Twisting once again. The question is NOT whether things are classified under a different head or not. The question is the data that is being presented as a separate classification is a total of ALL dalit crimes OR hate-crimes against dalits.
Once again from the NCRB website..
http://ncrb.nic.in/crime2003/cii-2003/CHAP1.pdf
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Broad classification of crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
i) Crimes Against Body: Murder, Its attempt, Culpable Homicide not amounting to Murder, Kidnapping & Abduction, Hurt, Causing Death by Negligence;
ii) Crimes Against Property: Dacoity, its preparation & assembly, Robbery, Burglary, Theft;
iii) Crimes Against Public Order: Riots, Arson;
iv) Economic Crimes: Criminal Breach of Trust, Cheating, Counterfeiting;
v) Crimes Against Women: Rape, Dowry Death, Cruelty by Husband and Relatives, Molestation, Sexual Harassment and Importation of Girls;
vi) Crimes Against Children: Child Rape, Kidnapping & Abduction of Children, Procuration of minor girls, Selling/Buying of girls for Prostitution, Abetment of Suicide, Exposure and Abandonment, Infanticide, Foeticide; vii) Other IPC crimes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Such description does NOT exist for the figures presented under the SC/ST crime classification. SC/ST crimes are not even mentioned in these 6 heads. So what does this all mean ?
Well take crimes against women for instance..
http://ncrb.nic.in/crime2003/cii-2003/CHAP5.pdf
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Although Women may be victims of any of the crimes such as `Murder', `Robbery', `Cheating', etc, only the crimes which are directed specifically against Women are characterised as `Crime Against Women'. </b>These are broadly classified under two categories.
(1) The Crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (i) Rape (Sec. 376 IPC) (ii) Kidnapping & Abduction for different purposes (Sec. 363 - 373 IPC) (iii) Homicide for Dowry, Dowry Deaths or their attempts (Sec. 302/304-B IPC) (iv) Torture, both mental and physical (Sec. 498-A IPC) (v) Molestation (Sec. 354 IPC) (vi) Sexual Harassment* (Sec. 509 IPC) (vii) Importation of girls (upto 21 years of age) (Sec. 366-B IPC) (* referred in the past as `Eve-Teasing')
(2) The Crimes under the Special & Local Laws (SLL)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Similarly for other categories.. But for SC/ST figures here is how the data has been collected..
http://ncrb.nic.in/crime2003/cii-2003/CHAP7.pdf
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Classification of Crimes The crimes against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes are broadly categorised under two categories.</b>
(1) Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (i) Murder (ii) Hurt(iii) Rape (iv) Kidnapping & Abduction (v) Dacoity (vi) Robbery (vii) Arson (viii) Others (other classified IPC crimes)
(2) Under Special Laws (SL) (i) Protection of Civil Rights Acts, 1955 (ii) The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The crimes under IPC such as `Murder', `Hurt', `Rape', etc. or under Special Acts such as PCR Act & SC/ST (P) Act are already included in overall crimes reported under IPC and SLL respectively and have been discussed in details in the preceding chapters. The specific crimes against SC/ST discussed in the following paragraphs is part and parcel of total crimes but analysed separately for better comprehension.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
So where in this collection of data does it say that the murders are hate-murders ? Notice the difference I have highlighted. THAT is the difference we are talking about.
http://www.gujaratplus.com/00-01archive/arc509.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Caste-based discrimination stokes up controversy Saturday, June 9, 2001
The Times of India
GANDHINAGAR, June 8: The National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights' latest effort to internationalise caste-based discrimination as a major issue needing focused attention at the upcoming UN Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in August-September 2001 in Durban, South Africa, has thrown up a fresh round of controversy over a subject that has so far attracted little attention.
After the top-level preparatory committee meeting (prepcomm) at Geneva for the conference (May 21 to June 1), the campaign leadership and the Indian officialdom seem all set to confront each other over the issue.
Led by two Ahmedabad-based Dalit leaders, Pravin Rashtrapal, a Congress MP, and NCDHR convenor Martin Macwan, who runs Dalit NGO Navsarjan Trust, if the issue has already led the government of India to be on the defensive, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has strongly suggested the intention to challenge and fight back. The Centre's position was spelt out by Indian ambassador to the UN at Geneva (permanent mission) Savitri Kunadi, who told the prepcomm meeting that caste cannot be equated with apartheid. But she agreed to include "discrimination on the basis of work and descent" in the UN covenant on human rights.
Back from Geneva, Rashtrapal has sought Congress president Sonia Gandhi's intervention with Prime Minister AB Vajpayee. "The Opposition has not been consulted while taking up the matter at an international forum and also why none of the Dalit MPs from any party has been included in the commission that is to represent India at the Geneva conference", he told TOI.
In a letter to foreign minister Jaswant Singh, who chairs the Indian commission for Durban, he said, he was "shocked to find that the official Indian delegation prevailed upon the UN secretariat to ensure the removal of the phrase 'discrimination based on caste'."
Meanwhile, the VHP has strongly opposed the NCDHR's stand. Acharya Giriraj Kishore, in a statement, widely in circulation among Dalit NGOs, has said the "UN has no business to consider caste discrimination as form of human rights violation".
Calling caste as denoting "what profession man has adopted" and a part of "ancient customs and system" which "should not be and cannot be abolished by any court". The Acharya believes "it is a violation of human rights to abolish caste" because caste "does not say to anybody to discriminate against each other".
If Macwan has called the Acharya's statement a "slap to 50 years of constitutional guarantee to the Dalits in India", as convenor of the NCDHR, he has written an open letter to all members of the official commission set up by the Central government, saying, "The issue of caste-based discrimination cannot be considered as the sole concern of one section of the Indian population." It should in fact be made into a "national concern".
Addressed, among others, to foreign minister Jaswant Singh and Indian ambassador to the US Abid Husain, who is a member of the Indian commission for Durban, the letter says, "We believe that by blocking any mention of the problem of occupation and descent-based discrimination as caste discrimination, the Indian government is making itself vulnerable to increased criticism by the world community that it is refusing to do anything about a widely known and unacceptable phenomenon."
The letter emphasises, <b>"We do not agree with the Indian position that caste is an internal matter of Indian society, and therefore should not be internationalised. In keeping with its constitution the nation has committed itself to the international human rights regime. We are concerned that eminent diplomat Abid Husein, in his capacity as special papporteur on freedom of speech and expression, has publicly expressed the view that by equating caste with race the Campaign will harm national interests."</b>
Rashtrapal told the Geneva meet, "The Indian government does not enjoy consensus support within the country to deny the inclusion of such a major issue at this conference... A single government should not be able to stand in the way of addressing an issue that affects so many people in so many parts of the world."
Dalits of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Burakumins of Japan, Osus of Nigeria, Rodiyas of Sri Lanka and certain oppressed communities in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and Madagascar fall under the category.
Rashtrapal said, "There little reason for the government to be so perturbed about an issue when no one is criticising it. The matter should be national concern. We just want to include caste based discrimination in the UN covenant on human rights."
<b>Top world NGOs, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Max Romana, Lutheran World Federation, DanChurchAid, International Movement Against All forms of Radial Discrimination, Minority Rights Group International, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, Asian Legal Resource Centre, Bakuru Liberation League of Japan and Human Development Organisation of Sri Lanka have backed the NCDHR stand.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.rfkmemorial.org/CENTER/VIA_6_04.pdf
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Martin Macwan (2000 - India)
Martinâs Support Group (SG) held its first meeting in Boston on June 21st. Martin
updated the group on recent developments at Navsarjan and the group had a chance to
discuss the progress on the Water Justice and Information Management projects. Dr.
Stam is currently drafting sample surveys to be conducted at the village and individual
levels throughout the 3100 villages within which Navsarjan is working. With the
information gathered, Navsarjan will be able to track the efficacy of their campaigns and
also monitor human rights conditions amongst Dalits.
In another Support Group project, Dr. Susan Murcott from MIT traveled to Navsarjan in
June to conduct a technical assessment for the Water Justice project. She visited several
city waste sites, the Environmental and Sanitation center and the Gandhi ashram to
explore engineering solutions to eliminating manual scavenging in Gujarat. Support
Group members, Drs. Rajagopal and Murcott, are going to finalize a comprehensive
project implementation framework for the Water Justice project upon Dr. Murcottâs
return from India.
Nupur Sinha spent the month of June in Washington, DC attending the American
University Law Schoolâs Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. At
Martinâs request, CHR had facilitated Ms. Sinhaâs attendance as a means to further
international human rights training for Navsarjanâs legal partners. Ms. Sinha is the
executive director of the Center for Social Justice (CSJ). After completing a course, she
and a CHR staff member met with several organizations to share lessons from their
respective work (in the area of gender, prisonersâ rights and paralegal organizations).
Ms. Sinha also traveled to Boston with a CHR staff member to meet with Drs. Rajagopal
and Stam (SG members) to discuss CSJâs new paralegal institute and the SGâs projects.
Finally, Ms. Sinha spoke with Smita Narula (SG member) about a possible collaboration
between CSJ and the NYU Human Rights clinic.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whow is this Dr Rajagopal ? The one from Promise for India ??
Must be the same Rajagopal from Promise of India. He shows up in weirdest of places..
http://www.milligazette.com/dailyupdate/...50322a.htm
Look for #163 in the list.
From google cache.. Original article in IndiaCause..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rejoinder to National Geographic Magazine Â
By: Swami Jyoti
swamijyoti@vivekanandagospel.org
August 22, 2003
Rejoinder to National Geographic Magazine
(June 2003 issue article on âIndia's Untouchablesâ)
WILL THEY LISTEN?
A Word to the Editor and his staff writer:
To William L. Allen,
Editor in chief National Geographic Magazine
PO Box 98199 Washington, DC, U.S.A
20090-8199 E-mail: <ngm@nationalgeographic.com>
Sir,
Ref: The article, âIndiaâs Untouchablesâ in your June 2003 issue, by your staff writer Tom OâNeill.
At the very outset (as I have also done at the end of my rejoinder to your article which follows) let me raise an important point. Coming on the heels of this National Geographic article is the Popeâs statement in Vatican. One therefore suspects if this article was an advance propaganda for Christian Conversions Movement aimed at India and other Asian countries advocated by the Pope. A specialized scientific Magazine like the National Geographic becoming a tool in the hands of dogmatic Christian Missionaries who have stood against all reason and science, and who have divided Christianity itself into two warring halves, Catholics and Protestants, is a tragedy, to say the least. Will the author, Tom OâNeill, listen to the reasons given in the rejoinder and come out of his prejudice against the really great nation, India, which is destined to play very soon an important role in the cultural history of the world? --
HINDU MONK
=======================================================================
A REJOINDER TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
FROM A HINDU MONK
Recently (June 2003), two prominent U.S. Magazines carried special articles focussing on the âproselytomaniaâ of the fervent American evangelists. The writings highlighted the abnormal missionary zeal and bizarre mentality as also their typical methodology for âharvesting soulsâ. While one Magazine was bragging about the Christian Evangelical crusade against the Islamic country of Iraq in the wake of Baghdadâs fall, the other was apparently camouflaging but nevertheless cleverly towing the missionary line to increase the count of harvested souls in India.
The Time Magazine (internet: <www.time.com>) article, insolently captioned: âShould Christians Convert Muslims?â focussed on a new flock of missionaries who had launched a vigorous campaign to take the Christian Gospel to Islamic countries, which sooner or later is bound to inspire more backlash than belief. The article speaks for itself the hautiness of the evangelists and the low cunning employed by them in winning the alien souls for Jesus Christ.
