55. AN OLD STORY RETOLD ...

An Old Story:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.


The following Indian version of the Old Story has been made by some sick mind and so it has to be corrected (உண்மைகள் அப்டின்னு ஒண்ணு இருக்குல்ல ) and retold:
(The “original’ is in blue colour and the corrections are in red)

Indian Version retold:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.(Long long ago .. so long ago .. the ants proclaimed from the tops of temples that they had come straight from gods’ some vital anatomical parts and hence they were more than normal humans; and prescribed that the destiny of all grasshoppers is only to serve the ants. They sapped all the fruits of grasshoppers’ labour and enriched themselves for millennia. The grasshoppers were forbidden from any type of learning for long by the ants… a real great strategy – to keep their work force in absolute ignorance. At the end of this story you will find the ants continuing this strategy still to this day!)

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. (No, instead, for long the poor, illiterate and enslaved grasshoppers toil and suffer, never even knowing their rightful place as ‘human beings’ in this society. Such was the way the ‘mantra of ants’ worked on the lives of the grasshoppers.)

Come winter, (Some great souls like Ambedkar, Mahatma Jotirao Phule, Periyar ... appear on the scene and infuse some sense of decency and rebellious mood into the grasshoppers.) the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.(The voice of grasshoppers is slowly getting noticed.)

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up (It should have been so different if these agencies do such a balanced act. But these agencies invariably run for and run by the ants project grasshoppers with least esteem. Who would forget the way these channels show cased the AIIMS issue? ) To provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. (அடப் பாவிகளா! ) The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. ( They don’t spare even this lady! Anybody who cares for the downtrodden grasshoppers would become a laughing stock for these ants. Their only concern is their supremacy is never questioned and they always remain at the top of helm.)

Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the
Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance.) (On the other hand grasshoppers have been always tutored that they can get ‘moksha’ only if they serve ants.)

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism
Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. (If such things really happened the fate of grasshoppers would have improved a lot by now. முழுப்பூசணிக்காயை இப்படி மறைப்பதற்கும் ஒரு திறமை வேண்டும். இந்தத் திறமை antsகளிடம்தான் கொட்டிக் கிடக்குதே..)

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services. (அப்படி வாங்கப்பா antsகளா வாங்க .. இதுக்குத்தான் வருவீங்கன்னு தெரியுமே! This is what was said in the beginning – the ancient and very original strategy of ants to forbid the grasshoppers from any type of learning – is continuing to this day. When this scheme is threatened the ants feel that their ‘supremacy’ is at stake and rise as one against such proactive measures. நல்லா இருங்க’டே!)

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it’s home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.(ஒரு புரட்சி வந்து இப்படி நடந்திருந்தா, வேணுகோபால் & Co.வை வீட்டுக்கு அனுப்பியிருக்கலாம். Ants strongly feel that the higher institutions are meant only for them, the chosen and ‘meritorious’ ones. )

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. (Ha! Didn’t the erstwhile B.J.P. government obstruct the issue of dalits to be taken to U.N.?)
Many years later... ( இப்படியெல்லாம் நடந்தா நல்லாத்தான் இருந்திருக்கும்; நடக்கலையே)
The Ant has since migrated to the US (you mean, deserter, preferring greener pastures? could be .. it is always said that they were afterall a nomadic group.)and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley,

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India, (ha..ha… Hi dear ant! Have you not looked around you of late? It was true many ants migrated and became rich in the land of plenty. But of late the ants are outsmarted, outclassed and outnumbered by a variety of grasshoppers in that land proving that ants are in no way better than grasshoppers!! Why go for onshore examples? Even in our motherland it is being proved time and again. Any doubt? Better see this It is just the tip of the iceberg…It is not the end; not even the beginning of the end; but just the end of the beginning for things to come.)
AND
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the
grasshoppers, (Is it not the other way round all these times?)
.
India is still a developing country…!!!(Sadly it is true .. majority are the grasshoppers… and still a great number of them are to be lifted up from the murky depths into which they were thrown; they are to be shown a new humane way of life as equal to any other human being .. a lot to be done. But the major stumbling block is the ant and its விஷமத்தனம், மேட்டிமைத்தனம், ஆங்காரம் etc..etc..)
But the days are not far off ……



you need to see this post of Dr. Bruno also: a reality .. A POOR GRASSHOPPER .. help her

54. AN OPEN LETTER

This open letter is meant to one Mr Eric in response to his article in Wall Street Journal.

