Periyar E.V.R. as champion of Dalits
Rajendra, Ambedkar Pratishtana, Thoralakki PO, Malur Tq., Kolar dist., - 563 137

Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy is a leader of international repute and hailed as a great thinker, reformer, revolutionary and humanist. The United Nations itself recognised this during his lifetime.

So any discussion on his sterling qualities and services to the oppressed people, victims of Brahminism, is ridiculous. Some Dalits under Brahminical influence have lately started branding Periyar as anti-Dalit. They should not be ungrateful to the extent of falsifying history itself. Dr. Ambedkar wanted his children to be sincere and truthful.

The present generation should know the history of their progress and the services and sacrifices of elders like Phule, Periyar, Babasaheb and Shyam Sunder.

Vaikom struggle: Periyar's self-respect movement began in an aggressive way at Vaikom, in the present Kerala. It was on behalf of the Untouchable castes who were not allowed even to walk on a street right before a temple. Periyar rushed there and fought on their behalf.

This historic agitation led by Periyar attracted Muslim leader E.V.K. Abdulla and Christian leader Gorge Joseph. Gandhi as a true Hindu criticised Periyar for supporting the Untouchables. Sikhs came from Punjab and ran the free kitchen (langar). This will establish the truth of Periyar's universal leadership. (George Joseph is the brother of Pothan Joseph who was the first editor of Deccan Herald being published from Bangalore).

Periyar was then arrested by the Trivancore state police and kept in prison for this agitation. Yet the agitation continued. Finally the Untouchables won the right to walk on the road. This may not be a material gain but a self-respect achievement for Untouchables. The agitation became famous as "Vaikom struggle".

Dr. Ambedkar wrote an Editorial about this historic achievement in his journal, Mooka Nayak.

Declaration to destroy Congress: The Congress, the original Brahmin party of India, passed a resolution in 1917 showing its concern for the welfare of Untouchables. M.K. Gandhi, the dictator of the Congress, claimed credit for this action of the Brahmin party. But the truth is Gandhi came to know about the British giving recognition to Untouchables and providing political rights based on the census of 1911 for which Prince Agha Khan was responsible.

From that day onwards, Congress started discussing social reforms in its sessions. But even such discussions were stopped when the Brahmins set fire to the Congress session pandal in Maharashtra. At the Madras session of the Congress, Periyar Ramaswamy, who was then an active worker of the Congress, forced a discussion on social problems, mainly Untouchability.

Rowdies engaged by Brahmins then dragged Periyar out of the pandal and thrashed him. Periyar declared on the spot that he would destroy the Congress in Tamil Nadu and he did it. The Congress is wiped out in Tamil Nadu.

Dr. Ambedkar respected Periyar: Dr. Ambedkar had great respect for Periyar and Periyar had respect for Dr. Ambedkar. It was Periyar who advised the organisers of Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal of Lahore, when they invited him to the conference, to invite Dr. Ambedkar being a better person, well read, better informed and was able to speak English.

Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal approached Dr. Ambedkar who agreed and prepared a speech for the conference. But Gandhi planned his usual trick which resulted in Dr. Ambedkar cancelling his engagement.

Later, Dr. Ambedkar got his speech published as a book, titled Annihilation of Caste.

Three greatest personalities: Some Dalit leaders are critical of Periyar just because he belonged to a Backward Caste. They also quote and misquote Dr. Ambedkar on the subject. They know only the title of this book. But they do not know the history behind this book.

Dr. Ambedkar always made it a point to meet Periyar when he visited Madras. One such visit was when Jinnah attended the Muslim League meeting at Madras. On this occasion, all the three greatest personalities of the day, Dr. Ambedkar, Jinnah and Periyar, met and discussed the Indian caste problem. A photo with these three taken during that meeting of the great statesmen is in my possession. Another important photo with me is of Periyar with the great Bheem Sena leader Shyam Sunder.

Birthday celebration in UP: Kanshi Ram is another great revolutionary of India. He organised the Bahujan Samaj Party which came to power in UP and celebrated Periyar's birth anniversary.

