Leisure and the Future of Work in India !

Art. 43 of the Constitution of India makes it mandatory for the Government to ensure that all the workers in India do have decent standard of life and the opportunity for “full enjoyment of leisure”. The said Article reads thus: “The State shall endeavour to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organisation or in any other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise, work, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to promote cottage industries on an individual or co-operative basis in rural areas.”

 

Importance of leisure

 

Leisure time provides opportunity for thinking, invention and discoveries which pave way for civilisational advancement. Music that enthrals the soul of human beings, poems and all the artworks born out of happy minds are the outcome of comfortable leisure.

 

The Inception Report of the Global Commission on the “Future of Work”, refers to the Philadelphia Declaration of 1944, which recognised and stressed on the workers’ well-being, not just “physical”, but “moral” and “intellectual” too. The extent of moral and intellectual well-being of the workers is directly proportionate to the extent of leisure made available to the workforce. Happy mind that has availed itself of quality leisure time dedicates itself whole-heartedly to the work assigned during working hours and produces more and more.

 

The Government of India brought into existence the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 on 15.03.1948, the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 on 19.04.1948 and the Factories Act, 1948 on 23.09.1948. The very fact that these three labour welfare laws were enacted without waiting for the Constitution to be framed would show the significance that the leaders of independent India had attached to the labour welfare measures. The Factories Act ensured eight hours of work per day, i.e.., 48 hours per week. No adult worker was allowed to work for more than 9 hours in a day subject to 48 hours in a week.

 

It was only after India’s independence in 1947, the labour in the sub-continent could heave a sigh of relief after almost a millennium in the South and two and a half in the North. For, the Indian labour suppressed and oppressed under the inhuman and inhumane four-fold balkanisation called Chaturvarna system, had not known what human rights were. As per the law that was thrust on the labour class then, they were called as ‘Sudras’, and were classified as ‘low-born’ (Kul-heena). The Law of Manu unequivocally declared that the Sudras can be compelled to servile work. Chapter VIII, Slogan 413, of the Law of Manu says, “But a Sudra, whether bought or unbought, he may compel to do servile work; for he was created by the Self-existent (Svayambhu) to be the slave of a Brahmana.” The burden of bearing the substantial cost of running the government was shifted to the shoulders of the labour class while the upper class, called Vysyas and Kshatriyas relatively enjoyed the privilege of shouldering less.

 

Brahmins never shouldered that burden. On the other hand, they caused laws to be made making it mandatory for the king to worship the Brahmins after rising early in the morning and to follow their advice. It was not just the learned Brahmins who were to be worshipped but also the ignorant, as a Brahmin, any Brahmin was “a great divinity”.  The Law of Manu, Chapter 7, Verse 37 says, “Let the king, after rising early in the morning, worship Brahmanas who are well versed in the threefold sacred science and learned (in polity) and follow their advice.”. Chapter 9, Verse 317 complements it saying, “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”. That was how the Brahmins created a political order in which they were not required to pay any tax while the labour class was required to work for the government without wages. “A brahmana is completely exempted from tax or revenue. So far as craftsmen, artisans, Sudras and all those who earn livelihood by physical labour are concerned, they should be made to work gratis for the king once every month.” (Page 179 - The Cultural Glory of Ancient India: A literary overview – Sures Chandra Banerji – 1917 – First published in India in 2000.).

 

Visti - the Unpaid Labour

 

During the period when the fiction Ramayana was written in the 2nd century B.C, which fact remains confirmed from the very texts of Ramayana, as has been recorded by R.C. Majumdar, in his article titled 'Evolution of Religio Philosophic Culture in India' – Page 43 – The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol. IV, The Religions, The Ramakrishna Mission, Institute of Culture, He says, "The first and the last Books of the Ramayana are later additions. The bulk, consisting of Books II--VI, represents Rama as an ideal hero. In Books I and VII, however Rama is made an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, and the epic poem is transformed into a Vaishnava text. The reference to the Greeks, Parthians, and Sakas show that these Books cannot be earlier than the second century B.C……”. That Ramayana of 200 BC says that there was even a section among the Sudras who were made to work without pay. 

They were called Visti, the unpaid labour. (Page 8 – The Ramayana Polity - P.C. Dharma – Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan – Editions 1941 & 1989). A social order was thus established by the Brahmins which allowed 24 hours leisure time for themselves and no leisure at all to the Sudras. Brahmins were not required to do any work for a living.

Donations galore for Brahmins

 

As far as the North was concerned, donation to Brahmins was made necessary in the social life of each and every Non-Brahmin on each and every happy or sad occasion in his life. In the second century BC, when the Ramayana story was written, donation to Brahmins from public funds was highlighted and glorified. Accepting such donations was not considered by the Brahmins as an undignified and embarrassing act. Propagation of Ramayana was meant to persuade the Non-Brahmins to make donations to Brahmins. 

Rama was shown to be donating a lot of wealth to the Brahmins, even when he was in the midst of sorrow of going for exile. "After disbursing great wealth among the Brahmins, the two Raghavas (Rama and Lakshmana) along with Sita, went to see their father" (Page 117 - Valmiki Ramayana condensed in the Poet's own words by Pandit A. M. Srinivasachariar - G.A. Natesan & Co, Madras - Sixth Edition. For more, ref. Page 47 - Right to Priesthood by Vaeyurutholibangan). 

 

Oottupura, the perfect instrument for total leisure

 

The scene in the South was even more significant. People were made to believe that donations to Brahmins would ensure them heaven. Consequently, entire history of the South after the 8th century AD, was full of Wills of the rich people, to use the income from their land to set up choultries for feeding the Brahmins.  Events in Kerala would show that all the Brahmins were fed by temples and there was no real need to do any cooking in their houses. King Marthanda Verma of who ruled Travancore for 30 years from 1729 AD, established Oottupura (feeding houses) in the temples throughout his kingdom for the daily feed of the Brahmins. His Murajapam conducted once in six years, “for feeding the Brahmins at a fabulous cost” was one more step invented by the Brahmins of that day to ensure that every Brahmin enjoyed leisure throughout his life, without any need to any work. This resulted in the common people of that “Gods Own Country” being “taxed mercilessly and all the available public revenue came to be dumped in a cellar alleged to be situated beneath the Pagoda at Trivandrum" (Page 197 - Right of Temple Entry - P. Chidambaram Pillai:). A sadistic “Poll Tax” had been levied and recovered by the King Marthanda Verma at the behest of his Brahmin minister Ramayyan, on every Eezhava and the other suppressed class of people. And it had to be paid by those suppressed class of people, just because they belonged to the most suppressed class. (Ref: Page 394 - A Social History of India - S.N. Sadasivan).  This ensured complete leisure for each and every Brahmin in the Travancore empire, and denied time to the Labour even to think and ponder over the issues affecting them. In regard to Tamil Nadu, Srirangam provided the goal post for the rest. “The wall of the outermost square (of Srirangam temple) is about four mile in circuit. The pagoda owed its celebrity to the supposed possession of the very image of Vishnu which Brahma used to worship; the myriads of pilgrims flocking to it sufficed, at one time, to maintain 40,000 Brahmins in voluptuous idleness”, said Henry Beveridge in his book ‘A Comprehensive History of India - Vol. I’ - Page 579-580, published in 1862. They saw to it that even the least qualified among them did not go hungry under any circumstances, but were provided with sumptuous food under the pretext of the ceremony called shradhdha. They had secured, thus, for themselves a life of guaranteed idleness and the absence of necessity to work and earn their food.

