Indentured Labour : Plantation Tamils in Ceylon Vs. Biharis in Fiji Vs. Sikhs in Uganda.

(The bureaucrats in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India performed a never-before-and-never-after-historical feat in the entire world. And the Aryan media in Tamilnadu covered up the crimes of the officials against humanity.

Athimber and Abishtu happen to go through the archives of the year 2000, in the light of the tragedy of landslides in Sri Lanka in which so many Tamils perished, recently.)

Athimber:  Did you notice how vehemently the Indian government and our Aryan newspapers had reacted to the outrage in Fiji?

Abishtu: Yes, dear Athimber! It was quite natural. What was wrong with it?

Athi: Nothing wrong my dear boy! But, I simply wonder how nobody, even the powers-that-be in Tamilnadu, notices the way the central bureaucrats of the Ministry of External Affairs apply our policy of selective discrimination. I am not simply amused but amazed.

Abis: What do you say, Athimber?

Athi: Do you know that it was from the year 1860 onwards that the north-Indian labourers migrated from Bihar and other areas to work as indentured labourers in Fiji at the behest of the then British government?  Do you also know that the people from the southern Tamilnadu migrated to Sri Lanka to work as indentured labourers from the year 1830 itself. Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, attained independence in 1948 while Fiji became independent in 1970.Both the migrants had been full-fledged citizens of the respective countries until independence. They had the civil and political rights and sent their elected representatives also to the parliament. But, the citizenship rights of the north Indians migrated to Fiji are still vested in them while the citizenship rights of the Tamils migrated to Sri Lanka has been divested by the Sinhalese in the year 1948 itself after the country attained independence.

Abis: How come?!

Athi: Don’t ask for any logical answers. But it happened. And The Hindu had never written editorial on behalf of the Tamils as it does today in favour of the Indian migrants in Fiji. The Hindu writes in its editorial on May 24, 2000 that the “People of Indian origin must be allowed to live with dignity and self-respect and not be reduced to the status of second class citizens.” The Hindi - Fijians of north-Indian origin have not been denied their basic citizenship rights the way the Tamil-Sri Lankans of south- Indian origin have been. The Hindi - Fijians of north-Indian origin have not been denied their supreme voting rights the way the Sri Lankan Tamils of south- Indian origin have been. 

The consequential effects of the absence of citizenship rights is the ineligibility to get proper education, ineligibility to apply for government jobs, ineligibility to acquire immovable property, etc., But the Hindi-Fijians of north-Indian origin do not face any such cruelty in Fiji now. Yet, just because the native Fijians threw out a democratically elected government headed by a Hindi-Fijian of north-Indian origin, the Hindu and other newspapers are making a song and dance over the issue. But, nobody cares for the Tamil-Lankans of South Indian origin who have lost even their basic citizenship rights and rendered stateless.

Abis: It is shocking as well as surprising, Athimber! Is it not against all the canons of international law to deny in the year 1948 such rights to the people who had been there in Sri Lanka from 1830 onwards? Why is it that nobody is paying attention to this issue, even the local politicians?

Athi: First, the Aryan newspapers and the north-Indian politicians care two hoots for the Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin, the Plantation Tamils, only because they forget certain philosophies when approaching Tamils problems of any kind. Secondly, the local politicians. They do not have the benefit of being counseled by any think tanks. Their agenda is, therefore, set only by the Aryan newspapers. 

Abis: What philosophy has been forgotten by our Aryan newspapers, Athimber?

Athi: Dear boy! In the case of Fiji, the Hindu wrote on July 5, 2000 that the “Solutions should be found within a democratic framework where no one is reduced to the status of second class citizens, where the rights of all Fijians are safeguarded regardless of the accident of their ethnic origin”. That the Tamil-Lankans of south-Indian origin have been reduced the status not of second or third or fourth class citizens but have been rendered stateless is of nobody’s concern. Do you know the international position on the subject? Besides, the Hindu has rightly recognized that the status of ethnic origin is nothing but accident. But, even in our own country the entire Indian population is being subjected to misery only because we do not want to remind ourselves that our birth as Brahmins is also nothing but accident. We never venture to think over what social situation we would have to face if we had, accidentally, been born as Shudras. That is why our Hindu goes the whole hog in contributing to the genocide of the native Tamils in Sri Lanka. Why should that paper bother itself about the Plantation Tamils migrated from Tamilnadu?

