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International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet
Panaji, Goa, September 2-5, 2007 - http://www.indologygoa.in
Online Media Partner: http://www.goanet.org
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Subject: Article
I thought members would be interested in this article which I cam across as
I was surfing the Rediff site.
Sachin Phadte.
Anti-Brahmanism should stop!
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/jun/15franc.htm
Francois Gautier - Rediff.com
The first _article_ (http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/23franc.htm)
published by rediff on Brahmins as an underprivileged community, brought a
flurry of reactions, mostly of surprise: "What, Brahmins as toilet cleaners,
coolies, rickshaw pullers, priests earning less than Rs 150 a month... How
is it possible, we always thought that Brahmins were a rich, fat, arrogant
community?" Many Brahmins and other upper castes expressed online their
relief that someone was speaking about their plight, that for once they were
not attacked, made fun of, ridiculed. Of course there were also a few
hostile e-mails, accusing the author of upper casteism, of anti-Dalits bias.
One would have thought however, that at a time when reservation was the
hottest journalistic topic, the media would have seized this story and made
it its own. After all, isn't impartial journalism to show both sides of the
story? Don't you think, for instance, that the discovery that all 50 Sulabh
Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi are cleaned and looked after by
Brahmins -- traditionally the task of the lowest of the lowest caste -- and
that this noble institution was started by a Brahmin, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak,
makes a wonderful story, both for the print and electronic media?
That is what I believed, at any rate. So when I discovered that the Art of
Living Foundation was conducting workshops for all coolies, irrespective of
their religion and caste of the Delhi railway station -- and that quite a
few of them were Brahmins -- I thought I could share this story and the
Sulabh Shauchalayas scoop, with a few journalistic acquaintances, who would
jump on it with glee. Unfortunately I was very wrong.
Initially, some young journalists were enthusiastic and joined us in our
investigation. We expected the story to hit the headlines soon and be taken
up by the entire press, hungry for something different than the strike of
the medicos, or Arjun Singh's adamant attitude. But nothing happened.
Anti-Brahmanism has to be stopped!
This inter-caste war, triggered by the politicians' greed for votes, has to
be defused.
FACT, my Foundation, which conducts exhibitions on persecuted minorities,
whether the Kashmiri Pandits, the Christians, Buddhist Chakmas and Hindus
suffering in Bangladesh at the hands of fundamentalists in Bangladesh, or
the Tibetans facing a cultural and spiritual genocide in Tibet, decided to
take things in hand.
We started, with the help of a few dedicated friends, a film on Brahmins and
other upper castes as an underprivileged community. This film will lead to a
photoexhibition and hopefully to a book. All testimonies and documents are
welcome.
The future of this country lies in a unified India, where all castes will
find their just place, where all will feel Indians first and belonging to
this caste or that one, after.
Read the entire article at:
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/jun/15franc.htm
1) _WHO ARE REAL DALITS?_
(http://www.francoisgautier.com/Written%20Material/real%20Dalits%20of%20India.doc)
2) _Caste vs. Merit_ (http://ia.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/12ram.htm)
