Anna, will Lokpal probe divine money?

• By Kancha Ilaiah

Baba Ramdev is not willing to end his war against black money. He has now asked the government to unearth all black money — cash stashed away within the country as well as all the money parked in secret accounts in banks abroad.
Following Baba Ramdev’s exhortations, his disciples participated in hungerstrikes and agitations against black money. Likewise, Anna Hazare (who, incidentally, is a devotee of a Yadav baba whose temple is located in his own model village, Ralegaon Siddi) and his team are also opposed to black money and corruption and the Gandhian has threatened to go on hungerstrike again. Team Anna wants the Lokpal Bill dictated by them accepted as is and be made the law of the land. None of them, however, has so far said a word on the recent revelations of huge amounts of money and jewellery hidden in the vaults of temples and bedrooms of babas.
The treasure discovered at the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple is worth Rs 1 lakh crore. And on June 17, Rs 11.5 crore in cash, 98 kg of gold and 307 kg of silver were found by Trust members when they opened Satya Sai Baba’s chambers at the Puttaparthi ashram after his death. It may be recalled that Baba Ramdev rushed to Puttaparthi to see the body of Satya Sai after he passed away. When Satya Sai was in the hospital, several “sacred” men and ministers from the Centre and states bemoaned that if he dies, ethics in India will also die.
One woman minister of Andhra Pradesh, in fact, camped beside his hospital bed for months. Several civil servants, judges and academics rushed to Puttaparthi. Now we have some idea why all this happened. It will be interesting to see what Baba Ramdev and Team Anna have to say about the officially declared wealth of the ashram, apart from the bundles shipped out of Satya Sai’s Yajur Mandir. Is this wealth black or white?
Will Baba Ramdev make a statement about the currency that was lying in Satya Sai’s bedroom, which was locked up when he was shifted to hospital? How do they define black money? Was the cash, gold and silver found in Yajur Mandir all white? If Mr Hazare, Baba Ramdev and their team members treat such money as black money, why are they silent on the course of action against it? Will the Lokpal Bill, which they are fighting for, also cover spiritual shrines of babas, temples, masjids, churches and gurdwaras? Does Mr Hazare’s draft have a clause that covers the kind of black money that was unearthed in Yajur Mandir?
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders A. Raja and K. Kanimozhi and Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi are in jail because they were said to be corrupt. If Satya Sai was alive, and if all the cash, gold and silver were dug up during that time, would he have had to be accountable? What would Kiran Bedi, who claims to be an honest and efficient police officer, have done in this case? Would she have arrested Satya Sai if he was in her jurisdiction?
By his own admission, Baba Ramdev has acquired assets worth `1,100 crore in a span of just 10 years. We do not know the worth of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Mata Anandamayi, whose spiritual kingdoms are thriving and expanding like wildfire. Shouldn’t Mr Hazare’s Lokpal Bill have a provision for investigating these financial empires?
I am sure no Prime Minister’s or Chief Justice of India’s bedroom (from Jawaharlal Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh) could possess as much wealth as Satya Sai’s bedroom held.
At least the Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament and the people, and the Chief Justice has to sit on benches and there is an open office system with a registrar around him.
Who are the babas accountable to? In the name of god, spiritual exercises and cultural campaigns, far too much immorality, corruption and accumulation of black money has been taking place in the country. We know how godmen, politicians, bureaucrats, judges and academics make even gods corrupt in India. Early and exclusive darshan of the deity at big temples is available for a price. Part of this money goes into temple hoondis, the rest into the bedrooms of babas.
What does our highly moral civil society have to say about the corrupt culture of spiritual institutions, the latest evidence being the Yajur Mandir? We have seen what happened in Osho’s ashram. American civil society could not tolerate that ashram even for a few months.
Sexual immorality and accumulation of black money has been part of so-called spiritual/religious institutions. If we are against moral and financial corruption, we must focus on the haloed halls too.
* The author is director for the study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/dc-comment/anna-will-lokpal-probe-divine-money-952