Abis: Can anything be done to protect the Tamil-Sri Lankans of south-Indian origin now?

Athi: Sure. First of all, the Government of Tamilnadu must appraise the Centre of the issue and pressure the Centre to treat both the plantation Tamils of Sri Lanka and the plantation Hindi-ites of Fiji on par. At least, all the stateless persons remaining in Sri Lanka as on date must be given full-fledged citizenship rights. The Sinhalese government has no moral or even legal right to link this issue to the Sri Lankan Tamils problem, as there is really no connection between the two. The Centre must confess the historical wrong done to the plantation Tamils and must apologize to the people of Tamilnadu for the ill-disposed Sirimao-Sastri agreement of 1964 and the evil-disposed Sirimao-Indira agreement of 1973 which provided for taking back the people who were given full-fledged citizenship status by the then Ceylonese government upto the year 1948. The ongoing Sri Lankan native Tamils problem can and should never be an excuse. If the Indian Government is either incompetent or unwilling to pressure and convince the Sinhalese government, it must take up the issue of the ‘Stateless Tamils’ to the International Court of Justice where the case can be won very easily by citing so many precedents in the international arena. If the Indian Government is not prepared act either way, it should not at least take any action in favour of the Hindi-Fijians of north-Indian origin except by advising them to come back to India as it has done in respect of the Tamils through the aforesaid 1964 and the 1973 agreements. If the Centre is not ready to do so, it would clearly expose the north-Indian dominated Central Government that they indulge in such discriminatory treatments wantonly and deliberately.

Abis: You are right, Athimber!. But will the Tamilnadu Government take initiate steps in this direction?

Athi: Firstly, the writers and the politicians should stop comparing the Fijian crisis with the Sri Lankan native Tamils problem. The comparable issues are the Fijian crisis and the Plantation Tamils problem only. Otherwise, everyone would remain confused and the situation would help our Thuglak and the Hindu to fish in the confused brains of Tamils. Secondly, the State Government should take up the cause of the Plantation Tamils immediately in the backdrop of the Fijian crisis and highlight the discriminatory treatment meted out by the north Indians to Tamils. If proceeded rightly, they can get the rights of the Plantation Tamils restored. The Sinhalese can also be very easily shown their place. But, we wont allow the people of Tamilnadu to be awakened  my boy! Do you know how Dinamani approached the problem? When the notorious Idi Amin drove the Marwari-Indians out of Uganda in 1972, the Dinamani condemned it in the strongest terms. “It is on invitation that the Indians had migrated to Uganda. They had contributed a lot for the development of that country y converting the forests into arable lands, by creating cities and by establishing commercial and industrial ventures. Amin exhibits his gratitude to them only by kicking them out”. ( அழைப்பின்பேரில் உகாண்டாவில் குடியேறி, காடுதிருத்தி, விளை நிலமாக்கி, நாடு நகரம் அமைத்து, தொழில்களை நிறுவி, வர்த்தகத்தில் ஈடுபட்டு அந்த நாட்டின் வளச்சிக்குப் பெரிதும் உழைத்தவர்கள், இந்தியர்கள். அவர்கள்பால் அமீன் காட்டும் நன்றி அவர்களுக்கு கல்தா கொடுப்பதுதான். )(Dinamani – Editorial - 11.8.72) This paper had even called for taking up the case through the United Nations and economic boycott by Britain.

But, when Indira Gandhi signed the agreement with Sri Lanka, later, in April 1973, agreeing to take back 10% more than the number of persons agreed upon earlier, the Dinamani said  “it could be a new signal given by her to Sri Lanka” (புதிய சமிக்ஞை) (Dinamani –Editorial- 1.5.1973). You must know that the Plantation Tamils were responsible for “an economic general advance, which could not have taken place without them and in the benefits of which the great majority of the population directly or indirectly share” (Report of the Commission on Immigration into Ceylon, 1938). 

You must also know that the Sinhalese members of the State Council even as late as in 1937, protested against a ban on immigration from India. All these things do not matter. A Tamil is a Tamils and can be treated any cruelly, the Dinamani itself had diagnosed. The sum and substance of the case is that if a Tamil is driven out, it is okay. But, if a Marwari is driven out it is an ungrateful action, according to Mr. A.N.Sivaraman of Dinamani. The same distinction is maintained even now.

