Hello World,
We Tamils have been facing the onslaught of the evil right wing hindutva terrorism in many forms over the years, especially from 2014 onwards. While it has been largely unsuccessful in securing our electoral choice, the right wing hindutva terrorism, sadly has been steadily winning against us in every other game connected with electoral politics. The result of the parliamentary elections in the Theni constituency is a classic example of such small-scale victories trickling down into the electoral politics domain.
The administration authorized and tolerated the shoot out aimed at public gathering/procession during a protest where the participants included women and children. A 17-year-old girl got shot in the face and she was branded as ‘samooga virothi’ [anti-social elements]. The political party responsible for this atrocity won the Theni parliamentary constituency. We voted for those who tolerated our killing. Yes, it was just in 1 out of 39 such constituencies but everything has a small beginning. The Theni parliamentary election result is a harbinger of the large scale hindutva terrorism we are going to face moving forward. Hindutva hasn’t won over Tamilnadu yet, but it is winning smaller battles and ais aiming at winning the war against the Tamils!
While we Tamils can easily blame hindutva for all the bad things easily, we need to remember, us letting them in and to operate as they wish is entirely on us. There is no other way of looking at it. We let the murderers in. Now we are afraid they might kill us all. How is that a fair reasoning in any way? Yes, we let hindutva seep through into Tamilnadu and into the Tamil culture. Yes, we are taking hit after hit and losing battles. What we are not yet convinced about is that, if this trend continues, there will be a time when we Tamils will have to fall at the feet of the evil hindutva terrorist infrastructure in the name of spirituality, only to ensure we stay alive! We shouldn’t let the current situation escalate to that.
There are so many ways we Tamils can get out of this rising hindutva threat situation. What remains a common link across those ways is the awareness and acknowledgement of the problem. We let the hindutva terrorist infrastructure into our land and communities simply because it came wearing a spirituality mask promoting religion and shastra based culture and we fell for that elaborate marketing stunt. This however happened many hundred years ago and sadly is persisting in our society to this day, in so many forms. The caste based social segmentation is one such facet of the hindutva terrorist infrastructure.
Now, while we need to eradicate such social segmentation, such a cleansing of the Tamil population to end up with a dirt-free Tamil population is not going to be possible without us realizing the propagation mechanics of the caste based social segmentation. In this post, we are going to discuss one such propagation mechanics of the caste system, specifically the long term voluntary re-socialization trends that has resulted in the entry and evolution multiple caste identities which are, deep down, nothing but man-made identities.
We have, for many years, been subject to the religion based cultural re-socialization owing to which we developed a habit of blending in it at every given opportunity. What our ancestors did not realize that, they were destroying our original Tamil identity in the name of emancipating their respective caste groups by fighting for revised caste identities and higher ranks in the otherwise manmade fake caste system.
I am, as in my other posts, using the elaborate anthropological history documented by Kadambi Rangachari and Edgar Thurston, titled Castes and Tribes of South India, written about 111 years ago. This piece of research is available across 7 volumes and it is a documentary evidence of anthropological research that had spanned well over a decade. The way each caste group is described and discussed indicates, great amount of detail and certainty, what the population went through because of the manmade caste system.
Special Titles Becoming Specific Identities
Under the Kavandan section, the authors note the following:
“At the census, 1901, more than nine thousand people returned themselves as Kavandan or Kaundan, which is a title of Konga Vellalas, and many other castes, such as Anappan, Kappiliyan, Palli, Sembadavan, Urali, and Vettuvan. The name corresponds to Canarese Gauda or Gaunda.”
