It's nothing but the cause-effect relationship between Brahmins, and caste system and inequality. Being so central to Dravidian Propaganda, this post too, shall be long :(.
Pls watch this short clip. Suba. Veerapandian says that Hinduism and caste system are inseparable. Because, apparently, caste system originates from the Purusha Sukta of Rig Veda, which is supposed to be the 1st Veda, or the most important. A few observations:-
- None of the vedas, puranas and other scriptures they list out mention the word 'jati', or specify that jati, or varna is determined and fixed at birth.
- AFAIK, none of the source mention the word 'dalit' or the various words for 'untouchable', too. They have only 4 varnas.
- Even otherwise, just like the agamas of Tamil Nadu, scriptures were all written by Man. A scripture cannot stop you from sitting or walking in a particular place. Scriptures are inanimate. Saying "caste/inequality came from XYZ scripture/book/group" is fundamentally an unintelligent argument.
But then...we have to take cognizance of one thing here. There are real problems in Indian society. Real problems of jati, patriarchy, untouchability, etc. Discussing these problems is one thing, discussing them with Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai (Dravidian) movement is another thing. It is futile to discuss all this with them because they do not really care about eradication of caste or inequality. Nagarathar-Vellalar, a.k.a. Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai, a.k.a 'Dravidian' Movement uses "Annihilation/opposition of caste system' only as a euphemism, or code word, for its ugly ugly Brahmin hate.
So, acknowledging existence of caste system and disenfranchisement does not make their hate Ok. It does not automatically mean that their Brahmin hate is justified. We have to question their means to the end, and question their fundamental reading of the problems on the ground. Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai (Dravidian) Movement said :-
All problems are created by Caste System.
Brahmins created Caste System.
Ergo, Brahmins are the cause for all the problems in tamil society.
This is basic processor of Dravidian Propaganda. All our arguments will be sucked into a whirlpool, and subject to this input->output process. They will acknowledge the existence of your problems, and jump from there to "yes yes yes yes, see, caste comes from..."
According to this lemurian system, the feeling that "my caste is superior to other castes" is defined as "Brahminism", or, parpaneeyam, or aariyam (aryanism), because this feeling "that my caste is superior" originated from the brahmins. And as long as this Brahminism existed among Brahmins alone, the problem was manageable. But then, at one point, this feeling of "my caste is superior" trickled down to the others too, and thus, a hierarchy was created. The result of the trickling down of this feeling to others was that the whole society became casteist, and a hierarchical. According to this system, 'Brahminism', or parpaneeyam, is a synonym for 'caste system'. This was done by British authors too, equating caste and hinduism and 'brahmanism', but in error, not malice, like Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai movement.. They thought of caste system as a fetish of the hindu society. It is not so. Caste was not a deliberate creation of some group of people. Caste exists everywhere.
Please watch below clip.
He says Brahmins are responsible for the casteism of Chettiar, Mudaliar, Pillai. Btw, Suba. Veerapandian, the bad cop, is chettiar, and Madan Ravichandran, the good cop, is Mudaliar. Even assuming that scriptures spoke and dictated jati, and its affixation at birth, isn't it wrong to blame Brahmins alone for it? It is absurd to say that "the feeling that 'my caste is superior' originated from Brahmins".
Let's assume Brahmins postulated caste, and people accepted it. But are Brahmins alone to blame? What about those other people? Would we accept something if we did not find use in it, if we don't want it ourself?
Even assuming the scriptures set down jati, and that Brahmins did it, it is not right to blame Brahmins alone. The blame must be distributed equally. Actually, it should be more skewed towards the dominant non-Brahmins, WHO ARE THE ONES DOING THE BRAHMIN HATE, in TN!
So, there exists no direct cause-effect relationship between Brahmins, holy scriptures, and the caste system that is the reality. Caste system did not spring from religion and holy scriptures, but leans on them. To blame Brahmins alone is atrocious. Chettiar, Mudaliar, Pillai only used this as a respectable and morally-justified veneer for their own personal, ugly Brahmin hate.
This is the first part. The Brahmin hate of Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai (Dravidian) Movement stands on loose ground.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is far harder to counter. All of Dravidian Movement's stuff is from Ambedkar. The transfer was arranged by the British. Ambedkar himself was molded by the British, but he has a far greater degree of honesty and objectivity.
BRA doesn't say "Brahmins created caste system". He is not so dumb. He says 'caste exists everywhere, but Brahmins made it more rigid by becoming endogamous. This was imitated by other castes in line. This affected fluidity of caste system'.
Fair point. Now, he himself says that imitation of behavior and customs of people in higher social status is a universal behavior. Anyways, my response to that point would be :-
- There is no proof that Brahmins became endogamous first. Dr. BRA doesn't substantiate his claims.
- Even today, a huge % of marriages in the Islamic world are consanguineous, meaning, within immediate blood relations. Right from Saudi Arabia to Iran/Iraq, to Pakistan. Pakistan is supposed to have highest % of consanguineous marriages. There's a custom in Pak called 'watta satta'. -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watta_satta. "The custom involves the simultaneous marriage of a brother-sister pair from two households...". If you think about it, consanguinity is one or many notches above the caste system on the endogamy scale. We know about anti-miscegenation laws in the USA. Even today, only 15% of the marriages in USA are inter-racial/ethnic. In India, consanguinity is highest in south.
- I believe endogamy or miscegenation is a function of population density and diversity. Casteism is a derivative of racism, and human beings are all casteist, and race-ist, as a rule. It's not a choice that we can make. I do not believe that castes became endogamous became Brahmins became so. I think endogamy is a different phenomenon altogether, and I believe that society became endogamous as a whole, at a particular time frame. Resistance to racial mixing, and, eagerness to it, are general human traits. Resistance of those whose genes put them in a good place, and eagerness of those whose genes put them in a lower grade in society. I believe endogamy is governed by natural factors.
So, neither did Brahmins 'create' a caste system, nor could they (alone) have made it more rigid. I will try to dig for more points/debates to substantiate the latter point. Caste system is not something that can be 'created', whether by Brahmins, or by anybody, using some set of scriptures, or rules. That is fundamentally an absurd notion. Further, it was never the intention of Chettiar-Mudaliar-Pillai (Dravidian) Movement to end caste system, or to ameliorate it. They need caste the most, and it might seem contradictory, but they need 'Brahmin' and his superiority in caste ladder the most. They have kept notions of Brahmin superiority alive by attacking it! Its a love-hate relationship.
Just want to impress upon the fact that we have to deal with 2 things : The caste/inequality problem, and 'caste/inequality problem, the chettiar-mudaliar-pillai (dravidian) way'! Need to question their earnestness to solve the problem, and their means to end/ameliorate caste system.