 You know, ‘Dictatorship’ is considered as just another name for ‘State Terrorism’. The terrorist act of Idi Amin had been easily noticed all over the world and Canada and Australia came forward to some deportees from Uganda and rehabilitate them by permitting them to settle in their countries. But in the case of the plantation Tamils, although they had also migrated to Ceylon when both India and Ceylon were under the British rule, no such offer was made by Canada, Australia or any other country just because the terrorist act in this case was done by two prime ministers who claimed to have become so through democratic process.

Abis: How many persons were affected this way, Athimber?

Athi: Uganda expelled 23,000 persons who had had citizenship rights. But, Sri Lanka expelled 5,25,000 persons as per the 1964 agreement. The 1973 agreement provided for the addition of 10%. Besides, Dinamani had pointed out in its editorial dated 25.8.1972 that  “it was only Britain which had taken Asians to Kenya and Uganda as people without political rights. Realising this fact, Britain must assume a little more responsibility in this issue.” In its editorial dated 11.8.1972, Dinamani advised the Indian Government to “discuss the issue with Idi Amin and find a just and equitable solution through humanitarian approach.”(“ஜெனரல் அமீனுடன் பேச்சு நடத்தி, தரும நியாய அடிப்படையில், மனிதாபிமானத்துடன் பிரச்சினையைக் கவனித்துத் தீர்வு காண்பதற்கு வழி செய்தாக வேண்டும்” ).  But, the same newspaper did not advise the Indian Government on those  ‘Tharumam” or “Niyayam” or  “Manidhabimaanam” when the Tamils were sought to be deported in April 1973, eight months after the aforesaid editorial was written on Ugandan issue. How about the measuring rod used by Mr. A.N. Sivaraman? You condemn the atrocities against non-Tamils but condone the same atrocity perpetrated against Tamils. It is exactly this, which is called as genetic calumny, you know.

Abis: But these Tamils had gone to Sri Lanka as indentured labourers only at the instance of the then Ceylonese Government run by the British. Had they been told that their descendants would be expelled from that land after 150 years, they would not at all have ventured to go there. Or they would have sent their savings to Tamilnadu and acquired landed property here and would have made arrangements for settling themselves here in the same manner in which the persons who go for employment in gulf-countries do. They would not have become “refugees” in India or “Stateless” in Sri Lanka.  It is shocking as well as surprising, Athimber, that no one thinks of these facts!

Athi: Would you like to be in for more shock and surprise? The Sikhs who migrated to Britain in large numbers in the 1940s move the courts there for their right to wear turban in the British schools. In Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Basdeo Pandey is the Prime Minister. He is the descendant of the migrants from north-India. Such migrants constitute 42% of that country’s population. The first indentured Indian immigrant to Trinidad landed there only on May 30, 1845That country attained independence in 1962. They had not been expelled from the country to India. On the other hand they were celebrating the 150^th anniversary on May 30, 1995. (Ref: The Hindu, May 28, 1995). But, while addressing a meeting of the plantation Tamils, JR Jayawardane, the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka had said, “You came from India only 150 years ago. But, the Sinhalese came from India much before you” (Indian Express, September 18, 1984) He was thus justifying the stateless state of the plantation Tamils and the mass deportation of those Tamils in violation of all the norms of international law on the subject. What he said was not a confession but a display of arrogance, as he had been emboldened by the support he received from his Indian counterparts in 1964 and 1973.  But, what did India itself do when faced with similar situation? On the issue of expulsion of foreigners from Assam, Mrs. Indira Gandhi had, during the discussion in the Lok Sabha , said, “How could the children born in India after 1950 be sent out? They were all Indian citizens. Where will they all go? Which country would take on this obligation? How could those living there for generations be summarily thrown out?” (Indian Express – February 23, 1983). Do you know that even the people who had entered India illegally in the aftermath of the Bangladesh war participated in the 1983 elections and decided the destiny of the State of Assam and the nation? But, those who were invited by the Ceylonese government to work in plantations there 170 years ago are still languishing there as ‘stateless’. 

Abis: It appears that the Sinhalese majority has fixed 1830 A.D. as the cut-off date to decide the nationalities and citizenship rights.

