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HomeOpinionReligious fanaticism won’t end without addressing caste. Hyderabad Dalit’s death shows again

Religious fanaticism won’t end without addressing caste. Hyderabad Dalit’s death shows again

Religion has always been the beauty of Indian society and not a problem, as some sections portray.

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A Dalit Hindu man was murdered recently in broad daylight for marrying a Muslim woman of Sayyid Muslim caste. It is being said that the man was even willing to convert to Islam but the woman’s family did not accept him because of his Dalit status. The chilling incident is reflective of the depth of casteism in the country, prevalent in all religions. But some people are only stressing on the communal angle of this incident, trying to give this episode an only Hindu-Muslim angle.

Time and again, communalism has been used by the ruling classes as a means to protect and promote power and supremacy.  These people preserve their seat of power at the cost of enormous loss of life and property of common people, by inciting sentiments in the name of religion, by creating enmity among them and even by sponsoring riots. India has already witnessed the most horrific result of the politics of bigotry — Partition.

Despite all this, religion has always been the ‘beauty’ of Indian society and not a problem, as some sections portray. In no other country in the world so many religions, sects and beliefs co-exist in an equally valid and accepted form. And there is freedom and space for the birth and nurture of new sects and beliefs. In a nutshell, Indian society has always been tolerant on religion. The common people have always respected even those forms of religion, faith, beliefs, and sects that are contrary to their own faith, and they continue to do so even today. In general, it has been a common practice for a believer of one religion to visit religious establishments of another, to participate in their fasts and festivals and to take part in their marriage rituals.


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Casteism, however, is the basic problem with India. It has existed since time immemorial. Daily experiences around us and frequent reports of discrimination are an indicator. A person might change his religion but the caste does not leave them. A Mehtar (scavenger/sanitary worker) might convert from Hinduism to Islam where they get a more pleasing nomenclature of Halalkhor (one who earns in the righteous way), but neither can they get rid of their caste-related work — of cleaning, carrying human excreta on head, scavenging — nor do they get any respite from the tyranny of discrimination. Even in their new religion, they are treated as inferiors. They have to build separate mosques to remember their Allah and even if they, somehow, manage to get a place in the main mosques, they are relegated to the back rows. Caste does not leave their shadows even in death as they face discrimination in burials. Caste-based graveyards are a proof. A conversion to Sikhism or Christianity also don’t end the woes of those belonging to the lower castes. Their name might change to a “Danish” or “David” or “Dasmesh” from “Dinesh”, but their exploitation continues. Some don’t even get the liberty to change names and continue to live as a “Jhameli” or “Fekan” or “Ghurahu”.

Tariq Gujjar has rightly narrated this ordeal:

Kitne Gautam Aaye

To kitne Bhagat – Kabir.

Kitne Nanak Dekh liye,

To Kitne Miyan- Meer.

Kitne Kalime padh liye,

Liye Kitne Majhab Badal,

Kaise-Kaise raqt se

Li apni jaati rangaa,

Charo Mausam Hamari Ghat Me,

Hamari Hi tohMen Har rut,

Hame Eisa ke ghar li panah

Fir bhi rahe kaput  

Hum shudra, dalit, harijan

Hum Kevat, Valmiki, Bheel.

Yah Jag Tamasha Jhootha sa,

Hum sach samajhkar khele khel,

Hamara Ambar se bhai-pattidari ka jhagda,

Hamri hi sautan yaar jameen,

Hum isi ke beech hain bhatakte

Hum kammi yaar kameen.

(Translated from original Punjabi to Hindi by Muhammad Irfan Urfi)

After facing centuries of discrimination, the sufferers revolted against this social evil. In this struggle, many thinkers and reformers tried to break the back of ‘casteism’. Kabir, Nanak, Jyotiba Phule, Bhimrao Ambedkar and Asim Bihari are prominent among them.


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Religious conversion by deprived castes was part of the larger fight being fought against casteism. By leaving the religion of the tyrannical ruling class and by strengthening their resistance, they carried forward their call of ‘eradication of caste’. In this process, some changed their religion but carried their ‘civilisation and culture’ to the new faith while some chose to fully adopt the civilisation and culture of the new religion. However, the bitter truth is that despite moving to adopt all kinds of religions, no religion adopted them.

The goal of ‘caste eradication’ from Indian society has not been fully achieved. While some progress has been made by Hindu society, among Muslims, there is total inertia. But the irony is that instead of talking about the total abolition of caste, people are being kept entangled by stressing that religion as the biggest problem.

If India has to get rid of ‘religious fanaticism’ and preserve the notions of social harmony, then establishing a social justice system that eliminates ‘casteism’ prevalent in all religions is the only way out. That is why it is important for the deprived and the oppressed across religions, who account for about 85 per cent of the total population, to make themselves available to fight and eliminate casteism. They should also be ready to oppose the ill-fated attempts by communal people to distract from the real issue.

Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie is author, translator, columnist, media panelist, social activist, and medical doctor by profession. Views are personal.

Translated by Ram Lal Khanna from the original in Hindi and edited by Anurag Chaubey.

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