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 Response by tamilnation.org, 10 June 2006
Dr.Ranganathan says
" after reading your article "Caste & the Tamil
Nation - Dalits, Brahmins & Non Brahmins", I
was shocked and saddened to find that it is far from
what your Mission Statement claims. It was
venomous, vindictive, vitriolic and vituperative."
Our Mission Statement says
"This Site exists to nurture the
growing
togetherness of more than 70 million
Tamil people, living in many lands and across distant
seas - a growing togetherness rooted in a shared
heritage, a rich language and literature, and
a vibrant culture - a growing togetherness
consolidated by struggle and suffering
and given fresh impetus by the digital
revolution - a growing togetherness given purpose
and direction by a determined will to live in equality, in
freedom and in peace with their fellow beings and
meaningfully contribute to an emerging one
world, unfolding from matter to life to mind
..."
And to this Mission we are committed. We
agree that the Aryan Invasion Theory and the
'Aryan/Dravidian divide' has been increasingly questioned
by many researchers. Dinesh Agrawal's essay on the Demise of
the Aryan Invasion Theory has appeared at this website
from the date of its launch. Again, Navaratna S. Rajaram and Davis Frawley have
also explored the question in their Vedic
"Aryans" and the Origins of Civilization: A Literary and
Scientific Perspective. We do not seek to found Tamil
nationalism on the basis of the Aryan invasion theory -
nor for that matter, on notions of race. A nation is
not a race. To assert that it
is, would be to be found a nation on elusive (and often
non existent) physical characteristics - something akin
to that which Adolf Hitler attempted in Germany with his
'Aryan' theory - and blue eyed blondes. A nation is a
togetherness
"... rooted in the past and which has grown through a process of
differentiation and opposition. It
is not nature or nurture - but, it is
both. It is a togetherness given
expression in a distinct language and a culture
but it is not simply a
cultural togetherness. Neither is
it simply an economic togetherness. It
is a political togetherness concerned both with the
structure and the exercise of
power in a world frame."
As we have mentioned, the page "Caste & the Tamil
Nation - Dalits, Brahmins & Non Brahmins"
contains articles written by many different authors and
expressing different points of view. We felt that an open
forum which gave expression to the different points of
view on the caste issue which has divided the Tamil
people for so long and which has worked against the
growth of an over riding Tamil togetherness, would
further our mission. At the same time, our own view on
Periyar appears in the Tamil Heritage page and we
quote:
" But, in the end, Periyar E.V.Ramasamy,
the undoubted father of the Dravidian movement failed
to deliver on the promise of Dravida Nadu. E.V.R.
failed where Mohamed Ali Jinnah succeeded. It is true
that the strategic considerations of the ruling
colonial power were different in each case - and this
had something to do with Jinnah's success. But,
nevertheless, if ideology is concerned with moving a
people to action, the question may well be asked: why
did E.V.R's ideology fail to deliver Dravida
Nadu?
Two aspects may be usefully
considered. One was the attempt of the Dravida movement
to encompass Tamils, Malayalees, Kannadigas and all
Dravidians and mobilise them behind the demand for
Dravida Nadu. Unsurprisingly, the attempt to mobilise
across what were in fact separate national formations
failed to take off.
It was one thing to found a
movement which rejected casteism. It was quite another
thing, to mobilise peoples, speaking different
languages with different historical memories, into an
integrated political force in support of the demand for
Dravida Nadu...
...That was not all. E.V.R
extended his attack on casteism to an attack on
Hinduism - and indeed to all religions as well. Periyar
threw out the Hindu child with the Brahmin bath
water.
E.V.R was
right to extol the virtues of pahuth arivu, common
sense. He was right to attack mooda nambikai, foolish
faith. His rationalism was often a refreshing response
to religious dogma and superstition. His attack on
casteism, his social reform movement and his Self
Respect Movement in the 1920s infused a new dignity,
thanmaanam, amongst the Tamil people and laid the
foundations on which Tamil nationalism has
grown. The Iyer Heritage Site (which
appears to be no longer functional) served to show that
even in the present day the self perception of at least
some Brahmins is that they are "Aryans".
It was the pioneering work of
EVR that led to the growth of the Dravida
Munetra Kalagam (DMK) led by
C.N.Annadurai and later by M.Karunanidhi, to the
All
India Dravida Munetra Kalagam led by
M.G.Ramachandran and the Marumalarchi Dravida
Munetra Kalagam (MDMK) led by V.Gopalasamy.