The phrase ‘is a title of Konga Vellalas, and many other castes’ indicates how the word Kavandan had remained a title of many caste identities. Try asking around now and you will see that ‘title of many’ from the past is a specific caste identity indicating just one group of people. Also, the fact that the authors note the title ‘Kavandan’ corresponds to Canarese Gauda or Gaunda, indicates very clearly, the identity’s Kannada origins. What we know as Karnataka now used to be referred to a province by the name Kanara in the olden days and their Kannada identity was largely used by those who inhabited the land. Literature from the past referring to those lands and the people there have often used the term Canarese to refer to them, pivoting their identity on the language that united them. Remember, it is the people and their language that is being used as the basis for original identities and over time the caste and religious identities got infused into the societies. We, however, will focus on the fact that the title Kavandan has its roots in the Canarese or Kannada Gauda or Gaunda. If the origin is really non-Tamil, the very idea of Kavandan being a representative of Tamil identity is a case of mistaken identity. However, if someone was born here on Tamil land and grew up speaking Tamil and does not identify anything else as his/her own, then there is nothing that stops them from being Tamil. However, if they continue to hold on to the Kavandan tag which as per the historical fact has Kannada origin, then they are not doing justice to the Tamil identity. We will leave it at that as that is something we need to discuss in a different post. As for this one, what we have now realized is that we Tamils have caste identities now which in earlier days used to be common titles used by many such caste identities and that the title Kavandan has Kannada origins.
We need not and in all fairness should not, jump to such a conclusion before we look for more to substantiate this finding. The authors have identified the same title from other regions of Tamilnadu and those findings have been documented using the same term but of a different spelling ‘Goundan’ which makes more sense from a relevance perspective given that the caste identity being popularly used by the Tamil population now largely uses this spelling than Kavandan. While referring to ‘Goundan’, the authors note the following:
“It is noted, in the Salem Manual, that “some of the agricultural classes habitually append the title Goundan as a sort of caste nomenclature after their names, but the word applies, par excellence, to the head of the village, or Ur Goundan as he is called.” As examples of castes which take Goundan as their titles, the Pallis, Okkiliyans, and Vellalas may be cited. A planter, or other, when hailing a Malayali of the Shevaroy hills, always calls him Goundan.”
The above reference indicates very distinctly the real background of the people and how they used a specific title to identify themselves while the term they used really referred to the head of the village. It also indicates that many people with other caste identities and even people speaking other non-Tamil language have used the same title Goundan. Among the other caste identities that used Goundan as a title was Pallis whom we already know have Telugu origins (refer to the earlier post on the same). If many have used it and that list includes more than one non-Tamil communities, the term Goundan can, in no way, be a representative of a Tamil identity. As a matter of fact, Tamil by itself is the only substantiable and original identity. The caste identity prevalent now, using a specific title from the past, which has its origins in Kannada and has a history of being used by Malayalees, cannot be a representative of anything original pertaining to the Tamil culture. Again, jumping to a conclusion too soon will remain premature at this point and we need to look into more details to see if such a opinion can be further substantiated while also considering the other side of the story as and when it emerges in our research.
While covering the Devendra identity, the authors note the following:
“A name assumed by some Pallans, who claim to be descended from the king of the gods (devas).”
Those with the Pallan caste identity have used the title Devendra back then. The Pallan caste identity managed to persist through time until now and we do realize the same name being used to refer to Tamils from specific regions of Tamilnadu. Some of them, even requested a legal name change to Devendra Kula Vellalar and such an official recognition of a caste identity has been executed by the administration. Please look up who approved the official process of renaming a caste identity and you will realize the presence of non-Tamil leadership playing with the Tamils in an ironical fashion where the leadership would claim eradication of untouchability but all it did was feed the rising caste sentiments of Tamils. The ones who could have worked towards eradicating the same went on to utilize it for their vote bank politics.
Looking at the above few references, I do notice a trend of people carrying certain identities voluntarily identifying themselves by other ‘titles’ which were at the time being used by a few. Just because the head of the village carried a title, everyone in and around the village started identifying themselves with the same title over time and fast forward to now, we have the same ‘taken up identity’ representing a specific caste. We need to proceed further with our research to be able to find more references so we can better identity the reason for such a behavior that cut across the Tamil population. As for now, we can conclude in the interim that there had been a trend of people renaming their caste identities often utilizing terms that are not necessarily native to Tamil culture.