The article in the National Geographic Magazine (internet: <www.nationalgeographic.com>) captioned "Indiaâs Untouchables", apparently exhibiting the white manâs burden for the lowly and the downtrodden in India, was written from the point of view of finding fault with Hinduism, plus a pinch of 'Gandhi-bashing'. Even a casual reader from India, would not have failed to note the fact that this article was mainly aimed at denigrating the Hindu religion and India. A not-well-researched article, full of prejudice, it appeared to be mostly for consumption in the western world, with a view to evoke sympathy and support for the avowedly proselytizing activities in India.
On a visit to the online Readers Forum (Internet: <www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm>) of the NG, I found pages after pages of strong reaction shown by its readers, both from the East and the West, to the biased article on âIndiaâs Untouchables.â Needless to say that my fingers were tired of scrolling through more than twenty pages in the Internet. Many more pages still remained. The following few lines are in the light of the reaction found in the initial couple of pages:
Presenting a biased view, by highlighting only the evil side of the Hindu caste system and not at all focussing on the progress made in eliminating it, by associating caste system with Hinduism, while it is equally prevalent in other religions, NG has unwittingly fallen into the trap of Vatican to paint Hinduism and India in bad colors. May be, only then they can keep the harvest of souls in India going. Exploitation of caste system by Christian missionaries is what is perpetuating the caste system. Understanding the influence of missionaries in western media to denigrate foreign cultures is critical to understand the lack of objectivity and bias in this report. Instead of portraying the problems of the lower classes in a proper context of living environment, the NG unfortunately has chosen Hinduism as its context. This article is patently a distorted picture of reality and is meant to sensitize the global concern for the lower classes in India and to motivate the proselytizers in their usual game of increasing their numbers.
Everyone knows that our previous president was K. R Narayanan -- a Dalit (if you want to use this word). Our current president is a Muslim, the prime minister a Hindu, finance minister, a Sikh and defense minister a Christian. Tell me one other nation on the earth, which can boast of such diversity. Therefore, this article is a well-written selective-truth which people can believe, but are getting a very small picture, which is neither representative of India nor Hinduism.
The above lines, gathered and compiled from the Readers Forum, give an idea of the strong reaction shown by the readers of NG.
*****
With all our limitations, we Indians have a reason to be proud of having established and sustained a democratic political system. This is our greatest achievement. We have managed to have a broad representation even at the highest level of our democratically elected governments: our prime ministers and presidents have included individuals who were also women, Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits. As against this, how many colour presidents or women presidents can the âgreatest democracy in the worldâ, the U.S. boast? This is an important question, which the Indians wish to ask Tom OâNeill, the U.S. author of the article in NG. Obviously, he has no answer. On the contrary, he will eat humble pie if he is told how his forefathers ill-treated and persecuted the Blacks in the U.S.
In 1893, speaking about the inhuman treatment of Negroes in America, Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu Monk of India, who was in Chicago at that time, observed that their lot had become worse after the abolition of slavery (in 1865). âTodayâ, said the Swami, âthey are the property of nobody. Their lives are of no value; they are burnt alive on mere pretences. They are shot down without any law for they are murderers; for they are Niggers, they are not human beings, they are not even animalsâ¦â
During the decade, 1889-1899, the total number of Negroes lynched, according to official estimates, was 1460. âPrejudice against the Negroes was equally strong in the North; and the main body of Northern opinion believed, as the South did, that the Negro was an inferior being; that he could never be fully assimilated into the American system, and that he was best kept subordinate to the white man. Segregation, discrimination and âJim Crowâ customs received the tacit approval even of such northern liberals as Godkin of âThe Nation â.â (A Comprehensive Biography of Swami Vivekananda, Part I, p. 449, 451and 452).
In this context, it must also be pointed out that the white supremacists of America organized the Ku Klux Klan, one of the notorious secret societies of modern times, after the American Civil War, in protest against the emancipation of Negroes in order to prevent their voting. The members of this secret society, enraged at seeing former slaves in position of power while they themselves were forbidden to hold public office under Reconstruction resorted to terror and violence to subdue the newly enfranchised Negroes and keep them from polls.
In the face of all this evidence in the historical records of his own Christian country, the U.S., Tom OâNeill, still has a cheek to find fault with Hinduism and India. It is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. It is not too late for him to tender an unconditional apology not only to the Blacks but also to the Red Indians of America for all the atrocities and holocaust perpetrated on them by his forefathers. In addition, incorporating the contrite apology, he can also write another detailed article on the subject matter, to be published prominently as a cover story in the NG.
Having said all this, let us now carefully analyze Tom OâNeill article. At the very outset it must stated that one gets confused about the conclusions arrived at by him on the facts he presents. He mentions about one Giridharilal Maurya, a leather worker, aged 52, who was attacked by eight men from higher Rajput caste families of Rajasthan, who has taken legal steps, whose case drags on and on, and whose son has advanced to the college. The author then concludes, âTo be born a Hindu in India is to enter the caste system⦠Cast system follows the precept: âAll men are created unequal.â â According to Swami Vivekananda, the greatest modern authority on Hinduism, caste is only a social guild. It has helped large groups to survive with their way of life and culture under extremely trying circumstances of history like the thousand years of most violent and intolerant political subjugation, first under the Islamic marauders and then under the British Christian traders.
To support his theory that âall men are created unequalâ, Tom OâNeill refers to a âlegendâ mentioned in the famous Rig Vedic âPurusha Suktaâ. Here the four Varnas, Bramana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra are described to emerge from head, shoulders, thighs and feet of the Supreme Being. Then how does the idea of the âunequalâ come? To be different parts of the Supreme Being is not to be âunequal.â Does the author think that his legs are unequal to his hand, shoulder, or head? He further says: A fifth group are the Achuta or untouchables and that the Primordial Being (viz. the Creator God) does not claim them, meaning the Purusha Sukta does not mention them. Then, how does he call them the fifth group, and on what authority?
The author goes on to say that in âextreme cases, which are not uncommon, the women of the untouchables are raped, burned, lynched and gunned downâ, and in the same breath also admits that the âIndian Constitution forbids discrimination, and specially abolishes untouchability.â Yet, he writes, âHinduism of 80% population discriminates untouchables.â Does the author mean that 80% population are persecuting continuously the untouchables in the worst manner of raping etc? In that case, the country could have been a boiling hell for so many ever-increasing international communities who come here for business, for study in our Universities, to play World Cup cricket, chess etc. How does he explain that?
On page 13 of NG, the author writes to contradict himself, âThe untouchables appear quite normalâ and again, he says, âYou cannot hide your caste and the other Hindus find out.â On page 14 of NG the author says, â1950 Constitution mandates a quota and reserves seats in Federal Legislature upto 15%. They are in law called Scheduled Castes and Tribes and have reserved seats in State Legislatures, village councils, civil services and universitiesâ, and adds, âbut for all the laws, the hard heart of caste remains unmoved.â Does he mean that these reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Legislatures, both Federal and State, are not allowed to be filled by the upper castes? Then what about A. Jagajivan Ram, who became the Deputy Prime Minister under Nehru, K. R. Narayanan, who became President, Bangaru Laxman who became the President of BJP, Kalyan Singh and Bangarappa, both Chief Ministers of two big states viz. Utter Pradesh and Karnataka? Dozens of Federal and State Ministers are from Scheduled Castes. The author himself mentions the present Chief Minister Mayawati as the three-times elected Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh! In the face of these, how can he conclude, as he does that âthere are 160 million untouchables in a country that trumpets itself as a model for developing nations, the worldâs most populous democracy, a modern power outfitted with software industries, communication satellites and plant for making nuclear energy and bombsâ?
The author mentions only those Doms (Scheduled Caste) cleaning sewerage etc. Why does he not even mention how many Scheduled Castes have been living in decent flats constructed in large numbers by every state Government! The Doms of Pathuriaghata (in Calcutta), for example, have set up a model of self-development under the leadership of a middle class college professor, Shiv Shankar Chakraborty. They helped him to help their 250 families to built well furnished flats with hygienic drainage, water supply, electric, general systems and technical education. They earn while they learn in their âCanework Industriesâ through cooperative marketing system.
On page 19 of NG, mention is made of Mahatma Gandhi as a leader of the campaign to eliminate untouchability. In 1915, in his Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi admitted an untouchable family, wrote against untouchability and gave the untouchables a new name, âHarijansâ. In 1933 he led the temple entry movement and declared that âuntouchability is on its last legsâ. However, the author laments, âit was only a day dream.â Was it really? The previous para in NG disproves the authorâs conclusion: âMahatma Gandhi campaigned to eliminate Untouchability. At his ashram, he accepted a family of Untouchables. He adopted the familyâs Untouchable daughter. In writings and speeches, Gandhi implored Indians to cease discriminating against Untouchables. At his ashram, all residents performed traditionally unclean chores.â On the same page, the author says again, âGandhi never actually renounced the Hindu Caste System, and the concrete results of his actions were few.â What about the inter-caste marriages that Gandhi practiced in his own family and encouraged in numberless cases? Swami Vivekananda says that the whole world practices caste-system, the only difference being that in the West, it is based on dollars and in India, it is based on culture! The Swami further tells that what has to go is not the caste, which is only a cultural-economic grouping but the difference in their privileges to enjoy life. âAbolish the privileges, and you have the best societyâ, the Swami assures.
The Ramakrishna Mission Movement started by Swami Vivekananda, which considers caste as only a cultural-economic grouping and not a hereditary or religious institution, pushing ahead by properly educating in culture and economic uplift the backward people. This is yielding results in that the caste privileges are going, all castes meet as equals at all levels of physical, mental, cultural and spiritual forum. Thus, the Ramakrishna Mission has become a âtrend setterâ of a âprivilegeless societyâ. It is a pity that the Christian author of the article in the NG is completely blind to these epoch-making changes taking place in India. May be his Semitic upbringing prevented him from knowing first hand about the dedicated service activities of several Hindu organizations including the Vanavasi Kalyana Kendra and Vivekananda Kendra which are doing a yeomen service in the cause of the lowly and the downtrodden, all over India. <b>On the other hand, the author seems to be well acquainted with and knows more about the activities of one Martin Macwan (obviously a Christian convert) who has started his own organization in Gujarat, backed by the foreign aid received from the Washington, D.C. â based Holdeen India Program (must be a Christian organization aiding and abetting conversions in India). It should be noted that as the author mentions, Martin Macwan, educated and trained in a Jesuit seminary in India, is now active in some 2,200 villages. Stating that Martin Macwan is one of the most visible Untouchable organizers since Ambedkar, the author goes on to say that âuntil an Untouchable leader like Ambedkar emerges or until Hinduism ceases playing a central role in politics and law enforcement -- both distant prospects -- the shame of untouchability condition will persist. When and if fundamental change does come, it will be traumatic and almost certainly violent. It will probably happen slowly, village by villageâ¦â Reminded of the âLiberation Theologyâ of the Christian missionaries to expedite conversions?</b>
On page 23 of NG, it is mentioned, âno comparable untouchable leader with a wide following has emerged since Ambedkarâs death. The movement is fractured, state by state.â What about the leadership of Sri Narayana Guru of Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Sangham in Kerla etc? What about the BJPâs Bangaru Laxman etc. already referred to in the previous paras?