Kanshi Ram knows who is who among the Bahujans. If Periyar had been anti-Dalit, as made out by some Dalits in Tamil Nadu, would India's top most Dalit leader praise Periyar? Similarly, our Editor has assigned the No.2 place to Periyar among the three greatest revolutionaries of "independent" India.
With all these facts, why some Dalits call Periyar anti-Dalit? The mistake is not of Dalits but of the Backward Castes. It is easy to call it Brahminism.

The pity is the Backward Castes are the agents and foot-soldiers of Brahmins.
They ill-treat Dalits all over India including Tamil Nadu pushing Dalits to Islam at Meenakshipuram 25 years ago. The BCs must mend their attitude towards Dalits, Muslims and Christians.

Dalits are duty bound to lead the entire Bahujan Samaj. That can be fulfilled only when BCs, at least the Most Backward Castes (MBC) like the barber, dhobi, potter, blacksmith etc. understand the importance of building Bahujan Samaj. Muslims and Christians also are distancing themselves from BCs. As an Ambedkarite, I call upon the BCs to join Dalits to fight Brahminism.

Periyar spent his whole life in this work for over half a century.

DV Jan.16, 2004 p.11: "Fascist clouds over Tamil Nadu".

DV Edit Aug.16, 1995: "What has gone wrong with Tamils? Why they allow themselves to be swallowed by alien Aryans?"

DV Jan.16, 1995 p.5: "Rise, fall & slow death of shudra movement in Tamil Nadu".

DV Jan.1, 1994: "Rich Telugu interests blocking birth of Tamil Nation".

DEBATE: COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN T.N.
Telugus worried over surge of Tamil nationalism
A TAMIL DALIT FROM MADRAS (address WITHHELD)

This refers to our Editor V.T. Rajshekar's speech in Bangalore, "Tamil Nadu in grip of counter-revolution" (DV Jan.16, 2005 p.10).

I was rather rudely shocked to read the above item by the Editor himself. He has criticised some Dalit leaders and writers, under the influence of their Brahmin masters, for having started a campaign that Periyar is anti-Dalit.

A historical background of the debate is very essential and crucial in cutting the gordian knot. Those who read the social and political history of TN would know that Tamils have been subjugated by the Vadugans Ñ Telugu and Kannada combined forces Ñfor nearly 600 years. The Telugus have deeply infiltrated into the social life of Tamils pushing the Tamils to sideline. It is this imperialist tendency of the Telugus that give CM dreams to Rajani Kanth, Vijaya Kanth and Kamaatchi Naidus. Today, the foremost landowners in the rural Tamil Nadu are the Telugus right from the northern part to down south.

THEVARS HELPED TELUGUS

The Vijayanagara Empire almost decimated the Tamil self-respect and destroyed the social fabric beyond repair. In place of the Nadu socio-politico-economic setup, the Telugus thrusted the Pandaravada and Palayapattu systems. While the former was a complete military garrison, almost like a cantonment, the latter is non-military settlement area. While the Pandaravada and fertile Palayapattu were directly put under the Telugus, the dry area Palayapattu was given to the Thevars Ñ who helped the Telugus to conquer the Tamils.

A sizeable number of industrialists in TN are Telugus, a good number of cine stars, film distributors, cine technicians, theatre owners are Telugus, also interestingly a number of thinkers and writers are also Telugus. Today, the entire music world is dominated by the Telugus. Once during the reorganization of linguistic states, the Telugus wanted Madras for themselves.

DRAVIDIAN MOVEMENT IS FOUNDED BY NON-TAMIL

All along, the anti-Brahmin movement has been preaching that Aryans enslaved the Tamils Ñ conveniently covering the fact that Telugus have been deciding for Tamils in the name of Dravidians. What a cruel joke. Nowhere in the world that the settlers have been deciding for the natives. Thus the hegemony of Telugus is over-whelming and more visible.

For many decades senior Tamil leaders like Ma Po Si, Devaneayapaavaanar, Bharati Dasan, Adithan (founder of Daily Thanthi) have categorically decided that a Tamil is a Tamil wherever she/he born and a non-Tamil is a non-Tamil even when she/he is born in Tamil Nadu.

