Well, Dr. Das, could you explain how Karna in the Mahabharat story remained a Sudra in spite of being one of the best warriors? And that was in the presence of the so-called God (Krishna) that proclaimed "choturbarnang moya sristang guna karma bivagasa"!! BTW: Your students would not be completely sensible in terms of the caste system until they refuse to identify themselves in terms of that system, until they realize that the caste system of the past has no place in a civilized world.
SuBain
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On Sunday, April 10, 2016 10:57 AM, "Kamal Das kamalctgu@gmail.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Ronald Inden, a Chicago based Indologist, wrote Hindu caste system was the product of Turkish rule in India. Earlier caste was based on profession, later it was inherited by birth. However, in this backward society even my students of Brahman ancestry bow down to pick dust from my toe, an act otherwise known as pranama.
On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 7:55 AM, Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona] <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
"Communalism was born out of colonial policy...." - A piece of rubbish by Romila Thapar."We have to recognise that we too, like every other society with a long past, have not been a society characterized by tolerance and non-violence. However much we may wish to believe that we were tolerant and non-violent, it simply isn't true." - Some sense by Romila Thapar.Did the colonial rulers create the caste system? Did the colonial rulers write the Koran that clearly despises idolatry (Hinduism)? "We too" is a terrible understatement. "We" - our ancestors, were the core problem. The solution is nothing short of burning much of the religious rubbish that made our ancestors hateful.Here is a nonviolent one: When a so-called high caste Hindu had to take a bath just because he touched the shadow of a Muslim or of a so-called low-caste Hindu, you think that was not hatred?Sukhamaya Bain=======================================On Wednesday, April 6, 2016 8:36 PM, "Jiten Roy jnrsr53@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Religion is the mother of communalism. However, on some special circumstances, nationalism can blanket communalism, as did during the liberation of India from British Colonialism, and also during the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Unfortunately, most of the time, nationalism remains dormant, but, communalism is active 24/7. That's why - fighting communalism with nationalism, and Ms. Romila Thapar is trying to do, does not work. As you know, right after the liberation of India and Bangladesh, communalism lifted its ugly head, and remains prominent even today. Communalism will not go away as long as religion is there in the society. To fight communalism, one must fight religion.Jiten Roy
From: "Kamal Das kamalctgu@gmail.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 1:57 AM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Religion-based Nationalism is back in Full Force
Lopsided view.On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 5:35 PM, Farida Majid farida_majid@hotmail.com [mukto-mona] <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:আমি যে মহা অাপত্তি তুলি ইংরেজের তৈরী ধর্মভিত্তিক আদমশুমারির বিরূদ্ধে যার উপর নির্ভর করে আমরা "সংখ্যালঘু/সংখ্যাগুরু" হিসাব নিয়ে মাথা ফাটাই, দেশ বিভাগ করি -- কেন করি? উপমহাদেশের সর্বজনশ্রদ্ধেয় ঐতিহাসিক রোমিলা থাপার সেই কথার ব্যাখ্যা করেছেন সহজ করে - - সকলে পড়ুন, এবং সত্য তথ্যগুলো স্মরণে রাখুন - -<< The two-nation theory fueled communalism, assisted by another colonial contribution which was the Census that led to describing Indian society as consisting of a majority community and minority communities. To this was added the colonial theory of the foundation of Indian civilisation being the Aryanism of the Vedas. This contributed to the concept of the nation as a Hindu Rashtra and the Hindu therefore being the primary citizen of India. >>
Image: The Hindu
In the 1960s we were confident that the use of religion for political mobilisation would decline because nationalism, namely, the secular, all-inclusive, anti-colonialism nationalism that brought us independence, would, despite Partition, be firmly established. This was in some ways such a firm belief that it was not thought necessary to specify the inclusion of secularism in the Constitution at the initial stage. This has not happened. Religion as political mobilisation, and religion-based identity as the core of nationalism, sometimes called communalism, is back in full force.
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Posted by: Sukhamaya Bain <subain1@yahoo.com>
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