In a recent meeting at the Marina Beach in Chennai presided over by the Sankaracharya of Kanchi, an untouchable leader spoke about the atrocities against them after conversion to Christianity. In another meeting held at Ambedkar Nagar, the untouchables proclaimed they were Hindus and that they should not lose their glorious cultural heritage of 5000 years. In this, they had the support of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Ramakrishna Math, Chinmaya Mission, Swami Dayananda Saraswati and others of a dozen leading Hindu Organizations. Does this not prove that the problem of untouchability is being best solved by themselves and there are enough leaders among themselves to do it! Does this not disprove the authorâs point of the whole article that untouchability has remained and will continue to remain a Caste problem of India?
Before I conclude, let me raise an important point. Coming on the heels of this National Geographic article is the Popeâs statement in Vatican. One therefore suspects if this article was an advance propaganda for Christian Conversions Movement aimed at India and other Asian countries advocated by the Pope. A specialized scientific magazine like the National Geographic becoming a tool in the hands of dogmatic Christian Missionaries who have stood against all reason and science, and who have divided Christianity itself into two warring halves, Catholics and Protestants, is a tragedy, to say the least. Will the author, Tom OâNeill, listen to the reasons given above and come out of his prejudice against the really great nation, India, which is destined to play very soon an important role in the cultural history of the world?
Swami Jyoti <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Holdeen India program..
http://www.uua.org/international/holdeen/
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Holdeen India Program
WelcomeThe Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP) works with organizations of India's most excluded and oppressed peoples: women; dalits, so-called "untouchables" who fall outside the caste system; and the adivasis or tribals who are India's indigenous peoples, especially migrant, bonded and landless agricultural laborers. UUHIP supports their efforts to participate fully in the social, economic and political life of India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Interesting article on Holdeen India Program..
http://www.svabhinava.org/HinduChrist/Raja...al-edition.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Holdeen Funds
by Raja Mylavaganam
In this paper1 I will inquire into the establishment of the Holdeen Funds and the management of these trust funds by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA), the nominal beneficiaries so designated by the benefactor, Jonathan Holdeen. The Holdeen Funds have been represented to the Internal Revenue Service and promoted to the public by the UUA as intended for the impoverished people of India. Was this the original intent for the Funds, and have these intentions been respected?
I shall seek to show that there are serious discrepancies between the manner in which the income from the Holdeen Funds are being expended and their ascribed purposes. These manipulations may be serious enough to raise questions about the financial morality of the individuals responsible for administering the Holdeen Funds. Has the Board of Trustees of the UUA contravened the legal limits of the Holdeen Funds in the appropriations for the year 2000? This and other equally contentious questions will be asked throughout this paper and efforts made to answer them. Perhaps it is appropriate to begin by asking, âWho is Jonathan Holdeen?â and âWhat are the Holdeen Funds?â
I first heard mention of Jonathan Holdeen at Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago, Illinois where I had enrolled as a Doctor of Ministry candidate in September 1988. A seminary colleague of mine, on hearing of my interest in Indian Unitarians, contributed that a man named Jonathan Holdeen had left a considerable sum of money for "the poorest of the poor in India.â 2 I thought to myself, âHow nice that Mr. Holdeen had left all this money for the poor people of India.â It affirmed my choice to be a Unitarian and I congratulated myself for having made the wise choice of becoming a student at a Unitarian seminary.
I discovered that the UUA is a liberal religious organization that has some 200,000 members and 1003 congregations; and is the result of a merger between the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Association. While small in numbers the Unitarian Universalists (UU) have had a far greater political representation in proportion to their numbers in the formal politics of State than most denominations. They are noted for taking bold social positions and are usually at the forefront of political, social and religious controversies that come before change and have been so since their inception in 1825. (See Chapter on William Roberts).
I skipped my second year at seminary to find out more about my new religious home by beginning a ministerial internship at the May Memorial Unitarian Society, Syracuse, New York. My training included conducting church services one Sunday a month. On one such Sunday, during the congregationâs response to my sermon on Indian Unitarians,3 I learned that Jonathan Holdeen had been a familiar, if somewhat eccentric, figure in Syracuse. From that time on I have noticed brief mentions of the Holdeen Fund in the UUAâs annual directory. There was, however, very little real information on Jonathan Holdeen or the Holdeen Funds, and not many were willing or able to speak knowledgeably on the subject of these Funds. In fact a recent request for information from International Office at the UUA drew this response from their Director, the Reverend Olivia Holmes, âHoldeen has nothing to do with your subject as far as I can tell.â4 The response seemed unusual given the huge amounts of Holdeen Fund moneys that were being spent by the UUA, and all of it in the name of the impoverished people of India.
It is now no longer difficult to access information on non-profit, charitable organizations that seek public financial contributions.5 In an article posted on the World Wide Web in October 1996 Chuck Shepherd, editor and compiler of the column, âNews of the Weird,â wrote,
The Unitarian Universalist Church and heirs of Jonathan Holdeen settled their 20-year-old dispute on the disposition of Holdeen's estate, which was created in 1945 as a series of trusts that eventually would have amassed so much money they would have allegedly have funded the entire federal government and rendered taxation unnecessary. In fact, the Church which was a nominal beneficiary of the trusts, argued for their abolition in 1977 on the ground that they would soak up so much of the world's money that the administrators of the trusts would become too powerful.6
Shepherd compiled his column from actual news articles, and readily provided the source of the report upon my request. As it turned out the primary reporter for the stories on Jonathan Holdeen and the trusts he created was L. Stuart Ditzen.7 Ditzen reported on the court hearings between the UUA and Janet Adams Holden, Jonathan Holdeenâs daughter, in the Philadelphia Inquirer.8 These reports, along with United States Tax Court Reports,9 Form 990s filed by the Holdeen Funds10 make up the primary non-UUA sources for this paper. The majority of other sources for this paper come from UUA postings on the World Wide Web.11 The other significant organization whose record was examined for this paper is the Liberal Religious Charitable Society Inc.,12 a non-profit organization that is associated with the UUA.
The biographical material on Jonathan Holdeen presented here is culled from U.S. Tax Court reports.13 (This strange man did not even warrant an obituary in the New York Times).14 The court reporting reveals that Jonathan Holdeen was born Jonathan Holden in Sherburne, Chenango County, New York on 16 September 1881. He attended Colgate University until 1901. Upon graduation he worked in the law office of his father Stephen Holden before being admitted to the New York State bar in 1903. After gaining experience examining land titles at Title Guaranty & Trust Company in New York City he opened his own law office in Pleasantville, New York. He engaged more in business than practiced law, and during his lifetime built up considerable real estate holdings.
In 1932 he established an office in Poughkeepsie, and except for a brief spell of several months in 1940, he resided in Pine Plains until 1961. On the death of his wife, Stella Hamblen, he moved back to his birthplace, Sherburne, New York. From 1964 until 1967 Holdeen was the owner and resident of Onandaga Hotel in Syracuse, Central New York.15
Holdeen married Stella Hamblen in 1910 and by 1957 they had ten children and twenty-five grandchildren.16 In 1931 Jonathan changed his surname from Holden to Holdeen in an apparent attempt to distinguish his family as " the Northern Westchester branch of the family."17 The Court records the fact that other members of his family refused to change their names and his wife continues to be referred as Stella Holden in the Courtâs reports.18 Jonathan Holdeen died on 14 June 1967 in relative obscurity, without as has already been noted, even getting a mention in the New York Times obituary column. This was incredible given that he invested large sums of money in a practical effort to rid the world of taxation.
Holdeen was motivated in his unusual plans for the governments of the world by Benjamin Franklin. As Holdeen noted in his article, "Should Thrift be Nationalized?", which was published along with other papers by Oswego Press, Cooperstown, New York.19
One of the first American statesmen performed an act which is suggestive of possibilities. When Benjamin Franklin died, it was found that besides providing for his children, he had made a number of philanthropic bequests out of his modest estate, two of which were unusual. He gave two funds of five thousand dollars each, one for Philadelphia where most of his life was passed and the other for Boston which was his native city. These funds were directed to be invested by being loaned to apprentices, starting in business for themselves, at 5% interest. The income was to be accumulated for one hundred years when the greater part of each fund was to be expended in providing some building or public work for the betterment of each city. As might be expected from the character of the investments, there were some losses. Nevertheless at the end of the century, Franklinâs Philadelphia fund is said to have increased from $5,000 to $450,000. There was a delay of some years while the citizens debated what to build with the fund. Meanwhile it increased to something like $650,000. The Boston fund has a similar history.20
An interesting afterword to Franklinâs wish for posterity was that the Massachusetts Legislature in 1958 tried to expropriate Franklin's Boston Fund,21 and Holdeen âprinted and sent to the members of the Legislature a protest against such actionâ.22
Holdeen opined that society in general would not address such questions as frugality and thrift and decided that it was possible that an individual had âit in his power to set in train, a process which will contribute more forcefully to that end than exhortion".23 He set out to be that individual by entering into "some 186 agreements with his adult daughters or friends."24 He maintained the principle of providing for his family first, including his children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren, with a part going to charity. This would later become one of the contentions raised by lawyers for the IRS, and the UUAâs lawyers, in efforts to breakup the Holdeen trusts. The experts testifying for the UUA argued that the trusts created by Holdeenâs scheme were a plot to empower and enrich his family out of all proportion to what can be considered appropriate and beneficial to the issue of a tax free environment in Pennsylvania.25 Holdeen had named tax exempt organizations including the American Unitarian Association as the nominal beneficiaries,26 anticipating such challenges from the IRS who saw his schemes as an elaborate effort to avoid taxation. Holdeen could not have anticipated the AUAâs merger with the Universalists or that the succeeding organization, the UUA, would not live up to his expectations of financial morality. The leaders of the UUA whom Holdeen chose over his family or the State would eventually betray his faith in them, as I shall demonstrate through this paper.
Holdeenâs trusts were simple in their concept and in the math. In designing his scheme Holdeen set aside a total of $2.8 million in varying sums and at different times, stipulating that the income from the investments be allowed to accumulate. After a period of five hundred years, and in some instances a thousand years, the principal and accumulated income was to be paid to the State of Pennsylvania.27 Pennsylvania could than use the income to pay for the necessary expenses of government. At least that was Holdeenâs plan, if it had survived. But we will never know, thanks to the UUA.
As early as 1913 Holdeen willed that a portion of his estate be used to promote his ideas, encouraging the nations of the world to accumulate enough income to meet expenses of government without a requirement for taxation.28 Was he already moving past his mentor Benjamin Franklin who is thought to have coined the saying, âOnly death and taxes are inevitableâ? Holdeen, perhaps hearing an echo of Benjamin Franklin's claim, may have decided to prove his hero wrong on at least one of the two counts. He wanted to make Pennsylvania the first state in the Union that would not have to depend on taxation for its operations even if Pennsylvanians would have to wait 500 to 1000 years to realize their dream.29 Questions were raised about his efforts. Was Holdeen being prophetic and seeking to challenge conventional wisdom, or was he merely participating in the tried and true American pastime of avoiding personal taxation as charged by the IRS? Or was he seeking to assure his family unimaginable power over the people of the world, as charged by the UUA? I have not had the opportunity to peruse Holdeenâs writings30 and cannot provide conclusive answers to these questions at this time. What I can do is assure the reader that Holdeen was serious about his commitment. In 1932 when the market value of the entire real and personal property in the world was less than one trillion dollars,31 Holdeen provided specific formulas for the implementation of his plans to abolish taxation.