GUNA DISCLOSES TRUTH

Subsequently the Dravidian parties have successfully erased such ideas from the memory of Tamils because many of the founders of Dravidian movement are non-Tamils. They saw to it that nowhere Tamils could lead and ensured that Telugus would wield enormous clout in TN.
The Dravidian movements were busy with how to loot and share the booty called TN until one serious thinker from Vellore woke up to reality and wrote a treatise on the havoc played by the Telugus in Tamil Nadu. His name is Guna alias Gunaseelan from KGF. He exposed the Telugu domination in his book, Dravidathaal Veezhnthom (translated as Fallen due to Dravidian politics). Even while releasing the book, he declared that the book would open a raging controversy in TN many decades to come. Now he is suffering in the Bangalore Jail and the protagonists of Telugus are very happy.

WHY PERIYAR CANÕT BE QUESTIONED

For having declared the truth of Telugu domination and saying that without throwing out the Telugu domination there is no salvation for Tamils, he was called a fascist. He asserted his unequivocal support to Prabhakran as the undisputed leader of Tamil Elam Ñ for that also he was called fascist. When the neighbouring states have sharpened their focus on language-based unity, the so-called thinkers and writers of the E.V.R. Periyar legacy are stoutly opposing the hard stand of Guna. His book was against the deification of EVR and subjected his contribution to Tamil language, Tamil antiquity, Tamil nationalism, Dalit liberation etc. to close scrutiny.

The foremost criticism came in the form of a book from Viduthalai Rajendran, formerly with Veeramani but now with "Periyar Dravida Kazhagam" led by Kolathur Mani. Prof. Saraswathi is his wife. No wonder such revivalists of Telugu imperialism would find fault with Dalit leaders who want to find their own path rather than take the trodden part of Periayarism. However, the Telugus having dominated the TN in all spheres would have none of it.

If you don't salute Periyar that means you are a stooge of Brahminism. Any one who talks reforms and revolution should swear by EVR. Otherwise she/he is spreading counter-revolution. Is Periyar beyond criticism? Can he be deified? Don't we, Tamils, have a right to question Periyar who was a Kannadiga? Why some people in Tamil Nadu are swearing by Periyar and keeping his memory alive? Do they really want to contribute to the Tamil nationalism and Dalit liberation? Why the alarm among the Periyarists? Why do they want to resurrect Periyar?

NON-DALITS CANÕT FORCE PERIYAR ON DALITS

While nothing down his prison notes, George Lukas, on historical consciousness, has identified two types of leaders Ñ traditional and organic. While explaining the traditional leaders, he describes that such leaders are born in a particular class and later pose as the leader of all classes. His example for such leaders is the Catholic priest. The organic leader is one who emerges from her/his community and remains as a revolutionary leader. In India today, Dr. Ambedkar, Phule, Kanshi Ram, Lalu Prasad are organic leaders. Nehru, Periyar and others are traditional leaders. The contribution to Dalit liberation by Periyar should be evaluated by the emerging Tamil nationalism, the Dalit mass movements and Dalit leaders and definitely not by non-Dalits who cannot push Periyar down the throats of Dalits and Tamils.

If Periyar is the undisputed leader of Dalit liberation, history will keep him alive even when lot of criticism is made against him.

GREATNESS OF PRABHAKARAN

By projecting Periyar as the foremost leader of Tamil as well as Dalit liberation, the so called Periyarists are sidelining the contributions made by the local Tamil leaders like Ayothidas, Deva-neyapavanar, Ma Po Si, Adithan, Immanuel Sekaran and also Elam leaders. This is a great harm done to Tamils by the so-called Tamils living in TN and writing in Tamil.

Further, the Periyarists have found fault with Prabhakaran of Tamil Eelam. They say Prabhakaran represents the fascist side of Tamils. No wonder these people find fault with Guna also for having acknowledged Prabhakaran as the undisputed leader of Tamils in Eelam.
However, the pratogonists of Periyar are not so much worried about Periyar's legacy but more worried about their survival, as many of them are linguistic minorities in Tamil Nadu. This is the crux of the matter. They are alarmed that Tamil nationalism, which excludes the linguistic minorities, would undermine the hegemony of the Telugus over the Tamils.

FEAR OF TELUGUS

Further, how the "lowly" Tamils can assert their independence outside the hegemony of Telugus is their greater worry. For example, the cine artists of neighbouring states have formed their own associations on language, the cine artist forum in Tamil Nadu still tenaciously holding the title South Indian Film Star Association.

