Stick To Your Ground
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

In the village adjacent to the Art of Living ashram, a garbage truck dumps the
waste of Bangalore city on the roadside. When the village youth realised this
was a major health hazard, they decided to stop this. When the garbage truck
came they punctured its tyres, instead of sending it away.

The garbage had to be dumped on the roadside in order for the tyres to be
repaired. The purpose of the protest was to chase the truck away, but it ended
up achieving quite the contrary. Often, our actions do not bring the desired
goal. Instead of taking us towards the goal they take us away from it.


The actions of leaders such as Kancha Illiah have done more harm than good to
the cause of Dalit upliftment. It's unfortunate for India that they have taken
the issue to the US Congress. In the name of Dalit upliftment, they are pursuing
their own personal agenda and damaging the image of the country.


If they are really interested in the betterment of the Dalits, they should work
in the villages, instead of going to the US Congress. The only solution to the
problem of caste discrimination is to educate people and make them realise that
caste by birth is not sanctioned by religion.

This can happen only through grass-roots social reforms, not through foreign
inter-ventions. History abounds in instances of reformist movements to address
the caste menace in society.

Several saints such as Basavanna from Karnataka, Narayana Guru from Kerala and
Swami Dayanand Saraswati of the Arya Samaj are shining examples of people who
fought caste. Instead of highlighting such reforms, these people are maligning
Hinduism for personal gain.

Rather than converting people to other faiths and running away from Hinduism,
the most potent action would be to create Dalit purohits. Brahminism as
understood some decades ago doesn't exist anymore. Today, there are innumerable
instances of Brahmins serving under Dalit bosses.

No doubt, there are instances of atrocities, but these are not confined to the
Dalit community alone. Often the members of upper castes have also been victims
of social conflict. There are several instances of sadhus being attacked.


For instance, last year in Uttar Pradesh alone, 20 sadhus were brutally
murdered. When the human consciousness is loaded with tension and mistrust,
violence can erupt under any pretext. In the absence of ethics and morality,
there are atrocities against women and children.
Similarly, oppression of the poor is a global problem, not confined just to the
Dalit community. It's not just Dalits who are poor; poverty exists among people
of all castes. Caste discrimination is a social problem and needs to be
addressed through social reforms.

Politicising the issue and presenting a distorted picture of social atrocities
to the world community is not going to solve the problem. It will only weaken
national resolve to tackle the social menace.


There are thousands of committed soldiers of justice and equality, from among
upper castes and NGOs, who are working for the betterment of Dalits. Indian
Parliament and state assemblies have a large representation of Dalits. By taking
the matter to the US Congress, these so-called community leaders are denigrating
Dalit lawmakers.


Udit Raj and Kancha will do well to learn a few things from the US. They have to
learn about national pride and progressive attitude from the Americans. There
are three million homeless beggars in America, a little over 1% of the
population.


But the American media never publicises it. No blacks, native Indians and
minorities have ever asked another country to interfere in their internal
matters. Caste discrimination can be solved only through reforms and educating
people in human values, not by creating hatred between communities.


For sure, a Hindu hater can never bring about the needed reform in the Hindu
society. Hatred will only polarise the society and create civil wars. Without
the whole-hearted participation of upper caste people, Dalit empowerment will
remain a dream.

The younger generation of upper castes cannot be held respon-sible for the
discrimination practised by people of previous generations. If a section of
society starts hating the upper castes and blaming them, how can they
participate in the empowerment of the Dalits?

It is time to change the strategy. Sixty years ago during Ambedkar's time, when
people were not open to change, a revolt was essential. But today, a reform is
necessary as a revolt will not work. In the process of reform, people from all
castes and communities have to be involved.

A reform is a social phenomenon where people from all caste and communities will
have to be motivated to join. Reform can't happen out of anger or hatred; we
need a sane mind and a loving approach.

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