Holdeen was aware that his was an experimental idea and would be subject to challenge. He conceded that "the history of the past, with its records of invasions and revolutions proves that ⦠an accumulated endowment ⦠created two thousand years ago â¦would not (have) survive (d)"32 to 1912. Yet Holdeen was persuaded that advances that had been made in successive civilizations made it possible for futuristic thinking on his scale. He was sufficiently convinced that the time for his plan to eliminate waste and provide future leaders with resources to do the work of government was at hand. Holdeen believed that the inhabitants of the earth had reached "a stage of civilization when vested property rights will be unmolested even in case of conquest, unless they unusually conflict with the common welfare".33 Holdeen cited the example of William of Wickham and his endowment for Winchester College, England in 1393,34 which had withstood the test of time, as a model for his faith in his system. Holdeen's effort to follow his vision for the fiscal independence of the governments of the world was, however, challenged from two quarters, the IRS and the UUA. His efforts to defend the trusts occupied him, and after he died in 1967, his daughter, Janet Holden Adams, for the better part of fifty years.35
To accomplish his goal Holdeen put money over the years into a number of trusts and made the American Unitarian Association and other non-profit organizations the nominal beneficiaries, with control in the hands of his descendants and the final beneficiary the State of Pennsylvania.36 It was part of the plan that the AUA use their portion of income to assist the natives of India, their descendants and Asians in general.37 As soon as Holdeen died challenges were made to the trusts. No one seemed to like the scheme, except perhaps the taxpayers of Pennsylvania:
The government of Pennsylvania didn't like it; the Internal Revenue Service absolutely loathed it. And the national Unitarian Universalist Church of Boston [sic], which played a key role in Holdeen's plan, disapproved one part of it â the part that set aside earnings of the trust for Pennsylvania. The church wanted the money, instead, but did not declare that until after Holdeen died in 1967.38
The first challenge to his unorthodox vision came from the Internal Revenue Service which, not unexpectedly "waged a 30-year legal battle to prove that the trusts were part of an elaborate scheme by Holden [sic] to avoid taxes and benefit his family."39 Jonathan Holdeen, succeeded by his daughter, Janet Holden Adams, successfully staved off the challenge of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. In 1975 the judge held that the trusts initiated in 1945 were legal and "had no taxable incomes in the years involved."40
This was not the end of Holdeen's problems. The UUA now took their turn at breaking the trusts.
The Court reports indicate that Holdeen, based on correspondence he had with Percy W. Gardner, had on 8 November 1944 invited the AUA to participate in his financial plan. In his letter he had specifically offered the AUA the opportunity to make any revisions.41 At that time the American Unitarian Association agreed with and gave legitimacy to Holdeen's plan in return for a small portion of the income from his scheme. The participating of a non-profit charitable organization was necessary for Holdeenâs scheme to conform to Pennsylvaniaâs law since Pennsylvania was one of the few States to permit this type of idea. More importantly, the AUA had no objections to any of this in 1944. The UUA, successor organization to the AUA, did not agree and upon Holdeenâs death in 1967 began legal proceedings to get all the money. Ditzen headlined one of his articles:
"DREAM TO END TAXES NOW A NIGHTMARE (-) LAWYER WANTED TO USE INCOME FROM TRUST FUND TO RUN PENNSYLVANIA; CHURCH FIGHTS FOR MONEY."42
Nor was the State prepared for Holdeenâs plan. As Ditzen observed the "Pennsylvania attorney general's office stood with the church.â43
The UUA argued through its lawyers that "piling up money for 500 and 1,000 years was an unreasonable and potentially dangerous"44 activity for a charitable trust. Under the sub-heading, "Doomsday Predictions" the newspaper commented: "During the drawn-out proceedings in Orphans Courts in the 1970's church lawyers presented experts who made hand-wringing predictions about the fast-growing Holdeen trusts."45 Holdeen's plan was once again under attack - this time from the very Church that had agreed to legitimize it. The UUA's lawyers presented experts to persuade Judge Edmund S. Pawlec that the trusts if allowed to "continue for hundreds of years ⦠would balloon so large that they would sponge up all the money in the world."46 One economist declared "that the trusts would grow so big that 'they [Holdeenâs descendents] would absolutely own the world'."47 Another direly predicted, "Any time you wanted to make a telephone call or take a trip ⦠you would be paying money to the Holdeens. ⦠And everyone in the world would work for the Holdeens'."48 The Holdeen family countered by presenting Gardner Ackley, former chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, as their witness: "Ackley scoffed at the Church's experts. He testified that Holdeen's notion was a good idea."49 Ackleyâs testimony was not sufficient to sway the judgeâs opinion. Judge Pawlec found Holdeen's plan to be "contrary to public policy".50 In his 1977 opinion Judge Pawlec wrote:
The expressed purpose [of the plan] is so visionary, unreasonable and socially and economically unsound that we must conclude the entire plan is charitably purposeless, contrary to public policy and hence void.51
Two years later the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the Judge's opinion and the Holdeen trusts were broken.52
The portions of incomes from the trusts due to accumulate toward Holdeenâs grand objective of a tax free Pennsylvania was now to be turned over to the UUA. The UUA, which had been invited to participate in Holdeen's long range vision to alleviate the burden of taxation in return for one five-hundredth of the income was now to receive "all the income of the trusts, past and future."53 Janet Holden Adams was still the trustee and was not ready to give up the ghost. It must have been difficult for a daughter to see her father's dream end in this way. She responded by holding back the trust income to the UUA.54 "And she started giving money to other charities. 'Once they broke the trust, I figured, heck', she says by way of explanation. 'I wouldn't give them a nickel if I had a choice'."55
The UUA proceeded to bring lawsuits against Janet Holden Adams that lasted for 20 years. The legal battles could have ended here but unfortunately for Janet Holden Adams, who was now 82, the UUA began accusing her of "mismanagement, self-dealing and fraud ⦠[and] demand[ed] $12 million in damages."56 Adamsâ lawyers countered by saying that the trusts under Adamsâ care had done very well. Her investment strategy had outperformed the stock averages for Dow Jones and Standard & Poor. "And they earned huge dollops of income â money that was intended to endow Pennsylvania but that has been paid, instead under court order to the church."57
The UUA had been unremitting in its efforts to challenge Janet Holden Adamâs management of the trusts. Their lawyers, no less aggressive, had charged $932,000 by March 1994, to be paid out of the Pennsylvania trusts.58 The Church apparently had been transformed during this process and began behaving as "the IRS had done in the 1940's and 50's and 60's, [sending] accountants to scrutinize the books and records".59 Yet by 1986 the UUA had apparently backed off from their difficult position, with lawyers for the Church telling Judge Pawlec that they were satisfied with the way the trustees had managed the investments.60
Three years later, however, the UUA sent its lawyers out again demanding that the trustees be changed, and Adams resigned in 1989. This did not stop the lawyers for the UUA from summoning her three times to Philadelphia from her home in Pine Plains, New York "for a total of 13 days of depositions in which they have grilled her on the details of 45 years of investments."61 Even the judge was beginning to express concerns about the legal battles in his courtroom. In a conference in 1992, Judge Pawlec called for a limit in some fashion to the burgeoning legal fees, adding, "We have to use some kind of common sense in trying to bring this to a resolution."62 The dispute was finally settled in 1996 without a trial. The UUA became the sole and undisputed distributors of the income from the trust that Jonathan Holdeen had established. By 1996 the UUA had "received $21.9 million [and] the income continues to flow at the rate of $1 million a year".63 The UUA was now in charge, receiving trust income from a bank in Philadelphia.
Listed below are excerpts from six Form 990âs filed with the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, by First Union National Bank (as trustees) for the Holdeen Funds and the income received by the UUA for 1999:
         Fund Number                 UUAâs Income
         Holdeen Fund 45-10                 $258,423
         Holdeen Fund 50-10                 $75,128
         Holdeen Fund 46-10                 $25,973
         Holdeen Fund 47-10                 $933,130
         Holdeen Fund 54-120           $61,963
         Holdeen Fund 55-10                 $339,00664
         Total                            $1,793,623     Â
In each of these filings with the IRS the response to the question, âPurpose of grant or contributionâ (Part XV 3A) is,
For endowment or other use in aid of maternity, child welfare and educational and migration expenses of natives of India [or Asia] and their descendants.65
The IRS documents provide final confirmation that the Holdeen Funds are inextricably linked to the people of India, their descendants and Asians in general.66 Holdeen India Program (HIP) which operates out of the Washington, DC office is perhaps the least arbitrary of the UUAâs efforts to fulfil its trusteeship. HIP claims, and I have no reason to doubt this claim, to be assisting the most impoverished groups in India in a direct way in areas of greatest need. HIP works through registered voluntary Indian organizations sympathetic to HIP's aims.67 Katherine Sreedhar, Director of HIP, writes, "We are in India to increase people's power, to help them improve their livelihood and their quality of life."68Â Some of the groups receiving assistance from HIP:
1.   Self-Employed Womenâs Association, a self-governing union founded in 1971 with a current membership of over 30,000. SEWA runs a cooperative bank, a self-funded social security plan, and various income-producing ventures, and has advocated for policy changes for unorganized sectors of society.
2.   Deccan Development Society promotes village self-help through cooperative womenâs groups called sangams. Now there are more than 30 sangams which have made over 200,000 rupees available for short-term loans to help support change in farming communities.
3.   Annapurna Mahila Mandal is building a womenâs center, and helping secure bank credit for the thousands of women who support themselves by preparing meals for unattached men who left their villages and families to seek work.
4.   Vidhayak Sansad attacks the problem of bonded labor, when a debtor is forced to pay off a landlordâs loan by working exclusively for the landlords. Such people have no right to bargain, strike, or leave; though bonded labor was technically outlawed in 1976, more than 2 million people are still in its thrall. Vidhayak Sansad trains people to seek their freedom, teaches them how to avoid debt, and has developed employment projects for newly freed laborers, displaced tribals, and other âuntouchables.â
5.   Mahiti helped villagers in a perennially drought-stricken area design and build an innovative rain collection project, so that people and cattle can survive and thrive in areas where disease and fighting over life-saving water was the previous order of the day.
6.   Shakti Shalini's focus is on preventing dowry deaths,69 as well as dowry harassment cases, divorce, and violence against women. A dowry death occurs every 36 hours in New Delhi. Currently, the program offers housing for eight women and their children, as well as legal aid, job training, medical care, child care, counseling, and room and board for up to three months.
Sreedhar informs me71 that these programs which commenced in 1984 are of great benefit to the people who receive the support. Recently the Holdeen India Program scored a coup when the Robert Kennedy Foundation honored Martin Macwan, a Holdeen partner, with its Human Rights award on 21 November 2000.72 In the wake of the recent earthquakes in Gujarat the HIP provided additional support for the victims through their partner organizations. âThe UUA Holdeen India Program is providing up to $100,000 in special grants to its partners in Gujaratâ.73 All of these are indeed commendable and helpful activities initiated by HIP and paid for by Jonathan Holdeenâs generosity.
There are other interactions that have (based on reports on the World Wide Web on various trips to India) become an issue in this paper because the HIP is frequently mentioned in association with these visits. In these interactions the financial integrity of the UUA and the implications for the Holdeen trusts is less clear. These brief trips74 by UU ministers and related persons to visit HIP related programs in India which, if they had been paid for out of the Holdeen trusts, would create moral concerns of a financial nature since they would be incongruent with Holdeen's sense of frugality and thrift.75
During his presidency of the UUA John A. Buehrens has made frequent references to the various programs supported by the Holdeen trusts: "We've [Denny Davidoff, UUA Moderator?] travelled to India ⦠; to Belfast for the IARF; and to Beijing for the World Conference on Religion and Peace to talk ⦠about religious freedom and human religions; to the Parliament of World's Religions (Cape Town?) and even to meet the Pope -- â¦"76 Is it reasonable to assume that the expenditures incurred during these visits come from the Holdeen Funds? If this is so, it is far better that the monies be given directly to the people the UUA are claiming to help.
