One of the main misconceptions regarding Hinduism is a supposed system of ‘caste’ and its evils. It does not take much research into Indian history to see this as a manipulative, colonial-induced false narrative that was attached like a ball-and-chain to all Indian Hindus. The stigma follows Indian immigrants in countries other than Bharat.
There is a similar Western stigma upon India and Hinduism, which is that poverty in India is due to the Hindu dharma itself, along with what is seen as its caste system. To the Western reader who thinks this, I say, please do not only see India, its culture, and its people the way they are, without investigating the way they came to be so. One thing to keep in mind is, though India has never attacked another country, it has survived many invasions.
“People falsely blame Hinduism for the poverty in India. But the fact is that the British extracted $45 trillion (in today’s monetary values) from India over the course of their roughly 200-year rule. Think of what India could do today with $45 trillion! There’d probably already be Indian colonies on the moon and Mars, and maybe India would be helping the US with its poverty issues,” writes Jeffery D. Long, author of Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds.
If American politicians and scholars would not begin their assessments of Indians with perspectives that have been automatically biased by a lack of understanding of Indian culture, history, and linguistics, they could quite easily understand that the social stratification of ancient India, or ‘varna’, and the stringent social stratification of post-colonial India, or the apparent ‘Hindu caste system’, are not just different, but in opposition to one another. The classes of ‘varna’ spoken of in the Rig Veda looked at the society of the ancient Indian Republic as a person. The head (scholars and sages), the arms (military and police), the body (merchants and businessmen/women) and the legs (people who worked for the merchants and farmers). Later, thousands of sub-classes took formation. One class was not considered to be “higher” or “lower” than the other, as per the Vedas. Hindu scriptures don’t mention the existence of an ‘untouchable’, ultra-poor or beggar class. The word ‘Dalit’ came about in the late 1880s. It stems from the Sanskrit word ‘dalita’, which means ‘divided.’ As is other ancient literature, like the Bible, it was a word more often used to describe the diseased, not those living in abject poverty. India had one of the largest economies in the world for well over two thousand years, prior to the Muslim and British rule. There are more poor people living in modern-day America than those who lived in India 1,000 years ago.
The British took India’s recognition of ‘varna’ and turned it into the dreaded ‘Hindu caste system.’ They did so in order to divide Indian society and turn Hindu against Hindu. They did so to project a false and negative narrative of Hinduism to the world, in an attempt to make the people of the world believe their rule of India was justified.
The colonialists also wanted to create more division between Indian Hindus and Indian Muslims. This is what colonialism has done throughout the world and its history — divide and attempt to conquer. They’ve often caused ills in a society, then blamed the culture they were trying to destroy, for their own immorality. Their ultimate goal was to fool Hindus into believing Hinduism itself was responsible for the ills of Indian society.
Now in the US, anti-caste discrimination is becoming a rallying cry of some liberal politicians who think they are doing good, but have not done their homework. If they would spend as much time and energy educating themselves on the facts, as they do being ‘woke’, they might see that all they are doing is supporting an anti-Hindu stigma, along with a false and diluted interpretation of Vedic texts, Sanskrit, and Indian history. These politicians and their fans will listen to NPR, watch PBS, and are all for indigenous rights until the largest surviving group of indigenous people start to become successful. Indian-Hindu culture places great importance on family, hard work, and education. This is why they are often successful. Not because of being in a ‘higher caste.’ The US actually has its own stringent sort of caste system or rigid social stratification. Just look at the legacy policies at Ivy League universities.
Of course, there are some rigid barriers between social classes, rich and poor, and inequities in India and its cultural realm; just as there are in many other countries and parts of the world. However, many choose willful and bigoted ignorance over well-known facts. One fact is plain for almost any historian to see. That is throughout history and throughout the world, the British colonialists subjected indigenous peoples by (to use a Biblical adage) stealing from Peter to pay Paul. They evangelized for the rights of Indians and attempted to dominate them, simultaneously. Unfortunately, such people still tend to see the world through biased lenses.