The caste-based segmentation is a consequence of the framework as dictated by the sanskrit literature called manusmriti. This anthropological research does refer to the same and the authors, while referring to the term Kshatriya note:
“The second, or ruling and military caste of the four castes of Manu. In the Madras Census Report, 1891, it is recorded that “the term kshatriya is, of course, wholly inapplicable to the Dravidian races….”
This, very clearly, indicates the fact that the very term Kshatriya has nothing to do with the Dravidian races where Dravidian collectively represents the people of South India. Let the record show, that as of 1891, term kshatriya was deemed unconnected and unrelated to a large groups of people inhabiting South India. Fast forward to now, and we notice in Tamilnadu villages, the term kshatriya or kshatriyan being stuck to the vehicles of Tamils who identify first by their caste identity which they incorrectly believe to be representing Kshatriya segment as prescribed by manusmrithi. The fact remains that Tamils have nothing to do manusmrithi or anything even remotely related to sanskrit. You see, we Tamils had Tamil, which we relied heavily on, and then came into our lands the hindutva dust storm brining in all the sanskrit debris which went to stick to our Tamil culture and slowly created the perfect mix for a cultural metamorphosis. We Tamils, however, must take the full blame of letting the sanskrit dust do the damage. We Tamils failed to prevent the damage from happening and right now are the grip of a cultural extinction. Yes there is solace in the fact that we have realized we have a problem but it is too early to celebrate as we haven’t completely understood the mechanics of the problem, one of them being the case of evolving caste identities that took over our original identity – Tamil.
The Consequence of Collective Nomenclature
The authors while discussing certain groups of people, especially Tamils, do cover caste identities which, over time have embraced the concept of collective nomenclature. While describing the ‘Tevan’ group, the authors note:
“Tevan (god) occurs as a title of Maravans”
That is all there is for the title ‘Tevan’. Nothing less, nothing more. This term Tevan was merely a title for a group which had Maravan as its caste identity. This means we now must actually look into the Maravan identity to proceed further. While I was looking through the other volumes to see of the same title was someway connected with any other caste identities, I came across the mention of ‘Terkattiyar (southerner)’.
While referring to Terkattiyar, the authors note:
“A term applied to Kallan, Maravan, Agamudaiyan, and other immigrants into the Tanjore district. At Mayavaram, for example, it is applied to Kallans, Agamudaiyans, and Valaiyans.”
Reference Location | Title Used | Caste Identities Included under the Title |
Tanjore District | Terkattiyar | Kallan, Maravan, Agamudaiyan |
Mayavaram | Terkattiyar | Kallan, Agamudaiyan, Valaiyan |
One more case of a title being used to represent multiple caste identities and going one step further here, the same title refers to different sets of included caste identities in different regions. It is almost as of there was always a practice of the Vandheri concept across the regions. How can a nomenclature be rational and real if the same varies across the regions? This by itself is a strong evidence that people had no clue what each title meant and included, and everyone just went with the flow of popular opinion. In one region most people believed Terkattiyar included Kallan, Maravan and Agamudaiyan and in another, people believed Terkattiyar referred to Kallan, Agamudaiyan and Valaiyan. Now connecting link between the title Tevan and Terkattiyar is the inclusion of the caste identity Maravan. We really need to explore the Maravan caste identity to better understand the story behind such complex and variable caste nomenclature where both collective nomenclature and replacing actual caste identities with special titles are being practiced. However, before proceeding further, there is something simple and obvious yet doesn’t jump out easily that I wish to bring to your attention.
The Rrrrrr, Maaaru, Yaaaru Enhancement
Having gone through the anthropological history of castes, I notice that most of the caste names as documented 111 years back tend to have a slightly different pronunciation. Back then, the names in use included identities such as Pillai, Muthali, Tevan, Kallan, Maravan, Agamudaiyan, Kavandan/Goundan. While there existed other names, which have since been changed completely (Palli to Vanniyar), the names Pillai, Muthali, Tevan, Kallan, Maravan, Agamudaiyan, Kavandan/Goundan are about the same but have since been revised in a specific fashion.