The UUA has also participated in a number of projects in locations outside the context of the trusts with money from the Holdeen Funds (or Holdeen Designation Trust payments as they are referred to in the Minutes of the UUA).77 The table below is an illustration of the UUA's âcharitableâ grants from the Holdeen Funds for the year 2000.
Liberal Religious Charitable Society Inc. (LRCS)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $267,000
International Association of Religious Freedom (IARF)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $160,000
Partner Council Church (PCC)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $60,000
International Council of Unitarian and Universalists (ICUU) $60,000
World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $20,000
Unitarian Union of Northeast India (Khasi Hills)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â $10,00078
The UUA provides brief descriptions of the above organizations through their Office of International Relations headed by the Reverend Holmes.79 The ICUU that received $60,000 was organized in 1995 "to strengthen the worldwide network of Unitarian, Universalist, and UU congregations". According to the Reverend Polly Guild the ICUU was formed in response to the need to provide democratic representation to offshore Unitarian and Universalist congregations and to avoid the perception that the UUA was "engaging in a form of beneficent imperialism".80 In elections held in Hungary the members elected as the President of ICUU the Reverend Jill McAllister of People's Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. ICUU's offices are in Weston, Massachusetts and the entire Executive Committee is from Europe and the Americas with the Reverend Polly Guild as the Program Coordinator.81
The Partner of Church Council (PCC), which received $60,000, was founded in 1993 "to focus and coordinate the enormous grassroots energy ⦠following the collapse of Communism in December 1989".82 The Council has a web site with information on former Eastern European countries complete with assistance on visa applications and advice for the discerning tourist.83
The WCRP received $20,000 from the Holdeen trusts and advertises itself as "an international multi-religious organization dedicated to reaffirming religion's moral commitment to peace and to translating shared concerns into practical, effective action".84 WRCP's has its own very impressive web site and has an institutional structure with thirteen Trustees,85 twenty-four honorary Presidents86 (including John A. Buhrens, President of the UUA), thirty-eight members of what is referred to as a Governing Board,87 and a six member Secretariat.88
The International Association for Religious Freedom, which received $160,000 from the Holdeen trusts, is proclaimed as " a world community of religious organizations that includes 80 member groups in 25 countries".89 Mr. Robert Traer, the outgoing Secretary General, reflecting on his 10 years at the IARF, commented,
The IARF has generally assumed that building relationships between organizations and individuals from different religious traditions is a mark of success, and surely this is a prerequisite for any other positive result. But if these relationships are largely self-serving, then the IARF is more of an interfaith âclubâ than a service organization. Thereâs nothing wrong, of course, with enjoying each otherâs company but the rhetoric of the IARF promises much more.90
Mr. Traer hits the mark when he suggests that there is a growing school of thought that gives priority to forming âclubsâ for âbuilding of relationship.â There is everything wrong, however, if it is paid for with monies that come from the Holdeen Funds, as seems to be the case with not only the IARF but the ICUU, PCC and WRCP too. These organizations led by leaders who should know better are engaging in questionable behavior ethically speaking.
The Liberal Religious Charitable Society (LRCS), which received $267,000, the largest single recipient aside from the funds, is much more of an enigma. LRCS does not have a UU web site. I located three references to LRCS in a cursory search of UUA files on the World Wide Web. There is the already mentioned reference to LRCS in the budget as receiving from the Holdeen trusts $267,000 for the year 2000.91 The other two references to LRCS appear in connection with real estate transactions in Boston's prestigious Beacon Hill neighbourhood, where the UUA is headquartered. In one reference, Lawrence R. Ladd, financial advisor to the UUA, assured the Board of Trustees that the additional debt incurred by the UUA for real estate purchases will be met by the LRCS. Ladd writes that the LRCS has promised âto provide $300,000 a year for two years and $150,000 a year for an additional three years, to help cover costs of this important initiative".92 Form 990 filed with the IRS records that in 1999 the LRCS made a donation of $520,000 to the UUA.93 Is the Board of Trustees of the UUA âlaunderingâ Holdeen Funds to pay down property loans incurred by the UUA? A search on the World Wide Web of non-UU sources disclosed the following information on LRCS. The LRCS is a non-profit organization with a registered office at 61 Thicket Street, South Weymouth, MA 02190 with a mission described as providing religious education in association with the UUA. A visit to this location showed that it was typical house in a small New England town and was listed as the residence of Mr. William A. Donovan who is the Treasurer and Clerk of the LRCS.94
The other officials of LRCS in 1999 were:
President:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â William N. Holway, 2645 East 35th. St. Tulsa, OK.
Vice-President:Â Â Â Dr. Robert Adelman, 1540 Beachwalker, and Amelia, FL
Directors:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dr. Charles Davidson, 1502 First Ave # 4, and Coralville, IA
             Mr. Robert E. Senghas, 54 Rivermount Terr. Burlington, VT
             Judith W. Pickett, 109 Oakview Dr. Kettering, OH.
             Jerry Gabert, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA.
             Lucia B. Santini Field, 1691 West Street, Wrentham, MA.
         Carol O. Orts, P.O. Box 9, Colerain, OH.95
Mr. Jerry Gabert is also the Treasurer of the UUA and one of three signatories authorized to individually sign checks up to $5,000 in âa bank account to hold funds associated with the Holdeen India program. This account was opend with BankBoston on July 31, 1998;â.96 Mr. Robert Senghas, a Director at LRCS, is also a UUA Trustee. He requested that it be noted that he abstained from voting in the HIP appropriations for the year 2000 and 2001.97 Mr. Senghas also abstained during a vote to âratify the action taken by the Treasurer to make a final draw under the 41 Mt. Vernon loan agreement with BankBoston in the amount of $675,062 on September 21, 1998 for completion of the renovation financing, thus increasing the loan amount outstanding to $2,000,000.â98 Mr. Senghas had requested indemnification for âUUA employees and appointed volunteers for their work on behalf of the Association.â99 Are these efforts on Mr. Senghas part to express concern about the manipulation of the Holdeen Funds for illegitimate purposes?
The official documentation shows the UUA continue to claim that the funds are for Indians and Asian migrants and their descendants. Yet the allocation of grants to ICUU, WRCP, IARF and PCC clearly represent a diversion of the funds. The allocation of $267,000 to the LRCS which is than re-funneled into the UUAâs treasury to pay for real estate is, if it is true, a gross injustice.
It is true that the Holdeen India Program spends some of its share of the Holdeen Funds in India but there is no indication on what percentage of the total of approximately $1.7 million received in 1999 is devoted to HIP. The total amount allocated according to the Minutes is $577,000.100 How the majority of the proceeds for year 2000, approximately $1.2 million, is utilized is not properly explained. Certainly there is no evidence of criminal misappropriation of funds or any other illegal activity by individuals. Yet there are many ethical questions that must matter to a religious organization.
Since my efforts to gather information from the UUA on the activities of the Holdeen Fund have not been successful, I can only hazard an educated guess as to what Holdeen would have thought of the airplane travel between India and the United States, not to mention Eastern Europe, Ireland etc. Jonathan Holdeen, despite his great wealth did not own an automobile, broke up packing crates for firewood, and gave himself haircuts rather than pay for them.101 It is not difficult to conclude that he would have frowned on the ârelationshipâ building activities of the âclubsâ that receive allocations from the Holdeen Funds.102Â Â
The effort to house a multi-million dollar corporation in small house in a small town in New England, while spending millions on buying and renovating office space in the most prestigious neighborhood in Boston requires some explanation. What is suspected is that it is being funded out of the Holdeen Funds and not from contributions of member churches who will definitely not put up with such philandering under the guise of philanthropy. This type of activity in a charitable organization combined with continued reference to the impoverished people of India by UUAâs public relations machinery on the World Wide Web will in the long run hurt sincere efforts by liberal religious organizations to be a meaningful presence at home and abroad.
Yet Holdeen is dead and his daughter, Janet Adams Holden, has given up on her quest to protect her fatherâs legacy. The descendants of the natives of India, the first and second generation Indian and Asian immigrants who have been in this country for some years, have not been asked to participate in any concerted effort to join the UUA. (See the chapter on East Indian Immigrants and Unitarian Universalism). The poor in India and elsewhere generally belong to the lowest categories in the pernicious caste and class systems of the world. Their lack of skills in the world of sophisticated legal and financial matters has left them at the mercy of the powerful and privileged in Boston and elsewhere.
Therefore, the matter must finally rest in the hands of what is, after all, a democratically governed association of congregations made up of some of the most ethical and progressive people in the United States. There is no other recourse but to ask the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations to monitor the activities of their elected and appointed officials. In the absence of responsible oversight by the member congregations of the UUA, the poor peoples of the world are in danger of losing their inheritance, and the Unitarian and Universalists their reputation.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Another backer of Martin Macwan..
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/media/...srel/001122.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Martin Macwan, the Convenor of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, is also one of five human rights defenders from around the world who received the highest honour at the 2000 Human Rights Watch Annual Dinners on 14 November.
The Christian Aid-backed National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, which began in 1998, brings together concerned individuals and groups working among Dalits, the lowest caste in India. The aim is to dismantle Indiaâs hidden apartheid and create protection for its most vulnerable people, the Dalits, who comprise 160 million of India's one billion population. Every day two low-caste people die as a result of the caste system. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.gleitsman.org/intHonoree.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->MARTIN CHHOTUBHAL MACWAN, Navsarjan Trust, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
Born among the one hundred and sixty million Dalits (formerly "Untouchables") who form the lowest "caste" in India, Martin Chhotubhal Macwan has dedicated his life to improving their fate. By the conversion of his grandfather to Christianity, he had the advantage of being educated in Jesuit schools; an incisive mind and indelible sense of compassion leading him to become an attorney. The primary catalyst was a common sight: witnessing the suffering, beating, poverty and discrimination of the Dalits at the hands of their fellow citizens. Two decades ago he founded The Navsarjan Trust to use his legal knowledge, and that of other fearless attorneys and social workers, to fight for the human rights of the Dalits. Now, in more than two thousand villages, the organization helps supply potable water, correct land reform violations and provide legal aid. Concurrently, Macwan is the Convener of the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, which is working to present its case before the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in South Africa this fall. Martin Macwan argues that concern for the Dalit class is, in fact, a human rights issue. His battle continues in a country where, by law, all citizens are entitled to the same rights, yet millions must endure the suffering of what has been called "India's hidden apartheid."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://www.ambedkar.org/chandrabhan/TheDurban.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Durban dip can cleanse a billion sins
ChandraBhan Prasad
The Ganges is a monumental aqua-guard which has been cleansing Varna souls ever since the advent of their civilisation. A few Varna apologists describe the senseless Ganga dip as an act of "self-criticism", where devotees officially confirm they have committed a sin. Those who do not participate in this bizarre event each year, compensate for it by joining the Maha Kumbh madness. In that sense, every Varna individual is a communist, known for his ritual practice of "self-criticism".