 

 

Oozhiyam - the Unpaid Labour, the perfect weapon to deny leisure

 

In Kerala, the suppressed classes had to do “Oozhiyam”, the conscripted unpaid labour without wages. By Oozhiyam, “they had to clean temples and government offices, carry food and grass for the elephants and horses in the palace and also feed them. They had to hold the lamps in the Hindu temples. They had to dig pits to capture elephants; carry salt from the salt pans to the selling or loading station on head. Guard the logs and timber in the forest. For all these works, they were taken to far off places away from their families. For these works, they were given only food. They were not given any wages”. Such a gratuitous labour was exacted by the Government “from the Ezhavas, the Syrian Christians, the Sudras (Nayars) of lower categories and the low castes in general. Oozhiyam was employed for any business that called for physical labour such as construction of roads, carrying of heavy head loads, pounding of paddy, cultivation of government land, cutting and splitting of wood for temples and their Oottupuras and host of such other activities” (Page 395 - A Social History of India - S.N. Sadasivan). The condition of the people of India who were doing physical labour was so grim throughout the history of the nation after the arrival of the Brahmins in the North first and then in the South in the eighth century AD.

 

 

Control over temples ensured lifetime leisure

 

Usage of temple for the civil control of the society and for using the temple funds to promote Brahminical interests became possible for the Brahmins, after they infiltrated into the native idolatrous religion of the Non-Brahmins and became priests. While it started happening in the North in the era of Chanakya, that infiltration was made in an organised manner in the 8th century AD. Agnihothiram Thathachariyar has accepted the fact that the culture of idol worship is alien to Brahmins, the Smarthas. He says “Vedas are supreme in Smartha religion. Its foremost principle is to realise Brahmam. In this religion, God is not one but several; Worship of Suriya, Indira, Varuna, Ganesha is practiced. Smarthas are Brahmins. Its dogma is that men alone will attain salvation. It also believes that Smartha women will attain Mukthi (salvation) only after being born as Smartha men. It believes that any offering to Gods can be made only through Yagnas (through sacred fire) and it does not believe in idol worship. Therefore, Smarthas have no temples as their own. According to Agni Hothiram Thathachariyar, before 8th Century, only the Non-Brahmins performed the pooja rituals in the temples. After 8th Century, Brahmins captured the performance of poojas and rituals in the temples. Poojas and Archanas are later developments. It may be performed by all. The word pooja is not a Sanskrit word. It has been taken from Tamil word “Poo Sei” (பூசை). They have changed it as Pooja, a Sanskrit word, using the letter “Ja”. Performing (worshipping) with flowers is Poosai. Generally, “Nature” is the God for Brahmins. No idol worship at all. They do only Sandhya vanthanam, (a form of worship during sun-rise and sun-set). Later, they appropriated the temple worship as their own.” (Para IV (iv) in Page 64 of the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary dated 01.12.2008 carrying the report of the High-Level Committee Chaired by Mr. Justice A. K. Rajan). The result of such infiltration was management and diversion of temple funds for Brahmins’ welfare.

 

Those who are rich and are able to influence the lawmakers  in India have not evolved and become mature human beings. They are just interested in exploiting the poor labourers. Louis Katin, a worker and writer, has in the article The "Moral and Physical Evils of Overtime" published in the Modern Review of February 1935,  graphically described the position of evil in overtime as was obtaining in the 1930s.  

Yet, the BJP government, which works for the resurrection of the apartheidistic chaturvarna era, had gone about in its first year of assumption of power, making law for cruel exploitation of the masses through its overtime law.

 

 

Increasing working hours, overtime and spread over

 

When Otto van Bismark wanted to assume more powers for the government he started making laws providing various benefits to the working population. He set up exclusive hospitals for them and enacted laws to provide disablement benefits, old age benefits, maternity benefits etc., and created atmosphere for more productivity through “willing participation of labour”. But the present rulers at Delhi, who work for the resurrection of the Chaturvarna era of the days of yore, want to create atmosphere only for slave labour in India. So, they enacted law in the year 2014 to increase the overtime. This anti-labour proposal was given a cynical and sadistic title called Bill for Improving Safety and Health of Workers Act, 2014.

 

Mr. Narayana Murthy’s suggestion of 70 hours work

 

 Now, Mr. Narayana Murthy, the founder of the Infosys, says that the youth should work for 70 hours in a week, which means that one should put in 12 hours work per day for six days in a week. The issue of concern is that he reiterated the same again in January 2024. When asked, by the journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, if he was sticking by his comment that 70 hours a week should be there as a way to give back to society, Narayana Murthy said 'absolutely' but quickly added that he did not think hours were important. "No, I don't think 70 hours is important. All that it means is, that you have to be very productive, you have to work very hard like the Germans did after World War I, like the Japanese did and we owe it to the poor people in our society to work hard and make the quality of their life a little bit better." (India Today - 13.01.2024).

He did not say whether India was or had been at war in the recent past, the way Germany or Japan had been, after the World War I.  He did not care even to think how much time it takes for an employee to commute in the cities of today in India. He did not care to bother about the leisure time needed for an employee, to ensure his physical, moral and intellectual well-being, as declared by the ILO. He has failed to take note of the fact that the Germans work fewer hours but produce more, now, as has been reported in the Huffington Post on 18.11.2014.

He did not care to see that the Microsoft’s productivity boosted by 40% when it had only four-days week, with three holidays per week (Times of India 05.11.2019). 

 

 

 

He refused to see that the four-day working week was an “overwhelming success” in Iceland. “A number of other trials are now being run across the world, including in Spain and by Unilever in New Zealand. The consumer goods giant is giving staff in New Zealand a chance to cut their hours by 20% without hurting their pay in a trial. (Indiatimes - 06.07.2021). But Mr. Narayana Murthy would not care even to make trial in his organisation to see for himself whether shorter working hours would result in more productivity. He belongs to the past, when the need for leisure for employees was never a criterion.  He does not care why the present rulers in India want to crush the rights of labour through four new Labour Codes, and do not want to bring in legislation in India like the Fair Labour Standards Act in Germany.

 

What is more interesting and more annoying is the fact that Mr. Narayana Murthy tries to project that his suggestion about the increased working hours was in the interest of the poor people in our society to make the “quality of their life a little bit better”.

 

 

Strange! Mr. Murthy is talking against the provisions of Art. 43 of the Constitution of India and is making attempts at snatching away even the available ‘quality’ in the life of the poor people, by denying them even the existing leisure time.  If only Mr. Murthy is so interested in the welfare of the poor people of India, he should have told the present-day rulers at Delhi that Germany and Japan (1) do not have Electoral Bonds, (2) do not permit foreign funds to political parties and (3) do not have Electronic Voting machines for poll.

