Rajeev Malhotra the billionaire Brahmin businessman from Princeton is the latest darling of Hindutva and Manuwadis. Several Dalit intellectuals have expressed to us that they have been troubled after reading his books ‘Breaking India’ and ‘Being Different’. And some have felt that their whole Dalit worldview is shaken up.
Malhotra has whitewashed all the Brahmin oppression and blamed everything squarely on European colonialism. He has created a mishmash world view called the Dharmic worldview by combining Buddhism, Jainism and Brahminism. How Brahminism fits into this is Malhotra’s great intellectual circus. Brahminical philosophy which is full of all kinds of confusing rituals, yajnas, homas, untouchability, pollution, cow worship is now equated with an ethical and principle centered Buddhism in Malhotra’s fantasy Dharmic philosophy.
Malhotra claims caste system was created by Europeans in the 18th century. If that was the case what were Buddha, Kabir, Basavanna,Eknath and several other revolutionaries complaining about. Malhotra has proved the often repeated statements of the revolutionary thinker V T Rajshekar, Brahmins think only what they want to think.
The editor of Dalit Nation could not help but laugh at the superficial arguments in this book. Malhotra cleverly appropriates all the good principles and ethics from Buddhism and adds it into his fictitious Dharmic worldview. After that he goes on a tirade against Christianity and Islam through a process called purva paksha. Purva Paksha is not some unique Brahmin discovery. Every thinker worth his or her name employ purva paksha which is basically looking into the other’s view points. This can be learnt in any debating 101 classroom.
Malhotra calls Abrahmic religions history centric. Ignorant Malhotra does not realize history centric beliefs abound in his own backyard – yugas, avataras are all history centric beliefs and very central to Brahminism. So are sacred places which are geographic localization of beliefs very central to Brahminism. Even the Brahminical Indian judiciary accepts the reality and historicity of Ram Lalla and that this god was born at a certain place and is the owner of that place.
People like Malhotra should understand that Western universalism is based on rationality and science. This is something Brahmins never ever bothered to understand. Brahmins in India had lost all traces of their own history and it was the British who taught them and gave them the Hindu Identity. All that Brahmins were interested was their Mathas, the birth rites, funeral rites, silly festivals, untouchability and twenty course meals. The Theosophical society was the key movement which revived Hinduism. All the Hindu leaders of the last century were products of this either directly or indirectly. Vivekananda their darling prophet was steeped in western universalism and he appropriated these values into Hinduism. He even gave a philosophical framework to the ramblings of his illiterate schizophrenic homosexual guru Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The Ramakrishna Mission, Bramho Samaj and Arya Samaj were all based on principles of western universalism.
The principles of social justice and democracy is an unknown and difficult concept to Brahmins. All that Brahmins of yore did was praise the King, ‘Rajan’ to provide them the goodies. In turn they fooled people into believing that they can control nature and bring in rains and prosperity through their hocus-pocus mantras and yajnas. Sycophants can never be revolutionaries or bring in revolutionary ideas. The result of all the Brahmin philosophy is the oppressive feudal caste system. It is there for all to see.
Malhotra’s Brahmin mind finds it very difficult to comprehend Jesus or Muhammad. Both of them were revolutionaries who fought for social justice and stood by the oppressed simple people. They fought against the status quo. All of Jesus’s disciples were simple fishermen and laborers. So was Muhammad’s. They treated the lowest of the low as equals. Jesus dined and wined with prostitutes and lepers. How can Brahmins who live in a worldview of untouchability and pollution understand this. Similarly Buddha’s teaching was open to all and not confined to any jati, dharma or gotra. He taught and converted murderers like Angulimala and prostitutes like Amrapali. There is not one Brahmin hero who fought for social justice. That’s the reason Ambedkar wondered why Brahmins could never give birth to a Rousseau or Voltaire.
You can see all the manifestations of Brahmin beliefs in Modern day gurus who suck up to businessmen and money. These gurus like Mahesh Yogi, Ravishankar, Asaram Bapu, Ramdev, Nithayananda and several other bearded buffoons have only one love and that is money. They are pimps who take money from the rich and teach them breathing and yoga to relax and live in opulence and without guilt. They even have the temerity to quote the Buddha who left the palace to live as a mendicant. All that they are interested in is to provide the counter-revolutionary opium to the stupid masses. The upper caste Hindus lick the feet of these gurus and drink the water used for washing the feet of these dirty crooks.
It is important to heed Babasaheb’s words and throw the garbage called Brahminism and Hinduism out. Malhotra even quotes Ambedkar and never criticizes. He misrepresents Babasaheb as if he stood for all these Brahminic concoctions. At Dalit Nation in Malhotra all we see is a futile attempt of a Brahmin trying to white wash the oppression and exploitation done in the name of Dharma. Any semblance of civilization that is in India is as a result of democracy, socialism and human rights and all these unfortunately for Malhotra are predominantly western ideas. Left to themselves the Brahmins could only create a feudal oppressive casteist society. The Brahmin worldview has very little to offer in terms of freedom and justice especially now that they have co-opted with the international banking and capitalistic machinery. Brahminism can only create ostrich like insight and they can keep chanting their Vishnu Sahasranama and Lalitha Sahasranama while the injustice and exploitation continues.