Jambavantha temples sought in SC colonies

Special Correspondent

Madiga Samskritika Vedika bring out `Maha Adi Jambavantha' calendar

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First Jambavantha temple constructed last year in Ranga Reddy district Jambavantha Puranam says Madigas are Jambvantha's descendents Madiga Samskritika Vvedika to approach the Government for funds HYDERABAD: The Madiga community in the State is all set to take up a campaign with a difference. While agitating for the categorisation of Scheduled Castes, it has decided to exert pressure on the Government to construct temples of Lord Jambavantha in all SC colonies. Claiming to be descendents of the lord, who is revered by the community, activists of the Madiga Samskritika Vedika have come up with a slogan of an exclusive temple for Jambavantha in each Dalitwada, in the place of Lord Rama. To boost the campaign, the organisation brought out a `Maha Adi Jambavantha' calendar, which was released by Kancha Ilaiah of Osmania University on Saturday. "The Government recently said it would construct 25,000 Ramalayams in Dalitwadas. What we want is a temple for our lord Jambavantha and not Lord Rama," Prof. Ilaiah said. Discrimination decried Decrying untouchability and caste discrimination, they said when SCs were denied entry into temples there was nothing wrong in espousing the cause of the community by seeking an exclusive temple for their god. "Madigas can gain self-respect by offering prayers in the temple of their god," Prof. Ilaiah said, adding that `Jambavantha Puranam' clearly established that Madigas were Jambvantha's descendents. H. Chandraiah, president of the vedika, said the first Jambavantha temple was constructed last year at Kollapadakal village in Maheshwaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district. Such temples would be built in all Dalitwadas and the vedika would approach the Government for funds. http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/01/stories/2006010110490400.htm

 

‘Vedic practices have made inroads into ‘bhoota' worship'

Sudipto Mondal

Nature worship is considered to be the cog of Dalit spirituality

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‘Landowning castes used bhootas to assert their ownership over factors of production'
‘Bhootasthanas are being renovated to resemble Hindu temples'

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MANGALORE: In his book “Why I am not a Hindu”, Hyderabad-based Dalit historian Kancha Ilaiah talks at length about the localised and non-Vedic nature of Dalit and OBC religious practices.
He stresses that deified local heroes and nature worship form the central cog of Dalit worship and sets it apart from the centralised structure of Brahminic Hinduism that revolves around the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Indeed, he argues, Dalits and OBCs practise a completely different religion, which was later assimilated into Hinduism for political reasons.
Whether hero, spirit and nature worship exists within Hinduism or outside is a matter of much contention, with intellectual heavyweights such as Romila Thapar arguing against Mr. Ilaiah's conception. But there seems to be no quarrel over the fact that ‘bhoota' or ‘daiva' worship, practised across Tulu Nadu, is a non-Vedic, if not non-Hindu, practice. Tulu historian and author Amruth Someshwar says that bhoota worship is the very soul of Tuluva culture and it forms the basis of all socio-cultural and economic relations between the people here.
He makes common cause with Mr. Ilaiah's observation that it is a practice followed by the traditionally oppressed classes in this region.
But Tuluva culture, according to Mr. Someshwar, which was conceived and practised thousands of years ago by the original inhabitants of this land, has seen several waves of “political invasion”. The first to exploit the bhootas were the feudal and landowning castes in the region such as the Bunts, Billavas, and even the Jains, he says. “These castes used the bhootas to assert their ownership over factors of production such as land.” The second wave of assimilation happened when Brahminical forces saw bhoota worship as a threat to the Vedic system. In the past 30 years alone, Vedic practices such as the performance of ‘Sudarshana Homa' and ‘Chandika Yaga' have made inroads into bhoota worship, he says.“The architecture of bhootasthanas is changing and they are being renovated to resemble Hindu temples,” he says.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/19/stories/2010051961370300.htm

Will Kancha's "Post-Hindu India" be Possible?