SEE MY TAMIL POST ON THIS HERE.

Mr. Eric,
Happened to come to your article in WSJ - - from the columns of P.Sainath, the winner of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts in The Hindu dated 18.01.’08 -

It made an interesting read!

Just wanted to make few comments:

- From your title I understand that you say that the Brahmins WERE at least once the fortunate lot and that has reversed now.

- From the data in the table given by you and from the corrigendum to your article those ‘misfortunate’ lot are the RICHEST lot (65% and 50% respectively)

- I understand that for your case study you have taken a poor teacher from the RICHEST group.

- I request that you may consider to compare this poor teacher with another poor from the POOREST group, some one from the 91%. I am sure it would give some very interesting points for your future columns.

- Since your name sounds different I take it that you are from a different culture. If so, I would like to request you to first understand the ground realities before you make your valuable comments in a journal of any kind.

- There is a saying in my mother tongue, Tamil: “Some cry for sugar for their daily milk; while there are many who cry for salt for their sporadic gruel”. Your article was about an unfortunate from the former. Why not try to know somebody from the latter. Try. No harm.

15. HISTORY AND PLIGHT OF DALITS OF INDIA -3.

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A 3- part article:
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After Independence, to fulfill the Constitution provisions, the Indian Government has passed various legislations to enforce the abolishment of 'untouchability' and remove the barriers of caste discrimination impeding the socio-economic progress of the Dalits. This included the Protection of Civil Rights (Anti-Untouchability) Act, 1955 and various land reform laws to redistribute land to the landless, a large and disproportionate percentage of whom were and still are Dalits. Later years saw the passage of the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976, Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, Jogini Act No. 10, and the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 & Rules, 1995. The central and state governments also established SC/ST Welfare Departments soon after Independence. In the early 1990s, the Central Government passed legislation establishing the National Commission for SC/ST and the National Human Rights Commission.

There is no doubt that none of these would have been possible without the interventions made by Dr. Ambedkar, to ensure that Independent India would be based on a democratic constitution that guaranteed equality, fundamental rights and dignity to all regardless of caste. Had he succumbed to his contemporary dominant-caste nationalists who pressured him to settle these matters internally, Dalits would be much worse off than they are today.
The much acclaimed affirmative actions by the Governments, in the form of the Constitutional provisions, powerful Legislations, Judicial Activism and the existence of Human Rights Mechanisms – National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Dalits) Commission, National Commission for Women are not able to protect Dalits from the heinous crime of untouchability.
Any small attempt of Dalits, to “assert their rights or their resistance against the violence” unleashed on Dalits, is viewed as an act of Disobedience and creation of a Law and Order problem. This results in brutal attack on Dalits, by the state machinery, especially the police. The Dalits are at the receiving end, both by the dominant caste and by the state police force, which is also very much dominated by the dominant caste persons. Crimes and atrocities on Dalits have ever been increasing over the past few years. The National Crimes Record Bureau recorded only 8,500 crimes against Dalits in 1997 but the ‘Minor Studies Series’ puts the figure at between 55,000 and 65,000 per year. There has been a sudden spurt from around 18,000 per year in 1993. The Report states that over 250 people have been killed in caste clashes in TamilNadu since 1995. Eighty-six were killed in 1997 alone. Of the total of 167,000 cases of crime against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes framed between 1995 and 1996, only 4,322, a paltry 2.6% resulted in conviction. Chopping of heads of Dalits, maiming limbs, chasing them from their inhabitations and looting their properties, still persist. Dalits are prevented from contesting in local body elections and in case elected, not recognized and allowed to function as leaders of village body Panchayats.
More than that the people in power still have no real concern for the emancipation of the dalits.
The Indian Government sounded increasingly irrational as it shouted itself hoarse to deny a problem that everybody else can plainly see. Similar to its predecessors in the Nationalist Movement who opposed Dr. Ambedkar for raising the specific concerns of the Dalits with regard to Independence in the Round Table Conference, the then BJP Government was opposed to the efforts of Dalits who seek the support of the United Nations in the context of the World Conference Against Racism in strengthening India's own constitutional obligations to abolish 'untouchability' and caste-based discrimination. As on date, courts have to intervene and order district collectors to make it possible for dalits to rightfully partake in the temple functions.