Athi: Ha Ha Ha! Maybe. But you know that Mr. Thondaman posed one question, “How long have a people to live and work to be considered part of the indigenous population?” That question went unanswered. How do you feel, Abishtu?

          Abis: I am not able to recover from the shock, Athimber! How did it happen like this?

Athi: Dear Abishtu! As long as a man compromises his conscience and self-respect to ensure his survival, he cannot lead a happy and honourable life. Only the one who is ready to die is fit to live. Living is different from surviving. One must take on life, not just exist. Fortune favours the brave. If the Tamils realize this fact, their enemies would vanish into thin air.

Abis: But why should The Hindu and other newspapers do not publicise this truth, Athimber?

Athi: Dear boy! They are ‘our’ newspapers and our people are not running the newspapers for the purpose of redeeming the Tamils. Our millennia-old mentality of subjugation of the others has not vanished even after independence. Our people will continue to control and corrupt the minds of the others only this way. If at all required, let the Tamils publicise the truth through their own newspapers, overcoming the impediments we would put, abusing our position and power in Executive and Judiciary. One thing you must know very clearly, my boy, the collective wisdom of our Brahmin community is to conspire against such renaissance of Tamils and to do whatever is possible to divert the attention of Tamils and groom them in such a manner that they would serve us the way the slaves of Rome did. 

Abis: But why such conspiracy by the bureaucrats of our Ministry of External Affairs against Tamils only, Athimber?

Athi: Because, 

                                                    “தமிழர் என்றொரு இனமுண்டு - எனவே

                        தனியே அவர்க்கொரு ட்ரீட்மெண்டு.”.

வாழிய செந்தமிழ்!

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மொழி வரலாறு, குழந்தைகளுக்கு !

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The Helots of Sparta & The Helots of India!

Dear friends,

“The roots of the (problems of the) present lie deep in the past”, said, William Stubbs. The history of Sparta teaches a very significant lesson to us.

How a small invading race subjugated the  natives who were ten times larger in size, how the invaders made the natives  slaves to do all the hard work, did not allow them any role in real governance, tortured them for centuries, etc., are given in the following pages in brief.

There had been revolt in Sparta too against the suppressors which is comparable to the way in which the subjugated races in India were redeemed during the era of Buddha.

The contemporary Indian situation where the people of only one Varna cling on to the post of priests in all the income-yielding temples and the manner in which they have arrogated to themselves all the sensitive departments like RAW, IB, MEA and MHA, to cite a few, makes a reading of the history of Helots in  Sparta very relevant.

 =========

The Helots of Sparta 

& 

The Helots of India

In Sparta, the Spartans subjugated the natives and continued to exploit them in a variety of ways.

"The story of Sparta's decline and fall is an object lesson in the intimate relationship between social organization and military power"

- John Kitson.

Spartan society was completely dependent on the systematic exploitation of the natives who were called as Helots, the slaves, who had been used as agricultural labourers and as porters during military expeditions.

The invasion and subjugation

The Spartans were Dorians i.e., the people from Doris which was in central Greece , a group of invaders who spoke a Greek tongue. They pushed into the Greek peninsula during the early Dark Ages. (Comparable with the Aryan invasion in India but the contrast is the Aryan invasion was actually migration and they acquired influence through marginalisation of natives by acquiring proximity to the native-chiefs).

Eventually they settled in the valley of the Eurotas River in the Peloponnese. {comparable with their settlement in the Gangetic valley of Aryavartha}

 
The Spartans did not mingle with the people they had conquered or allow them to become their equals as citizens. Only these minuscule less than 10% Spartans could take part in the governance of the nation. {Comparble with the Varna classification through which they created an aloofness for their blood and language}.

Instead they made them helots, or serfs, and forced them to work on the land. (Comparable with the classification of the entire Dravidian society as Sudras first.)

In their new state the Spartans became a privileged upper class, freed from the need to do any work. (Comparable with the manner in which the Aryans classified themselves as Brahmins and became the privileged upper class and freed themselves from the need to do any hard work.)

