allow for learning skills, developing aptitudes (say, for sports or arts/ crafts) and that for this we need a properly re-vamped Primary and Secondary education and skill development system which would then allow the Jati/Caste barriers to be recognized as meaningless distinctions and to even be completely eliminated (See – ‘Education in the 21st Century).

Today, especially in urban areas, Caste or Untouchability is not really relevant. Even in rural areas it is slowly losing its relevance, as education and skill improvements lead to better economic and social mobility and status. Today it is abilities and economic status that count. Are we today, in an urban environment, really conscious of the Jati of the one who sits next to us on the bus or train, or of who ate earlier from the plate in front of us in a hotel and so on? The recent Maha Kumbh Mela, in which over 66 Crore (660 million) people of all Jatis/Castes participated without any discrimination, is an indication that today Jati / Caste has really lost its relevance, except for the calls of the politicians.

Seeing yourself as a victim today, for the alleged discrimination that your ancestors faced in the past, whose names you may not even recall today, and therefore claiming reparations/ benefits today from those who had nothing to do with your ancestors in the past, is only demeaning yourself today by claiming victimhood. It is not an appropriate claim. The context of Societal Rules then was very different from the context today. Calls for special recognition and reservations today only exacerbate and perpetuate such divisions even as present-day circumstances really leave no scope for them.

While today, the many myriads of new occupational classifications that never existed in the past, and the mobility possible across them, and the greater opportunities available over the much longer life-spans, the very concept of Caste/ Jati becomes irrelevant. The growing irrelevance of Jati was recognized even in the first Law granting reservations, limiting it to only ten years. It is the Politicians, who seeking benefit for themselves, have managed to keep this system alive. The demands for a Caste census today, only shows their self interest in further dividing the existing over 33000 castes that they claim need reservation into even more, thus claiming votes for themselves. Perhaps, if a census is to be undertaken at all, it would be better to do so for all discriminative divisions/ denomination in all religions. It would be more apt if the census also recorded the ‘Gothra’ of all, even of those converted, to better understand the relationships between all people. Gothra cuts across Varna and even Jati lines and recognizing this can lead to greater harmony in Society.

The only way to equitably and harmoniously develop our Society is through Education and Skill development, as per individual aptitudes. This must start from childhood, even from Play-School levels. We need to get all parents to recognize this and call for appropriate measures to make it effective. The politicians need to be made aware that trying ro build a vote bank by perpetuating reservations at the college levels, as 18 years olds have a vote, and not encouraging scholarships and proper schooling of children, who don’t have a vote at younger ages, thus not encouraging proper learning and rewarding merit, is damaging to the Society they profess to serve. If the parents, who do have a vote, don’t recognize the need for such schooling, who will?

We need to recognize that Manu Smriti is not the ‘be all and end all’ of societal rules of the old days as commonly believed. There have been many earlier Smritis, each laid down according to the context at that time. For us, in the context of today, the Constitution of India is the latest Smriti and should be recognized, and followed as such, even as we seek to question the many amendments made to it and, in future make other amendments to as may be necessary.

We should all strive to understand what the Sikh Gurus’, who even over 400 years ago, said about the Varna system. A Sikh, they said,

“..should be a Brahmin in piety, a Kshatriya in defence of the truth and the oppressed, a Vaishya in business acumen and hard work and a Shudra in serving humanity. A Sikh should be all Varnas and Jatis in one and should be above them all.”

This is what we all should strive to be today even if we continue in our own religion. After all, till 1912, the Sikhs too saw themselves as Hindus. It was Guru Govind Singh, who had called upon the local Hindu Families to join him in the then nascent venture in forming a force (Khalsa) to pretect the Dharmic Cultures by sending their eldest son to become a Khalsa / a Sikh, and follow the path of their Gurus.

In 1912 the British, when calling for filling in the Census forms, encouraged them to identify themselves separately as Sikhs. In the same manner, at that same time, they also, called on the Jains to identify themselves separately. All in their attempts to break India and continue to rule and loot it.