Actual Name | Current Version in Use (as pronounced in Tamil) |
Pillai | PillaiMAAAARU |
Muthali | MuthaliYAAAARU |
Tevan | TevaRRRR |
Kavandan/Goundan | GoundaRRRR |
Kallan | KallaRRRR |
Maravan | MaravaRRRR |
Agamudaiyan | AgamudaiyaRRRR |
It seems they did not worry about being segmented under an unrelated identity, but they were very much feeling bad about their names ending with a ‘Low-sounding’ syllable! Such was the level of their state of awareness and quite frankly, continues to be the same for the most part as they have only migrated to using their caste identities ending with a ‘Powerful-sounding’ syllable. Someone came to our land and threatened to stab us to death and all we did was demand we be killed with a gold-plated knife!
Looking closely at the way the caste identities have revised themselves going to the granular level of phonetic syllables, it is very clear that these caste identities have taken control of the people’s brains and they started believing in them as if they were real and then it dawned on them that their caste identities are not sounding cool enough to project confidence and superiority. They gently added or revised the end syllables of their respective caste identities using the Tamil syllables which when used in proper context add an element of respect to the adjective/title (largely from a prose context but speech as well). The lack of awareness among these groups were so beyond the recoverable realm that they felt if they start renaming themselves with a new version of their caste identities, over time, they will gain an uplifted social status. Well, we Tamils know what really happened and it is nowhere in that direction, let alone enabling them to gain any ounce of social respect. Critique aside, the very pattern of caste nomenclature allowing revisions (partial and full) indicates its trivial nature. Tamil was Tamil, is Tamil and forever will remain Tamil. Despite the lack of any triviality about the absoluteness, the Tamil identity got systematically sidelined from the mainstream. Tamil clearly could not be killed and so the logical next step was to remove it from popular usage and bring in a separate set of made-up identities which in this case are the caste identities. While we went tangential to look at a peculiarity of the caste nomenclature, we now must return to our original investigation of how Tevan was merely a title used by Maravans.
Suppression for Subservience: The Impact of Accepting Non-Tamil Kings’ Leadership
While introducing the Maravan group, the authors note:
“In former days they were a fierce and turbulent race, famous for their military prowess. At one time they temporarily held possession of the Pandya kingdom, and, at a later date, their armies gave valuable assistance to Tirumala Nayakkan.”
Temporarily holding possession of Pandya Kingdom indicates the following two things:
- Some Maravans were employed as military support measures to provide an interim political hold until the owner or head regime returns from its military engagements elsewhere.
- Maravans were reporting to some king and were not necessarily kings in their own right.
The phrase ‘their armies gave valuable assistance to Tirumala Nayakkan’ indicates Maravans had served kings with Telugu origins. They had supported kings with interim military/political support before signing up to support Telugu dynasties. We need to look further before extrapolating anything further.
While discussing Maravans’ involvement of holding the Pandya kingdom, the authors note:
“According to the one, which has its source in South India, rise of the family took place in or about 1059 A.D., when Raja Raja, the Chola king, upon his invasion of Ceylon appointed princes whom he knew to be loyal to himself, and who, according to some, had aided him in his conquest of all Pandya, to act as guardians of the passage by which his armies must cross to and fro, and supplies be received from the mainland.”
Based on the earlier reference, this piece of history is clearly referring to the Maravans’ activity before joining Tirumala Nayakkan kingdom. Also, further reading in this regard told me the family being discussed had ‘Sethupathi’ as the family title. Again, amidst the caste names and common titles grouping them, families, especially the rich and powerful had their own titles. Apparently, one source of history as per the authors indicates that the king Raja Raja Chola appointed one family falling under the Maravan classification to be in charge of the Pandya territory they recently captured so that the same may be used as transit route for troop movement for further military engagement in Ceylon. Clearly the family had the trust of a Chola king and had political leadership responsibilities, however short term it might have been. This does indicate a history of economic and political surplus in the hands of ‘One’ Maravan family. It does not in anyway indicate the whole group being soldiers and kings.