Only Spartans enjoyed the full rights of citizenship. The helots had no rights at all. (Remember Manu and his predecessors )

Perioeci in Sparta and Vysyas in India

A third class of people, the perioeci, were allowed to trade and manage their own affairs but they had no political rights. {Comparable with the creation of Vaisyas from out of the suppressed Sudras}

As with other Greek city-states, land hunger forced Sparta to try to find new land. But instead of establishing colonies, the Spartans attacked and conquered the neighboring province of Messenia. Once again the original inhabitants were enslaved and became helots {Comparable with the Aryan migration to South making all the South Indian Dravidians Sudras}

With the largest territory in Greece, Sparta became prosperous. She developed a flourishing Culture and found enjoyment in art, music and dancing. For a time, it seemed that Sparta might become the artistic centre of the Greek world. (Comparable with the way in which the Aryans who hated music originally became aware of the importance of it and acquired the talent from the native Dravidians and later denied access to the natives of the very arts snatched away from theim.)

Contemporaneous to Buddhist rebellion

But suddenly the peace and prosperity came to an end. In 620 B.C. the Messenians, aided by some of their neighbors, revolted. (Comparable with the Buddhist era of religious revolt.)

 
Only with the greatest efforts were the Spartans able to crush the revolt and survive. (Comparable with the manner in which Buddhism was crushed and driven out of India.)

 
The Messenian revolt was a great turning point in Spartan history. It taught the Spartans a lesson they were never to forget. To survive, they decided, they must be strong enough at all times to crush internal rebellion or outside attack. For Sparta's Possible enemies outnumbered her by at least ten to one. (Comparable with the 3% in India)

They did not know how to misuse religion

The Spartan solution was as simple as it was drastic. The Indo-Aryan solution was cooked up Hindu religion and carnivorous Arthasasthra in the post-Buddhist period followed by Manu.

Spartan society changed completely. If survival meant being strong, Sparta was prepared to do anything to become Strong. At a stroke she banished the "unnecessary and useless" arts which had made Sparta an interesting and exciting place in which to live. Sparta became an armed camp. The Indo-Aryan camp became a rendezvous of conspiracy. They created a class among the Sudras to fight for the Aryans against the Sudras and gave them the name Kshatriyas.

Every Spartan man, woman and child was ex­pected to make any sacrifice to help create the powerful army which alone could ensure Sparta's survival. (The Indo-Aryans created only one man among them to be their leader, the Sankaracharya, and made him to sacrifice for the welfare of the entire group of Indo-Aryans. They, in turn, respected him to the highest extent and that respect alone was to be considered as the reward. However, he was also kept under watch by a group of hardcore people among them that he really does not do anything which would go against their collective interests. In the context, the only thing they actually sacrificed was slowly giving up their non-vegetarian food habits and accepting Lord Siva into their fold by becoming vegetarians. The connection between the words 'Sivam' and 'Saivam' would show that the original native Saivites had been vegetarians.)

Care for their wards

From the cradle to the grave, every Spartan devoted his life to the state. If new-born babies showed weaknesses which suggested they would not become good soldiers or mothers of strong men, they were not reared, but left on the slopes of Mount Taygetus to die. In contrast, the Indo Aryans were not that merciless towards their children. They developed a method by which even the least qualified among them would be able to survive. They wanted to avoid the mistake committed by the Spartans in demoting those among them who were without the talents required. Because, the Spartans' practice of demoting the people of their own race for want of talent had created another group among them seething with rage and caused the downfall of all the Spartans. The story of the rebellion by such demoted groups' leader called Cinadon is very interesting and this led to the downfall of Spartans. Our Indo-Aryans did not want to take any such risk. They evolved methods to make food available even for the least qulified among them. So the group "Saundi Brahmins" came into existence. So did the Manu's law too.

Chapter IX. Slo.317. "A Brahmana, be he ignorant or learned, is a great divinity, just as the fire, whether carried forth (for the performance of a burnt-oblation) or not carried forth, is a great divinity." Slo. 319. Thus, though Brahmanas employ themselves in all (sorts of) mean occupations, they must be honoured in every way; for (each of) them is a very great deity."

"Chapter X.85. By his origin alone a Brahmana is a deity even for the gods,.."

However, the way some of them branched out of their practice of Hari worship and  became Saivites to take control of the Siva temples which resulted in the Iyer vs Iyengar divide is relevant for consideration in the context.

