Is hing casteist?

Vidya Balachander

(Sigh) Another example of injecting caste into everything. As a friend said:

Mix caste into every Indian narrative as "masala " to be served in food for western audiences... Tired of these folks who spin these theses endlessly :-(

So true. In 2021, Vidya Balachander won a writing award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) in the Food and Drink category for her article Asafoetida’s Lingering Legacy Goes Beyond Aroma. 

Here's what ASJA said about Balachander's article:

This is a beautifully written piece exploring the spice. The writer strikes an intriguing balance between her personal experience and history, anthropology and politics. A fantastic piece combining in-depth research and skillful writing. 

References:

American Society of Journalists and Authors. (2021). ASJA > For Writers > ASJA's Annual Writing Awards. Asja.org. Retrieved 15 July 2021, from https://asja.org/for-writers/annual-writing-awards.

Balachander, V. (2021). Asafoetida’s Lingering Legacy Goes Beyond Aroma — Whetstone Magazine. Whetstone Magazine. Retrieved 15 July 2021, from https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/journal/asafoetidas-lingering-legacy-goes-beyond-aroma.

A letter to Prinita Thevarajah on casteism and yoga - Part 2

 In my previous article A letter to Prinita Thevarajah on casteism and yoga - Part 1, I wrote:

A scholarly friend noted that the Hindu scriptures are adamant that Yoga is for all varnas, Jatis and genders; also, many yoga preceptors come from "lower" castes.

Prinita Thevarajah

I had sent his rebuttal as an attachment to the email to Ms. Thevarajah. I reproduce his comments in this post:

This is the most ridiculous article that I have ever read on Yoga. The Hindu scriptures are actually adamant that Yoga is for all varnas, Jatis and genders. 

• Even if one is born in a low Varṇa or happens to be a woman devoted to Dharma, through the practice of Yoga they will attain the Supreme Goal. Mahābhārata 12.240.34

• All have a right to practice austerity, include one of a low varṇa. But he should have conquered his senses, and his mind. Austerity takes one forward on the road to heaven. Mahābhārata 12.295.14

• By seeking recourse to this Dharma of Yoga, women, Vaishyas, Shudras and even those born in sinful wombs attain to this Supreme State. Then what to say of the learned Brahmanas and Kshatriyas who are always engrossed in doing their Dharma and practice the means to attain Brahman. - Anugita 4.61-2, Ashvamedhika Parva of The Mahabharata.

Many other verses can be cited. In the early medieval period, the strongest proponents of Yoga were Natha Yogis, and most of their 9 primary teachers (Navnath) were Shudras or from communities that would be called Dalits today: Jalandharnath, Charpatnath, or even their founder Matysendranath (considered a fisherman by some). 

In this article, the author harps on a single issue that Yoga in the west derives from the school of B.K.S. Iyengar and Krishnmachari, who were both from Brahmin descent. What she fails to note is their spiritual lineage - Shri Vaishnava tradition. In that tradition, Nathamuni is said to have written the Yogarahasya, which is said to have been recovered miraculously by Krishnamachari in modern times.

There is no stricture against any Varna-Jati or gender not eligible to practice Yoga. In fact, the Yoga Rahasya attributed to Shri Nāthamuni even devotes considerable attention to how women, and especially pregnant women, can practice Yoga.

The Shrivaishnava cannon is crowned by the Thiruvayamoli of a Nammalvar - called the Dravida Veda. He was a Thevar (Shudra), and his 1000 hymns are called the Samaveda in Tamil. When we visit temples of this sampradaya, the Pandit places on our head a crown representing Nammalvar.

Ms. Thevarajah might well have remembered that the greatest Tamil classic on Yoga, a part of the Nayanmar sacred canon, is the Tirumantiram, authored by Tirumular - a low caste cowherd.

A letter to Prinita Thevarajah on casteism and yoga - Part 1

A Facebook friend alerted his friends to Prinita Thevarajah's article How Casteism Manifests in Yoga and Why It's a Problem, https://www.byrdie.com/casteism-in-yoga-5119378 published on Byrdie, a website about health and beauty.