 

Moreover, he should tell the Nagpur regime at Delhi that the enactments like the CAA & NRC are uncivilised enactments intended to make stateless the Muslims who live in India for centuries, and that that law should not be enforced, because, his own son-in-law could not have become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, if there are laws like the CAA & NRC in the UK. That would be a real service by him for the welfare of the entire India.

 ♣

(Published in the magazine OBC Voice of June 2024)

அந்த நாளும் வந்திடாதோ!

 இராமாயணக் கதை கி. மு. இரண்டாம் நூற்றாண்டில், அதாவது உலகமகா பயங்கரவாதியாகிய சாணக்கியன் காலத்திலும் அதற்குப் பின்னர் உள்ள காலத்திலும் புனையப் பட்டது. இராமாயணத்திற்குப் பிற்பட்ட நூல்தான் மகாபாரதம். அந்தக் காலத்தில் பிராமணர்கள் வாழ்ந்த முறையை, அவர்கள் இன்று புனிதமாகக் காட்டும் மகாபாரதக் கதை தெளிவாகப் பதிவு செய்துள்ளது. அந்த மகாபாரதத்தில், பிராமணர்கள் எவர் மனைவியை வேண்டுமாயினும் கையைப்பிடித்து இழுத்துக்கொண்டு சென்றுவிடும் வழக்கம் வெகுவாக இருந்ததைப் பதிவுசெய்துள்ளது. அது மட்டுமின்றி அதனை பிராமணரல்லாத மக்கள் ஏற்றுக் கொண்டனர் என்றும் எதிர்க்கவில்லை என்றும் கருத்துப் பரப்புரை செய்தது அந்த மகாபாரதம். பிராமணர்கள் செய்த மகா பாதகங்களை புனிதச் செயல்களாகக் காட்டியது அந்த மகா பாரதம். ஒருநாள், உத்தலகா என்பவர் தனது மனைவியுடனும் தனது மகன் ஸ்வேதகேதுவுடனும் உட்கார்ந்திருந்தார். அப்போது பிராமணர் ஒருவர் வந்து உத்தலகாவின் மனைவியின் கையைப்பிடித்து இழுத்துத் தன்னுடன் அழைத்துச் சென்றுவிட்டார். தனது தாயை வேறொருவன் அழைத்துச் சென்றது கண்ட ஸ்வேதகேது கொந்தளித்தான். ஆனால், அது வழக்கம்தான் என்று அவனது தந்தை உத்தலகா அவனை சமாதானப்படுத்த முயலுகிறார்.

(One day, in the presence of Uddalaka, another Brahmana seized Swetaketu’s mother’s hand, and said, ‘Come with me!’ and she went with him. Thinking his mother had been taken by force, Swetaketu was furious. Seeing his son’s anger, Uddalaka said gently, ‘Do not be angry, my child. The women of every varna are entirely free, and their freedom is accepted since time out of mind. In sexual matters, they behave even like cows, and it is lawful and just.’ – Canto 122 – Sambhava Parva – The Complete Mahabharata – Ramesh Menon).

"அந்த நாளும் வந்திடாதோ" என்ற நப்பாசை இன்றும் சிலரை மாகபாதக நூலை புகழச் செய்கிறது.

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திருக்குறள் - தமிழனைப் பாதுகாக்கும் பொறி : பெரியார்

 "தமிழனுக்கு குறள் வழிகாட்டி மட்டுமல்ல.  அது தமிழனின் எப்படிப்பட்ட எதிரியும் நினைத்த மாத்திரத்திலே மூர்ச்சையடையும்படியான ஒளியையும் கூர்மையையும் உடைய அடாமுக்கு (Atom bomb) ஒப்பான ஆயுதமும் பொறியுமாகும்."

                                                                                                                              -பெரியார் 

                                                  - விடுதலை - 07.01.1949 ஆசிரிய உரையிலிருந்து. 

கண்ணகி கோயிலும் சபரிமலையும் கேரள அரசும் !

 சபரிமலைக்குத் தமிழர்கள் வரவேண்டும் என்று விரும்பும் கேரள அரசு, கண்ணகி கோயிலுக்குத் தமிழர்கள் செல்வதைத் தடுக்கிறது. 

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கண்ணகி கோயில் பற்றி,  கரூர் தமிழ் இராசேந்திரன் அவர்கனின் கடிதமும் கட்டுரையும் கீழே தரப்பெற்றுள்ளன.

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தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் மு க ஸ்டாலின் அவர்களுக்கு பணிவான வேண்டுகோள்

கண்ணகி கோவில் தமிழ் உலகம் போற்றும் பத்தினி தெய்வம் கண்ணகியின் கோயில் பாழடைந்து கிடக்கிறது அதை சீரமைக்க வேண்டும் . 2000 ஆண்டாய் தமிழர்களிடம் இருந்த இதன் உரிமை கேரளாவிடம் பறிபோகிறது அதை மீட்க வேண்டும் வாருங்கள் தமிழர்களே

தமிழர்கள் ஆண்டுதோறும் 48 நாள் (விரதம்) நோன்பு இருந்து சித்ரா பௌர்ணமி அன்று கண்ணகி கோவில்க்கு செல்கிறார்கள் அப்படி செல்லும் போது மனமும் உடலும் புத்துணர்வு பெறுகிறது என்றார் த.செ‌.தமிழ்மணி ஐயாவின் மகன் தமிழ்முகிலன் அண்ணன் அவர்கள் அதுமட்டுமல்ல

கண்ணகி கோவில்க்கு இரண்டு வழி உண்டு அதில் தமிழ் நாட்டில் இருந்து அடர்ந்த காடுகளுக்குள் செல்லும் வழி கரடுமுரடாக இருந்தாலும் பார்க்க பச்சைப்பட்டு உடுத்திய பேரழகு கொண்டது என்பார்

கண்ணகி கோயில் கேரளத்தின் இடுக்கி மாவட்டத்திலுள்ள குமுளி என்ற ஊரிலிருந்து சுமார் 14 கிலோமீட்டர் தொலைவிலும், தமிழ்நாட்டின் கூடலூர் வனப்பகுதியில் பளியங்குடி எனுமிடத்திலிருந்து சுமார் 6 கிலோமீட்டர் தொலைவிலும் அமைந்துள்ளது. 

ஆனால் கண்ணகி கோவில் தமிழர்கள்  சென்று வழிபட முடியாதபடி கேரளா அரசு பெரும் சிக்கலை உண்டாக்குகிறது.