Poison their mind when young

Boys were taken from their homes at the age of twelve and placed in barracks to be trained as soldiers. Here they learned unquestioningly to obey those in authority, to endure physical hardship, and to acquire the skills that would enable them to take their place with the greatest soldiers of the ancient world. (Comparable with the manner in which the Brahmins in the Kanchi University are kept away from the 'Sudras' to teach them all sorts of conspiracy to be carried over from one generation to other. Their goal to become soldiers themselves is in sharp contrast with the manner in which the Indo-Aryans make some Sudras fight the other Sudras for the protection of Aryans.)

Condemned by world

The Spartan way of life has often been condemned. It has even been seen as the forerunner of later dictatorships. (Comparable with the fact that no country admires Indian religious order. Comparable also with the fact that the Brahminocracy was really dictatorship through oligarchy.)

In Makers of Ancient Strategy, Barry Strauss calls the helots "communal serfs" ("chattel slaves") who lived in harsher conditions than medieval serfs. Unlike real serfs, Helots could be killed without just cause.

  

Family Life

The population of Sparta was replaced by reproduction. Immigrants were not welcome and the enslaved Helot population made more slaves unnecessary. Family life as we understand it existed for the two lower classes, the Helots or slaves and the Periocei or merchants, but for the upper class Spartans such family life did not exist. (Comparable with the manner in which they did not permit lower classes to become hermits; comparable with the purpose of killing of Sambuka by Rama)

Spartans did marry and marriage was expected. In fact, if a satisfactory marriage was not arranged, the unmarried men and women of that age group were put in a dark room and were expected to come out paired off. Spartan babies were inspected for perfect health and if there was a defect, the child was killed. The purpose was to raise fine Spartan leaders for the next generation. Spartans did not have a home and family life as we understand them. Spartans ate in community dining halls and male children after age 7 lived together in barracks. (They did not know the art of getting everything without sacrificing anything. This is in contrast to the manner in which the Indo-Aryans get everything according to their whims without their sacrificing anything except conscience.) The Spartans had a clear goal in mind and the state functioned to achieve that goal. All basic functions were interrelated and one must realize this interdependence to fully understand Spartan society. (Comparable with the Indo-Aryans tricks of making the government do everything to achieve their goal. The Spartans did not know how to divide the Helots, how to introduce untouchability and how to set one Helot against the other in the name of caste.)


Change was not tolerated and extraneous matters, such as the arts, were not encouraged. Fear of the Helots motivated the Spartans to adopt their way of life. The Spartans had conquered their neighbors by about 680 B.C. and enslaved them. In 462 B.C, Sparta crushed a Helot rebellion. The rebellion showed that the Helot threat was real. Sparta, as a society, was necessarily turned inward on and against itself.

War against co-citizens

The Spartans spent "their lives nervously policing the Helots for signs of revolt. Individual Helots were ritually humiliated--for example, by forcing them to drink massive quantities of alcohol as object lessons for young Spartans in the virtues of moderation". But more serious was the dreaded Krypteia which meant ,"the Secret Matter", (which is comparable with the present day CIA, KGB and the one-community dominated RAW, IB of our country). This was a stage of graduation and this course was deliberately shrouded in mystery and misinformation.

Training for assassination and murders

"Before being inducted into a mess unit, the would-be graduate was required to serve as a member of this highly secretive team of state-sponsored assassins". A state of war was declared every year on the Helot population. Thus, in order to retain their grip over the numerically superior Helots, the Spartans ensured that "that the state is constantly at war with itself", says John Kitson.

Every trainee Spartan was expected to 'hunt' and kill a helot as part of his training". These trainees, during the training period called 'Krypteia' snuck about the Helot territory, especially at night, and assassinated those Helots thought to be outstanding in any way--it could be fatally dangerous for a Helot to be regarded as handsome, intelligent, or ambitious. (For a similar purpose, the Indo Aryans had Manusmriti and had TADA, POTA and a variety of laws for suppressing the voice of the oppressed. The assassination of Aadhitha Karihaalan by the Indo-Aryans is to be recalled in the context) Helots outnumbered citizens by as much as seven to one, (Comparable to the proportion of Indo-Aryans who constitute 3% in India) and the primary purpose of the Spartan army was to control 'the enemy within'.