While referring to subsequent recent-past events (the reference timeline is when the authors were conducting their research), the authors note:
“In some papers read in G.O., No.535, Judicial, dated 29th march 1899, it was shown that, though, according to the 1891 census, the Maravans formed only 10 per cent. of the population of the district of Tinnelvelly, yet they had committed 70 per cent. of the dacoities which have occurred in that district in the previous five years. They have recently (1899) figured prominently in the anti-Shanar riots in the same district.”
This reference completely shatters the power-flourish picture the earlier ones built in a rather astounding fashion. One group which was famous for supporting Chola kings by way of serving as interim head of state for a specific territory subsequently, many years later, gets documented for specializing in dacoity. The intensity of this reference is the authors comparison of the population percentage and the percentage of crimes attributed to the group. They were 10% of the population but were considered responsible for 70% of the dacoities in that district. Maravans were also part of the 1899 anti-Shanar riots in the same district.
The slide from positive to negative is so steep here and it really calls for a closer look at the time in between their engagement with the Chola kings and them leading in dacoities in Tinnelvelly (Tirunelveli) district. All we have now is the fact that, post their involvement with Raja Raja Chola, the Maravans supported king Tirumala Nayakkan. Well, long story short, as long as they were working with Tamil kings, they seem to have been in a good shape but after offering subservience to Telugu kings, they have disintegrated into an economically and socially stressed format of lifestyle which had converted some of them to engage in organized crime activities.
While discussing further about the current state of Maravans (at the time of the research), the authors note:
“It is noted, in the Madras Police Report, 1903, that “a large section of the population in Tinnevelly—the Maravans—are criminal by predilection and training.”
Now this is very unfortunate and to some extent unfair as well. The presence of repeat offenders from the Maravan group had forced the law enforcement authorities to stereotype the entire group as people who liked engaging in crime and were also training themselves for the same. Just because one section of the group was so persistent in crime, the entire group got stereotyped as criminals. Now there are different pieces to this perspective. Firstly, not everyone in any group would have realistically lived a king’s or even a soldier’s life. Only some of them do. Secondly, the rest of the group would have been spread across other available sources of employment which or typically non-martial. Nobody, in their senses, will ever raise their child to be a dacoit or a rioter. However, if the entire group had been stereotyped as criminals, then it means those who lived the rich soldier/king’s life did not take much care of their fellow poor and when they lost their martial jobs (dynasties go, kingdoms change), they resorted to violent means of sustenance. It could be a consequence of their martial ego not letting them step into the farmland or it might have been the society’s segmentation preventing them picking up alternate sources of employment. It might very well have been a case of both delivering their respective shares. The result however is that, as of 1903, Maravans were branded as criminals who specialized in dacoity. There is no way an entire group of people could have been in dacoity.
Tamils, had a positive history, however embellished that might have been, if they were working with Tamil kings. They offered their subservience to one Telugu king and the next piece of history documenting their name literally classifies them as violent criminals! One must have a deeper look into the turmoil of a community before coming to a fact-based conclusion. This means we need to better understand how the drastic resocialization of the Maravans from martial to criminal identity was and how it impacted their lives. The authors have done an elaborate piece of research and as I read through the pages, I could see this group slowly disintegrating into insignificance owing to a small subset of the group literally dominating the rest while actively engaging in organized crime.
The Martial to Mafia Transformation
While describing the details of the organized crime the Maravans were involved in, the authors note the following:
“People living in country places, remote from towns, are entirely at the mercy of the Maravars, and every householder or occupier of a mud hut, which is dignified by being called a house, must pay the Maravars half a fanam, which is equal to one anna eight pies, yearly. Those who own cattle, and there are a few who do not, must pay one fanam a year.”
