--- On Sat, 14/3/09, Shiva Shankar > To: > Date: Saturday, 14 March, 2009, 8:35 AM > > '... One question often visits my mind. Why Ataturk Kamal > Pasha of Turkey could carry out the modernization agenda of > the Turkish society steeped in medieval and feudal ethos and > mores and engaged in practicing myriads of socio-religious > evils, in a matter of few months, but, why the leaders of > free India, most notably Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, could not > even take up the socio-religious agenda for the > modernization of Indian society? ...' > > http://www.countercurrents.org/yadav100309.htm > > Tilak - Nehru - Prachanda. > > By Ashok Yadav > > 10 March, 2009, Countercurrents.org > > 'Political radical and social Tory' is the phrase Dr.Bhim > Rao Ambedkar used in his famous polemic work 'What Congress > and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables' to describe Bal > Gangadhar Tilak, the great nationalist leader, whose slogan > 'freedom is our birthright' reverberated throughout the anti > British freedom struggle of India and who suffered intense > torture in the British gaol for opposing British rule in > India, but who was in equal measure, also a social > reactionary. Dr. Ambedkar, who too was a Marathi like Tilak, > had great respect for Tilak for the inspiring courage and > forbearance he showed for his political convictions but > resented his socio-religious views which was out and out > reactionary and hindered India's social progress. > Dr.Ambedkar wrote that India abounded with political > radicals and social tories like Tilak. It was Tilak whose > hard status quoist position on social issues and rabid > temperament did not allow the 1905 Social Conference in > Poona (the home town of Tilak) to take place, which had till > then been held as regular feature simultaneously at the same > venue with the annual conference of Indian National > Congress. In fact Tilak had threatened to burn the 'pandal' > of the Social Conference. The Social Conference used to > discuss the social decay of India and how to revitalize > India's social life which was rotting and stinking. Child > marriage, illiteracy, female education, widow's remarriage, > untouchability, socio-religious taboos connected with > obnoxious caste system, socio-religious reforms etc. were > the topics that were hotly debated in these conferences. > > Slowly the debate began to acquire a critical tone against > India's, particularly Hindu's, religious and social > traditions and the role of priestly caste in preserving > these socio-religious evils. This alerted the extremist > Poona Brahmins who had already been severely and > uncompromisingly criticized and held responsible for India's > social decay by Jotiba Phule (of the same Poona), widely > held as the modern India's first social revolutionary. > Tilak, himself a chitpawan brahmin, represented the social > reactionaries of Poona and so took a position against the > Social Conference. This had a lasting effect as the Social > Conference so thwarted from taking place in 1905 in Poona > never took place again anywhere in country and the agenda of > socio-religious reforms, progress and change that was > growing in the womb of Social Conferences was aborted > without any hope of reconception till the first decade of > twenty first century i.e. the time location of this > article. > > Of course, India does have the agenda of socio-religious > transformation but that has been propagated by the > marginalized castes and that seems far away from being > realized in near or not so distant future because of India's > ruling castes' antipathy towards this agenda. But in the > Social Conferences it was India's privileged castes that > were debating India's socio-religious evils and, therefore, > there was a hope. But Tilak's intransigence chased away the > liberal minded leaders of privileged castes from the agenda > of socio-religious reforms and transformation and created a > situation which made India's independence from the British > occupation the sole preoccupation of India's nationalists > belonging to traditional dominant castes. All the talks of > socio-religious reforms were set aside by the subsequent > leaders of Indian National Congress on the plea that India's > independence from the British occupation was of paramount > importance and the agenda of socio-religious reforms might > be postponed till attainment of freedom. For the dwija > leaders of Indian National Congress the agenda of > socio-religious reforms and transformation were > controversial as it 'divided' the people. > > The leaders of marginalized sections like Narayana Guru, > E.V. Ramaswami Naikar Periyar, Dr.. Ambedkar and numerous > other leaders unlike the leaders of Indian National Congress > made socio-religious liberation of Shudra and Ati Shudra > their main concern but their struggle could not become the > mainstream of India's political life. It was hoped that > leaders of free India would set right the historical wrong > committed by Tilak in not allowing the Social Conference to > take place in 1905 in Poona. But as it turned out, the plea > of dwija leaders of Indian National Congress to postpone the > socio-religious agenda in favour of the 'larger goal' of > freedom struggle was mere pretence to sidetrack the agenda > of socio-religious reforms. The leaders of free India who > assumed power on attainment of freedom did not show any > interest to fulfill the promise of taking up the cause of > socio-religious reforms. Whether it was Pandit Jawaharlal > Nehru, the first prime minister and a Brahmin by caste or > Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first president and a non-brahmin > upper caste, they all showed their inclination to preserve > the rotten traditions by default or by scheme. The phrase > that Dr. Ambedkar used to describe Tilak could now be > appropriately applied to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was > like Tilak a political radical but surrendered meekly to the > social 'tories' of free India. The end result of complete > neglect of the agenda of socio-religious reforms by the > ruling elites is there for