கண்ணகிக்கு மங்கலதேவி என்று பெயர் மாற்றிவிட்டார்கள் . இது எங்கள் சாமி . எங்கள் நிலம் என்கிறார்கள். தமிழர்கள் விழா நடத்த , பந்தல் போட , கூட்டம் கூட விடுவது இல்லை தமிழர்களின் உரிமையை பறிக்கிறது கேரளா அரசு

 நம்முடைய அளவுகளின்படி கண்ணகி கோயில் இருக்கும் இடம் தமிழ்நாடு எல்லைக்குள் அமைந்துள்ளது 

ஆனால் தற்போது கண்ணகி கோயிலுக்கு போகும் வழி கேரளா நிலப்பகுதிக்குள் இருப்பதால் பெரும் சிக்கல்

இதனை தவிர்க்கும் விதமாக தமிழக வனப்பகுதி வழியாக கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு செல்லும் வழி‌யை  சரி செய்து தமிழர்கள் தமிழ்நாடு நிலப் பகுதி வழியாகவே கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு சென்று வர தமிழக அரசு ஏற்பாடு செய்ய வேண்டும்

கண்ணகி கோவில் இடிந்த நிலையில் கற்கள் அங்கும் இங்கும் சிதறி கிடக்கிறது அதை பார்த்து  தமிழ் உணர்வு கொண்ட கண்ணகி பக்தர்கள் மனம் வெதும்பி நிற்கிறார்கள்

இந்த கோவிலை தொல்லியல் துறையின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் உள்ளது அவர்கள் கோவிலை சீரமைத்து தர வேண்டும்‌ . அல்லது ‌தமிழ்நாட்டு அரசிடம் கோவிலை ஒப்படைக்க வேண்டும்

இதோ நாங்கள் இருக்கிறோம் என்று களத்தில் இறங்கி கோவிலை சீரமைக்கும் வேலை செய்கிறது

தமிழ்நாட்டில் மங்கலதேவி கண்ணகி அறக்கட்டளை என்ற ஒரு அமைப்பு  இந்த அமைப்பின் சார்பில் சித்திரை முழுநிலவு தினத்தன்று கண்ணகி கோயிலில் வழிபாடுகள் செய்வதுடன் அங்கு வரும் பக்தர்களுக்கு அன்னதானமும் செய்து வருகிறது. இந்த அமைப்பு தமிழ்நாட்டின் கூடலூர் (தேனி) மலைப்பகுதியிலுள்ள பளியங்குடியிலிருந்து கண்ணகி கோயிலுக்குத் தனிப்பாதை அமைக்க வேண்டும் என்கிற கோரிக்கையுடன் கண்ணகி கோயில் தமிழ்நாட்டுக்குரியது அதை மீட்க வேண்டும் என்றும் கோரி வருகிறது

கண்ணகி கோவில் பற்றிய ஒரு அழகான வரலாறு சற்று நீண்டது பொறுமையாக படியுங்கள் 

மங்களா தேவி கண்ணகி கோயில் கேரளத்தின் இடுக்கி மாவட்டத்திலுள்ள குமுளி என்ற ஊரிலிருந்து சுமார் 14 கிலோமீட்டர் தொலைவிலும், தமிழ்நாட்டின் கூடலூர் வனப்பகுதியில் பளியங்குடி எனுமிடத்திலிருந்து சுமார் 6 கிலோமீட்டர் தொலைவிலும் அமைந்துள்ளது. இது கடல் மட்ட அளவில் இருந்து சுமார் 5000 மீட்டர் உயரத்தில் உள்ளது. ஆண்டுக்கு சித்திரா பௌர்ணமி தினத்தன்று ஒரு நாள் மட்டுமே இக்கோயில் பகுதிக்குள் அனுமதிக்கப்படுகிறார்கள். இங்கிருந்து ஒரு பக்கம் கிழக்கு மலைத்தொடர்களையும், அதனுடன் தமிழ் நாட்டில் இணைந்திருக்கும் சில கிராமப்பகுதிகளையும் நன்றாக காணலாம்[1].

கோவில் வரலாறு 

கோவலனுக்கு பாண்டிய மன்னன் முழுமையாக விசாரிக்காமல் மரண தண்டனை அளித்துக் கொன்று விட்டதறிந்து கோபத்துடன் கண்ணகி பாண்டிய மன்னனின் அரச சபையில் அவன் தவறை உணர்த்தித் தவறாக நீதி வழங்கிய மதுரை மாநகரமே தீப்பற்றி எரியட்டும் என்று சாபம் விட்டு மதுரையை எரித்துவிட்டு அங்கிருந்து வெளியேறி 14 நாட்கள் நடந்து திருச்செங்குன்றம் எனும் மலையில் இருந்து தேவலோகம் சென்றதாக வரலாறு சொல்கிறது. இந்த இடத்தில்தான் மங்கலதேவி கண்ணகி கோயில் இருக்கிறது.

மதுரை மாநகருக்குத் தனது கணவனுடன் கண்ணகி கிழக்கு வாயில் வழியாக நுழைந்தாள். அதன் பின்னர், தனது கணவனை இழந்த கண்ணகி பாண்டியனையும், மதுரையையும் அழித்துவிட்டு மிகுந்த வெறுப்புணர்வுடன் மதுரையின் மேற்கு வாயில் வழியாக மனமுடைந்த நிலையில் தன்னந்தனியாய் மாமதுரையை விட்டுப் புறப்படுகிறாள். (சிலம்பு 53:183) அதன் பின்னர் வையை ஆற்றின் தென் கரையைப் பற்றி மேற்கு நோக்கி நடக்கிறாள் (சிலம்பு 23:185). அவ்வாறு நடந்தவள் வையை ஆறு பரவிப்பாயும் இடமாகிய சுருளிமலைத் தாழ்வாரம் தொடராம் நெடுவேள் குன்றத்தில் அடிவைத்து ஏறி வந்து (சிலம்பு 23:190), மலை மீது இருந்த பூக்கள் பூத்துக் குலுங்கும் மூங்கில் புதர்கள் அடர்ந்த வேங்கைக் கானலில் வந்து நின்று (சிலம்பு 23:191) தெய்வமாகிறாள் (சிலம்பு 24:3). இத்தகையக் காட்சியினைக் குன்றக் குறவர்கள் நேரில் கண்டு அவளைத் தெய்வமாகப் போற்றினர் (சிலம்பு 24: 14, 15). குன்றக் குறவர்கள் இக்காட்சியினை மலைவளம் காண்பதற்காக வந்திருந்த சேரன் செங்குட்டுவனிடம் கூறினர். 

மதுரைக் கூல வாணிகன் சீத்தலைச் சாத்தனார் குன்றக் குறவர்கள் கூறியதைத் தாமும் கண்டதாகக் கூறினார். அதனைக் கேட்ட சேரன் செங்குட்டுவனும் அவன் மனைவியும் கண்ணகிக்குக் கோயில் கட்டத் தீர்மானிக்கின்றனர். அதற்காக இமயமலை சென்று அங்கிருந்து கல்லெடுத்து வந்து இக்கோயிலை அமைத்தான். [2]

மங்கலதேவி பெயர்க்காரணம் 

சுமங்கலி பெண்ணானவள் கணவனை இழந்தவுடன் அமங்கலியாகிறாள். அப்படியாயின் கண்ணகி எங்ஙனம் மங்கலதேவியாவாள்? என்கிற வினா அனைவரிடமும் எழும். கணவனை இழந்து கணவன் மீது சுமத்தப்பெற்ற பழியை நீக்கி மதுரையை எரித்துவிட்டு வந்த கண்ணகியைக் கோவலன் மங்கல மடந்தையாக்குகிறான். அவ்வாறு கோவலனால் மீண்டும் மங்கல மடந்தையாக்கப்பெற்று விண்ணுலகெய்திய கண்ணகியே மங்கலம் தரும் மங்கலதேவியாக அனைத்து மக்களாலும் வழிபடப்பட்டுவருகிறாள். விண்ணுலகிலிருந்து பூப்பல்லக்கில் தேவர்களுடன் வந்த கோவலன் கண்ணகிக்கு மங்கலநாண் அணிவித்து விண்ணுலகுக்கு அழைத்துச் சென்றதால் கண்ணகியை மக்கள் மங்கலதேவி என்று அழைக்கிறார்கள். [3]