Either the constitution or the legislations or the judiciary or the other Human Rights mechanisms in the form of Human rights commissions at various levels from the states to the center are not providing effective safeguards and guarantees to ensure Dalits rights. Even the most powerful instrument currently available in defense of Dalits rights, namely SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, hardly provide effective safeguards for protection and promotion of Dalit Human Rights. Article 17 of the Indian constitution proclaims that the practice of untouchability is abolished. Denial of temple entry, prohibiting access to common water sourecs, denial of share in the common property of villages, separate burial grounds, prevalence of two separate glass system in tea stall, are some of the inhuman forms of manifestations of untouchability that exist even today.


Caste discrimination cannot end without concrete social, educational and economic changes. The irony is that dalits, comprising 16% of India’s population, suffer from a disease, even more pathetic than the practice of untouchability – the ideological dominance of the upper castes who control not only social, economic and political power in the country but even knowledge and opinion. Even the personal experience of being discriminated against does not become an issue unless ‘permitted’ by the experts and the state. To disbelieve them is a necessary precondition for dalit assertion. The Dalits have been in dark in exercising their political rights viz the denial of rights to contest the village local body election. The village Melavalavu in Madurai District evinced the murder of the Dalit Panchayat President and other six Dalits by the Dominant Caste, for they could not assimilate the winning of a post in election by a Dalit.

Education: The correlation between quality education and emancipation is well established globally. How then can we justify that 50% of dalit children (64% dalit girl children) are pushed out of the school system before they can complete even primary education? How do we ensure a strong nation, assuming that dalits are part of the nation, when we cannot even ensure basic education to 16% of our population?
Civil Protection: The current government statistics of murder, rape and assault that dalits are subjected to paint a horrible picture if extended to a history of 3000 years. We have reason to believe that approximately 21,90,000 dalits have been murdered, 32,85,000 raped and over 7,50,00,000 assaulted. The violence perpetrated on dalits cannot be rooted out until long term economic, social and political measures, such as land reforms, are firmly implemented. The helplessness of dalits gets magnified by the general apathy of bureaucrats and especially of the police force to rush to their help. Even when dalits are attacked by caste hindus it is always the dalits who bear the brunt of the violence. The Keezha-vanmani burning decades ago or the recent killings in Melavalavu and the routine massacres in Bihar and the significant lack of conviction will always remain as indelible stains on our democracy. Unless dalits too get social positions, especially in the police force, the administrative institutions will be always against the dalits.
All these things are what the government and othe s have to do for the emancipation of the dalits. But this would not be enough at all. The awareness of the dalits themselves is most essenctioal requirement. Any amount of eduction or awareness programs cannot result in the assertion of the dalits. Instead it has to come from within. Waiting for somethjng to hapaen outside to help themcome out of their pitiable state may be a pipe dream. An even more serious question is whether the state that represents a certain class and caste culture, can be entrusted with the responsibility of education, especially for dalit children. Education, if perceived as a tool of empowerment, needless to add, cannot be trusted in the hands of state agencies. The oneness of all sects of dalits and their inner force to break the shackles are the need of the day.

14. HISTORY AND PLIGHT OF DALITS OF INDIA - 2.

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A 3- part article:
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In the course of the movement for an Independent India, the problem of 'untouchability' and caste discrimination against Dalits became an international issue. It was due to the radical, bold stand that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, leading Dalit figure of the 20th century and architect of India's Constitution, made on behalf of the ''Depressed Classes' as the British prepared to transfer political power to the dominant castes who influenced the character of the Independence Movement.
He made one of his most brilliant stands on behalf of the "Depressed Classes" in 1930-1931 at the Round Table Conference in London, in which leading representatives of the various communities in Indian Sub-Continent met to discuss and come to an agreement on the main points that must be included in the constitution for a self-governing India. Ambedkar plainly told the Conference that the "Depressed Classes" would not accept any constitution for self-rule that did not guarantee them equal citizenship and fundamental rights and abolish the practice of untouchability.
Ambedkar's bold, radical stance was strongly resented by many dominant-caste leaders of the Independence Movement, who accused him of dividing the Independence Movement and playing stooge to the British Raj. They lectured him that the situation of the 'untouchables' was an internal matter and urged him to wait until Independence was achieved. (the same argument was raised when dalits wanted to reaise their issue in the THE UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) held at Durban) Ambedkar, however, saw things quite differently Religious orthodoxy and deep-rooted caste prejudice confined the nationalist movement to largely representing the aspirations of the dominant castes for political and economic power. Ambedkar was keenly aware of this.

