Untouchability
The problem is that it is inherited at birth and refuses to
let go even in death. In our country, one may not even touch a dead man from
another community. Caste is an echelon that can’t be erased. What you’re stuck
with, you’re stuck with. The second property is, in my country caste is not
just about bloodlines, it is also about feudal hierarchies. In my country, when
all arguments fail, caste is the only argument. Even so many years after independence
caste runs rife in the hinterland. We are divided by castes. Unless we can
eradicate this, the secularism that my constitution seeks, that socialism, we
shall never attain. The constitution
says that you are citizens of only India. You are not a citizen of Assam or others
states. It is India. Your citizenship isn’t demarcated by caste. You are merely
Citizen of India. Now I ask, do you see anywhere a true Indian citizen? I am
searching. But I cannot find. I shall tell you why. The reason is, we have
loved this soil. It is necessary to love the country, the motherland. But that
isn’t enough. Because country is conceived as a geography of regions, rivers,
their boundaries. A nation is made up of its peoples, citizens and is conceived
as the daily plebiscite of its people to live together. When the many peoples
decide to co-exist, to share joys and sorrows, a nation rises. My country has
never become a nation, that is my pain. After independent till today, it has
not come to be seen such a nation. Gandhi ji used to call it the individual
code of conduct. One must being with his own life. To remind you, one of the
symbols of Gandhi’s movement was the broom. The spinning wheel was the symbol
of productivity and labour. The broom as a symbol aimed at eradicating social
disparity. In our country, those who spread filth sit entrenched. Those who
clean up are rare. Gandhi’s philosophy was, let the Brahmin also clean toilets.
And if the Bhagavad Gita reaches the Dalit, the caste system will be
eradicated.
What to be solution??
One must forego the legacies inherited from biological
accident. Never ask a man’s caste. Never speak about your caste. A friendship
is the biggest spiritual element. In a friendship, you do not look at caste or
religion. If on the basis of caste or religion you wish to be more equal, you can never be a
citizen, nor can you be humane, forget friendship. I think it is a slur on
humanity. One more thing, you must stop going to temples. Why will you go where
a Dalit isn’t let in? what kind of a God will abhor men? You are going through
life to reserve berths in heaven. If living with me is so terrible and the
place you desire is heaven, then in all politeness, why not go where your place
is reserved soon enough?
You must have the power to forge equality where inequity
exists. May God give you the good sense and resolve to do this. What kind of country will I leave for
grandchildren or next generation? Will casteism mar their lives too? Will this
iniquity still exist? Will they still stand divided? Those are my worries. Mind
it, you need not use might to fight. Yes, you need the strength within. If fear
is on your mind, cast it away. Because
Fear is the dark room where only negatives are developed.