all to see. > > Everything that was practiced in India hundred or two > hundred years ago or even earlier in the name of social and > religious traditions is still practiced sporadically or > widely in some forms or other. A country that sends > satellite in earth's orbit, tests atomic bombs, extracts > electricity from atomic power, is called super power in > information technology, where billionaires are multiplying, > whose big industry houses are turning multinationals, is > called the world's largest democracy, is also the country, > where half of the world's total population of illiterates > reside, widow remarriage is still not prevalent, child > marriages are still practiced, innocent lonely women are > tortured or killed for practicing 'witchcraft', marriages > are inconceivable outside caste boundaries unless one > revolts against it, dowry system has ravaged the social > life, dalits are wantonly killed because of low social > status, sati is still glorified not only in the dark lanes > of rural India but also in the national media and hundreds > of such socio-religious evils are routinely practiced > without any shame. > > Who are the people who practice these obnoxious > socio-religious evils and due to such practice have become > the wretched of the earth without any hope whatsoever of any > rejuvenation in their life? They are most particularly the > shudra and ati shudra who form more than three fourth > population of India and these socio-religious evils are the > permanent shackle on their progress. It is not without > reason that India's ruling elites have systematically kept > these socio-religious evils in preservation and not carried > any drive against these evils. Since the caste system is an > essential feature of Hinduism and the caste system is safe > as long as the shudra and ati shudra are in backward > conditions of life, these socio-religious evils serve useful > purpose of keeping the shudra and ati shudra down and out > and ensuring the hegemony of the dwijas. That is the reason > why India's ruling caste elites have not shown any interest > in carrying out the agenda of socio-religious reforms. > > One question often visits my mind. Why Ataturk Kamal Pasha > of Turkey could carry out the modernization agenda of the > Turkish society steeped in medieval and feudal ethos and > mores and engaged in practicing myriads of socio-religious > evils, in a matter of few months, but, why the leaders of > free India, most notably Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a leader > educated in British schools and colleges and carrying > impression of Marxism, a volunteer in Spanish Civil War and > a writer of such celebrated works as Discovery of India and > Glimpses of World History, could not even take up the > socio-religious agenda for the modernization of Indian > society? I think the answer to this question has already > been hinted at even before posing this one. > > Is the new Nepal i.e. Nepal after the abolition of monarchy > and coming into power of the Maoist led coalition government > as an interim government before drafting and adoption of new > constitution, going the same way as India? It seems like so. > Unfortunately the phrase coined by Dr Ambedkar to describe > Tilak and which aptly suited Pandit Nehru may haunt > Prachanda, the Maoist Prime Minister of Nepal, too, if he > does not take a corrective measure. > > I have been provoked to draw the similarity among Tilak, > Nehru and Prachanda after a recent event in Nepal in which > an eight year old girl was coroneted as living goddess not > by the common public but by a government appointed trust. > Earlier the coronation was done by the palace but after the > abolition of palace the new government of Nepal appointed a > trust to look after religious matters. It was widely > believed that the new government would put an end to such > irrational practices carried out in the name of religion and > tradition. But the way the things have been compromised in > the name of 'avoiding controversy' and not hurting the > 'religious sentiments' of the 'people', a typical communist > pretence of avoiding the socio-religious issues in Indian > sub-continent, is ominous for the future of lower caste > people of new Nepal. The socio-religious evils such as those > seen in practice in India and Nepal have deep roots in caste > system which in turn owes its origin to hindu (say > brahminical) religion. The fight against caste system begins > with fight against the socio-religious taboos and > superstitions. The fight for reservation in jobs and > education is an advanced stage of fight against the caste > system. The compromise with socio-religious evils is in > essence a compromise with caste system. It seems that new > Nepal under the leadership of political radical Prachanda is > neglecting the agenda of socio-religious reforms and shying > away from fight against the caste system which in the long > will prove disastrous for the dalits and other lower castes > of Nepal. The shudra and ati shudra of Nepal should draw > lessons from the post independence history of India and > exercise maximum alertness to ensure that they should not be > deceived in the manner their Indian brothers and sisters > were. > > I end this write up with a quotation of Dr Ambedkar from > the statement he issued when his extremely strenuous efforts > stretching four and half years to pass Hindu Code Bill in > the parliament of the new born free India was frustrated by > the social tories: The Hindu Code was the greatest social > reform measure ever undertaken by the Legislature in this > country. No law passed by the Indian Legislature in the past > or likely to be passed in the future can be compared to it > in point of its significance. To leave inequality between > class and class, between sex and sex which is the soul of > Hindu society untouched and to go on passing legislation > relating to economic problems is to make a farce of our > constitution and to build a palace on dung heap.' > Bollywood news, movie reviews, film trailers and more! Go to http://in.movies.yahoo.com/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