But, having said that, the
refusal of EVR to recognise that casteism was one
thing, Hinduism another and spiritualism, perhaps, yet
another, proved fatal. His belligerent atheism failed
to move the Tamil people. In the result even within
Tamil Nadu, EVR's Dravida Kalagam became marginalised,
and the DMK which was an offshoot of the Dravida
Kalagam and the ADMK which was an offshoot of the DMK,
both found it necessary to play down the anti religious
line and adopt instead a 'secular' face. One
consequence of EVR's atheism was that spirituality in
Tamil Nadu came to be exploited as the special preserve
of those who were opposed to the growth of Tamil
nationalism.
Furthermore, the
anti-Brahmin movement tended to ignore the many caste
differences that existed among the non-Brahmin Tamils
and failed to address the oppression practised by one
non-Brahmin caste on another non-Brahmin caste. It is
a failure that continues to haunt the Tamil national
movement even today. Caste divides and fragments the
togetherness of the Tamil people.
Support for the positive
contributions that E.V.R. made in the area of social
reform and to rational thought, should not prevent an
examination of where it was that he went wrong. Again,
it may well be that E.V.R. represented a necessary
phase in the struggle of the Tamil people and given the
objective conditions of the 1920s and 1930s, E.V.R was
right to focus sharply on the immediate contradiction
posed by 'upper' caste dominance and mooda nambikai.
But in the 21st century, there may be a need to learn
from E.V.R. - and not simply repeat that which he said
or did."
Dr.Ranganathan says
" I am also against the caste system,
an evil afflicting our society. If the government is
serious, it should completely eliminate the caste
system and shouldn't ask people about their
castes."
Whilst we have some understanding of the
sentiments that Dr.Ranganathan expresses, the words of
Dee Hock in The Art of Chaordic
Leadership may also be relevant -
"..A vital question is how to insure
that those who lead are constructive, ethical, open,
and honest. The answer is to follow those who behave in
that manner. It comes down to both individual and
collective sense of where and how people choose to be
led. In a very real sense, followers lead by choosing
where to be led. Where an organizational community will
be led is inseparable from the shared values and beliefs of its
members..."
And it is to those 'shared values and
beliefs' that we may need to direct attention. Gandhi was
unable to abolish caste and it is not likely that a
Government will be able to do so by issuing an edict to
that effect. There may be a need to invest more in
primary schools and education in the villages and so on.
And until that equality in opportunity is achieved, there
may be a need to continue with calibrated measures to
prevent further oppression. Admittedly striking the right
balance is no easy task.
Dr.Ranganathan points out -
"Take two people in Tamil Nadu; one a
Brahmin and the other not. Look at them; they both
pretty much look the same; you cannot tell the
difference. Even if there were Aryans, what we have
today is a mixture of Aryan-Dravidian and there is no
such pure Dravidian, except for the Todas and the
Irulas."
This may well be true but at the same
time we may want to recognise the stigma attached to
inter caste marriages and recognise that the 'mixing' may
not have been widespread.
Dr. Ranganathan goes on to asks several
questions and we shall endeavour to respond to each of
them as best as we can.
Q. Why are you not considering the
Brahmins also as Tamils? We may have different
lifestyles; yet we ALL are Tamils.
A. We agree entirely and we do consider
Brahmin Tamils are Tamils
Q. Why are you always singling out the
Brahmins for all the atrocities of the past? In fact,
there were more atrocities committed by other higher
castes than Brahmins.
A. We do not single out the 'Brahmins
for all the atrocities of the past.' We agree that the
other so called higher castes have committed many
atrocities and given the larger number of the so called
higher castes, the atrocities too may well have been
more.
Q. How come you don't give credit to
thousands of Brahmins who fought against castes and for
the advancement of the lower castes? I can name Rajaji,
Mr. Vaidyanatha Iyer (of freedom movement) of Madurai,
to name a few famous ones; there were hundreds of them
who were not in the limelight.
A. We have given credit to many
Brahmins who fought against caste divisions and that
includes for instance V.V.S.Aiyar despite the controversial
Gurukulam affair.
Q. You don't mention about the "Tamil
Thaatha", Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer; the great Tamil
Poet, Bharatiyar; all my Tamil teachers in High school
were Brahmins who loved the Tamil Language and
sacrificed lucrative careers to pursue a poorly paid
teaching job in Tamil.