When the neighbouring states have taken aggressive nationalistic stand, the intelligentsia has silently joined the mainstream. However, in TN, even when Tamils are identified and subjected to cruelty and decimation in neighbouring states, the so-called intelligentsia appeals to peace and harmony. Even when Tamils are attacked and killed, the linguistic minorities in TN are no way disturbed. I am not advocating attacking the linguistic minorities in TN when Tamils are attacked. There are political analogies in India. Gandhi consciously opposed the communists as he suspected the struggle for independence if given to the communists would end up in revolutionary class struggle and the ruling classes which were backing Gandhi to the hilt would be undermined.
The Telugu intelligentsia masquerading as Tamil enthusiasts is scared that if the leadership of Tamil nationalism falls into the hands of Tamils the hegemony of Telugus would finally be thrown out.

DALITS AS BRAHMIN AGENTS

Finally, the Dalit leaders who are accused of toeing the Brahmins are Thirumavalavan, Sivakami, IAS, Ravi Kumar and others. In no way I approve the way Ravi Kumar has dealt the Periyar issue. Those who sit in their cushy homes and write about social and political alliances have no business to criticize those who are with the mass movements. I hasten to add that I do not advocate autocratic tendencies. I advocate that the Telugu protagonists keep quiet and do no harm to the fledging Tamil nationalism. If possible let them be part of the mass movement and contribute and keep aside those who assert Telugu hegemony.

Why Marathas hated Hinduism & embraced Shiv Dharma ?
PURUSHOTTAM KHEDEKAR, FOUNDER, MARATHA SEVA SANGH, B-9, RANA PRATAP MARG, QUEENS GARDEN, PUNE - 411 001

The declaration of Shiv Dharma has caused lot of agitation in the country, particularly Maharashtra. Some theocrats say that Hindu religion is ancient and it was the religion of our ancestors. They want us to stay in Hinduism "after removing the obnoxious traditions and customs". They say there is no need for a new religion. Religion is a system which makes human life happy and rich in contents. Any way of life that makes a human life happy, peaceful and prosperous can, therefore, be called a religion. Religion is the power that controls the passage of the human life. Religion directs a man in respect of his behaviour with other human beings. It also guides him in the matter of his conduct with relation to his own life.

WHAT IS RELIGION

The religion is a mirror of the thoughts, philosophy, festivals, art, literature, legends, customs, mutual relationship and beliefs of a particular society. It follows, therefore, as a natural corollary that any religion worth its name ought to be conducive to the development and happiness of the society.
There are many religions in the world as well as in India. The pertinent question here is whether our present religion stands true to the above tests of happiness, prosperity and peace. Should we not examine our present religion in this context? Should we not examine whether the religion which we are asked to be proud of is the religion of our making? Is it really the religion of our forefathers, as is alleged by some people? The task of seeking answers to these various questions is being done by the Maratha Seva Sang (MSS).

It is said the "majority religion" of the Indians is Hindu. If we are Hindu, have we been leading a life of peace, happiness and prosperity in the past centuries or now?
In fact, the very word Hindu is of a recent origin. It cannot be found in any "sacred" text of a period before 700 BC. Not only that. The priestly class does not tell us the exact meaning of the word Hindu. Its followers are divided into 6,500 castes and 75,000 subcastes. It is not explained why some of its sections have a feeling of superiority or inferiority against each other. Why different castes marry within the caste and why certain castes are denied entry into the Hindu temples.

WHY NO UPANAYAN FOR NON-BRAHMIN

The name of the founder of every other religion is known but not that of the Hindu. Why? The sacred book of every religion is open for study to all the followers of that religion but the sacred books like Vedas are not open to castes other than the Brahmin even today. Why? Every religion has an initiation ceremony for the new entrant or a new body e.g. sunnat in Islam, baptism in Christianity and diksha in others. How then upanayan (thread ceremony) is prohibited by the Hindu for the castes other than the Brahmin?

About 5,000 years ago, the Brahmin created a four-class social order. That order is called Chatur Varna. Excepting the Brahmin all other varnas have been insulted by this religion (in writings and practice).
Even the Hindu king, Chhatrapati Shivaji, was refused coronation by the Brahmins.