The British also, introduced the concept of Martial and Non-Martial races, seeking to play on the pride and sentiments of some of the lesser educated population groups, especially in the Northern parts of India, to get them to join the British led forces against the other Indians. It is worth noting that in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, though the order to fire was given by the British Officer Brigadier Dyer, those that actually fired were Indian troops from other regions, taught to see themselves as different. Such massacres of unarmed peaceful gatherings of people at Vidurashwatha, Mangrah and Pal-Dadhvav, also need to be recognized as heinous acts of the British.

Proof of the British rapacious and uncaring attitude towards the Indians was also evident in the manner in which they took away lakhs of tons of Paddy from India leaving the Indians to die from the resulting famines, over 31 in the 120 years, resulting in about 100 million deaths. The largest in 1876 – 77 when 3, 20, 000 tons of paddy was taken from the then Madras Presidency leading to over five to six million deaths and, again in 1943 when similar quantities of Paddy were taken from the Bengal / Bihar region to feed the British soldiers during World War-II, leading once again to the death of over five million Indians. Isn’t all this a Genocide?

If this is all properly understood and followed, we may soon see the end of Reservations based on Caste, an end to female discrimination, and see priority given to children’s education and scholarships to encourage them in studies or even skills/ crafts, and thus soon see a more equitable and egalitarian Society in our Country of which we can all be proud to be a Citizen of.

Consider what Nelson Mandela told himself as he was about to step out of his prison after 27 years –

“As I stand before the door to my freedom, I realized that if I do not leave my pain, anger and bitterness behind me, I will still be in prison”.

Self- imprisonment is worse than that imposed upon one. How many of us are in self-inflicted pain today, because of lack of forgiveness? How many of us have imprisoned ourselves within self-created walls of anger and hate? Holding grudges does not make you strong, it makes you bitter. Forgiveness does not make you weak, it sets you free. Seek equitable opportunities, demand better schools, even Pre-Schools, school vouchers and easy education loans and be prepared to work your best to achieve your goals.

When South Africa got independence from white rulers in 1990 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, his supporters, mainly African Tribes, demanded retribution, but Nelson Mandela in his greatness, decided instead to have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to call for repentance and forgiveness, for the greater good of the Country. This is something we need to learn from and do in our Country, with a proper understanding of our history. Ofcourse, we can call not only on the descendants of the British and the Portuguese colonizers bur also, on the descendants of the Islamic Invaders to at least apologize for the cruelty and rapacity of their ancestors and offer reparations, even if only as a token and atleast now stop trying to distort history in attempts to convert. The Shah Commission, set up to look into the wrong doings of the Emergency period was a farce as it sought more for revenge than reconciliation.

The victims of the cruel Apartheid Regime in South Africa had then also, demanded Reservations in the education sector, the Government sector, and even in the private sector!

Nelson Mandela replied that he will not allow any type of Reservations in any sector at any cost, because Reservations and the products of Reservations will destroy the whole Nation! (See – “Public Policies – Making them Right! & Reservations”).

Conclusion

The Varna system was a simple, flexible, harmonious and effective social classification of its people based on learning and skills and in consonance with Nature’s Laws to enable a populous Society living in densely populated regions, with limited resources to extract the best from its people and regional resources for the good of all. The proof of this is the many thousands of years that this system lasted and resulted in the most prosperous and advanced civilization in the world. It was this prosperity that led to foreign invaders and colonizers to come and systematically loot the Country and destroy its culture and convert the people to their religions.

The colonizers were expert in being able to destroy the societal and education system and create many divisions in the populations, a policy of divide and rule, and even convince those who hence, became poor and misfits, to join them, blame the Brahmins and even convert.

At least today, we as Indians, need to understand our own ancient culture in the way it really was and not as it was taught to us by the colonizers, even as we improve thereon and build our Society to suit modern circumstances. Once again, emphasizing learning and skills and working together, encouraging economic and social mobility for prosperity and to live in harmony.

JAI BHARAT! – JAI HIND!

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