Prinita Thevarajah

In addition to maintaining The Bahu of Bengal blog, I maintain the Cold Cream 'n' Roses blog about fashion and beauty: see https://thestylepagep2.wordpress.com/.  It is disheartening to see a beauty site like Byrdie promote anti-Hindu bias.  Byrdie appears to be falling prey to "woke" politics that other beauty media have fallen prey to.

As usual, I had to write a letter to Ms. Thevarajah, with a copy to Byrdie:

From: thebahuofbengal@gmail.com

to: prinita@fariharoisin.com

cc: contact@byrdie.com

Dear Ms. Thevarajah,

... I promised to write a thorough-going letter to you concerning the content of your article How Casteism Manifests in Yoga and Why It's a Problem, https://www.byrdie.com/casteism-in-yoga-5119378.   Below are my comments, which I have grouped according to section:

Understanding the Caste System

Your article contained the usual nonsense about the Brahmin-Dalit binary – Dalit being the current term for those who were considered “untouchable.” There are two castes that are "ranked" below Brahmins and above Shudras: the Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers) and Vaishyas (merchants). Not all atrocities perpetrated on Dalits came from Brahmins.

Colonizers defamed Brahmins as they formed the intellectual elites. By destroying Brahmins, they sought to break Hindu society. I compare this to persecution of intellectuals under Pol Pot or Mao. Read The Colonial Genesis of Anti-Brahminism, https://pragyata.com/the-colonial-genesis-of-anti-brahminism/ by Ram Swarup.

Your comment “the mammoth victory of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) confirmed the country’s ongoing values of fascism, patriarchy, and caste” is funny – both funny odd and funny ha-ha. Narendra Modi comes from an Other Backward Class caste, and President Ram Nath Kovind is a Dalit who was born in a mud hut.

Am I to take The Caravan as an authoritative source? It is a leftist news source.

The Manifestation of Caste Systems in Yoga

Your comment that “dharma highlights the laws that make social order” does have a ring of truth to it: indeed, Sri Krishna exhorts the reluctant warrior Arjuna to fulfill his duty as a Kshatriya in the Bhagavad-Gita.  Dharma can also apply to upholding the natural and cosmic order.  In the end, dharma is a Sanskrit non-translatable for which there is no adequate English translation.

Nothing prevents a Dalit from learning Sanskrit today. Being uneducated does not necessarily lead to violence.

A friend on Facebook commented:

And what a shallow and erroneous reduction of karma and dharma. Does she go into the Yama and Niyama angas of Yoga in the context of karma and dharma? Does she even know what they are? Practice of the first two angas is a life-long process. Doesn’t ahimsa naturally prescribe against the “caste violence” she is decrying?”

Towards A Holistically Decolonized Practice of Yoga

A scholarly friend noted that the Hindu scriptures are adamant that Yoga is for all varnas, Jatis and genders; also, many yoga preceptors come from "lower" castes. As his comments run an entire page, I decided to add them as an attachment to this email [note to readers: I will make this available in Part 2].  Have an open mind and read his comments.

I hope that our comments will encourage you to reconsider some of your views and develop a more nuanced view on caste and yoga. Be advised that I will publish this letter on The Bahu of Bengal blog.

Yours sincerely,

Comments on Mathangi Subramanian's article Why I Separated My Indian Identity from My Hindu Identity

A friend on Facebook alerted us to this article Why I Separated My Indian Identity from My Hindu Identity by Dr. Mathangi Subramanian (she has an Ed.D. degree, like Jill Biden), which was published on harpersbazaar.com.  After reading the article, I was indignant about her false comments about Hinduism and wrote to her via the contact form on her web site.  To put my comments in context, please read Mathangi Subramanian's article in full.

Here are the comments that I sent to Mathangi Subramanian:

If all you can say was that “the judge was pleased that a high caste family like ours was adopting a child like my daughter,” I fail to understand why he was casteist. He supported adoption across social groups. You didn’t say anything about casting natal charts.