A Reflection on Kancha Ilaiah's book "Post-Hindu India"

This article attempts to reflect Kancha Ilaiah's "Post-Hindu India" published by Sage Publication, New Delhi in 2009 in specific reference to caste civil war, in which, he predicts, will bring an end to Casteism.

First, will Kancha's "Post-Hindu India" really be possible? If yes, then how? India has one Kancha now who has campaigned Dalit-Bahujans rights globally. India will have over 20,000 Kancha(s) in 20 years down the line across the nation. Then the campaign against casteism and Ambedkarites will be raised 20,000 times powerful!

Second, Kancha believes Hinduism is a dying religion and will die in India as it has in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia. Brahmans and Hindutva fascist accused Islam and Christianity as major causes of Hinduism dying. He kept referring to Nepal, which is taken over by Maoist's, as a rejection of Hinduism from the Himalayan kingdom. In India, Hinduism is losing ground in the North East Indian states - Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and partially Manipur. In the Southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, a huge number of Dalits have left Hinduism and embraced casteless religions in recent years.

Third, Hindutva fascism, fanatics and militants hold responsibility for the down fall of Hinduism. Anti-democratic and anti-secular nature of these Hindutva forces has damaged the image of Hinduism. The upper castes attack Dalits and Shudras in the name of castes is termed as one of the highest violations of human rights. Attack on Muslim and Christian minorities are seen as attacks on Indian secularism. The Kandhmal episode has proven this. It was ethnic cleansing of tribals and Dalits converted to Christianity. Attacks were more on their socio-economic and educational which became better after embracing Christianity. Hindutva forces specifically targeted to uproot the economic, educational sources rendered by Christian missions so Dalits and tribals would remain in a backward condition as it has been for centuries.

Eruption of Civil War - then the end of Casteism

Kancha's last chapter before his conclusion of "Post-Hindu India" deals with civil war. This chapter on civil war is the end solution for Dalit-Bahujan communities to take in response to his preceding chapters - Unpaid Teachers, Subaltern Scientists, Productive Soldiers, Subaltern Feminists, Social Doctors, Meat and Milk Economists, Unknown Engineers, Food Producers, Social Smugglers, Spiritual Fascists and Intellectual Goondas. Kancha predicts that the civil war will turn into physical violence between upper castes minorities and majority communities of Dalit Bahujans.

Civil war is a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies. In American Abraham Lincoln accepted Civil War as the only means to save the Union. The prediction of Kancha is civil war, which will bring about equality of Indian society by dismantling the caste hierarchical society, which will then bring an end to casteism. Reading the signposts around India, the symptoms of civil war have erupted in recent past and likely to erupt in the future.

What kind of civil war, is Kancha predicting rather desiring? It is a civil war of ideology in quest for equality among all sections of society against Brahmans and upper caste. It is also a civil war of spirituality between spiritual democracy, which Dalit-Shudras are longing and spiritual fascism in search of spiritual equality irrespective of caste, creed, religion, race and color. It is also a civil war of nerves and physical violence, which is desired to be avoided if the earlier form of civil war could resolve the caste base inequality among Indian societies.

Symptoms of Civil War

The physical civil war has been attempted by upper caste time and again, particularly when any affirmative initiative steps are taken by either Union Government of India or State Government. The implementation of Mandal commission during the time of Prime Minister of India, Vishwanath Pratap Singh in 1990 and the United Progressive Alliance Government's OBC reservation in higher technical institutions in 2006 have witnessed a civil war like violence by upper caste against the Dalit Bahujans communities. Shudras and Dalits refrained from any physical form of civil war until today, yet no one should underestimate the volcanic boiling underneath as reaction against the caste oppression. Kancha testifies Gujarat 2002 carnage, Kandhmal 2007-2008 and red corridors of Maoists uprising in tribal dominated regions of India are the symptoms of civil war between upper caste and Dalit Bahujans. The momentum of the anti-reservation movement in 2006 shows the same arrogance demonstrated by upper caste as in 1990.