துர்க்கையம்மன் கோயில் 

எல்லைப் பிரச்சனை 

தமிழ்நாடு - கேரளா எல்லைப் பகுதியில் உள்ள மலைப்பகுதியில் இந்த மங்கலதேவி கண்ணகி கோயில் மாநிலங்களுக்கிடையிலான எல்லைப் பிரச்சனையில் சிக்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது. இந்த கண்ணகி கோவிலின் முகப்பு வாயில், மதுரையை நோக்கியே அமைந்துள்ளது. 1817ல், கிழக்கிந்திய கம்பெனி நடத்திய சர்வே மிகவும் பழமையானது. இந்த சர்வேயில், கண்ணகி கோவில் தமிழக எல்லைப் பகுதியிலேயே இருப்பதாக சுட்டிக் காட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதன் பின்னர், 1893, 1896 -ல் நடத்திய சர்வேயும், 1913, 1915 -ல் வெளியிடப்பட்ட எல்லை காட்டும் வரைபடங்களும் இதையே வலியுறுத்துவதாக உள்ளன. கடந்த 1959 வரை கேரள அரசு, கண்ணகி கோவில் எல்லை குறித்து எவ்வித ஆட்சேபனையும் எழுப்பவில்லை. 1976 -ல், தமிழ்நாடு கேரள அரசு அதிகாரிகள் கூட்டாக நடத்திய சர்வேயிலும், கண்ணகி கோவில் கேரள எல்லையில் இருந்து 40 அடி தூரம் தள்ளி தமிழகப் பகுதியில் இருப்பது ஒப்புக் கொள்ளப்பட்டது.

இதற்கிடையில், கூடலூரில் மங்கலதேவி கண்ணகி கோட்ட சீரமைப்புக்குழு துவக்கப்பட்டு கோவிலைப் புதுப்பிக்க திட்டமிடப்பட்டது. 1976ல் இந்த சீரமைப்புக் குழு,அப்போதைய தமிழக முதல்வர் மு.கருணாநிதியைச் சந்தித்து உதவி கேட்டது. கூடலூரைச் சேர்ந்த, கே.பி.கோபால் எம்.எல்.ஏ.,வாக இருந்த போது கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு செல்லப் பாதை அமைக்க வேண்டும் என சட்டசபையில் பேசினார். இதனைத் தொடர்ந்து, தமிழகப்பகுதி வழியாக கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு ரோடு போடுவதற்காக ரூ.20 லட்சம் நிதி ஒதுக்கப்பட்டது. இந்த வேலை பாதி நடந்து கொண்டிருந்த போது கருணாநிதி தலைமையிலான திராவிட முன்னேற்றக் கழக ஆட்சி பதவி நீக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டது. இதனால் இத்திட்டம் தாமதப்பட்டது.

இந்த நிலையில் 1976-ல் கேரள வனப்பகுதி வழியாக, தேக்கடியில் இருந்து கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு அவசர அவசரமாக கேரள அரசு ஒரு பாதை அமைத்தது. இவ்வாறு போடப்பட்ட இந்தப் பாதையின் வழியாகத்தான், தமிழக பக்தர்கள், கண்ணகி கோயிலுக்கு செல்ல வேண்டியிருந்தது. தற்போது இந்த சாலையை வைத்துக் கேரள அரசு கண்ணகி கோயில் கேரளாவிற்குச் சொந்தமானது என்று உரிமை கொண்டாடுகிறது.

கண்ணகி கோயில் விழா தொகு

ஒவ்வொரு ஆண்டும் சித்திரை மாதம் வரும் சித்திரை முழுநிலவு தினத்தன்று இந்த மங்கலதேவி கண்ணகி கோயிலில் தமிழ்நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த பக்தர்கள் சிறப்பு வழிபாடுகள் செய்து வருகின்றனர். இந்தக் கோவில் வழிபாட்டிற்காக தமிழ்நாடு, கேரளா மாநில அரசுகளைச் சேர்ந்த அதிகாரிகள் குழுவினர் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்தி அதன்படி வழிபாடு செய்ய அனுமதி அளிக்கப்படுகிறது. வருடந்தோறும் இதற்காக தமிழ்நாடு அரசு சார்பில் தேனி மாவட்ட ஆட்சித்தலைவர் தலைமையிலான குழுவும் கேரளா அரசு சார்பில் இடுக்கி மாவட்ட ஆட்சித்தலைவர் தலைமையிலான குழுவும் பேச்சுவார்த்தைகள் நடத்தி சித்திரை முழுநிலவு திருவிழாவிற்கு பக்தர்களை அனுமதிக்கின்றனர். மற்ற நாட்களில் இங்கு செல்ல அனுமதி அளிக்கப்படுவதில்லை.

கோயில் நிலை தொகு

கேரள அரசின் பலவிதமான கட்டுப்பாடுகளுக்கு இடையே தமிழ்நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த பக்தர்கள் சித்திரை முழுநிலவு தினத்தன்று மட்டும் இந்தக் கோயிலுக்குச் சென்று வழிபட வேண்டிய நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. சித்திரை முழுநிலவு தவிர மற்ற நாட்களில் பக்தர்கள் செல்ல அனுமதியில்லாததால் இந்தக் கோயில் பராமரிப்பின்றி கோவிலின் பல பகுதிகள் சிதைந்து போய்விட்டன.கோவில் சுவற்றின் கற்கள் உடைந்து போய் கிடக்கின்றன. கண்ணகி சிலையும் சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு காணாமல் போய்விட்டது. தற்போது, சித்திரை முழுநிலவு விழா நேரத்தில் சந்தனத்தால் கண்ணகி முகம் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டு கொண்டாடப்படுகிறது.இப்படியே சில காலம் கவனிக்காத நிலை தொடர்ந்தால் வரலாற்று சிறப்பு மிக்க இக்கோவில் அழிந்து போகும். கோவிலைக் காப்பாற்ற இரண்டு மாநில அரசுகளும் தேவையான நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும் என்று இந்தக் கோயிலின் பக்தர்களும் தமிழ் மேல் பற்றுடைய ஆர்வலர்களும் தொடர்ந்து கோரி வருகின்றனர்.

மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் முத்துவேல் கருணாநிதி ஸ்டாலின் அவர்களும்

மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறை அமைச்சர் சேகர்பாபு அவர்களும் இந்தப் பிரச்சனையில் கவனம் செலுத்தி உடனடியாக தமிழ்நாட்டிலிருந்து கண்ணகி கோயிலுக்கு செல்லும் வழியை செப்பனிட்டு கொடுத்து தமிழர்கள் எந்தப் பிரச்சனையும் இல்லாமல் மகிழ்வுடன் கண்ணகி கோவிலுக்கு செல்ல ஏற்பாடு செய்யவேண்டும் என்று வேண்டிக் கொள்கிறோம் 

இப்படிக்கு 

தமிழ் இராசேந்திரன் 

வழக்கறிஞர் மற்றும் ஒருங்கிணைப்பாளர் தமிழ் அமைப்புகளின் கூட்டமைப்பு கரூர்

Garoda Garo Vs. Brahmin Veto

 

“Ours is the struggle not for money or power but, for the reclamation of human dignity”

 

 -Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar 

  

Garoda Garo. This was the name of a caste in the State of Gujarat. It had been categorised as the one belonging to Scheduled Castes. The people of this caste officiate as priests to the other people categorised as Scheduled Castes there. The people of this caste did not, however, want to be called as Garoda Garos. They wanted a better name and had been lobbying for it for long. They wanted to be called as Guru Brahmins. It was on January 2, 2017 that Vijay Rupani, the Chief Minister of Gujarat conceded to their demand and said that that community would, thereafter, be called Guru Brahmin (Times of India 20.02.2017). Garoda Garos were delighted. The Social Justice and Empowerment Department of the Gujarat Government issued notification to that effect on 02.02.2017 declaring that “the name of Garo/Garoda community has been changed to Guru Brahmin”.

 

Eight days passed. There was another notification by the same ministry, on 10.02.2017, stating that “the people from the ‘Guru Brahmin’ community would be identified as ‘Guru Brahmin Anusuchit Jati’ (Guru Brahmin Scheduled Caste)”. A pall of gloom descended on the Guru Brahmin community. They felt outraged. They opposed that revised nomenclature. They did not like it. B.K. Shrimali, the general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Guru Brahmin Mahasabha said, “There was no need to add the term Scheduled Caste to the new name given to us”.  “Since Brahmins per se don’t perform rituals for Dalits, they set up a sub-caste called Garo Brahmins to do such things. With time, calling someone Garo Brahmin became derogatory. It meant we were not as good as Brahmins. We sought a more respectable name to stop such humiliation”, said Shrimali. (Ahmedabad Mirror, 28.10.2017 -News item titled “Why can’t you give us a respectable name? ask Guru Brahmins.”). Social activist Manishi Jani says, “This decision (dated 10.02.2017) exposes the deep-rooted casteism in our society. The government wants to lure Dalits for votes by offering various schemes yet want to keep the nuisance of casteism alive. Instead of receiving a better name, the community has got a more derogatory name”.

The Brahmin veto over Non-Brahmin’s name

 

An Association of Brahmin Youth, called the Unity of Parshuram Parivar (UPP), claimed credit for the second notification. It said that it was their efforts which made the Chief Minister change his stand and issue the revised order on 10.02.2017. Its president Nirav Dave boasted, “We protested against the addition of the name Brahmin to the Garo community. We expressed our displeasure before CM Rupani. The CM listened to us and amended the notification.” That was not the only Brahmin organisation which claimed that credit. There had been a delegation of World Brahmin Federation members to meet the Chief Minister on the very next day itself, I.e., on February 3. Besides, there was another team of Brahmin community leaders which met the Chief Minister, further three days later, on February 6, asking him to rethink his decision. “Clarifying the reason behind their objection, a Brahmin community leader seeking anonymity, says, “Both communities share similar surnames. There have been cases where Brahmins have married Garo Brahmins due to confusion over names. So we want the government to make the distinction clear” (Ibid.).

What a great grievance the Brahmins had had! The Gujarat Brahmins want to retain a distinguishable identity; to protect their aloofness and exclusivity. They do not want any other group of Hindus to pilfer away any benefit that accrues to the ‘Brahmins’. Their standoffish attitude should be given government recognition and protection, they insisted. They were more concerned with maintaining their ‘puritanical’ approach in marriages. Blood purity was more important, they divined. After all, their ancestors did the same too.

          When Hitler wanted to make Germany ‘a land fit for the Aryans to live’, he enacted and enforced a law totally prohibiting the marriage of Germans with Gypsies, Jews and people of colour. It was called as the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, 1935. In 2017, the Brahmins around the world were not far behind Hitler. When the Gujarat government issued notification on 02.02.2017, they got worked up and worked so vigorously against the new nomenclature given to the Guru Brahmins that they began to sleep only after Vijay Rupani reneged on 10.02.2017, when they felt assured that their racial purity and exclusiveness would remain protected. Was it not a fact that the authorities in Germany were demanding “proof of racial purity before a marriage could go ahead under a new law in 1935”?

The same Ahmedabad Mirror of 28.10.2017 reports, ‘Another leader refusing to be named bluntly states, “Garo Brahmins are not Brahmins. They should not carry this name. The decision hurt our sentiments, so we made a representation against it.” The stand of these Brahmins was shocking. They, first of all, do not have any say in the matter pertaining to the nomenclature of Garoda Garos. No existing law of the nation prevents the others from calling themselves Brahmins, if they want to. Yet, the BJP government yielded to the unlawful pressure tactics of the Brahmins. It respected only the sentiments of the Brahmins and pooh-poohed the sentiments of the oppressed Guru Brahmins.

The issue here was why the Brahmins were so protective of their Brahmin title. Where was the need for them to oppose someone else being called some Brahmin? The answer lies in the fact that the Brahmins, post-independence, do have the vested interest to resurrect their vicious and anti-social Chaturvarna system that was in vogue in the days of Manu. They do not have any regret or remorse about the crimes committed against humanity in the past in the name of protecting and preserving the Chaturvarna social disorder. On the other hand, they boast of their ‘heritage’ and continue to subjugate the Non-Brahmins in an organised manner.

History just repeats itself in India, the darkest pages of the history. The Brahmins have not come out of their warped state of mind, even in the 21st century. They treat the Non-Brahmins with ill-will. There is no scope to expect any sense of Fraternity from them, although they call, the Non-Brahmins also as Hindus.

          The term ‘Hindu religion’ is, really, a misnomer. The Brahmins equate, in essence, the term ‘Hindu’ only with themselves. If a Non-Brahmin exposes the Brahmanical misdeeds, the Brahmins brand him as ‘anti-Hindu’. But the soul-deep aversion exhibited by the Brahmins towards the Non-Brahmins is not treated as an ‘anti-Hindu’ action. It is simply ignored from public discussion. As long as the Brahmins continue to have this kind of mind-set, they will pose very serious threat to the welfare and development of the Non-Brahmins. Mr. O. Rajagopal, BJP’s Vice President and in charge of Tamil Nadu and Kerala had, during his visit to Chennai on 08.08.1995, equated the term Brahmin with Hindu. “Mr.Rajagopal’s outburst denouncing the anti-Brahminism of the South as being ‘anti-Hindu’ perhaps allows a peep into the staunch “Manuwadi” view that the lower-castes are outside the strict Hindu fold” (The Hindu 09.08.1995).

