Under Manu Smriti there were only 4 varnas . Now there are countless !
Under the Constitution of India over the last 75 years we have seen right across this country, jurists and intellectuals like Justice Chandrus (and Chandrachuds too?) being inspired to pave the way for ceaseless proliferation of “jaathi”. Their great efforts at championing their cause best exemplifies the old saying that Hell is paved with good intentions.
From Bihar to Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra to Assam, Indian Politics, it is claimed, is a holy crusade against Caste and is all about uplifting the downtrodden… The god of Gandhi was famously said to be “daridra narayana”!
Day after day in this country all we ever see in our daily news-streams is the cruel irony and supreme hypocrisy of our political discourse, e.g.:
— Elections in India — from manifestos and giving tickets to candidates to making election rally speeches— being all about Caste.
— The Census very soon going to be about Caste.
— The clamouring for Reservation Quota is all about Caste
— Social Justice is all about Caste
— School classrooms and mid-day meal kitchens and cooks are segregated according to jaathi.
— University college campuses and faculty departments are caste segregated
— Prisons and prisoners, their meal plates and water-tumblers are caste segregated.
— Village panchayats, tanks and water-wells are caste segregated
— So much of cinema, arts, literature, TV OTTs and music these days are all caste contaminated.
— Marriage and Morals all revolve around “jaathi”.
In the last 50 years I have seen only one especial kind of transformation in society brought about under the Indian Constitution:
(a) more than ever before since perhaps the time of Sage Manu, caste self-identity has now transformed itself into caste-narcissism;
(b) varna-division has been transformed into jaathi nuclear-fission;
(c) the delicately constructed social-contract underlying the Varna order of yore has been transformed into an anarchic charter of competing jaathi rights.
Our great founders of the Constitution vowed to banish Caste and usher in a “casteless society”. Turns out, tragically, that the holy book by which all politicians today swear oath in office — whether they belong to left, the right or centre — has only succeeded in making Caste even stronger, even more variegated and ever more prolific and prevalent!
The Manu Smriti is in my humble view absolutely no match at all to our great Constitution makers of India when it comes to social engineering for social self-destruction.
The new-age Manus of our country … Justice Sage Chandru for example … are self-proclaimed Abou Ben Adhams of our times and , their tribe is the chosen one of God Almighty — and that tribe shall keep on only increasing so long as the Constitution of India prevails over our lives.
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Note: “Abou Ben Adhem” is a poem by Leigh Hunt, a key figure of the Romantic movement in England. The poem focuses on an event in the life of the Sufi saint Ibrahim bin Adham (anglicized to Abou Ben Adhem). Ben Adhem encounters an angel, who is writing a record of those who love God. Learning his name isn’t on this list, Ben Adhem then instructs the angel to mark him down as one who loves his “fellow men.” The next night, the angel returns with a second list: those who are blessed by God. Ben Adhem’s name is at the top this time, suggesting that God favors those who love their fellow human beings—indeed, that love for other people is the best way to express love for God.
Sudarshan Madabushi