tamil dalits do not want to be called as hindus

Topic started by rangachari (@ 216.191.58.156) on Mon Apr 16 10:18:21 .
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http://in.news.yahoo.com/010415/43/rmf0.html

Tamil Nadu Dalits want out of Hindu fold
By Papri Sri Raman, India Abroad News Service
Sunday April 15, 5:02 PM

Chennai, Apr 15 - Dalit outfits in Tamil Nadu have asked community members
to declare themselves non-Hindus, break free from the "shackles of the Hindu
caste system" and take a pledge that places them "outside the fold of
Hinduism."

Coming together on the 110th birth anniversary of late Dalit leader B.R.
Ambedkar, the representatives of the Dalit outfits repeated the "fundamental
principles of Buddhism," a 22-point charter by which Ambedkar swore in 1956
at Nagpur, when he converted to Buddhism.

According to P. Sainath, an Amnesty International award-winning journalist
and author, Dalits form 16.48 percent of India's more than billion-strong
population.

"Naangal Indukkal alla, yaarukkum adimai alla (We are not Hindus, nor are we
anyone's slaves)," speakers and participants declared at the Ambedkar
Manimandapam, the venue of the anniversary meeting, here Saturday. Dalit
Murasu and the Dalit Media Network organized the memorial function.

"We have not given a call for a conversion to Buddhism. This time we wanted
to do more than that. We wanted to remind the people of what Ambedkar said
and what he practiced," Punitha Pandian, the editor of Dalit Murasu, a
well-circulated monthly magazine in its fifth year of publication, said.

"One needs to first break out of the shackles of the Hindu caste system. One
needs to declare oneself a non-Hindu. For spiritual satisfaction, people
need a religion. That is the reason for embracing Buddhism," said V.
Vasanthi Devi, former vice-chancellor of the Manonmani University.

"Bringing Dalit groups into the ambit of Hinduism is a post-Gandhi
phenomenon. Gandhi called us Dalits, Harijans or children of god. Now
everyone wants to take the support of these backward groups on their road to
power. Even the RSS (right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) calls us
Hindus. But political issues of economic empowerment for Dalits and land
rights remain un-addressed," said S. Natarajan, head of the "Panchami
Nilameetpu Iyakkam (Movement for the recovery of land belonging to the
depressed classes).

"When I looked for a flat to rent in Chennai a few months ago, the first
question I was asked by my landlord after I had paid Rs.80,000 as advance
was 'what is your caste'?" Said Velu Annamalai, an engineer, who has spent
30 years abroad, recalling a personal experience.

"We only hope to initiate a debate on this issue, given that several groups
in the country are already seriously considering this option -- conversion
to Buddhism on a mass scale. The All-India Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Employees' Association, with one million members, has announced that
it would be embracing Buddhism on October 14," said P. Chandrakesan, a Dalit
leader.

"There is no such identity a person can claim as Hindu even if ideologues of
Hinduism have been harping on a seamless pan-Indian Hindu identity. We
Dalits and Adivasis (another socially underprivileged class) have never
been, are not, and shall never be Hindus for we have no caste. Caste Hindus
should not think that we are 'quitting' Hinduism. How can we quit something
we do not belong to?" he added.

Among others who spoke at the function were Viduthalai Rajendran, the
general secretary of the Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (PDK), Tamizh Mariyan, a
Buddhist scholar, author Aa Marx and human rights activist S.V. Rajadurai.


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