I am sorry, but it seems that you have bought into the trope of Brahminical oppression of lower castes and indigenous people. Colonizers defamed Brahmins as they formed the intellectual elites. By destroying Brahmins, they sought to break Hindu society. I compare this to persecution of intellectuals under Pol Pot or Mao. Read The Colonial Genesis of Anti-Brahminism, https://pragyata.com/the-colonial-genesis-of-anti-brahminism/, by Ram Swarup.

You claim that PM Narendra Modi weaponized high-caste Brahmins against Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims. I find this funny (both funny-odd and funny-hilarious), because Modi is from an Other Backward Class (OBC) caste. President Ram Nath Kovind is a Dalit who was born in a mud hut.

And here is her smart-alecky reply to the email she got: 

Failing to get a reply from Ms. Subramanian, I wrote to:

1. Harpers' Bazaar, editors@harpersbazaar.com 
2. Caitlyn Greenidge, who reviewed her article
3. Maura Finkelstein, maurafinkelstein@muhlenberg.edu, who also reviewed her article.

Here is how Ms. Greenidge replied:

It is deeply inappropriate to attempt to communicate in this way. Please do not contact this address again.

That is why I omitted her contact information.

Write to Ms. Subramanian, Harpers Bazaar, and Maura Finkelstein with your comments on her article.  Please, no name calling or ad hominem attacks.

NPR's Hindu hatred: a letter to the Rough Translation podcast

To: roughtranslation@npr.org,

cc: kmcbride@poynter.org

subject: NPR's Hindu hatred

National Public Radio (NPR) has a problem with Hindu hatred.  Rough Translation’s podcast How to Be Anti-Casteist, https://www.npr.org/transcripts/915299467, Season 4, Episode 2, September 30, 2020 5:30 PM ET is the latest example of NPR’s Hindu hatred.

Shrub-head Suraj Yengde - no cute kiddie pictures here!

Talking points:

• Greg Warner said, “So there is a caste for priests. That's the Brahmins. But there's also a caste for the warriors, the caste for merchants, another caste for manual laborers.”  He did not identify the other castes by name as it would undermine the trope of Brahmin oppression of Dalits. Breaking India forces (for example, Christian and Muslim proselytizers) use this trope to alienate Dalits from their Hindu identity.
• Could “Sam Cornelius” be reading something into someone patting his back or going for a swim that is not really there?  Not all Brahmins wear the sacred thread.  My husband, who is from a nominally Brahmin family, chose not to wear the sacred thread.  Traditionally, going overseas meant a loss of caste for Brahmins.  BTW I am NOT Indian, so I do not know how our marriage affects his caste. 😃
• Warner said, “There's no uncontroversial way to talk about caste, and even the words we use are fraught. So, you're going to hear people in this story talk about upper caste and lower caste. We're going to try to avoid those hierarchies and say dominant caste and oppressed caste.” This is ridiculous.  By “dominant caste” and “oppressed caste,” he introduced another hierarchy.
• Many Hindus have protested NPR’s anti-Hindu prejudice to the NPR Public Editor and NPR leadership.  Indu Vishwanathan started a petition Greater Journalistic Integrity in Reporting on Hinduism @NPR, https://www.change.org/p/national-public-radio-journalistic-integrity-in-reporting-on-hinduism-npr, which garnered over nine thousand signatures.  Ultimately, she liaised with Nancy Barnes, Senior VP of News at NPR. Ms. Barnes replied that she and her team will look closely at the petition, its demands, and all of the data sent to NPR and review Lauren Frayer’s anti-Hindu articles. Ms. Barnes said that it would take some time, but they would definitely get back to us, and that they take this seriously. However, NPR never followed up with Ms. Vishwanathan.
• When someone says that he is from Mumbai or Delhi and it is apparent that he has a name that belongs to a particular geographic area in India, I ask him where his family is from.  There is no casteist subtext.
• I appreciate that Suraj Yengde rose above his Dalit origins.  I am no fan of Kamala Harris - she is a rank opportunist with no moral core - but Yengde is reading “casteist privilege” into the video of Harris cooking masala dosa with Mindy Kaling.  Harris and Kaling are likely innocent of their “casteist privilege.”
• Warner interviewed Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs, an anti-Hindu organization.  Read the profile of Equality Labs, https://stophinduhate.org/hindu-haters-2/organisations/equality-labs/, on the Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) website.  Equality Labs’s goal is to make caste a protected category in the United States: in other words, it wants to perpetuate caste divisions in the United States.
• SHHAN also profiled scroll.in on its website: https://stophinduhate.org/hindu-haters-2/media/scroll-in/. 
• Suraj Yengde tells Mauktik Kulkarni, “You got to be a cultural suicide bomber. You have to utilize your cultural privilege and blow that up by challenging all of the other people who are sitting there comfortably into the chairs without even questioning.”  By telling Mauktik Kulkarni that he should be a “cultural suicide bomber,” Yengde wants to destroy Hinduism.
• I looked up Suraj Yengde on the Harvard website.  No surprise, he collaborates with race baiter Cornel West.  Interesting how these professional victimologists get positions at elite universities!
• Warner said, “Suraj [Yengde] holds out the hope that activism in America might spark change in India, where caste has its source. But in a time of nationalism in India and around the world, there is also a backlash to this approach.” Is this a reference to the “Hindu Nationalist” BJP that leads the Government of India? 🙄 Gimme a break.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi is from what is classified as an Other Backward Caste, while President Ram Nath Kovind is a Dalit.