“I am sorry to say, Sir, that I have been deluded. I find now that although some of our people would desire me and others to join them in their demand for Dominion Status, they do not join with us in demanding that the Government which will be set up under that Dominion Status shall be responsible to the people of India as a whole. I never thought there would be this division of opinion, and that I should have to stand up to defend the position we take. Now, Sir, speaking on behalf of the Depressed Classes I cannot honestly consent to responsible Government or to Dominion Status unless I can be sure that the people for whom I speak are to have a place in that constitution”.

Ambedkar's intervention at the Round Table Conference articulated an authentic democratic vision of Swaraj based on equality, liberty and fraternity, principles alien to a social order based on caste division and hierarchy. It was largely as a result of Ambedkar's interventions at the Round Table Conference that the Indian Constitution guaranteed fundamental rights, established universal suffrage, abolished 'untouchability' and guaranteed reservation in legislature and government services for Dalits, Adi Vasis and minorities.

It may be interesting to note that Gandhiji, for all the propaganda surrounding his name, did not abolish untouchability. Ambedkar, the `Father of the Indian Constitution' and greatest leader of the Black Untouchables (Dalits and Adivasis), has written about Gandhi's policy of subjugating the Untouchables,
" Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors. The sanctity and infallibility of the Vedas, Smritis and Shastras, the iron law of caste, the heartless law of karma and the senseless law of status by birth are to the Untouchables veritable instruments of torture which Hinduism has forged against untouchables. These very instruments which have mutilated; blasted and blighted the lives of the Untouchables are to be found intact and untarnished in the bosom of Gandhism."

This is because Gandhi was a staunch follower of the Brahminist caste system. :
" Supporting the caste system he [ Gandhi ] said: "I believe that caste has saved Hinduism from disintegration." He also said, "To destroy the caste system and adopt the Western European social system means that Hindus must give up the principle of hereditary occupation, which is the soul of the caste system. The hereditary principle is an eternal principle. To change it is to create disorder."
The greatest crime committed by Gandhi against the Black Race was to deny the Black Untouchables of India separate electorates and sabotaging the plan to emancipiate Untouchables :
" In the Round Table Conference held in 1932, the then British Government accepted the demand of the Dalits for separate electorate. The basis of that demand was the fact that the Dalit are not Hindu but a separate nation. Gandhi started his 'fast unto death' against that plan and sabotaged it. It was a thunderous blow to the cause of the emancipation of the Dalit."

Indeed, Gandhi displayed a marked bias against the Black Untouchables." In 1933, he established Harijan (Dalit) Sevak Sangh for the welfare of the Untouchables (Dalits). But when there was a demand for the representation of the Untouchables on the Governing Board of the institution, he flatly refused it. He disapproved appointment of Mr. Agnibhai, a distinguished personality, as a minister in the Congress cabinet in the Madhya Pradesh because he was from the Scheduled Caste."
As a supreme fate of irony, it is the Brahmins the Mahatma so supported that eventually killed him !

There were also other social redformers like E.V.R. popularly known as Periyar, a contemporary of Dr. Ambedkar. Periyar's self-respect movement began in an aggressive way at Vaikom, in the present Kerala. It was on behalf of the Untouchable castes who were not allowed even to walk on a street right before a temple. The agitation became famous as "Vaikom struggle". Dr. Ambedkar wrote an Editorial about this historic achievement in his journal, Mooka Nayak. If Ambedkar challenged the Brahmanical order of society and sought to uphold the basic human rights of the depressed classes. E.V. Ramasami's contributions were no less significant. The imprint of his struggles are to be found in the social and political spheres of the Tamil region in Southern India. His challenge to Brahmanism was sought to be posited through an alternative, democratic culture. It was the unique self-respect movement.

13. HISTORY AND PLIGHT OF DALITS OF INDIA. - 1

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Though there are so many things about India - like its prehistoric civilization, multicultural ethnicity, present day technocratic social milieu, its upcoming prestige as a global IT giant - that can make every Indian proud, there is one another aspect of our society that would make every Indian feel ashamed. That is the caste discrimination. Indians have been living with this shame for centuries now. Can anybody with a conscience accept the atrocities heaped by our society as a whole upon those who carry the night soil on their heads, those who toil in the lands of the rich as bonded labourers for generations, those who are kept more as inanimate things than as normal human beings. How long this sickly psyche blaming all these to ‘fate’ or ‘god’s will’ will go on? Sadly none can be sure when, if ever, this blotch would be cleansed once for all from the face of Indian society.