Questions have often been asked of us. For instance: "Tell me Mr Prasad, how do you propose to eradicate caste divisions?" Upon saying, "Read Ambedkar," they insist, "No, please don't be evasive. Tell me now." Then we say, "Gandhiji had a historic opportunity. Had he spoken in the voice Dr Ambedkar used, half of India's problem would have been solved in his lifetime itself, and the rest by now. Or if EMS Namboodripad had decided to declare Charu Majumdar as being India's Mao and worked under his leadership, India would have been a different story today.
Or, if Vajpayeeiji spoke the way Kanshi Ram does or Soniaji spoke Mayawatiji's mind, half of India's social tension would have withered away by now. Or, if the Indian Parliament were to raid the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) Secretariat at Bharani Complex, Secundarabad, confiscate the documents there, own up to them and proceed to Durban telling the world that: "Yes, race and caste are not the same but the implications are similar. In fact, caste-based discriminations are more vicious than those which are race-based. And that India as a nation has decided to eradicate all caste-based discrimination and that we need cooperation and support from the rest of the world." India would then indeed be marching towards a new direction, one which the Dalits have aspired to for ages. But is India prepared to listen to what Dalit heroes have been arguing for? Is Indian society prepared to listen to Dalit icons like Matin Macwan or Paul Divakar?
August 3, 2001, will be thought of as a landmark. The Mumbai-based Sabrang had organised a seminar to solicit public opinion in favour of the Durban conference.
The organisation is headed by Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, the only couple I have ever met who are great secularists and yet pro-Dalit. The second such combination I can remember comes in the form of Delhi's Nivedita Menon and Aditya Nigam.
This particular seminar had a galaxy of participants: <b>Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Sitaram Yechuri, Rajdeep Sardesai, Prafulla Bidwai, Rahul Deo, Swami Agnivesh, Martin Macwan, Ramalakshmi, Aditya Nigam, Amit Sengupta, Fr Henry D'Souza, PL Mimroth, Fali S Nariman and others.</b> Although most of them had assembled for secular considerations - to bash the BJP, as if Deve Gowda or Gujral-led third front governments would have supported NCDHR's move - CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechuri stunned Dalit participants. He first entertained the audience by telling them about the one similarity between himself and Bangaru Laxman: both had betrayed their communities. The audience, however, was unable to figure out how Yechuriji had betrayed the Brahmins as he has never held them responsible for creating the Chaturvarna order and has lost nothing in life. What better stature in life had he thought of than what he enjoys today? On the other hand, in what way did Bangaru betray his community? He was born Dalit and stayed one even after entering the Dwijas' BJP. He became its president, ultimately falling victim to the Varna media. Had he joined the CPI(M), he would have, like most CPI(M) Dalit MPs, remained faceless all his life!
But the mood changed when Yechuri informed the gathering that the CPI(M) had decided to endorse the NCDHR's Durban move. Every right-thinking Dalit must be grateful to the CPI(M) as, barring the BSP, it is the second national party which has taken a favourable stand.
The CPM's stand is important for other reasons as well. In Delhi's cultural/intellectual circles, which includes a few Dalits, word has got around that a Church-based conspiracy is out to malign India, that foreign money was flowing about like the Orissa cyclone.
<b>We all know that science, technology, democracy and modern systems of governance have come from the Christian world of Europe and America. Then, why this Christian bashing? India, right from Nehru's days, has been holding out its begging bowl to foreign countries. But the money brought into the country in the name of development, never reaches the Dalits. Thus, if any money is coming in from abroad to help the Dalit cause, it must be welcomed. Will TATA or Reliance ever give up even one paisa to fight the Varna/Caste order? Then, how will Dalits travel abroad to expose India's Varna order? Is Indian capital benevolent towards the Dalits? By one single act, the CPI(M) has cleansed itself of many sins. Are other Varna parties, too, prepared to take a dip in Durban?</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Rajesh, even after drafting the constitution and putting in place the necessary human rights and caste eradication clauses, Ambedkar still resigned from the cabinet, and later in 1956 left Hinduism. He lost faith, not in the constitution or laws, but lost faith in the Hindus.
Pathma
But it would be a serious mistake to underestimate dalits as the article below suggest. As cities grow, urban dalits colonies too will. And knowing that a developed India that would attract migrants, Africans are going to descend in India in large numbers - millions roaming the streets at night, in the ghettoes, finding cause with the dalits.
Here is an example of what can happen in a growing India, where the dalits too attain economic power, which could be bigger than many nations.
<b>Display Dalit Power</b>
The Tulsa race riot of 1921 is one of the saddest scars in America's modern history. The year saw the burning down of the Greenwood neighbourhood of the city - which falls in the Oklahoma state - by the invading White crowd. Around 300 people, mostly Blacks, had died, and hundreds were injured in the incident. Thousands were rendered homeless.
From the evening of May 31 to the afternoon of June 1, 1921, the city witnessed the ugliest civilian killings after the American Civil War. It was worse than the 1965 Watts riot, the 1967 Detroit riot, the 1992 Los Angeles riot and the 1995 Oklahoma city bombing.
The killings apart, the riot was aimed a crippling the rising economic power of the Blacks. The crowd brought down around 1,500 African American homes, destroyed more than 600 businesses, including 21 restaurants, 30 stores, two movie theatres, a hospital, a bank, libraries, schools and the local post office.
In the American history, Tulsa is known as the "Black Wall Street". In less than two days, the Black Wall Street had turned into volcanic ash. Blacks' dream of creating their own bourgeoisie had died a dream.
On May 30, 1921, a rumour spread in the White locality of the town that Dick Rowland, a Black youth, had assaulted a 17-year-old White girl Sarah Page who worked as a lift operator. As Rowland was arrested, tension began building in the area. As if the Whites were waiting waited for this opportunity. The "Black Wall Street" had to be destroyed.
Rising from ashes of 1921, the Blacks are flying high in 2005. The American magazine Fortune ran a story in June, 2004, titled The New Black Power On the Wall Street. The story talked of Black brokers calling the shots at the Wall Street, and how a number of Blacks are doing exceptionally well in financial institutions.
As of today, there are three well-known Black billionaires - Robert Johnson, Oprah Winfrey and Shiela Crump Johnson.
About half a dozen Blacks are about to join that club. <b>There are around a million Black-owned companies, with an annual turnover of $71.2 billion. The spending power of the Blacks has reached $572 billion, equivalents to the 11th largest economy in the world.</b> (thats only 22 million blacks and no where close to what dalits can achieve)
The Blacks have made their mark in the banking sector as well. There are 25 Black-owned banks with assets worth $4716 million, 10 investments banks with assets worth $677.3 million, 10 equity firms with assets worth $2959 million and five insurance companies with assets worth $472.48 million.
Companies owned by the Blacks might look tiny when compared to those owned by the Whites, but the fact is that the Blacks have made their presence felt in every sphere of the economy.
Compared to the American Blacks, the Dalits have nothing but small grocery shops or manufacturing units here and there which don't find any mention even in the community's media.
The history is replete with instances of the community leadership committing mistakes. Mistakes sometime become so grave that they pre-destine fortunes of the communities they represent.
The post-Ambedkar Dalit has committed a major blunder in understanding Dr Ambedkar. Baba Saheb's resignation from Pt Nehru's Cabinet on October 10, 1951, is a case in point. One of the reasons for his resignation was that he was not given the charge of the Planing Commission. He makes a pointed presentation when he argues that "I was primarily a student of Economics and Finance". Needless to add, in the post-independence period, he wanted to usher in an era of economic emancipation of the Dalits. He was doubly betrayed, first by Pt Nehru and latter by his followers. The agenda of economic emancipation has withered away from post-Ambedkar Dalit movements.
In sharp contrast, the Black movement kept its focus on the economic question. Black teacher and reformer Booker T Washington had established the "National Negro Business League" in 1900. The Carver Federal Savings Bank, with assets worth $529.5 million, was established on November 5, 1948. It was the first Black-owned bank and it's there even today. The Dalits are nowhere near those kinds of landmarks.
Unfortunately, Dalit movements attach little or no importance to the economic question, particularly when individuals, communities and nations are fighting for their share in the market. It is altogether a different issue that most Dalit movements split on the question of "financial irregularities". Can the community do something concrete so that an Indian newspaper titles its story as New Dalit Power on Dalal Street?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->He lost faith, not in the constitution or laws, but lost faith in the Hindus.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
His words or your interpretations? By the standards you've shown I can take his own works on realtions with Muslims and Christians and show that his views on them weren't too charitable either.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Africans are going to descend in India in large numbers - millions roaming the streets at night, in the ghettoes, finding cause with the dalits.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--emo&:lol:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /><!--endemo--> Now you are saying this as a good thing or bad?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ah, Sankara,
Anyone on the circuit of Hindu forums knows Sugrutha and she doesn't need any introduction.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Who's she and whatever's the issue take it offline please with the concerned person(s).
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->You can see for yourself that no one else is questioning, except you!
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pathama,
Over half a dozen postors on this forum itself have questioned your intentions and motives. So give it a rest. I don't see a need for your anti-Hindu or anti-India tirade on this forum. Also, issues at other places can be settled there. You are welcome to do it on any other Hindu/non-Hindu or Indian/non-Indian forum; just not here. Any issues, you can PM me.
Pathmarajah,
I am not sure why the Ambedkar lost faith in hinduism comment was addressed to me. Anyhow, my personal opinion on this -> I think Sri Ambedkar was showing dissatisfaction and commited a blunder in later years of his life. Happens. Happened with many Congress leaders who just got tired on fighting the independence struggle and in the end accepted whatever they could. I think that step by Sri Ambedkar set back the dalit cause by a few decades.
Re black immigration.. India doesnt have to worry about them - its europe's problem. Our problem is the muslim immigration threat. The black-dalit solidarity business is something like ummahdom, where western powers are again trying to impose their definitions of race/slavery/genocide/etc on the heathens, readily lapped up by people like you. Its just outside powers collecting sticks to beat India with. People like Macwan, Sabrangies, FOILies and NSies are just tools who will be used by outside powers to try and influence, breakup and threaten India. But we will keep track of it and will counter it.
Re how "dalit power" is going to increase -> isnt that contradicting the discrimination-against-dalits stand ? I seriously hope dalits and their leadership, if they really have the welfare of dalits in mind, dont follow the black model. If anything they should follow the latino model. Latino power has really increased, silently, with more tolerance, great confidence and bereft of persecution hangups of blacks.