The highest form of civil war is the war of nerves, which will lead to the war of weapons causing massive causalities, damage and destruction; perhaps it will kill caste. Spiritual civil war will erupt before the eruption of civil war of the nerves and physical violence. The spiritual civil war will erupt between the spiritual democracy and spiritual fascism. To fight the spiritual fascism and get rid of caste oppression in search of spiritual equality, a spiritual civil war in the form of spiritual migration from one religion to other will erupt. Indeed this migration began with Ambedkar when he renounced Hinduism and embraced Neo Buddhism in 1956 along with a half million Dalits at Nagpur. Ever since, this migration never ceases in small and large scale. This spiritual migration will leave Hinduism as a micro minority religion and it will suffer the most if they continue to hold on their caste practice even then.

The Brahmans and upper caste forces will retaliate against this spiritual migration through the might of political and legislation by attempting to establish the anti-conversion bill which is already law in eight different states of India. Kancha believes that spiritual liberation is much harder than the physical liberation but it eradicates casteism permanently.

What Causes Civil War and who is Responsible?

Unquestionably, the oppressive and destructive nature of Brahmanic religion is leading the exploited poor and Dalits to challenge and rise against the very religious system that has been keeping them under bondage for centuries. Hinduism teaches untouchability, inequality and designates degrading caste based jobs to oppressed societies. Doctrines of creation taught by the Law of Manu, in which Brahman are created by God from the head to dominate all human beings and to control all temple economics, Kshatriyas from the shoulders to rule and control the tax economy under the instruction of Brahmans, Vaisyas from the thigh to control market economies under the supervision of Brahmans and Kshatriyas, and Shudras the lowest caste created from the feet to enjoy oppression and serve the preceding caste hierarchy. Dalits who represent one fourth of Indian population are taught in the Law of Manu that they are not created by God, meaning they are outcaste or casteless, considered less than human beings and polluting communities. The Law of Manu sanctioned highest form of human rights violence meted to Sudra and Dalits thus Manu's doctrine of creation is the solemn responsibility for causing civil war.

Unwillingness to do away with caste in Indian society and upper caste will be responsible for Shudras and Dalits in search of equality and liberation from oppression, migrating out of Hinduism to other religions. Unwillingness of the policy makers to provide and implement affirmative actions along with the anti-reservation movements will cause civil war.

Anti reservation propaganda in All India Institute of Medical Science during Mandal Commission 1990 and OBC reservation 2006 provokes the breakout of civil war. The campaign against anti-reservation in Jawaharlal Nehru University is today a symptom of civil war between students belonging to upper caste and lower caste communities.

What can avoid the Civil War? Civil war could be avoided, if Brahmans and upper caste communities are willing to do away the casteism in Hinduism, but it is next to impossible because Hinduism can not survive without casteism and visa versa. Affirmative actions and programs for Dalits and Shudras both in educational and employment arenas could help avoid civil war.

Madhu Chandra is a research scholar and social activist based in New Delhi. He works as Regional Secretary of All India Christian Council (www.indianchristians.in), Spokes Person of North East Support Centre & Helpline (www.nehelpline.net) and National Secretary of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations (www.scstconfederation.org).

http://newsblaze.com/story/20101029135321zzzz.nb/topstory.html

‘Will Brahmins share temple wealth with us?’

