HINDU PARIAHS CONTINUE TO BE DEMEANED:

BUT ALAS THOSE WHO DO THAT ARE THE SO-CALLED HIGH CLASS HINDUS, AND NOT THE MUSLIMS.
By Mansor Puteh


‘Pariah’ is a word that has been included in the English language; and it can be used in many ways, including ‘Pariah state’.

But no Indian or Hindu has protested the word from being used by anyone in such a fashion.

And when can we get a person who cries: ‘Proud to be Pariah!’?

The most that the Pariahs can do is to leave Hinduism and revert to Islam or the other religions where they do not practice the Caste System like in India, despite it having been ‘banned’ a long time ago.

Many in India had done that after they felt lost holding onto Hinduism, which had condemned them to be pariahs all their life with no prospect of being able or allowed to be free.

So by having such a group, it helped the cause of Islam, mostly, with some pariahs opting to convert to the other religions, such as Christianity, over the last few centuries.

The practice is still happening, the more the pariahs feel marginalized and sidelined.

The Pariahs are a group of Hindus who have been charged or demeaned for being of ‘low class’. They cannot join the majority of Hindus who are in the upper or higher classes.

Their lot is such that they cannot climb up the ladder in religious and social as well as cultural aspects.

Yet, the United Nations and the world have not condemned India for practicing apartheid of the worse sort, which they do on their own people who also profess the same religion as themselves.

In short they have been condemned. And not a word on them could be mentioned by Hindus who have been charged or demeaned for being of ‘low class’. They cannot join the majority of Hindus who are in the upper or higher classes.

Their lot is such that they cannot climb up the ladder in religious and social as well as cultural aspects.

In short they have been condemned. And not a word on them could be mentioned by anyone.

Many of them had left Hinduism to revert to Islam so they are now at the same level as other human beings.

Some of them, rightly or wrongly, said they had freed themselves of such bondage created by those Hindus of the higher classes or caste.

Even today, many Hindu Pariahs leave the religion to revert to Islam or become Christians, etc, so they can now behave and be treated more humanely.

In Malaysia, there were attempts by Muslims to bring out the Pariahs by including them in novels and other works or art.

But the mere mention of them was not good for the other Hindus. They charge the Muslims for being insensitive to their religion.

It is therefore ironic how the Hindus of the upper caste could come up with such a charge. It was them who had demeaned the Pariahs, but when the

It is therefore ironic how the Hindus of the upper caste could come up with such a charge. It was them who had demeaned the Pariahs, but when they are being mentioned as such by the Muslims, the Muslims are charged for such an outrageous charge.

It is sad, how the Pariahs are not able to exert themselves.

The Blacks in America were in the same position as the Pariahs of India.

Yet, over the years, the Blacks started to exert themselves by saying ‘Black is Beautiful’, and in the end, they triumph, so they are now considered to be people of equal standing with the Whites in America.

But if the Pariahs say, ‘Proud to be Pariahs’, they will be charged for going against their religion of Hinduism, who some of the higher caste Hindus want them to disappear from public view; they are not to be heard or exist.

There are so few Pariah in India who had gone up the social and economic ladder by virtue of the fact that they had excelled in education and became doctors, yet, they are not encouraged to marry Hindu women of the higher caste.

However, the United Nations (UN) can never ban the caste system of India because it forms part of the religion itself and by charging the Indians for discriminatory practices; they will run foul of human rights, whereby allowing them to have values which they claim to be pure.

It is also like the burning of corpses by the river-banks and disposing ashes into the river, a practice which is entrenched in Hindu beliefs.

This practice cannot be outlawed by the UN or any other human rights group despite it being abhorrent to humankind which stipulates that the bodies of the dead must be given due respect they deserve.

Since in Hinduism and some other religions, giving due respect to dead bodies, especially the loved ones, is by cremation.

Such logic however, cannot be sustained by some cultural and religious groups whose women were allowed to expose their bodies, in the past.

They do not do so now.

Even in the rural areas of Sarawak, Malaysia, where the Native women in the past who would bare their bodies then, do not do it now.

In Bali, things have also changed, whereby Balinese-Hindu women too do not expose their bodies anymore like their ancestors did in the past.

Yet, no one told them to cover up. They did it themselves.

If they were told to cover up, they would sniff at such an outrageous suggestion saying how the practice or lifestyle was theirs to follow.

But they were not told to change their ways or lifestyles; they did it themselves.

However, the burning of corpses by Hindus and the others, are still being practiced despite it being such a sight to comprehend by many all over the world, and the practice is not about to be discarded as those who still practice it are in the hundred of millions in India.

Coming back to the Hindu Pariahs, one cannot tell when this group of people is allowed by the Hindus to join humankind.

One does not know if they could be used as characters in novels or films.

In fact, till today, one has not seen anyone producing a special documentary on them.

One can see other documentaries of people who have been marginalized and isolated, but one can never see any documentary or even a character in any feature film, including those produced in India.




Comments

Unknown said…
Asalamualaikum Mansor. Long time no see, no hear and no talk. But you sure write well. Well done! Lets meet up someday. My email izman7779@yahoo.com.