Martin Luther - Anti-Pope; not Anti-Christianity

          Martin Luther was not anti-Christianity but was anti-Pope, particularly the Pope Leo X. In 2016, Pope Francis praised Martin Luther as “a great reformer”. (The magazine npr - 28.10.2016). In October 2016, Pope Francis travelled to Sweden and participated in the ceremony that started the yearlong commemoration of Protestant Reformation that split the Churches 500 years ago, in 1517 AD.

But the mainstream Brahmins are not prepared, even now, for real reformation of Hindu religion. They want the notorious Chaturvarna balkanisation remain forever with legal recognition. They cast slur on the Non-Brahmins who expose the Brahmanical duplicity, as anti-Hindus. The oft-repeated call for ‘Hindu unity’ by the Brahmins is only a call to protect Brahmin interests and not the interests of all the ‘Hindus’. That slogan was and is used by the Brahmins to utilise the services of Non-Brahmins to achieve the purpose of the Brahmins. Chaturvarna social order is a matter of shame to humanity. Worse when it is given legal sanction by the Judiciary, as in the case of priesthood. This Chaturvarna system had been and has been the cause of numerous inhuman crimes against humanity.

Winston Churchill had, rightly, said, “Let me just direct your attention once more upon the untouchables, fifty or sixty millions of them, that is to say, more than the whole population of the British isles, all living their lives in acceptance of the validity of the awful curse pronounced upon them by the Brahmins” (Albert Hill, London. 18.03.1931). In the Hindu religious order, the fact is that all the Non-Brahmins are untouchables only, as could be seen from the arguments of the Brahmin fundamentalists in respect of priesthood and could be seen from the concept of “Theendal” enforced by them in Travancore. History is attempted to be repeated to glorify the Chaturvarna system and establish the Brahmin-raj. Let us recall that Yuan Tzang had called the sub-continent as Brahmin land, even when Harsha, his patron, was ruling the nation. He was an eyewitness to the attempt of assassination of Harsha by the Chaturvarna fanatics.

The solution to rid India of this Chaturvarna system lies in the enforcement proportionate representation to avoid being ruled by the Brahmins who, actually, hate the renaissance in the lives Non-Brahmins as has been seen from the Guru Brahmin episode, and numerous such episodes in the past including the opposition to christen a child born in an oppressed case, as Mudi Soodum Perumal in the year 1809 and brought social pressure to change him name into Muthukutty. Brahmins have driven the Non-Brahmins only to this alternative to demand proportionate reservation for all castes and religions in India in services at all the top-level posts, including the higher judiciary. There is no scope for redemption otherwise.

 Let the Non-Brahmins work towards that goal, in the interest of their posterity!

♣

Published in the magazine OBC Voice of November,2024. For more on the subject, click on the following link: 

https://archive.org/details/nonbrahminmanifesto2019ina5_202003/mode/2up?q=non+brahmin+manifesto+2019+vaeyurutholibangan

What the Marathas and the Vanniyars should fight for !

 

Marathas of Maharashtra

The Government of Maharashtra issued two Ordinances on 09.07.2014.  The Ordinance No. XIII of 2014 provided for 16% reservation in services to Marathas. Another Ordinance No. XIV of 2014 provided for 5% reservation to 52 Muslim communities. This had taken the total reservation in services in the State of Maharashtra to 68%, where the reservation already existing was to the extent of 52%. The Bombay High Court upheld the reservation for Marathas but reduced the percentage of reservation to 13. But the Supreme Court had, on 05.05.2021, set aside the order of the Bombay High Court and struck down the Maratha Quota declaring it as ultra vires and unconstitutional, observing that the reservation for Maratha community in addition to the 50% social reservation was not covered by the exceptional circumstances as contemplated by Constitution Bench in Indra Sawhney’s case.

Vanniars of Tamil Nadu

The Government of Tamil Nadu enacted a law, the Act 8 of 2021, on 26.02.2021 providing for internal reservation of 10.5% to the Vanniar community, within the already existing 20% reservation for MBCs and Denitrified Communities. But the Supreme Court had, on 31.03.2022, struck down that enactment observing that the grant of 10.5% internal reservation to Vanniyakula Kshatriya community violated the fundamental rights of equality, non-discrimination and equal opportunity of 115 other most backward communities (MBCs) and de-notified communities (DNCs) in Tamil Nadu.

Patidars of Gujarat

The Government of Gujarat issued an ordinance on 01.05.2016 to accommodate the plea of the agitating Patidars, who constitute about 14% of the population in Gujarat, for the benefits of reservation. Instead of treating them as backward classes, the ordinance provided for 10 per cent reservation for those with family income less than Rs 6 lakh per annum (EWS) in educational institutions and state government jobs. That was in addition to the already existing 49.5% reservation for the backward classes. Chief minister Anandiben Patel and the state BJP president Vijay Rupani said that, “after meeting with party national president Amit Shah today the party and the government has decided to announce 10% reservation Ordinance on May 1^st on the Gujarat Foundation Day” (Times of India 29.04.2016). But that “Gujarat Ordinance No. 1 of 2016” was quashed and set aside by the Gujarat High Court on 04.08. 2016, stating that it had  been notified “without carrying out any detailed scientific and technical impact assessment study by the experts and without collecting quantifiable and empirical data”.  “Terming the ordinance “unconstitutional”, a division bench headed by then Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy observed that “it is not open for the State to make any reservation for section of citizens in unreserved category, only on the ground that section of such category of citizens belong to economically weak. As the economically weaker sections among unreserved category cannot constitute as homogeneous group for the purpose of reservation and such reservation will not withstand to the scrutiny of twin test under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Further, the economic criteria being fluctuating issue, the same cannot be the basis for any classification for the purpose of affirmative action for admission to educational institutions and while filling up the posts in the services under the State. Thus, such Ordinance which itself is issued based on economic criteria and as the same is in breach of equality clause under Article 14 of the Constitution, it is to be declared as void in view of the provision under Article 13(2) of the Constitution. …”.

The audacious two-days revolution of the ‘Forward’ castes

But the battle of ‘higher’ varna people for 10% reservation on economic basis alone, which had started with the silent insertion of Para 2(ii) in the  DOPT, OM. No. 36012/31/90 -Estt (SCT) dated 25.09.1991, continued without fanfare but with more  aggressiveness. The people at the top-rung of the society, who were the cause of the oppression of all the backward classes for centuries and centuries had different ideas. They did not give up their nefarious plea, in spite of repeated negative verdicts by the Supreme Court itself. If the Courts said that the Constitution did not permit reservation based on economic criterion, it is the Constitution which should be amended, they said. As they were already and predominantly occupying almost all the power centres under the Government of India and could easily manipulate matters, they used their lobby silently and performed a sudden and audacious revolution through both the Houses of Parliament and got a bill introduced and passed within two days (08 & 09.01.2019)  to insert two new provisions in Art. 15 (6) &  16 (6) to facilitate the Economically Weaker Sections among the Brahmins and other castes and religions, which did not get the benefit of reservation under Art. 15 (4) &16 (4), to get reservation.