By Kancha Ilaiah
BSP has defended the inclusion of Brahmins in keeping with its larger vision of Sarva Samaj
MUMBAI: The Dalit movement today has diversified and assumed a political character. The proof of this lies in the emergence of an RPI, a DMK or a BSP. It is in this context that Mayawati has emerged as the new Dalit political icon.
There are two factors which catapulted Mayawati to an iconic status. First, she doesn’t subscribe to the average Hindu woman’s appearance. Maya, unlike her counterparts — a Sushma Swaraj or a Brinda Karat — is never seen in a sari or with a bindi. She sports short-hair, an image that Dalit women have come to love and admire. In short, she has come to symbolise the modern Ambedkarite woman.
Second, in a country where Dalits are not allowed to sit on chairs, Mayawati rules like a queen with Brahmins sitting by her feet every time she addresses a rally. In this sense, Mayawati has emerged the leader of Dalits and also of upper-castes to some extent. Though BSP members have defended the inclusion of Brahmins in keeping with their larger ideology of Sarva Samaj, the BSP-Bahujan coalition has been forged for vote-bank politics. Maya is vulnerable at this point as power does corrupt and that is why it is necessary for the media and her critics to watch her steps. A lot depends on her performance in the next five years and if the Brahmins want to be a part of this, there are certain issues that need to be addressed.
At one point, when Brahmins ruled this country as CMs and PMs, the Dalits were mere voters. Today, when there is the rise of the Dalit power in politics Brahmins want a share in it. If this is the case, an arrangement needs to be arrived at. Are Brahmins ready to give up their religious control, will Dalits be allowed to officiate in temples, will they share the Hindu gods with Dalit-Bahujans and are they ready to share the wealth generated from various temples (towards which Dalits also contribute) among the weaker sections?
Once these issues are addressed, Hinduism transforms from a spiritual fascism to a spiritual democratic religion. Brahmins will then earn the right to share the political platform.
As told to Lakshmy Ramanathan. Dr Kancha Ilaiah is the author of Why I am not a Hindu and the founder of the first Dalitbahujan journal, Nalupu. He teaches at the Osmania University, Hyderabad.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_will-brahmins-share-temple-wealth-with-us_1137546

'For us, Ambedkar is father of the nation'

Pronoti Datta, TNN, Jul 12, 2009, 02.55am IST

In India there are probably as many holy cows as there are gods in the Hindu pantheon. Say a critical word against them and you're likely to be besieged by protesting hordes. At the top the totem pole are the Prophet, Shivaji, Bal Thackeray and B R Ambedkar. Given his famous aversion to hero worship, the Dalit leader would have gagged at being so memorialised. One wonders what his reaction would be if he toured Uttar Pradesh where statues of Mayawati's holy trinity-Kanshi Ram, Ambedkar and herself-grace public parks or took a stroll through Mumbai, which is scattered with statues and busts of him.
Ambedkar was well aware of the dangers of idolatry. In 1949, he warned the Constituent Assembly that hero worship is a straight path to decline and ultimately to dictatorship. But his cautionary advice seems to have been cast to the winds. Politicians erecting shrines of personal political heroes in every park and chowk is widely censured. However, in the case of Ambedkar, most academics and scholars of caste defend the desire of the ordinary Dalit to idolise him.

According to writer-professor Kancha Ilaiah, the Ambedkar statue is the only way for illiterate Dalits to know the statesman. "Their father of the nation is Ambedkar,'' he said. For Dalits, that one of their own acquired a foreign education and later became one of the architects of the Constitution was simply fantastic. "To create a statue was a claim that he could be counted among leaders such as Nehru and Gandhi,'' observed Gyan Prakash, who teaches history at Princeton University.
Ilaiah, who teaches politics at Osmania University, went so far as to reason that if statues of Rajiv Gandhi have been erected across the country at the expense of the state, how can one blame Mayawati for spending over Rs 2000 crores on commemorating Dalit icons?
For sociologist Meera Kosambi, statuary is a colonial inheritance that serves little purpose. However she said, "If statues are to be erected, then (Ambedkar) is to, my mind, somebody really worth commemorating.'' Kosambi pointed out that the desire to honour Ambedkar must be understood in the context of his "contribution to the mobilisation of Dalits and giving them a pride in themselves''. It's difficult for members of upper castes to fathom this level of devotion as they have never faced the sort of degradation Dalits have, she said.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-12/mumbai/28199393_1_ambedkar-statue-dalit-icons-hero-worship