Origin of this caste system in the Indian society dates back to thousands of years. The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India around 1500 B,C. from South Europe and North Asia. When the fair-skinned Aryans invaded India, about two thousand years before Jesus Christ they defeated the dark-skinned indigenous people, Dravidians, who were the founder of the Indian Civilization. The Aryans subjugated them, learnt many things from them and built up another civilization, which came to be known as the Ganges Valley or Hindu Civilization. To perpetuate the enslavement of the original inhabitants of India, the Aryans created the caste system, and thereby excluded them from their own society with the name of Sudra (which means slave). And more than this, another group of people were left as ‘outcastes’ who were even denied of human status. In order to secure their status the Aryans resolved some social and religious rules, which allowed only them to be the priests, warriors and the businessmen of the society. History of the Aryan intrusion into India and their dominance over the original inhabitants, Dravidians and the prominence given to the scriptures of the former were the root cause for this caste discrimination. Vedas, smiruthis and manushastra, the scriptures of Aryans became the pillars of Hinduism. Caste system institutionalized by them had been made as Varnashram ordained by their gods. Varnashram, not only classified the society into four divisions, left out the fifth category, the untouchables and even unseeables. The fate of this lot had been remaining the same for all these past millennia. The Hindu caste system upholds with religious sanctions a hierarchical society. It does not even recognize this fifth class as human beings at all. The Brahmanic varna system (`varnashrama dharma') is basically a genocidal apartheid system designed to exterminate the `black varna'. The theory of Aryan invasion could be a matter of dispute and there is, of late, a counter theroy denying the 'invasion' ofAryans. But what cannot be denied is the place for varnashram in Hindu Vedas.
Following quotes from their manushastra will prove the level of cruelty they showed towards the low caste and outcaste people:

" Having killed a cat, an ichneumon, a blue jay, a frog, a dog, an iguana, an owl, or a crow, he shall perform the penance for the murder of a Sudra." -- [ Manu IX.132 ]

" Every act that is considered the privilege of the Brahman, such as saying prayers, the reciting of the Veda, and offering of sacrifices to the fire, is forbidden to him, to such a degree that when, a Sudra or a Vaisya is proved to have recited the Veda, he is accused by the Brahmans before the ruler, and the latter will order his tongue to be cut off. However, the meditation on God is not prohibited.-- [ al-B.ii.127 Ch.LXIV ] "

· " A once-born man (Sudra) who insults a twice-born man (Aryan) with gross invective, shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of low origin." -- [ Manu VIII.270 ]

· " If he mentions the names and castes (Jati) of the (twice-born) contumely, an iron nail, 10 fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth." -- [ Manu VIII.271 ]

· " If he arrogantly teaches Brahmins their duty, the king shall cause hot oil to be poured into his mouth and into his ears. " -- [ Manu VIII.272

The great distinctions of caste are to be maintained not only in the earthly life, but also after death. According to Markandaya Purana, after death, the virtuous Brahman goes to the abode of Brahma, the good Kshatriya to that of Indra, the worthy Vashya to that of the Maruts, and the dutiful Sudra to that of the Gandharvas. Apparently, the Untouchable (Dalit) does not deserve any place in any heaven, may be because of his untouchability even by gods themselves!

During the British period the rulers had tried to implement some affirmative measures to the welfare of the outcastes. They were the ones who introduced the terms: scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. British Government provided the outcastes with free lands, known as Ipanchami lands. But by the dominance of the upper castes and the ignorance of the outcastes, all the lands thus given for outcastes are with the upper castes. The term ‘dalits’ meaning ‘broken people’ was first used by Jyotiraj Phule Maharashtra (1827-1890), a backward class social reformer, to describe the untouchables and outcastes of India as the oppressed and broken victims of the Hindu society. The term is a constant reminder of their age-old oppression and deprivation. It does not actually mean poor or outcast but it is a state to which a certain section of the people have been reduced through systemic and systematic religious process and are forced to live continually in that predicament. Dalits all over India are forced to undertake the filthy and the menial work of sweeping, manual scavenging, drum beating and cremating the dead bodies. Dalits are treated as slaves and still they are forced to bear the pains of “social boycotting” an illegal pronouncement by the dominant caste people.

Naked parading, forcing Dalit women to become maidens to God, - a ritulalistic prostitution and sexual harrassment of Dalit women by the dominant caste persons, which are still a common sight in some parts of the country.
to be continued.....