 

The reservation under Art. 15 (4) and Art. 16 (4) was intended to provide ameliorative measures to the oppressed people in the Hindu social and religious set up. But that was cited by the “Forward Castes” as a ruse to provide 10% reservation through Art. 15 (6) and Art. 16 (6) to the oppressors. They wanted the reasons and the history behind reservations to be ignored and forgotten. As a result, these new provisions have now become incentives to them to continue to remain oppressors forever with their perverse caste system.  What is more? These oppressors were so powerful to use their lobby even to omit, in the newly inserted Art. 16 (6), the phrase  “not adequately represented” which is available in Art. 16 (4) of the Constitution.

They did not leave their work and come to the streets to achieve their goal; they did not hold protests; they did not seek any fact-finding commissions to examine whether they needed reservation.  They used their network to work silently and lobby for them. They spent days and weeks to prepare their Bill secretly to amend the Constitution in before it was officially introduced in the Parliament on 08.01.2019. They secured for them everything they wanted, just through desk work in the power centres, as those centres were functioning as their own for long, for all purposes.

Create allies by addressing the root cause

But the poor Marathas, Vanniars and Patidars  do not have any such lobby. They are made to come the streets and protest every time for everything. The Marathas intensified their struggle for reservation in September 2023. Their leader “Manoj Jarange Patil continued his indefinite hunger strike”. (Indian Express - 20.09.2023). Their demand now is to bring the entire community under the OBC umbrella. But “such move was opposed by OBC groups and Kunbis — the subset of the Maratha community that is already classified as backward — who fear that the influential community that makes up roughly a third of the state’s population will eat into their share.” (Hindustan Times - 11.09.2023). Taking a cue from the latest Maratha action, Mr. Anbumani Ramadas, leader of the Pattali Makkal Katchi met the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, on 09.10.2023, and demanded steps to be taken for providing 10.5% reservation to Vanniar community in Tamil Nadu. But both are wrong. The leaders of Maratha community in Maharashtra and the leaders of Vanniar community in Tamil Nadu and the Patidars of Gujarat were and are, clearly, leading their followers in the wrong direction and are alienating the rest of the OBCs, who were also suffering from the racial crimes practised under the Varna system.  These leaders do not want to address the real issues. They do not want to go to the root of problems to find the proper, real, equitable and just solution. They gather more opponents and not friends.

The reservation system in India, though in force for the past 70 years, has not really benefitted the suppressed classes to the extent to which it should have benefitted them. The tricks played by the Union bureaucrats in the maintenance of rosters, the ineffective method of appointment of Liaison Officers to monitor the enforcement of reservation system in every department and the abuse of power that was vested by the Supreme Court in the Executive (i.e., the DOPT’s bureaucrats) for enforcing the creamy-layer concept have all ensured that the STs, SCs and OBCs have not really got all the benefits that had been made available to them through Legislature. The very fact that there is inadequate  and insignificant representation of the people of these suppressed classes in the top-level bureaucracy and higher judiciary (both in the High Courts and Supreme Court) would provide tell-tale evidence to the fact that the system of even the token reservation provided under Art. 16 (4) of the Constitution was not allowed to really benefit the suppressed classes to the extent to which it was intended.

The leaders of Marathas, Vanniyars and Patidars should know that (1) the concept of  50% ceiling on vertical reservation and (2) the concept of Creamy Layer were only the inventions of courts and not the mandate of the Constitution. These concepts have affected the OBCs, SCs and STs adversely no end for the past 60 years. That upper limit of 50% had been discussed elaborately and was used by the Supreme Court to strike down the reservation for Marathas on 05.05.2021. But the 10% EWS reservation brought in by the Union Government which carried the vertical reservation to 59.5% had been upheld by the Supreme Court on 07.11.2022.

 

As things stand, the only way through which the Marathas, the Vanniyars and the Patidars can get their legitimate share in the governance of the nation is only when there is law recognising the birth right of all sections of Indians to have their proportionate representation in services. International precedents legitimise and justify this demand. The leaders of the Maratha, the Vanniar and the Patidar communities should, instead of poaching on the meagre share of the rest of the OBCs, take a holistic view of the entire scenario and join hands with the representatives of all the subjugated communities of India and put forward their demand, in one voice, for Proportionate Representation for all.

Caste data of 2011 hidden by the rulers

Besides, they should insist on the union government to release the caste data collected during the SEC Census of 2011 immediately. The union bureaucrats had conspired and suppressed that data with mala fide intention. Economic Times of 12.07.2015 reported their underhand activities thus: “Well, the government circles are abuzz with a conspiracy theory of a different kind. Unlike the pundits who believe that the government has conspired to deny the backward masses a little more of their due, some top bureaucrats believe that the attempt is not to hide the OBC figures but to suppress the more dangerous upper caste numbers….The upper castes have been running governments at the Centre and the states for so long that they don’t want the caste census to finally proclaim that the Indian democracy is not really representative.” 

It is, therefore, in the interest of the entire oppressed section of the Indian population to get that SEC Census data of 2011 released first.  That will provide enough authority to them to seek Proportionate Representation for all.

FCs attained equality in Reservation; retained superiority in Religion

The post-2019 law on reservation does not take into account the ill effects encountered by the OBCs because of the varna-based classification, which was the root cause of all the evils in India. It equates the OBCs with the Forward Castes, for the purpose of Art. 15 and Art. 16 of the Constitution. The OBCs below the Creamy Layer are treated on par with the Forward Castes below the creamy layer under Art. 16 (6). It does not give any weightage to the centuries old sufferings of the OBCs at the hands of the ‘Forward’ Castes.  It refuses to recognise the fact that the people of the OBC category are still ill-treated by the Brahmins, as they cannot become priests in the temples in which Brahmins alone officiate as priests, while the Supreme Court itself has, repeatedly, held that the priesthood is a ‘public employment’. That social stigma cast on the OBCs by the apartheidistic varna system, in the name of religion and its nefarious custom is permitted to prevail.

Another anomaly is that the reservation for the unreserved category of pre-2019 era, i.e., the ‘Forward’ class, is made available forever, even though the said class of people are already occupying posts in the services much more than their proportionate share in the total population. On the other hand, the reservation for the OBCs is made available, only so long as the said class of people remain under-represented in the services with reference to their share in the population.

Insist on caste survey at all India level, through SEC Census

Bihar has conducted caste survey.  All the other States should follow it up and conduct caste census immediately, although it wont help at national level, as it cannot be used at national level policy making. It would, to some extent, help expose the tricks played by the union bureaucrats to bring in the EWS reservation in 2019. 

There should be no demand for census of only the OBCs. It is a trap. It is intended to set OBCs against OBCs, while the Oppressors would, in the guise of EWS reservation, continue to occupy the power centres cornering much more than their legitimate and proportionate share.  

 

The Supreme Court which insists on “pro-rata reservation” for various scheduled castes “as per their numerical strength” will uphold the plea for Proportionate Representation, when the right facts, culled out from its own observations and findings in various judgments, are placed before it. 

Problems like those in Manipur could be solved in minutes  by applying the formula of Proportionate Representation.  That formula alone will ensure equality, fraternity and unity to usher in an era of prosperity and justice for all Indians.

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(Note: Published in the magazine 'OBC Voice' of November 2013)