I can't envision NPR abusing Islam in the way it abuses Hinduism: NPR would be too afraid.

Yours sincerely,

PRI: Which version of Indian history do American school students learn? | Public Radio International

I listened to the segment on the California textbook controversy on PRI's The World (May 2, 2017) and found it very biased and reductive, as it pertains to caste.

A few years ago, the Hindu American Foundation put out a report on caste.  Rajiv Malhotra, a prominent Hindu intellectual, said that the report provided ammunition to anti-Hindu groups.  HAF's Director of Government told me that when HAF made the rounds in DC to talk about hate crimes against Hindus (notably in Pakistan and Bangladesh), people shot back with "what about the caste system?"  That is why HAF put out its report on caste.

I disagree with Suhag Shukla that caste is a thing of the past.  Here are a few salient points about caste:

• Caste discrimination and caste-based violence is outlawed in India. Social attitudes, however, die hard.
• Reservations (affirmative action) provide minorities access to seats in the various legislatures, government jobs, and enrollment in higher educational institutions. 
• Caste did not enter in as an issue in the 2014 elections in India.  PM Narendra Modi is from a lowly caste.
• With regards to Thomas Blom Hansen's remarks that the caste system is "justified in the Hindu scriptures," the only allusion to caste in the Vedas is the Cosmic Man.  

'via Blog this'

India’s Pernicious Politics of Backwardness

Arun Shourie

Economist, author, and disinvestment minister under the BJP Government Arun Shourie is among India's best thinkers. Most everything he writes is worthwhile reading.

This article India’s Pernicious Politics of Backwardness from the Asian Tribune is a review of his book Falling Over Backwards: An essay against Reservations and against Judicial Populism.

In his book, Shourie not only slams politicians for promoting reservations, but also faults the judicial system for legitimizing the aims of the politicians. Shourie claims that politicians and the courts have subverted Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India, which refer to discrimination and equality of opportunity, respectively (the link is to a Word document; to quickly locate the referenced Articles, use View > Document Map and select "Right to Equality"). IMHO it seems that the clauses within Article 16 provide a means to enable caste-based reservations.

There is no one solution to casteism. I do favor promoting education and training among all so that they can compete on a level playing field. I also agree with Shourie's recommendation to make the individual not the group "the unit of State policy." In this case, it should be verified that an individual suffered discrimination in hiring on the basis of caste by examination of systematic hiring practices: if discrimination has been discovered, provide for remedies for the individual, rather than extend caste reservations.

Falling Over Backwards may be purchased through third-party sellers via Amazon.com