Most of the American politicians who involve themselves in the affairs of Hindus have never been to India. They choose to see such Indian and Hindu matters as they appear on the surface, but fail to look deeper into how they came to be that way. That is the very definition of ‘bigotry.’ They still speak of the evils of the Hindu caste system, while unaware that in a very real sense, they should be using the term ‘British caste system’ instead.
The greatest weapon of those who seek to decimate entire cultures is not the machine gun or tank. It is psychological warfare. It is planting seeds that will grow into thorn forests while convincing the people of the soil that peepal, banana, and mango trees will grow. An infestation of thought grows stronger from one generation to the next. The result? Self-hating Hindus.
“When the slave will whip himself after the master has long gone, the work of colonialism is complete” — Radha Bharadwaj.
No one should ever cheer on exclusion, violence, or discrimination. The US may be the poster child for those who do. However, Americans, drunk on patriotism, like to see other countries as being problematic, while they ignore their own shortcomings and claim America to be the best country in the world.
The question remains, do Americans need caste discrimination laws? Indian Americans make up just 1.35 percent of the American population. However, many are prominent. Does this mean caste is the cause? State Senator Aisha Wahab says it does. Is she correct, or is she blowing a Hinduphobic dog whistle? In May 2023, Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim to be elected to the California State Senate, was a happy camper because her bill SB 403 passed with an overwhelming vote. On July 7, it cleared another hurdle. It was unanimously approved by the state Assembly Judiciary Committee, with one important linguistic alteration.
Proponents of SB 403 wanted the ancient misnomer ‘caste’ to stand alone in the wording of the bill. They wanted ‘caste’ alone to remain as a new category under California’s discrimination laws. The Hindu American Foundation and other American Hindus who protested against such exclusionary and watered-down language appreciated a mediocre win. The bill has been slightly rewritten to categorise caste as a protected class under the larger umbrella of “ancestry.” However, the misleading word ‘caste’ is still emphasised in the bill’s language. The word ‘caste’ has never before appeared in California legislation, and it should never appear in any proper manner, in any lexicon, or any sort of American parlance. The diaspora of Indian Hindus in North America is little affected by the rigidity of India’s leftover social division. They will be more negatively affected by the ultimate passing of laws such as SB 403. I predict this bill makes it to the Governor of California’s desk and is signed into law. Other bills like it will spread from State to State. As such, American Hinduphobia will get stronger and become more apparent, as it fits into the narrow groove of Western understanding, and is misunderstood and reinterpreted.
Such Hinduphobic legislation mirrors the mistake of liberal sanctimony. America’s Christian Right may be just as bad, for different reasons. Nonetheless, it is the American Leftists who I believe have decent intentions, who are and have been by far, anti-Hindu. They seem to be much more interested in the rights of American Muslims. Sometimes I’ve wondered if they think it was Hindus who flew planes into our buildings.
As these anti-Hindu laws and Hinduphobic attitudes make their way across my country and into the workplace, will less qualified non-Hindus start getting hired over highly qualified and educated Hindus? Will the woke bullies say that’s the way it should be due to the Hindu being ‘born into a higher class?’ If so, then shouldn’t the same affect white Christians who were born into great wealth? How would that go over?
“There were so many attempts to just kill the bill and remove ‘caste’ entirely. For us to preserve it is an amazing win,” said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a caste equity activist and founder of the civil rights organisation Equality Labs.
Note: Discrimination on the basis of caste was banned by Indian law in 1948 and placed in the Indian constitution in 1950. It certainly still has negative effects in some parts of India, but it certainly has very little if any effects in the United States. Perhaps American politicians should be more concerned with their own unfair and discriminatory divisions of class, along with their domestic terrorism, hate groups, and mass shootings.
The writer is an American Sanatani & the author of the soon-to-be-released book, ‘A Hindu’s Guide to Advocacy and Activism’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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