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Singhal is crazy!

Ashok Singhal has finally proven what many suspected. He is stark-raving crazy! What other description would you use to describe a man who claims that Amartya Sen winning the Nobel in economics is a "Christian conspiracy"? Unfortunately, if it were just that, then it is a matter eminently worth forgetting. But Singhal exercises some control over a couple of organisations and many Hindus actually believe him.

Amartya Sen had declared that part of his prize money would be given to charity for primary education. Our ignoble Vishwa Hindu Parishad president then declares that this would allow Christian missionaries to go on a conversion spree within India. Our poor, illiterate tribals' faith in Hinduism is at risk and this must not be allowed, thunders this unworthy.

Does he mean that India's poorest of the poor, the most depressed of the depressed, be denied education because educating them means that they MIGHT convert to another faith? Does this mean that to prevent conversion, we must not allow any education work within our country? Is this what the VHP wants? To keep the depressed people forever depressed, to deny them education and health just so that they remain Hindus forever?

For the record, millions of illiterate people have changed faiths, and will continue to do so if they so desire. Educated persons are more likely to comprehend that changing faith alone will not solve their social, economic, political and religious ills.

Now, will the VHP promise to provide education to India's 230 million tribals and dalits (68 per cent of who are uneducated against the national average of 48 per cent)? Will the VHP provide education and primary health care to tribals who live in areas that no one wants to visit? Why are there so few Hindu missionaries spreading literacy, education and making the tribals and dalits aware of their rights? Is it because few so-called upper castes really care for the dalits and tribals anyway, whom prejudiced Hindus view as unclean and impure?

This is not to deny the good work being carried out by many persons and organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh among the dalits and tribals. Many or most of them are Hindu persons and groups working among India's most deprived sections out of a sheer sense of calling. One must add that it is the same for many of the missionaries who educate and provide health care to tribals and the poor in remote areas. Certainly, many of these tribals do "convert" to Christianity, some for pecuniary reasons, some out of a sense of gratitude, and some because it is the only faith they can identify with in the absence of strong links to Hinduism.

This is so because, in the first place, the tribals are not Hindus as we understand Hinduism. Their beliefs are animist and naturalist. And given that their own faith is nothing more than a set of beliefs, conversion is not difficult. If the VHP and others (including the RSS) want them to adhere to the Hindu faith, then they will have to go to these most remote areas, to these people, and convince them of the benefits of being Hindus. Because in today's marketplace of religions, a person will only join a religion that gives him certain benefits, such as equality, liberty, fraternity, and justice.

Unfortunately, here again Hinduism, as practised by the more orthodox and conservative, suffers. Millions of Hindus today do not believe in caste or in some of the worst practices of our religion. But many of the people who join the VHP (or the Bajrang Dal and sister outfits) are often from more conservative and orthodox families. Their version of Hinduism retains some of the religion's most obnoxious practises, including the caste system that puts the tribals and dalits at the very bottom of the religion.

Let us be very clear about one thing. This cannot continue forever. Mahatma Gandhi had once warned: 'If Hinduism is to survive, casteism will have to disappear; if casteism stays, Hinduism will disappear.' As more and more people get educated and become aware of their rights (or even without education), they will question and rebel against this horrendous system of social inequality. Is this why Singhal does not want them educated? And yet, to quote the Mahatma again, 'casteism is an attitude problem of the so-called upper castes'.

It is the upper castes who believe they are superior to the dalits and tribals and seek to limit their interaction with the latter. It is the upper castes who need to be educated, especially in the small towns and villages where casteism still rules. But the VHP will not do that, because in doing so, it will go against the beliefs of its very followers and constituents. Thus, the VHP carries out only some token programmes. The RSS is, no doubt, doing some work among the lower castes and in the tribal regions, but who is seeking to change the mindset of the brahminical castes?

Yet, none of this is beyond repair. All Hinduism needs is a set of dedicated men and women to go out and annihilate the caste system. Hinduism needs people willing to repudiate caste completely and declare as wrong the Hindu beliefs and rituals that accept and differentiate between castes. It needs a willingness to challenge caste values; promote inter-caste marriages especially the dalit-brahmin kind; conduct equal upanayan ceremonies on all Hindus; rewrite the great epics that promote casteism; and so on. It needs reformers to tell the brahmin that he has no privileges of birth, to allow any aspiring dalit to become the chief priest of the Tirupati, Jagannath and other temples. To state and practise that all are equal.

Now sample this. The VHP conducts "purification" ceremonies on the so-called lower castes. Purification? What does this mean? With such a mindset, can such men work among the tribals and the dalits, whom they consider the "most impure". I would have thought that all those so-called upper caste men who believe in caste are impure. They need to be purified of such thoughts. But try telling the VHP that. One can only hope that an organisation dedicated to truly reformed Hinduism, and not just purifying dalits and tribals, comes up soon.

Instead of abusing the missionaries, Singhal would do well to destroy Hinduism's weaknesses so that no one is ever tempted to see the cross as representing his own crucifixion. Educating the dalits and tribals can actually help Hinduism flourish because then they will learn to assert their rights, seek equality within the Hindu faith, practise the better aspects of the religion, and refuse to tolerate upper caste prejudice.

Singhal should actually follow Amartya Sen's advice to provide primary education for everyone, especially each and every poor tribal and dalit in the hills and jungles and remote villages. It will be Singhal's greatest service to Hinduism and India.

EARLIER COLUMNS:
• The BJP must abandon its extreme right loony fringe to be a viable alternative
• The Hindu rightwing has never represented, nor does it represent the true Hindu ethos

Amberish K Diwanji