Udhayanidhi’s ‘Eradicate Sanatan Dharma’ Call is What Periyar, Ambedkar Sought
By
Ram Puniyani for New Age Islam
08 Sep 2023
India
should look at how long caste has perpetrated itself, not at the words used to
criticise an unjust system.
Hinduism is
not a prophet-based religion, neither does it have a single book, nor is the
word Hindu part of holy scriptures. This gives enough leeway to different
interpreters and reformers to attribute diverse meanings to what Hindu religion
stands for, even to the extent of defining it as not a religion but “way of
life”. As such, it is a collation of diverse tendencies which can broadly be
grouped under Brahmana (Vedic, Manusmriti, with caste and gender hierarchy at
the base) and the Shramanic (Nath, Tantra, Bhakti, Shaiva, Siddhanta)
traditions.
The word
Sanatan has been in use for “eternal religions”. The word Dharma is also
supposed to be not easy to translate into English. It broadly stands for many
things, the chief being religiously ordained duty. It also stands for spiritual
order, sacred laws, the totality of social, ethical and spiritual harmony. In
his book Why I am a Hindu, Shashi Tharoor points out that Dharma can also be
defined as “that by which we live”.
Intricacies
apart, the word Sanatan Dharma has been used for Hinduism, particularly its
Brahminical version, which upholds caste and gender hierarchy. This is what BR
Ambedkar meant when he said that Hinduism is Brahminical theology. Hinduism is
the root of Hindutva or Hinduness, which has manifested as Hindu nationalist
politics. It, too, upholds Manusmriti and thereby the traditional caste
hierarchy. In a way, Sanatan Dharma today stands for the caste hierarchy.
This is the
backdrop against which we need to understand Udhayanidhi’s call to “eradicate
Sanatan Dharma”. The Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister of Tamil
Nadu, and son of MK Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and DMK leader, comes
from the tradition of Periyar Ramasamy Naicker, the pioneer of the Self Respect
Movement, which calls for caste equality and eradication of patriarchy. He was
scathingly critical of Brahminical norms, which dominated society. Just before
him, Ambedkar had overseen the burning of Manusmriti by his colleague Bapusaheb
Sahastrabuddhe. As per Ambedkar, this text is the repository of caste
inequalities. Ambedkar, pained by the hold of Brahmanism over society—now
referred to as Sanatan Dharmic values—declared in Yeola, “I was born a Hindu;
that was not in my hands, but I will not die a Hindu.”
Udhayanidhi
has now said that Sanatan Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name
of caste and religion…” He is merely repeating what Periyar and Ambedkar have
said in their own ways. On his use of the words Sanatan Dharma, BJP
spokesperson Amit Malaviya tweeted, “Udhayanidhi Stalin... has linked Sanatan
Dharma to malaria and dengue…In short, he is calling for genocide of 80%
population of Bharat who follow Sanatan Dharma.”
Malaviya is
not only twisting what Udhayanidhi Stalin has said, he is also confirming that
Hinduism is synonymous with Sanatan Dharma today.
Fact is,
Udhayanidhi’s call is a call to eradicate caste and not people—and that is the
spirit in which his remark has been popularly seen as well. When Ambedkar calls
for the annihilation of caste, he does not call for genocide. Therefore,
Ambedkar’s intentions and Udhayanidhi’s aspirations are the same. BJP leaders
appear to be twisting his statement deliberately, since the DMK is part of the
INDIA alliance of Opposition parties.
Home
Minister Amit Shah has said in public meetings that the Congress party has
disrespected Indian culture and Udhayanidhi’s words amount to “hate speech”.
Truth is, talking about the annihilation of a system of inequality cannot be
hate speech. What has been said is in tune with what Ambedkar and Periyar
said—the main point being that Brahmanical Hinduism is presenting itself as
Sanatan Dharma.
When Gandhi
struggled to unite the country and worked against the practice of
untouchability, he identified himself with Sanatan Dharma and Hinduism. For a
few years after 1932, Gandhi made it his primary goal to work against
untouchability, and pursue the rights of Dalits to enter temples. The diverse
religious traditions of India, such as Buddhism, also identified themselves as
Sanatan or everlasting. Today, the dominant tendency pursued by the RSS is to
promote the word Sanatan for Hinduism to create a mix of Brahmanism and
nationalism. Udhayanidhi, therefore, has deployed strong symbolism to explain
the evils of the caste order. The charge of hate speech would not apply to the
abolition of values that support caste hierarchy.
BJP leaders
and spokespersons are trying to use Udhayanidhi’s statements as a pretext to
attack the Congress party and the INDIA alliance without any substantive
argument. To say that the Congress party never respected Indian culture is to
level an empty charge merely for political mileage. The Congress party was part
of a movement that united all Indians under the umbrella of Indian identity,
while retaining respect for cultural differences. At the same time, it promoted
reforms in society.
Shah has
said of late that the Opposition wants power at any cost. “You have been
disrespecting Sanatana Dharma and the culture and history of this country,” he
said.
Fact is,
India’s national movement upheld the best aspects of Indian culture as first
prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in The Discovery of India, “She [India]
was like some ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and
reverie had been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer had completely hidden
or erased what had been written previously.”
The problem
is not with the parties constituting the INDIA alliance. The problem is with
the BJP and company, for whom culture is merely a Brahminical past and
everything that comes with it.
Indeed, the
caste system has persisted for too long. The struggles of Ambedkar, Periyar and
even Gandhi were great beginnings but were arrested halfway through—and some
gains were reversed over the last three decades. The time has come to
annihilate caste rather than bicker over the terminology used.
Truly, the
word Sanatan has had a long journey. Starting with its use in Buddhism, Jainism
and finally finding its place in the Manusmriti, it has come to symbolise
Brahminical Hinduism in the present times. Rather than nit-picking and making
it a political issue, we need reforms for a society with equality, in tune with
the Constitution of India. Besides, to be perfectly clear, Udhayanidhi’s
remarks are not those of the INDIA coalition—whether the BJP can make it an
election issue remains to be seen. Let us remember it did try to use Bajrang
Bali in Karnataka, and fell on its face.
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Ram Puniyani is a human rights activist. The
views are personal.
Source: Udhayanidhi’s ‘Eradicate Sanatan
Dharma’ Call is What Periyar, Ambedkar Sought
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