In one of the news I read today a women and her new born baby died in Uttar Pradesh, India. The women was Dalit (lower caste) so the medical personnel wouldn’t touch her. The baby was born outside the hospital and died immediately, the mother died the next day. Please click this link to read the full story. This is only one of the many horror stories I have heard on Dalit’s. Unlike in India, stories from Nepal haven’t been this inhuman, that doesn’t mean we don’t have our shares of horror stories involving Dalit’s.
I really need your help, especially all you Hindu folks. Does our religion say anything about being Dalit, or is it just a social imposition?
Please do drop a comment if you read this post, I really need some information/feedback. If it’s our religion that describes someone as Dalit (untouchables), then honestly I will lose faith in Hinduism. There might be rich and poor, or white and black, but in the books of god all should be equal.
Rather than the religion, it’s attitude and arrogance.
Say it’s vanity and discrimination.
No need to lose your faith in the religion.
Dalits, according to my understanding, are those that do not fall under any of the four “Varnas.” (Ajat= No jat, i.e. not under any of the four castes defined by Hinduism) Given that they are not defined by Hinduism and the fact that they have not been allowed in temples, you could argue that Dalits do not practice Hinduism and are thus not even Hindus. On that basis, I would say that Dalits are the unfortunate victims of upper caste trying to validate their supremacy.
The foundation of human civilization stands on the dichotomy of mind. I don’t think more explanation is necessary.
It is very inhuman. It is so sad to see this occuring again and again.
All the organized religions have discrimination. Hinduism is too old and it is carrying all the traditions (bad and good) of all times. It is surprising that even modern education hasn’t been able to remove such a concept from so called higher caste people.
By the way Prajwoljee, there is no need to renounce your faith. In my opinion faith and religion are two different things. Even if you consider yourself a ‘hindu’ which ‘hindu’ are you? They say every 50 km has a different hinduism. What we call our religion is not religion but a collection of rituals (which we sometimes also call ‘culture’).
Someone has said, “your religion begins when the rituals are over.”
Prajwol jee,
There are many hindu Scriptures which are racially motivated. But it does not mean GOD has written it, its always views of few guys who where religiously influential position at the time the book was written.
In Manusmriti its been written if shudras listen the verses of bhramin’s even accidently then they should be punished by putting boiling oil in their ear.
Bhagwat Gita is lot different than Manusmriti. Bhatwat Gita’s exact translation is good but in some book writers have tried their own interpretations of verses which are sometimes crap.
I do not believe any book in any religion is written by GOD, thats why none of them are perfect. I believe in unified figure of GOD who does not belong to any religion.
and also I believe all these religious texts has gone through number of editions (and surely changes over time). Probably Shree Swasthani is a proof ,if you find a really old book of swasthani compare it with the latest you buy from market.
Saurav ji,
First of all, welcome to my blog, and thanks for your comment.
You made a great point, “I do not believe any book in any religion is written by GOD, that’s why none of them are perfect”. I had no idea about Manusmriti. I am so surprised about inconsistencies among our religious text.
I am currently going through Gita, and I already disagree with few points which I believe is against our philosophy of सनातन धर्म
Tsk, I hate hearing stories like this. I don’t think it has something to do with the religion, people make decisions based on their own judgment..so if there’s people responsible for the death of the mother and her child, that would be the people in the hospital.
Tsk, I hate hearing stories like this. I don’t think it has something to do with the religion, people make decisions based on their own judgment..so if there’s people responsible for the death of the mother and her child, that would be the people in the hospital. Right?