It is worth-quoting Chanakya, the first political terrorist of the world, in the context. Chanakya had said that "mercy, bashfulness, living like one who is not an Arya, pity, desire for the other world, strict adherence to virtuous life, generosity," etc., are "obstruction to profit." -Page 383 - Book IX- Chapter IV.-Arthasasthra -Translated by Dr. R.Shamasastry with an introductory note by Dr.J.F.Fleet, I.C.S.- Mysore Printing and Publishing house, Mysore- Eighth Edition - 1967). The manner in which this terrorist is venerated by the media is also relevant for consideration by the readers.

                   

Hindu Temples were used for conspiracies

The directions of Chanakya as given in Arthasasthra excerpted below would explain everything without further comments:

v  “Contrivance to kill the enemy may be formed in those places of worship and visit, which the enemy, under the influence of faith, frequents on occasions of worshipping gods and of pilgrimage.”- Page 428.-Book XI –Chapter V.

v  “A wall or stone, kept by mechanical contrivance, may, by loosening the fastenings, be let to fall on the head of the enemy when he has entered into a temple;

v  Stones and weapons may be showered over his head from the topmost story;

v  Or a door – panel may be let to fall;

v  Or a huge rod kept over a wall or partly attached to a wall may be made to fall over him;

v  Or weapons kept inside the body of an idol may be thrown over his head;

v  Or the floor of those places where he usually stands, sits, or walks may be sprinkled  with poison mixed with cowdung or with pure water;

v  Or under the plea of giving him flowers, scented powders, or of causing scented smoke, he may be poisoned;

Aristotle and Jawaharlal Nehru

Aristotle described the helot population as “like an enemy constantly sitting in wait.” "Unlike slaves of other communities, Sparta’s helot population was not imported. Therefore, they were more aware of their heritage and their loss of freedom. This made them more likely to revolt. Tensions between Spartans and the helots was a prime reason for Spartans to enforce as much equality and conformity as possible among themselves." In the context, one may recall what Jawaharlal Nehru has also said about the Indo-Aryans.He says that there was some kind of democracy then. "But let us always remember that this democracy was more or less confined to Aryans themselves. Their slaves, or those whom they placed in low castes, had no democracy or freedom… Thus we have to bear in mind that, on the one side, the Aryans kept down the working class and did not allow it any share in their democracy; on the other, they had a great deal of freedom among themselves." (Glimpses of World History - Page 25).

  

Truth triumphs

The Greek town of Sparta is, now, a bustling regional center; the Eurotas valley is still lovely, but there is no archaeological reminder of its terrible past. "Ironically the ruins of the former Helot city of Messene, which stand high above the Kalamata plain, are much more impressive".

"The Spartans failed to rebound after Leuctra because they could not find a way to deviate from entrenched habits of rigid hierarchy, state terrorism, and social conformity"- Josiah Ober.

♣

The sins of the ancestors Vs The role of the descendants - Part IV

Mr. Manivannan has responded as given below,  with closed mind, to the Rejoinder given as Part III of this series:

"These are lame excuses based on ideas that were current during fascist, Stalinist era. All I'm asking is why can't the middle castes demonstrate their egalitarianism by breaking the barriers between them and the oppressed. That doesn't take much, does it? Fighting for a principle is a lot easier and consistent. Attacking selected groups based on their birth is primitive and discriminatory."

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Such attitude of these spokesmen necessitates a reply. That is why the following reply is given. It is for the readers to judge.

Brahmins sabotaged the unity among the non-Brahmins

One never expects any reasonable answer from the Ku Klux Klan or its advocates. When Mr.Manivannan started asking pointed questions, I was happy that there were persons among the Ku Klux Klan who would discuss the issues, open-mindedly. But Mr.Manivannan has, through his replies and silence, demonstrated that the Brahmins would never concede equal rights to the non-Brahmins and would never come out of their mentality of apartheid. What he implies is that Brahmins would continue to be like that and, it is for the subjugated classes to unite among themselves and then, also, to remain under the Brahmins as slaves. Will tbe Brahmins keep quiet when such grand alliance is formed? History, including contemporary history, tells us that they would not allow any such grand alliance to come true. They would, therefore, do their ‘duty’ to create dissension among them.

Knowledge (of the opponents' character) is power

The first thing that the subjugated classes must do, in the context, is, therefore, to understand the techniques of their common enemy who would never allow any rapprochement between various sections of the subjugated classes. That was being done through the post in Part III of this series. And that, again, is what is being attempted at through this post too.

