“101 converted Hindus to undergo purification rites at Old Goa’
The newspaper item was baffling! Cleansing mechanisms, purifying filters, et al are the norm for products, systems… But how does one purify a human being? The question arises that what is the “impurity” that is being purified? Or is it just the change in the labelling of the product?
Hindus convert for many reasons, but surely, the most important raison d'être is to “hopefully” escape the discrimination based on caste! An oft stated Hindi quote says that “jo kabhi nahi jaati, usiko jaat kehte hai” (that which refuses to be cast off is called caste). A Dalit sister had a fine retort, “Jaat nahi jaati, toh main hi chali jaati hoon” (if the caste can’t be cast off, it is better that I cast myself off)
My friend, Mohandas Lolyakar had a simple poser to be asked… If the converted is reconverted to Hinduism, what caste would he/she belong to? Would they become Brahmins? Or would it be back to the earlier discriminatory label that was the original motive to get converted in the first place?
Fraudsters posing as God men have their own regressive agendas to continue the depraved segregation of one human being from another. It is a shame that the practices of discrimination continue in a land where great reformers like Kabir, Tukaram, Vivekanand and so many others have toiled to wipe out the blot of bigotry from our society. Conversions and reconversions have no meaning if the person is going to be treated as a lesser human being.
Conversions are required, but these need to be in terms of change in our own attitude towards fellow human beings. Casteism is our own form of racism that creates inequality and tramples upon the values of humanism. We need to purify and clarify our own prejudices. The dimensions of reform have to be first developed in our own minds and be reflected in our behaviour, too!
Let’s unlearn our prejudice and embrace the values of humanism,
May the spirit of universal brotherhood ‘develop new dimensions’!
Regards
Pravin
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