Anyways looking for Macwan I came across an old Ramesh Rao article.
http://www.sulekha.com/printer.asp?ctid=2000&cid=99568
http://www.saag.org/papers4/paper331.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->POLITICS OF DALITISM: creating Dalits among Dalits
By R.Upadhyay
The attempt of some of activists of Dalit movement in India to internationalise the issue in World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) concluded in the first week of September and follow up actions have created an impression that there is something basically wrong in the ideological orientation of the movement. The word Dalit was coined in post-colonial India by the disciples of Ambedkar. They did not accept the word Harijan (Men of God) used by Gandhi for the untouchables in Hindu social order because of their aversion against him. The word Dalit therefore, became the vernacular terminology for the oppressed classes, with a wider connotation for electoral sociology in the democratic polity of the country. Â
Mahatma Gandhi & Dr. Ambedkar: If we look to the history of Dalit movement, it is as old as the birth of the concept of untouchability, which was the darkest spot in Hindu social structure. Though, Hindu reformists tried their best to fight against this social evil right from the days untouchability was born, the real concern over it came to surface during the freedom struggle, when Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar fought against it in their own way. While Gandhi wanted complete eradication of untouchability for emotional integration of Hindu society, Ambedkar was for abolition of Varnashram structure of the Hindu social order. Â
The conceptual difference between the two messiahs of untouchables continues to affect the Dalit movement even after their death. While the disciples rejected Mahatma Gandhi for the sake of power and fulfillment of their personal ambitions, Ambedkar became a symbol of Dalit movement. A clue to understanding Ambedkar lies in his hatred of Gandhi. The activists of Dalit movement adopted the same philosophy against the upper castes and are still found boiling in the anger generated by their messiah Ambedkar. Taking advantage of the violent landscape, which started emerging since the closing decades of twentieth century, the followers of Ambedkar adopted the sole agenda to create social disorder and capture power. In both the situations, the process of social transformation in Hindu society, which took off in positive direction just after independence got disturbed.Â
To understand the multi dimensional direction of the Dalit movement, we may briefly look into the difference between Gandhi and Ambedkar on this issue. During the first Round Table Conference, when Ambedkar favoured the move of the British Government to provide separate electorate for the oppressed classes, Gandhi strongly opposed it on the plea that the move would disintegrate the Hindu society. He went for an indefinite hunger strike from September 20, 1932 against the decision of the then British Prime Minister J.Ramsay MacDonald granting communal award to the depressed classes in the constitution for governance of British India.Â
In view of the mass upsurge generated in the country to save the life of Gandhi, Ambedkar was compelled to soften his stand. A compromise between the leaders of caste Hindu and the depressed classes was reached on September 24,1932, popularly known as Poona Pact. The resolution announced in a public meeting on September 25 in Bombay confirmed -" henceforth, amongst Hindus no one shall be regarded as an untouchable by reason of his birth and they will have the same rights in all the social institutions as the other Hindus have". This landmark resolution in the history of the Dalit movement in India subsequently formed the basis for giving due share to Dalits in the political empowerment of Indian people in a democratic Indian polity. Â
Even though Ambedkar was a party to Poona Pact, he was never reconciled to it. His contempt against Gandhi, which continued even after his assassination on January 30,1948. On the death of Gandhi he expressed, "My real enemy has gone, thank goodness the eclipse is over". He equated the assassination of Gandhi with that of Caesar and the remark of Cicero to the messenger - "Tell the Romans, your hour of liberty has come". He further remarked, "While one regrets the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, one cannot help finding in his heart the echo of the sentiments expressed by Cicero on the assassination of Caesar". Considering Gandhi as a "positive danger to this country", he quoted from Bible that "sometime good cometh out of evil, so also I think good will come out of the death of Mr. Gandhi" ( Gandhi and Ambedkar - Saviours of Untouchables by Sheshrao Chavan. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan publication 2001, page 263-64). Â
The reaction of Ambedkar over the death of Gandhi may be viewed as a politics of negation for vengeance against the caste Hindus and also for political power for Dalits. He felt, "the problem of depressed classes will never be solved unless they get political power in their own hand" (Thus spoke Ambedkar by Bhagwan Das). He however, did not clarify as to how in a democratic polity of pluralistic society, Dalits would be the sole custodians of power.Â
Post Ambedkar Dalit Movement: The post-Gandhian and post-Ambedkar Dalit activists re-invented the direction of their movement, which was by and large focussed towards developing the negative ideas in a dark room. They are yet to take the next step to focus their negatives in light for positive prints. In the absence of a scientific endeavour their movement lags in its march towards social reform, as it has more or less become a platform for the political empowerment of some individuals for their personal ambitions and vested interests. This is not only against the concept of equalitarian Hindu sociology of Vedic India but also against the concept of democracy. Â
The present clash for Dalit leadership has confirmed the theory of C.Rajagopalachari that many Dalit leaders are interested for continuance of the undesirable status of Dalits for the fulfillment of their personal ambitions. Disagreeing with Ambedkar on Dalits issue he said, "�This is material explanation for the violent dislike of Gandhiji exhibited by Dr. Ambedkar, who looks upon this great and inspired reformer as the enemy of the untouchables, meaning thereby of the educated and ambitious among them who find that the depressed status furnishes short cut to position".( "Ambedkar Refuted"page 33, Hind Kitab Publishers: Bombay 1946)
It may be partially true that political empowerment is key to social and economic empowerment as suggested by Ambedkar but this cannot be the sole criteria for the social equality of Dalits. The representatives (122 -76 SC and 46 ST in parliament against its strength of 543 and 1085 -556 SC and 529 ST in state assemblies against their strength of 4370) of Dalits in parliament and state assemblies in sizeable strength have been sharing political power for last fifty years. But if they have failed to bring a desired social change and economic upliftment of Dalits, there is something wrong in the movement, which is yet to be identified. The students of the constituting history have therefore, a right to know from Dalit activists the reason behind the failure of their representatives sharing political power.
One may be amused to understand that how only160 Dalit delegates under the umbrella of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights in WCAR would have fought for the cause of Dalits in India if the representatives of Dalits sharing political power could not assert and agitate for the cause of their community? An objective analysis of the prevailing social condition and sentiments in India may corroborate the theory of C.Rajagopalachari that Dalit movement has become a vehicle to promote the personal interest of some individuals or groups.
The Dalits despite empowerment are not a political force � why?: In the absence of an All India mind with a cohesive and unified perspective, Dalit movement has also failed to emerge as a strong political force. Dalits are divided into hundreds of castes and sub-castes. About 56 percent of Dalit population belong to about 20 dominant castes among them. These dominant castes are presently grabbing all the privileges provided to the Dalits constitutionally. Even Dr.Ambedkar failed to give an intellectual explanation to unify them together, as a result, his political influence during his life time also remained confined to only Mahar caste of his community in the Maharashtra region.
Dalit activists, due to lack of actual ideological direction are not clear whether they are interested to ensure the material prosperity of Dalits or equal status in Hindu social order. Untouchability has almost disappeared, as touch of Dalit is no more considered to have any polluting affect on caste Hindus. However, so long the Dalits enjoy the benefits of reservation in Government jobs and admission in academic institutions, they may have to bear the stigma of being considered unequal in merit to the caste Hindus. The objective of Dalit movements should be therefore, to erase such stigma, which is possible only if Dalits get a chance for their proper education befitting to the standard required for competitions.Â
Vested interests in Command: Contrary to the objective of the movement discussed above, the managers of Dalit movement due to their vested interest do not want their people to be cleansed from the stigma of reservation and the agony of their past humiliation of being treated as untouchables. In stead of fighting for transformation of the Hindu social order, they are found more interested to promote themselves as Esperanto of United Nations politics.  With weapon of hate, they are neither able to fight against the social inequality and injustice effectively nor in a position to contribute any significant social change. Â
In stead of looking on the growing consciousness among the educated caste Hindus against the social evil of caste discrimination against Dalits and appreciating this positive change, the Dalit activists ignore and understate the development. Their sole aim is now pointed towards personal ambitions at the cost of their community. This has created a new class of Brahmins among the Dalits, who are now exploiting the actual Dalits by grabbing the benefits meant for the latter. This may look like a paradox, but it is the hard reality.
The on going Dalit movement is gradually losing its track. Its multi-dimensional character based on the philosophy of love and hate is unfortunately turned into political theocracy, which is contrary to the basic concept of the total transformation of Hindu social order. Inciting the Dalits against the caste Hindus for historical agony without any honest effort for their emotional integration with rest of the Hindu social order is neither in the interest of this disadvantaged section of population nor in the interest of the nation.
The shrinking influence of the so called Brahminsm in electoral politics, social transformation, spiritual movement, or even other public affairs are enough indications of gradual changes in Hindu sociology. Dalit movements with a view to create social disorder by promoting caste hatred against the upper castes of ancient Varnashram system will simply halt the process of the on going social transformation. With their political empowerment by occupying the post of President, Union Cabinet ministers, Chief ministers, and bureaucrats, Dalits are gradually getting more opportunities for achieving social empowerment under democratic process. By gaining more confidence, Dalits are now found to be quite assertive of their rights. This however, does not mean that they have been acceptable in community dining or inter-caste marriage, which is not even prevalent within the various Dalit castes. Â
The objective of any social reform movement is to ensure a peaceful, decent and dignified life for every body without any social confrontation. But, unfortunately the Dalit activists are so obsessed and possessive in their approach towards the historical agony of their community that they have made the latter as prisoners of Dalitism, which hardly has any constructive plan for creation of a just social order. Their slogan for abolition of Varnashram (professional units) system and total abolition of caste is an utopian concept, which will never take root in the diverse and pluralistic Indian society.
Casteism is the bane of Indian society but the Indian people accept caste as a hard reality. Even the Christians and Muslims boast themselves of their upper caste heritage. In South India even Christians are maintaining visible distance from the Dalit Chritians as the latter continue to have separate church, separate burial ground and even separate places for social interactions. Similarly, even Muslims in India and Pakistan there is no inter- caste marriage among the Sheiks, Syed, Paithan and others because of their upper caste heritage before conversion.
The three Dalits groups and their separate agenda: As far as the present Dalit movement is concerned, it is in the hands of three vested interest groups of Dalit politicians, Dalt writers and Chrisian missionaries. Dalit political leaders like Kansi Ram and Ms Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party and Ram Vilas Paswan of Lok Jana Shakti are having their influence exclusively among the members of their own community. They can never come to power on their own due to their limited influence among the voters. For coming to power they are compelled to join some other parties dominated by caste Hindus. They are therefore, hardly in a position to bring any social change.
The second group, which claims to be the champion for the cause of Dalits is of Dalit writers. Their personal ambition and ego have kept them away from the common Dalits, who are illiterate and poor. They are more interested in their self-promotion than serving the cause of their community. Their possessiveness is often mistaken as love for Dalits. Since they do not get enough space in media to spit venom against the caste Hindus and are hardly in a position to play an effective role in electoral politics, they are always in search of the forces through which they could get national and international recognition. They have therefore, joined hand with forces (third group) determined to disintegrate the Hindu society.
The interest of the third group in Dalit movement is to de-Hinduise the Dalits and promote their proselytisational endeavour. The argument of this group that Christian society does not have any caste discrimination is not based on ground reality. The Dalit Christians are facing the problem of caste discrimination even in Christian society. Such discrimination is prevalent in Kerala even after the death of Dalit Christians, whose corpses do not find any place in the cemetery meant for upper caste convert Christians. T.V.Rajshekhar, a Dalit writer, while speaking in a seminar (Church and Dalit) organised by Christian leaders in Madras on June 14, 1986 said that Dalit Christians form about 80 percent Christian population in India but contrary to what Jesus Christ preached, the Dalit Christians are also the victim of caste discrimination as they have separate burial ground, separate churches and separate dwelling places.
Ever since the promulgation of presidential order No 19 of 1950 debarring the Dalits of non-Hindu and non-Sikh community to be included in the list of Scheduled castes, the Christian missionaries have been facing difficulty in alluring the Hindu Dalits for their conversion. For this they have already launched a movement for constitutional privileges for Dalit Christians. If they succeed in alienating the Dalits from Hindu social order, the entire Dalit community will get the benefit of constitutional provisions and it will help them in their mission for proselytisation. Â
Indian Social Institute(ISI), a Roman Catholic Mission outfit organised a meeting on "Durban and Dalit Discourse: Post Durban Scenario" on September 20. The meeting was organised with a view to forming a "broad alliance of disadvantaged section of society to battle the status quo that would prefer to keep them on the periphery of the country's social structure" (Hindu dated September 24). The move of the institute is to internationalise the issue. Had it not been so, it should first cleanse the Christian society in Kerala. In fact the Christian missionaries are also facing a dilemma of the isolation of Dalits from the affluent sections of the community. Dr. Prakash Luis, Executive Director of ISI said, "There is a sense of vertical divide within the community between the socially mobile 'Brahmanical Dalits' and the real Dalits among Dalits".