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Enabling the people of all castes among the non-Brahmins in the Hindu fold to officiate as priests in the HR&CE temples  is the first step for unity among the non-Brahmins. But, what did the Brahmins do, when such a step was taken? A historical event is re-called here to show how the Brahmins had worked against the unity of all the subjugated classes in the Hindu fold and against the emancipation of Scheduled Castes.

Apartheid soul-deep

The statement filed by the Hindu Fundamentalists, in the Supreme Court challenging the amendment to the Tamilnadu HR&CE Act of 1970 made as per the recommendation of the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes, contained the following argument in support of the policy of apartheid perpetuated by them for millennia:

1. If the person who goes near the deity is a Brahmin who is not a priest Samprotchanam must be done with pure water.

2. If he is a Kshatriya the Samprotchanam must be with 7 pots of water.

3. If he is a Vysya, (a) Samprotchananm must be  performed with 24 pots of water and (b) Santhi homam must also be performed.

4.  If he is a Shudhra, (a) Samprotchanam must be performed with 108 pots of water, (b) Mahasanthi homam must be performed besides  (c) offering food to Brahmins.

How dare they? But, they did. Mr. Manivannan must know that it was the Brahmins who worked against the emancipation of Scheduled Caste people,  thus, and not the intermediate castes. Because, the step taken by the government was in the right direction, benefitting the society as a whole with the aim of evolving casteless society, in the short run. 

            In the year 1969 the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes had suggested in its report that the hereditary priesthood in the Hindu Society should be abolished, that the system could be replaced by an ecclesiastical organisation of men possessing the requisite educational qualifications who might be trained in recognised institutions in priesthood and that the line should be open to all candidates irrespective of caste, creed or race. The Government of Tamilnadu had, accordingly, amended Sections 55 and 56 of the Principal Act, the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable, Endowments Act, 1959 to facilitate Non-Brahmins also to acquire the qualification and officiate as priests. The matter went to Supreme Court of India (Seshammal & Others Vs. State of Tamilnadu – 14-03-1972). But, those who perpetuated apartheid had the day, for peculiar reasons. If only the British had learnt the tricks of these Hindu Fundamentalists and enforced apartheid in South Africa in the name of religion, Nelson Mandela would not have won. In South Africa, apartheid was skin-deep. In Hindu religion, apartheid is soul-deep.

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Now that Mr. Manivannan, the spokesman of the Ku Klux Klan of India, has confessed to and exhibited the brahmanical animosity towards all the non-Brahmins, which is true otherwise too, there are some options available to the suppressed classes to redeem themselves:

 1. The non-Brahmins of all castes can go to their temples for prayer and worship but should not requisition the services of the Brahmin priests and accept the sacred ash or kum-kum from the Brahmin priests (until they stop their racist tendency to treat us as low-born and accept  our legitimate stand to officiate as priests in those temples). They, therefore, need not pay any Dakshinaa to them. But, because the temples are ours, they may deposit their contributions in the hundials for the maintenance of the temples until the  temples allow our people also to officiate as priests. That is what I do ;

 2. They can visit the temples of Kaaliamman, Maariamman or Ayyanaar and worship the God there, requisition the services of the Poosaaries there and pay their ‘Kaanikkai’ to them  as usual;

 3.  They can pray God in their mother-tongue itself and reach God, thereby.

         “சொல்லிய பாட்டின் பொருளுணர்ந்து சொல்லுவார்

செல்வர் சிவபுரத்தின் உள்ளார் சிவனடிக்கீழ்ப்

பல்லோரும் ஏத்தப் பணிந்து."  - மாணிக்கவாசகர். 

4. The non-Brahmins, who are not ready to continue to fight against the system,  can migrate to any other religion of their choice, either Buddhism, Christianity or Buddhism to escape from the ignominy heaped on them by the Brahmins;

 5. They will not lose their benefits of reservation in services (which, anyway, is going to be made nil soon by the conspirators, through various means), which issue can be taken care of separately legally;

 6. They also need not bother themselves about the manner in which the Ku Klux Klans would create a furore when such religious conversions take place. The design of the rabid racists of India would stand exposed before the world easily then;

 7. They must insist on compulsory conscription of all the castes and religions as field level soldiers in the army. That will solve many problems for the nation.