Shivaji's descendant, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, was not allowed to chant vedic mantras. The reasonwas they were shudras and hence had no right to worship or be worshipped in vedic tradition. A very recent example is of Pandarinath Patil of Chikhali dt., Buldhana. He was insulted for chanting the mantra, Omkar. Even today, all Sankaracharyas are Brahmin by caste.

GOD ON EARTH

The Brahmin position in the Hindu religion is that of a superman. All its temple priests are Brahmin. All the rituals of a man's life and even of the after-life can be carried out only by the Brahmin. The Brahmin regards himself as a god on the earth Ñ Bhoodevata.

They act as a go-between of the god and the human being. He is, therefore, the sole recipient of donations made to god. Even the king must make sumptuous and frequent donations to the Brahmin. The begging Brahmin is called Madhukari while the same done by another person is a despicable act. The king's power was always used by the Brahmins for their protection and prosperity. Even the present-day democracy (in India) has been converted into a theocracy or Brahminocracy by the Brahmins. That is how the Brahmin has tightened his grip on the political, financial, educational and media powers.

In 3250 BC, the Aryans entered India and after a prolonged fight with the natives i.e. Sindhu people, reconciled into a peaceful living. However, very soon they assumed total control of the Indian society through the medium of religion by introducing the varna system. The vanquished Sindhu people (working class) were placed in the shudra varna i.e. the lowest class. This class was robbed of all the human rights like education, property and arms. During this period, the Vedas were produced. The Vedas fortified the Chatur Varna system replacing the original Sindhu religion of the Indian people.

BAHUJAN SAMAJ ENSLAVED

However, this four-class system of exploitation of the Indians was further fortified by inventing the mechanism of the castes and subcaste system. The original glorious and prosperous Sindhu Sanskriti (the only one of C. 7000 BC) was destroyed and converted into the Vedic culture of the Aryans. The devices used were not the wars but far more dangerous like the beliefs of heaven and hell, sin and piety, re-birth, soul, god, moksha (escape from birth and death), customs, rituals, vedic origin, the smritis being seer's words and various legends of the puranic nonsense.

These contraptions worked so well for the Aryans that the Bahujan Samaj became totally submerged in the Dev, Daiva vad (fatlaism), superstitions, rituals, yagna and daily worship.

As a result, he became a mental and physical slave of the Brahmin. He started regarding the culture and religion of the enemy as his own, of his forefathers. Such a state continues even today. The life-style based on caste discrimination is the real basis of the Hinduism of today. It has been laid by the Aryan Brahmins to divide the strong Sindhu people's society.

As the Bahujan Samaj was denied education, property and arms by the cunning Brahmins, they became poor and helpless. They forgot their glorious culture of the Sindhu days. Poverty and non-education degraded the Bahujans so much that they readily accepted the fatalism and sins of the past life theory and also accepted the Brahmin as their saviour, their lord, their patron. The Brahmin propagated a sort of religious terror among the Bahujan and compelled the Bahujans to accept as gospel truth whatever he preached them. The ignorant Bahujan was cheated, looted and booted day in and day out from birth to death and even thereafter, by coercing him to do various penances, rituals and pujas through Brahmins. The Brahmin propagated that he was the bhoodev and any disobedience of his commands would bring god's wrath on the Bahujan's family, his entire lineage and also the religion. The Bahujan was gradually pushed into the hell of poverty and ignorance. Yet he regards Hinduism as his own religion and is prepared to lay his life in its defence. What a wonder.

HINDUISM REJECTS BROTHERHOOD

The entire ritual-oriented lifestyle of the Hindu, from birth to death, is controlled by the Brahmin. Days of doing anything important are chosen by referring to the birth chart or the position of the stars, by the Brahmin. No where else in the world the people consult the horoscope. Yet the Westerners reached the moon, the Indians, on the contrary, are only longing for its darshan in the sky. All ceremonies of the Hindus are conducted by the Brahmins charging a fat fee ÑÊbe it a ceremony of putting the child in the cradle or a naming ceremony or a house warming ceremony or a post-death ceremony because the Brahmins assert that it is so dictated by the Hindu religious texts. For getting a child, various yagnas are performed at the cost of sacrificing the animals and at the cost of time and wealth of the Bahujan Samaj. The Brahmin makes sure that no time and money are left with the Bahujan to study, to contemplate and to research any subject.

