An Untouchable Apology

The untouchables of Hinduism are a wretched lot. For hundreds and thousands of years, this group of people have been forced to inhabit the bottom end of the Hindu totem pole. While it is not at the level of genocide, it is an institutionalised social discrimination over a very long period of time. When I read a press release from a Hindu reformist group apologising to the Untouchables for the deep seated discrimination, it struck a chord in my mind and I wanted to write about it, as well as share in this apology. For example, only recently there was a big brouhaha when a temple in India refused entry to dalits (who are also Hindu) simply because they were of a lower caste. In this day and age!!! I was so furious and when I complained bitterly that none of the mainstream Hindu organisations or leaders in India did anything, I was accused of patronising them. These so-called Hindu organisations are very quick off the mark when absolutely silly things go on, but when there is clear cut painfully evident confirmation that there needs to be reform, they are nowhere to be found. This is absolutely ridiculous and a clear example of intellectual incoherence at best and incompetence at worst. But I digress.

Apologies are very strange and at the same time, very human. It is extremely powerful and at the same time, looked upon with deep cynicism. It is also extremely difficult to do so, while there is nothing like this to draw the teeth out of any angst ridden situation. Just ask me, I have to apologise regularly to my sister. But this apology is one, which is valid on so many different levels and this is an apology to the untouchables of Hinduism.

The basics of this religiously mandated behaviour are well known and I will not spend too much time on going deeper into the intricacies of this. Other than saying that the idea of difference and discrimination was institutionalised despite a huge amount of debate on what this differentiation meant. On one hand, there were statements effectively saying that everybody is born the same, while on the other hand, there are statements in religious books talking about how some are born from the head and some from the foot. Irrespective of what the religious justification is, one found that there are literally thousands of groups who consider themselves different from other groups. This groupism extended to bans on intermarriage, taking meals together and even extended to group dedicated watering holes and wells.

Quite a lot of Hindu reformers ranging from Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Guru Rabindranath Tagore, Dayananda Saraswati, etc. kept a strong pressure on changing this religious practise, but even when India became independent, this was still present. The then leader of the untouchables, Shri Bhimrao Ambedkar, a brilliant lawyer, even incorporated caste based reservations into the constitution, to provide them with the leg up. As it so happens, this is something which I disagree with, because this has institutionalised discrimination and is not leading anybody anywhere towards the true equality in the eyes of the state and citizens, but that’s beside the point. Discrimination was outlawed by the Indian constitution in 1936, but little has changed for the 300-400 million people who belonged to the Untouchable Castes of India. I am also conscious of the fact that calling it ‘the caste system’ is dangerously simplifying it, as the actual theological aspects behind the differentiation is much more complex.

What is also beside the point is that all other religions and cultures have had the same groupism and differentiation and were trying to create a separate identity through religious or cultural factors. Whether we are talking about the Japanese way of looking at the difference between the samurai and peasants, the difference between the faithful and the dhimmi, the difference between Catholics and Protestants, the difference between white and black skin, the difference between Christian and pagan, you name it, discrimination has occurred all the time and everywhere. And yes, just because it happened in other religious, regions and cultures, it just tells me that it is pretty much human. This is, however, neither an excuse nor a reason to stop trying to rip out this disgusting practise.

But what good is an apology? We have to address the cynics in our midst as well, because I have seen this form of visceral reaction from both sides. The side of the Hindus, who totally refuse to accept that this happened and go off into theological arguments and ignore the real life actions around discrimination. The other side are the Dalits, who would be happy to tear down the entire country to satisfy their rather strange desire for revenge. Both extremely simplistic in the extreme and frankly not worth talking to or about, but then, that’s what happens to fanatics. Their feet are planted firmly in the air! But this is not for the fanatics, they won’t listen anyway, it is for the vast majority of Hindus, people who have a social conscience, care about their culture and are conscious of a vast historical injustice done to a whole group of other people. And it is not a simple binary equation, high class Brahmins discriminating against lower class dalits. It happens on every group intersection, so there is no point in getting up on the high horse about just one group.

An apology is a very good means to bring things out in the open. Hiding behind a religious tract or pointing at other instances does not change the situation on the ground. Every Hindu has to be open about this discrimination, and understand what this has done to us, our culture, history and reputation. No longer! This apology means that we understand and accept the fault. Not only that, but an apology actually provides the impetus or the foundation to do something about it.

This is the other good thing about an apology for the cynics out there. Once one has gone through the cathartic process of apologising, one can start to address this issue, if only by small measures. If a friend says something demeaning about a lower caste person, even a raised eyebrow is a small but significant step in telling people that this form of behaviour is not appropriate. One will definitely ask me the question if somebody might actually accept the apology? I am afraid this is the wrong question. When Tony Blair apologised for the British role in Slavery, he did not do it because he was worried whether anybody might or might not accept it. He did it because this was the right thing to do. Despite the fact that I am personally not responsible for this reprehensible and horrible historical fact, as a Hindu and as a human being, it is but right to apologise. As a Hindu, I hold responsibility to my religion, my nation, my society, my government, and indeed to my children as well. An apology can, in a small way, lead towards making the world a fairer place.

The Hindu Reformist group, Navya Shastra (http://www.shastras.org/), who actually made the public apology, also invited a whole host of other Hindu luminaries to join in this effort. I am not sure how far this went but it should be remembered that this caste based discrimination is not simply religiously mandated, but also socially mandated. Hence besides religious figures, cultural and social figures need to be brought into this as well. In many ways, an appeal by one of the Bollywood actors may actually provide more push to changes in behaviour, rather than very many Hindu religious leaders combined. But still, more luminaries joining in to complain, apologise and push Indians to remove this distressing social condition is good.

So here it is, I fully endorse and join Navya Shastra, in apologising to the other castes, for what I and my forefathers may have done and promise that I will raise my voice against this disgusting practise, and hopefully help remove this by my words as well as my behaviour. At the UN World Conference on Race (WCAR) held August 31-September 8 2001 in Durban, South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki said:"…there are many in our common world who suffer indignity and humiliation because they are not white …These are a people who know what it means to be the victim of rabid racism and racial discrimination. Nobody ever chose to be a slave, to be colonised, to be racially oppressed. The impulses of the time caused these crimes to be committed by human beings against others." And while there was quite a hullabaloo about whether ‘casteism’ is appropriate in this race conference, this is quibbling over details. Discrimination existed, it exists and it behoves us to address it. May this apology be a first start to a better implementation of religion!