February 3, 2010 12:04 p.m. EST
Analysts say the declaration of a new faith is likely to be a psychological boost for Dalits, pictured in a 2009 file photo.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- One of India's low-caste communities has declared its own distinct religion
- Followers of 14-century spiritual figure now have own holy scriptures, flag and greeting
- Declaration made by Ravidass monastery whose priest's killing sparked protests in Punjab
- Five million Ravidassias from Punjab estimated to be spread across world
RELATED TOPICS
Followers of a 14-century spiritual figure, Guru Ravidass, will now have their own holy scriptures, a flag and a greeting, sect officials said.
The new holy book compiles Guru Ravidass' writings, which until now were predominantly found in sacred Sikh scriptures that the sect placed in its houses of worship.
The declaration was made by a key Ravidass monastery whose priest's killing in May last year in Vienna, Austria sparked furious protests in the Sikh heartland of Punjab.
Thousands of protesters from the low-caste communities -- called the Dalits, meaning the suppressed -- attacked road and rail transportation in the wake of the murder blamed on Sikh hardliners.
C.R. Suman, the manager of the Sachkhand Ballan monastery in Punjab state, told CNN that the announcement of a new Ravidassia faith was made on Saturday to a large congregation at the birthplace of the revered leader in Uttar Pradesh state.
Experts say the move was a response to social discrimination against low castes in Punjab, where close to 30 percent of the population is Dalit, the highest in any Indian state.
"The Ravidassias and other Dalits remain marginalized in Punjab, politically, religiously and economically," said author Balbir Madhopuri, who has written several books on the Hindu caste system.
Analysts say the declaration of a new faith is likely to be a psychological boost for Dalits in India. "They appear to have asserted themselves in a strategy that will give them a greater bargaining strength in their home state where power has centered around specific castes," said columnist Jaspal Singh Sidhu. "Outside of Punjab, it is likely to give a big psychological boost to other Dalit communities."
There are estimated about five million Ravidassias from Punjab now spread across the world, said Madhopuri.
Madhopuri, however, believes the new sacred text may not attract other Dalit communities because it only contains Ravidass verses.
"Yet, this announcement of a distinct religion is a symbol of Dalit assertion," he said.
According to Madhopuri, the last time the Dalits came together as a faith was in 1925 when the British ruled India. In the 1931 census, more than 450,000 registered themselves as members of the new Dalit faith called Ad Dharam, or Original Religion.
But the faith vanished after India's independence mainly because of what Madhopuri explained were lures of government jobs reserved for low-caste Hindus and Sikhs.
In India, Hindus make up more than 80 percent of its billion-plus population. Muslims constitute the second-largest religious group.
Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and other faiths together form about 6 percent of remaining Indians.
After independence from the British in 1947, India outlawed what was an age-old practice of untouchability of low-caste Hindus by those seen as superior by birth.
Still, the communities are believed to be facing bias despite having being given quotas for government jobs.
India's crime statistics show that police registered more than 133,000 cases from 2004 to 2008 under the country's stringent laws to protect Dalits against atrocities.
The birth of a new religion in Punjab has had Sikhs worried the most, as it emerged in their state where the monotheistic faith was founded in the 15th century to break caste and religious distinctions.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the top Sikh religious administration, termed the Ravidassia declaration unfortunate.
It disagrees that the practical Sikh response to the downtrodden did not match the Sikh faith's core beliefs of equality.
"It's unfortunate that this has happened. Sikh thought is against any kind of prejudice," said SGPC general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur. "I would appeal to them (the Ravidassias) to revisit their decision."
NOTE from Editor Mr.Gopinath das (PHP)
Untouchability is the social practice of ostracising a (usually) minority endogamous group by regarding them as "ritually polluted" and segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal mandate. The excluded group could be one that did not accept the norms of the excluding group and historically included foreigners, nomadic tribes, law-breakers and criminals. This exclusion was a method of punishing law-breakers and also protected against contagion from strangers. A member of the excluded group is known as an untouchable.
The term is commonly associated with treatment of the Dalit class among hindus of India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Untouchability has been made illegal in post-Independence India but prejudice continues.
Untouchable groups
- Dalit, in India and Nepal
- Al-Akhdam in Yemen
- Burakumin in Japan
- Baekjeong in Korea
- Cagots in France
- Vaqueiros de alzada in Spain
- Madhiban in Somalia
- Gypsies throughout Europe
- Jews throughout Europe, including Marranos in Spain and Portugal and Xueta in Majorca
- Moriscos in Spain and Portugal
- Ragyabpa in Tibet (see Social classes of Tibet)
Cultural outgroups
Since the 19th century most untouchable groups (Ben Kincaid) have been officially integrated and exist, if at all, in the form of a cultural outgroup.
- African Americans in the United States (and, in the 19th century, Irish, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants)
Dalits and religion
Sachar Committee report of 2006 revealed that scheduled castes and tribes of India are not limited to the religion of Hinduism. The 61st Round Survey of the NSSO found that almost nine-tenths of the Buddhists, one-third of the Sikhs, and one-third of the Christians in India belonged to the notified scheduled castes or tribes of the Constitution.
According to the ancient Hindu scriptures, there are four "varnas". The Bhagavad Gita says varnas are decided based on Guna and Karma. Manusmriti and some other shastras mention four varnas: the Brahmins (teachers, scholars and priests), the Kshatriyas (kings and warriors), the Vaishyas (agriculturists and traders), and Shudras (service providers and artisans), So Varnas or Socalled CasteSystem should be based on Work (duty) not so Birth Right (Like present time)
Reforms
Many Bhakti period saints rejected the caste discriminations and accepted all castes, including untouchables, into their fold. During the British Raj, this sentiment gathered steam, and many Hindu reform movements such as Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj renounced caste-based discrimination. Mahatma Gandhi called them "Harijans" (children of God) although that term is now considered patronizing and the term Dalit ("downtrodden") is the more commonly used. Gandhi's contribution toward the emancipation of the untouchables is still debated, especially in the commentary of his contemporary Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, an untouchable himself, who frequently saw Gandhi's activities as detrimental to the cause of upliftment of his people.
Daily Inspiration
February 2nd, 2010Source: www.hinduismtoday.com
India conquered and dominated China culturally [through Buddhism] for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border. Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to the United States
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