“The plan of keeping kaval, or going the rounds like a policeman on duty, is, for a village of, say, a hundred Maravars, to divide into ten sections. Each section takes a particular duty, and they are paid by the people living within their range.”
“Various attempts for many years have been made to put a stop to this system of kudi-kaval.”
The above references pretty much match any ‘safety through protection money’ scheme that mafia gangs get depicted in movies of our times. Those who pay stay safe and those who don’t get looted. Such a practice is extortion and Maravans have been classified as having engaged in such a trade. There is, but little solace in the fact that the authors use the RRRRR syllable while referring to the group. Given the nature of the description, all the positivity and superiority the RRRRR syllable delivers gets nullified by the kudi-kaval extortion scheme being documented as a key source of income for this group. I still believe and stand by my view that it must have been a small yet influential subset of the entire group which ran this extortion scheme owing to which the entire group got stereotyped as criminals.
The householder and cattle owner had different fees to pay and this kudi-kaval extortion scheme had rather structured business model engaging customers with variable yet relevant price points. Years of martial experience in tax collection might have flown into the crime racket as well. The phrase ‘Various attempts for many years have been made to put a stop’ indicates the administrators trying their best to get this group move out of the organized crime lifestyle but apparently, they failed. This, I believe is the consequence of them concluding that repeat offenders resorting to the same crime post incarceration are doing so owing to them accepting organized crime as their rightful profession. Again, the entire group had to pay for the criminal deeds of one small subset. All this did not happen when this group was reporting to Tamil kings.
As it turns out, the authors did document the Maravan group from a population perspective. While discussing this aspect the authors note:
“Out of 150,000 Maravars in the whole district, 10,000 are professional thieves, and of these, 4000 have been convicted, and are living at the present time.”
Now my belief has been substantiated. Not all Maravans were dacoits after all. 10,000 out of 150,000 is 6.5-7%. 4000 out of 10,000 however is a whopping 40%. The math is obvious. However, what they indicate is more serious from my perspective. While only 6.5% of the group is expected to be criminals, almost half of them have been convicted for such organized crime! Being suspected and accused of crime may not necessarily be a valid reference as such accusations could also arise out of any other reason beyond the accused getting involved in crime. However, when 40% of those who are accused are convicted, it means their participation in such organized crime have been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Not the best state of being for a group especially when they were not blamed for such acts while they remained associated with Tamil kings. At least the historical data available does not point in such a direction. Going tangential but relevant in my view, before we proceed further, I wish to bring to your notice that such elements of history that depicts the true state of Tamils from the past, both good and bad, never ever made it to the history books we grew up studying. For some reason, even in Tamilnadu, I remember memorizing more about Maratha and Rajput kings than my own. That is for another discussion and I wish to get back to our investigation at hand, the case of caste nomenclature inherently accepting variability in convention without prescribing a standard. Well, if something is manmade and unreal, it cannot have any substantiable reason or logic other than ‘that’s the way it was’ and ‘this is how shastras prescribed’ etc. The Maravan group, disintegrated into crime, and those who took that lifestyle brought their entire group to be classified as a criminal tribe.
The authors while discussing the other cultural aspects of the Maravan group, document the following:
“Both burials and cremation are practiced by the Maravans. The Sembunattu Maravans of Ramnad regard the Agamudaiyans as their servants, and the water with which the corpse is washed, is brought by them.”
“The grave is dug by an Andi, never by a Pallan or Paraiyan.”
Now the definition of their cultural practices tends to come along with the indication of Intra-Tevan hatred based on the perception of an Intra-Tevan hierarchy of who reports to whom. The phrase ‘Sembunattu Maravans of Ramnad regard the Agamudaiyans as their servants’ clearly indicates how open and accepted was the intra-Tevan segmentation and hatred. Now from a cultural standpoint the fact that both burials and cremation were practiced by the same group. This is strong evidence to indicate that Tamils had diverse traditions and even in the final rites section, they had nothing to do with what is now being a ‘hindu tradition’. If burial was exclusively Muslim or Christian, how come Maravans buried their loved ones? Clearly, lifestyle and culture were vastly different entities for Maravans, and they did not rely on religion for everything.