WHY SHIVA DHARMA?

It is proved by scores of thinkers that Hinduism is not the religion of the Bahujans Ñ the original inhabitants of India. The Vedic religion belongs to the Aryan Brahmins. Hinduism, which should correctly be pronounced as Sindhuism, is the name adopted by the Aryans for their Vedic religion to deceive the Indian masses. It has all the tricks in it to cheat the Bahujan who is not even aware of the exploitation that goes on for millennia in its name.

The Maratha Seva Sangh and the Bahujans are, therefore, rejecting Hinduism. Through the Shiva Dharma, the Bahujans of India raised a banner of revolt against Hinduism on the Jan.12, 2005 throughout the country.

What will be the form of the new religion? Its principles? What change it proposes in the life of the Indian masses? What is the source of its inspiration? What will be the way of life of the Shiv Dharma are some questions that are to be answered in this brief article.

REINCARNATION OF ORIGINAL CULTURE

Shiv Dharma is not a new religion. Its declaration is in fact a rediscovery of our original Sindhu religion which was badly disfigured by the Brahmins by pasting upon its face many layers of vermilion. Shiv Dharma is nothing but a renaming of the old Sindhu religion and culture that existed in India i.e. the Sindhustan before the advent of the Aryans. The Jan.12 ceremony translates the desire of the entire Bahujan into a reality of regaining their lost Sindhu religion.

Indus Civilization was the most advanced and the forerunner of all world civilizations. That the makers of this civilization were the forefathers of today's Bahujans has so many proofs. In the Sindhu, the people lived a high standard of material life and in total harmony. The period was the actual golden age of the humanity, not to speak of the Indian people.

If India is to regain that golden age and end the merciless exploitation of the Bahujans, then there is no alternative but to re-establish the Shiv Dharma.

We are going to re-establish our original culture with new vigour and new awareness. The manifestation of the original "Sindhu culture" is called Shiv Dharma.

As things stand today, it appears the Brahmins have succeeded in destroying the originality of the Bahujan and transplanting the Vedic religion on our brains. We declare today that we are the masters of this land, we are the original residents of this land. (Not only that. We are also the forefathers of the human kind). In fact, we should have been proud of our ancient heritage, our forefathers, their achievements in this country and abroad but the Hindu religion taught us to be proud of our enemy's achievements.

We are going to throw out the slave's pride planted in our mind by the Brahmin Dharma. By reviving the Shiv Dharma, we are going to restore the pride of place to our ancient agriculture, restore the pride due to our past heroes, study once again the literature of our thinkers and seek inspiration for nation-building from the Bahujan luminaries.

(Translation by P.S. Sadar, No.71, Kotwal Nagar, Nagpur - 440 022).

Brahminism as our Enemy No.1
Here is an important speech delivered by Purushottam Khedekar, a firebrand Maratha leader, at the historic Sindkheda ceremony on Jan.12, 2005 when over a lakh of angry Marathas, the ruling community of Maharashtra, quit Hinduism and embraced the new religion of Shiv Dharma after a belated realisation that they have become victims of Brahminism. DV has had a Debate on Shiv Dharma in which many Dalit intellectuals and even some Marathas joined. As expected the Brahminical toilet papers totally blocked out the news of thie Jan.12 event.

Since Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Father of India, has identified Brahminism as the principal contradiction which has to be fought first and eliminated, as Ambedkarites it is our duty to support any such endeavour. Dalits as the worst victims of Brahminism, it is our duty to support all such struggles fighting Brahminism which is also our Enemy No.1

The speech sums up the havoc caused by Brahminism on the people of India. If the ruling Marathas, Maharashtra's single largest and the most powerful caste, is made mince-meat by the Brahmins, we can well imagine the fate of Dalits, the lowest of the low.

The above speech published in the Marathi daily, Deshonnati, Nagpur, Jan.24, 2005, is translated to English by P.S. Sadar, a member of the DV family ÑÊEDITOR.