Respected Sri Thangaraj,
First of all thank you for declaring that you are not a Brahmin knowing full well that this is a forum for Brahmins (I am assuming you have read our mission statement).
I appreciate your honesty.
Thank you for the points you raised. I will try to answer them one by one. My responses are in maroon italics below.
With all respect I am writing this...
"Comparing with Bill Gates" good joke and another big joke is "no person in the world should be given a seat in an educational sphere or in a job just because of his birth" from N.Suresh.
Mr. Suresh you forgot that for centuries Brahmins and so called upper caste people denied education and basic rights to others based on the birth. Now you are talking that Brahmins are suppressed just because "considerable" numbers of deserved Brahmins were not able to enter the top education institution.
At the outset, I do not deny that there may be some truth in your statement that "Brahmins DENIED other castes the right to an education". But please also consider the following statements and decide for yourself if this statement represents the whole truth.
1. First of all, "upper caste" people as you have mentioned comprised of the "twice-born" castes - Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya - these are the castes technically eligible for wearing the sacred thread. So it baffles me that the term upper caste has become synonymous with Brahmins.
2. Brahmins traditionally were not Rajas (that was the job of Kshatriyas) but were people who worked in all sorts of advisory capacities. (If they had had such ultimate power then all Brahmins should be rich today. That is not the case. There is the entire range, starting from the super-rich entrepreneurs to the super-poor priests). So not all brahmins wound up as advisors to the king, many of them took to other lesser glamorous occupations too. This was the case when India still had kings.
Later different parts of the country were invaded by different kinds of invaders - the Muslims in the North, the French, Dutch in the South and eventually the English. Starting from the middle of the 14 th or 15 th century a good part of northern India was under Muslim rule - which (from my high school history) employed other Muslims as advisors, not Brahmins.
During the British rule, Brahmins were not employed in any decision making capacities because Indians were considered a 'lesser race' incapable of decision-making (remember the 'Dogs and Indians not allowed' signs during colonial India?) In other words, Brahmins were again not in a decision-making capacity. They employed them in civil service jobs which were largely maintenance-oriented work.
They have held other kinds of power such as winning the favor of the king or through scholarly achievements or prowess in arts - but never a collective decision-making power - the ultimate veto always rested with the king/powers that be.
Besides the Brahmins, like now, even then were never united as a community.
So to me, it appears that Brahmins never really controlled the 'fate' of other castes to the extent that it is made out to be.
3. Like I mentioned in another thread, the idea of education itself has undergone a huge change. It is only now, after the British, that education has come to mean a school/college-going kind of a training. Before that all Indian communities had different kinds of vocational training and that was considered education. Thus, a carpenter's son learnt carpentry, a goldsmith's son learnt to work with jewels, a farmer's son learnt to do farming etc. Similarly Brahmins did the job of working with scriptures, being advisors etc. During those times every caste was territorial about their occupation. A blacksmith could not change his profession and become a goldsmith. A carpenter would never be accepted as part of the community of farmers. Potters would not like weavers taking on their job. So the Brahmins were equally territorial about their portfolio.
With such a complicated history I am amazed that anybody can think that the Brahmins consciously devised a scheme to oppress other people. Were the dalits getting a bad end of the deal? Sure! But were Brahmins the only people doing it? The answer is a loud NO. Again was the entire community of Brahmins doing it? The answer is again a loud NO. There are stellar cases of people in the community who have spoken and acted in favor of being just. It is a pity that such examples are not being discussed today.
My answer can get much longer. But I want to express the idea that whatever 'social injustice' existed was not part of some kind of a planned campaign. But the hatred against Brahmins is part of a planned campaign. Today we have a specific case of a single community being singled out for a political purpose. Nobody is interested in considering that there could be another side to the story. This, to me, is a very sad state of affairs.
So the next time you feel like mentioning that 'Brahmins oppressed all other castes', if you feel like pausing a bit, I would have done my job.
I feel that Brahmins are not united for there own cause, they blame and curse on other community for getting quota, instead they should be united and ask for what they deserve.
I agree with you. The Brahmins have always been a very self-critical group of people which is why I think they do well but they are not united for that same reason.
And many Brahmins still have caste feeling (not only Brahmins) if the caste feelings and hate is still there, how can you ask to stop quota which is based on caste.
Good point. But first put yourself in the shoes of a Brahmin student/employee. When you have earned your position (whether through marks or job-related merits) and you know that your friend/colleague did not 'earn' his/her position like the way you did, will you feel like respecting that person? Will you not always feel that you are one cut above? The reservation system is basically telling the other castes that they will never be as good as the Brahmins so the only way for them to get opportunities is if the Brahmins are denied of opportunities. How do you expect Brahmins to respect other castes when they earn every inch of their merit and others don't? Moreover how do you expect hatred to go away when unearned positions are being given to undeserving candidates? Do you expect to see love and respect there?
If ever we have a system where the best person wins, I bet you that there will be a reversal of this feeling.
Bottomline, when you work hard for your life you want to know that others are working at least as hard/or deserve to be there in some way. When people feel that there is no sense of fairness and justice you can't expect to see positive feelings, no?
Touch your heart and tell the truth, don’t you all still feel that you are supreme and all other caste are "LOW" and they all don't deserver equal rights…… don't you.
Please see answer above and let me know if you have more questions.
Change yourself, server to all in the name of GOD, not to Brahmins alone. Treat and believe every human is equal. You will be given respect which you deserve.
There are several of our community members who have done that for generations. Several of us come from a fine, dedicated, service-oriented family tradition. We are living to see that none of those services have been recognized. Only the stupid things that some members did are being highlighted.
I am not a Brahmin, but I have many friends who are Brahmins, I respect them as they respect me.
Well, I am glad you have had a chance to experience some positive things from the community.
Regards,
Chintana