A. We do refer to Subramaniya Bharathi in our Literature
section and to Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer in our
Heritage section and we have paid tribute to the
contribution that Dr. U. V. Swaminatha Iyer made. We
quote -
" Swaminatha Aiyar spent a lifetime
researching and collecting many of the palm leaf
manuscripts of the classical period and it is to him
that we owe the publication of Cilapathikaram, Manimekali, Puranuru, Civakachintamani and
many other treatises which are a part of the rich
literary heritage of the Tamil people. "
And about Bharathi we have said -
" Bharathi was a
vigorous campaigner against casteism. He wrote in
'Vande Matharam' :
ஜாதி
மதங்களைப்
பாரோம் -
உயர்
ஜன்மம்இத்
தேசத்தில்
எய்தின
ராயின்
வேதிய
ராயினும்
ஒன்றே -
அன்றி
வேறு
குலத்தின
ராயினும்
ஒன்றே
We shall not look at
caste or religion, All human beings in this land
- whether they be those who preach the vedas or who
belong to other castes - are one."
Q. How come the so-called Tamilians are
not reading the beautiful and pure Tamil poetries sung
by the Alwars and the Nayanmars.
A. We ourselves cannot speak for the
'so called Tamilians.' But tamilnation.org
has included in its pages the songs of the Alwars and the
Nayanmars. In this connection our page on
Spirituality and the Tamil Nation may
also be of interest.
Q. Do you know that all the Alwars and
Nayanmars are NOT Brahmins and yet, all of them are
worshipped as saints.
A. Yes, we did know that.
Here மானிடம்
தழுவிய
ஆழ்வார்கள்
by ம.
தனபாலசிங்கம்
may be of interest more so because M.Thanapalasingham is a committed Tamil
Eelam activist.
Q. Instead of talking about the
inequalities in a peaceful manner, why propagate
venomous propaganda, which benefits nobody?
A. We do not seek to propagate venomous
propaganda but we do seek to bring out in the open the
feelings of those who have been oppressed for many
centuries. At the same time we do recognise that
passion is not the preserve of any one caste alone.
Whilst we understand the feelings that may have
impelled Dr.Ranganathan to express himself in the way
that he has, we ourselves take the view that we cannot
nurture the togetherness of the Tamil people by denying
the ground reality of the 'glass war' and the stigma of
'inter caste' marriage.
We are mindful of the complexities of the
Non-Brahmin-Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu and the
analysis of V.Geetha and S.V. Rajadurai in Towards a Non Brahmin Millenium - From
Iyothee Thass to Periyar -
"...In a context
when Brahmins claimed that birth was no more a badge of
status and then went ahead to act and speak as if it
was, non-Brahmins, comprising a range of castes and
communities...claimed the contrary. They called
attention to practices of discrimination, humiliation
and negation suffered on account of their always
already lowly birth, and came to articulate a
philosophy and practice of rights which would help them
combat inequality and humiliation...in 1972, (Periyar)
revived with vigour the demand for a separate Tamil
Nadu, for a state of being and community where touch
may not defile and where angst and despair would not
torment those unlucky millions who had been born as
shudras and panchamas."
At the same time we agree with the
views of Professor Hart in Forum on
Brahminism & the Tamil Nation
"..Yes, of course Brahmins have had
their own political agenda to push. They have been
responsible for many things that I feel are entirely
unconscionable. But is this any different from the
other high castes? I have heard many many stories of
high non-Brahmin castes killing and abusing Dalits. You
can't blame the Brahmins for this. In fact, the most
pernicious example of the caste system was in the Tamil
areas of Sri Lanka, where there are virtually no
Brahmins and never have been....Tamil culture has not
suffered because of one group. It has suffered because
of the caste system and because of its treatment of
women... Let's promote inter caste marriage,
let's get rid of dowry and give women
independence and self-respect, and above all, let's
avoid a victimization complex which only plays into the
hands of those who have a vested interest in continuing
the inequities that exist in Tamilnad. If every Brahmin
were to disappear from Tamilnad, the Dalits and others
who are exploited would benefited not one iota..."
We do truly believe in the ideal which
appears in our mast head.
"To us all towns are
one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's
pains and pains' relief are from
within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa
500 B.C
And we will continue to do what we can
to further that ideal, however insignificant our
contribution may be.
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