Conclusion: In the backdrop of the dialectics of Dalit movements, it appears that the Dalits have now become the victims of the politics of Dalitism being played by various groups. Instead of fighting the evils of caste discrimination in Hindu society, the Dalit movement has given birth to neo Dalitism, which hardly has any difference with the polluted Brahmanism.
The movement, which does not have the ingredients to bring about reconciliation among conflicting social groups and fails to accelerate the process of social harmony and human dignity, is bound to lose real direction. Dalits should therefore be very careful about the politics of Dalitism being played by vested interests not only at the cost of the disadvantaged community but also at the cost of social harmony, which is more dangerous for the nation.
(The analysis in the paper is based on the personal perception of the writer. E-mail: ramashray60@yahoo.com) <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
04-17-2005, 11:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-17-2005, 11:52 PM by agnivayu.)
Pathmarajah,
Who are you to talk about India at all ? You are from Sri Lanka and have never even visited that country.
As a non "bhoomiputra", I am sure you are enjoying the discrimination in Malaysia.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As a non "bhoomiputra", I am sure you are enjoying the discrimination in Malaysia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's why he is creating his own fiction without knowing ground reality. Somehow he wants to link with other so called discriminated populace, even they don't exist, well he is creating one and feel sympathetic with them and blaming others.
He refused to answer my questions.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->discrimination in Malaysia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Level of discrimination in Malaysian is very high. Skin color does matter in that part of world. Itâs very difficult for Indians (Sri Lanka, Indian, and Bangladesh) to get promoted or to get good jobs. One won't be surprised if shopkeeper refuses to show material coz color of skin or origin of individual.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Apr 18 2005, 12:03 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Apr 18 2005, 12:03 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As a non "bhoomiputra", I am sure you are enjoying the discrimination in Malaysia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's why he is creating his own fiction without knowing ground reality. Somehow he wants to link with other so called discriminated populace, if they don't exist, well he is creating one and feel sympathetic with them and blaming others.
He refused to answer my questions.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->discrimination in Malaysia. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Level of discrimination in Malaysian is very high. Skin color does matter in that part of world. Itâs very difficult for Indians (Sri Lanka, Indian, and Bangladesh) to get promoted or to get good jobs. One won't be surprised if shopkeeper refuses to show material coz color of skin or origin of individual. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mudy,
The way I see it, someone is either on our team or they are not.
Any internal problems with Hinduism we can solve amongst ourselves, but if someone keeps engaging in constant unreasonable criticism especially using traditional Chrisitian/ Muslim propaganda, then they are part of the enemy even if they call themselves Hindu.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Any internal problems with Hinduism we can solve amongst ourselves, but if someone keeps engaging in constant unreasonable criticism especially using traditional Chrisitian/ Muslim propaganda, then they are part of the enemy even if they call themselves Hindu<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Problem with this guy, he is sitting in his well and thinks rest of world is same. He never hesitates to post 1920 article, but he can't see atrocities against Brahmins since Buddhists period. Every period Brahmins faced atrocities and were blamed for every sin on this earth. His regular rants from Muslim and missionary media is getting sickening now. In place of understanding issue he is more interested to spread hatered.
He say he is Sri Lankan Hindu, if this is Hindu problem why he is so shy to discuss this problem from his country of origin. If this is only India's problem, than it is not Hindu problem but something else was behind this behaviour.
This guy has no clue about Somnath temples invasion and how Brahmins were treated or want happened to Vedic villages or Vedic ashrams.
Why Brahmins are now less than 13% in India? How they were ethnic cleasned from Kashmir and other part of India and Pakistan?
Even Dalit Paswan is married to Brahmin but he still calls himself Dalit and looks for every single privilege and still blame Brahmins.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Selective anecdotes? Indian govt statistics on caste crimes, their discussions in parliament, further laws, discussions in conferences and seminars participated by govt ministers, as well as UN conferences and social indices speaks enough, donât you think. Those stats were published by the NDA govt!!<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pathmarajah, do you know what âanecdoteâ means? I was referring to your constant, tiresome tendency to use personal experiences, stories and narratives (in your previous message, you quoted one Sugrutha, whose family âstoryâ obviously struck your fancy only because it attacks a community that you are hostile to). Anecdotes, I repeat, donât strengthen oneâs argument or prove anything, they simply colour up oneâs writing! For every story you relate about your personal experience, or someone elseâs experience, about a certain caste, I have several stories which are contrary experiences. So, what exactly are you trying to prove with these fictional narratives?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> Colored perspective on social reality? You are a social scientist - but have you covered India? Have you studied Indians laws that outlawed caste, and why such laws are necessary in India but not in most other nations. Give me an example of such laws, say, in UK, Thailand, Kenya.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Precisely because I have covered India and done plenty of cross-national comparative research, I can tell you that most countries have to deal with hate crimes or bias motivated crime, based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc (take your pick of the category). Each country has its own bias issue to deal with.
However not all governments, despite crimes against certain goups, have passed legislations to protect these groups, because they may not necessarily consider such crimes as political, economical and social priority. For example, despite high statistics on hate crimes stemming from prejudices against gender and now increasingly sexual orientation, many US state governments have still yet to acknowledged these groups as needing special protection, or that these hate crimes as more serious than say drug offence, rape, prostitution, or paedophilia, even if the statistics show that hate crimes involving these groups are relatively high or increasing.
At the other extreme is India, where the enactment of legislation is politicized heavily, and the group with a strong political muscle power is usually able to get its own agenda pushed, irrespective of whether or not the community it represents truly requires special protection or immunity. This explains why some of the most privileged âminorityâ groups, such as Christians and Muslims, enjoy better social, economic, and legal protection than do Hindus in India.
To establish whether or not a crime is bias motivated requires thorough investigation of the crime by the law enforcement. A crime cannot be declared as bias motivated merely because the victim thinks so, or because the victim happens to belongs to a minority, underprivileged community, and the accused happens to belong to the majority, or privileged community (assuming that the alleged accuserâs background is known - very often the social background of the alleged offender is unknown). To illustrate the complexity in identifying a âhateâ crime, the Australian government report on crime states:
<i>âScholarly writings from other countries tend to suggest the existence of
discrimination and violence against ethnic, foreign, or minority groups but
provide almost no supporting evidence. The British Crime Survey, on the other
hand, asks victims whether an incident was âracially motivatedâ or whether
âthey thought they were victimised âfor reasons of race or colourâ. The
responses to these questions reflect only the perceptions of victims, and it is
possible that in many cases the victim may not be aware of the real motivations
of the offender. The 1996 British Crime Survey (BCS) found that Pakistanis
and Bangladeshis compared to Indians and blacks saw a higher proportion of
vandalism, threats, and violence as racially motivated. 70 per cent of threats
and 29 per cent of violence were perceived as racially motivated by the
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, the proportions for Indians and blacks were less
than half as much. In terms of prevalence of racially motivated crime, about 8
per cent of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, 5 per cent of Indians, and 4 per cent of
blacks experienced one or more victimisations during 1995.88 However, the
Survey notes that: It is possible that the BCS measure of racist threats is more susceptible to changes in public perceptions than estimates of either racist violence or vandalism. In many incidents of threat, the racist element may be implicit and its perception more dependent on underlying attitudes of the victim. As a result, trends in public attitudes may have more effect on the number of racist threats recorded by the BCS than on either on racist violence or vandalism, where the racist element may be more explicit.â</i>
The above suggests that, simply based on the personal opinion or perception of the victim, neighbour, or the community, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not a crime is truly bias motivated. A proper investigation, such previous history of harassment, taunts, direct threats, etc, are required in order to establish whether the crime was indeed bias motivated and the victim targeted because of his race/sex/ethnicity/religion/sexual orientation background. This is the most challenging task for the police in any country.
The police even in developed countries express helplessness at their inability to correctly identify a crime as bias motivated. So one can imagine the limitations of the police in developing countries such as India, given their lack of resources and training to investigate every crime and ascertain whether or not it is bias motivated. Figures by themselves do not tell all, and most of the time, advocacy groups tend to deliberately read too much into the data .
As for your suggestion that the issue of dalit âhateâ crimes are addressed in international platforms, I can assure you that crimes against women and children, HIV, drugs, etc in developing countries and developed countries are of greater concern for social scientists and policy makers worldwide, than the dalit issue, despite whatever hue and cry you, or any dalitstan advocacy group, might make about the dalit plight.
It is not surprising that advocacy groups tend to make noise about a community that they politically represent, irrespective of whether or not the issue that they raise can be construed genuinely as a social problem. Thus, none too surprisingly, there has been tremendous hue and cry by right-wing Christian groups and churches about incresaing âhateâ crimes against the christian community in non-christian countries, using flimsy data to support their claims, in international platforms, especially when they found themselves facing strong resistance against religious conversions in these societies. Similarly, Muslim advocate groups staunchly insist in international platforms that they are deeply "persecuted" in many non-muslim societies by non-muslims, again using flimsy âdataâ to support their accusations of discriminations. They are even groups representing people with tattoos that claim wide-spread discrimination against them, demanding legislations to help them. Just take a pick of your advocacy group, and youâll find them trying to draw international attention and seeking support for their cause, using flimsy data. Itâs a pity that the dalit âplightâ is raked up whenever the western Christian churches and evangelical missions want to increase their power base in India, or whenever an anti-India and anti-Hindu group (or individuals) wants to launch an offence against India or attract cheap international publicity for itself.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I am Malaysian and have never been to Sri Lanka.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pathmarajah, curious about one thing, though. Why are you, a Malaysian, concerned about social problems in India? Should you not be concerned about social divisions and discriminations agaisnt persons of Indian ethnicity in Malaysia? I have been to Malaysia several times, and have had students of Indian origin from your country, and oh Boy (!), is there a strong ethnic prejudice in Malaysia or what! Persons of Indian origin, especially if they are dark-skinned, are discriminated by the Malays and the Chinese ethnic community. While the Malays hold political power and the Chinese the economic power in Malaysia, people of Indian ancestry are economically, politically, and socially marginalized.
Nothing was more sadder than a Malaysian-Indian, studying in the US, confessing that he wanted to stay back in the US after completing his studies because he felt he stood a better chance at getting a proper job, professional advancement opportunities, job recognition, and social status and respect as an Indian in the US than in Malaysia, where those of Indian ancestry are unfortunately still looked down upon by the Malays and Chinese. Is it possible that because of your sense of helplessness and powerlessness to change the Malaysian society and its prejudices against persons of Indian ancestry that you take undue interest in social issues in other societies? Is it possible that you are trying to increase your sense of self-esteem and self-worth as a Malaysian Indian by attempting to forge "solidarity" with the Indian dalits.
Well, Pathmarajah, should you be not trying to improve the social, economic, and political conditions and plight of the Indian ethnic group in Malaysia, instead of debating the dalit issue in India? You have your work cut out for you, so begin at once!
As for India, leave her social problems to the Indians. The Indians will work out their problems for themselves just fine, without interference from other nationalities who are simply interested in wreaking social havoc or fostering social divisions in India for their own political and ego reasons. This forum I understand is for the Indians interested in improving their society, so it may be better for you to join a Malaysian forum or a dalitstan forum, where you can vent your social frustrations to your hearts content and propound your weird theories of dalit supremacy and African invasion of India.
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