The second reference of the grave having been dug by an Andi and not by a Pallan or Paraiyan (both are Dalit communities) indicates that the participation in the final rites work and/or having that as a profession was not necessarily considered dirty or insulting. However, what catches my attention is the use of the term Andi, indicating one more additional identity related to the already clustered identities.
I believe, over time, the caste nomenclature practice spread like pirated windows software where every member had his/her own perceptions about their caste identities and started using their favorite names. Over time, the ones that got spoken a lot stuck around in the society as individual yet sub-identities under larger name tags. Then came the concept of ‘specific titles’ being used in place of such diverse caste identities.
Over an over again, we are noticing in our travel here, that many names existed among the same group of people and they also picked up common titles to centralize their identity. They attempted unity in a state of fragmentation, clearly, a case of them being vulnerable (being uneducated) to such religion driven tactics which mandated a segmented society with multiple identities over and above the original – Tamil.
The authors themselves are cognizant of this fact and while describing the different special titles used and how the titles were later being used as core caste identity, they note:
“The general title of the Maravans is Tevan (god), but some style themselves Thalaivan (chief), Sevaikkaran (captain), Karaiyalan (ruler of the coast), or Rayar-vamsam (Raja’s clan).”
It can’t get any more obvious. After so many subset names, facts indicate that it was not just one title but many being used by the Maravan group. Unlike Kavandan, where one special title referring to the one leader of the village went on to become a unique caste identity, the Maravans had a whole catalogue of titles that were liberally used. Again, all this indicates to the simple truth that these identities are nothing, but manmade segmentation largely driven by the need to establish superiority or distinction over other groups be it within or outside the reference group. Lack of education kept the crowd busy with the trivial things while those who wanted to use the crowd for their benefit went ahead without a resistance, crafting their anti-Tamil traditions in the name of gods, traditions and enforcing the same on the Tamils in the name of ‘caste right’ which later went on to become ‘caste pride’ which in turn went on to cause all the caste based hatred Tamils still are suffering from. Under all these lies the simple fact that caste identities are manmade and are there to prevent the existence and emergence of the real identity that matters – Tamil.
The Intra-Caste Segmentation and Differences Impacting Caste identities
We did notice a case of Maravans having considered Agamudaiyans as their servants. While they have been using the same Tevan title, there seems to be a history of distinction and disregard between the two groups. This is what happens when people are put under multiple identities. However, for the sake of our discussion here, we need to look into what was discovered about the Agamudaiyan group.
While describing the Agamudaiyan group, the authors note:
“The Agamudaiyans, Mr. W. Francis writes, are “ a cultivating caste found in all the Tamil districts. In Chingelput, North Arcot, Salem, Coimbatore and Trichinopoly, they are much less numerous than they were thirty years ago. The reason probably is that they have risen in the social scale, and have returned themselves as Vellalas. Within the same period, their strength has nearly doubled in Tanjore, perhaps owing to the assumption of the name by other castes like the Maravans and Kallans.”
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| Image Source: Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Kadambi Rangachari, Edgar Thurston |
The phrase ‘a cultivating caste’ clearly indicates the active participation in the farming industry back then. The picture above corroborates the fact that the commoners were peasant class reporting to the rich landlords. Again, not all of any group lived a pure martial life. The next statement using the phrase ‘they are much less numerous than they were thirty years ago’ indicates that many of them have now taken a new caste identity. This is one more example that corroborates the idea of caste identities changing over time, be it through an official reclassification or through a more elementary means where the people themselves chose their favorite caste identity and announced themselves as whoever they perceived to be. All along, the trend of Tamils picking one name over the other did not change and in the process, they had disregarded their real identity – Tamil. This was, in the case of Agamudaiyans, a two-way trend. Some Agamudaiyans called themselves something else and some Maravans and Kallans identified themselves as Agamudaiyans.
While discussing the cultural aspects in a comparative format, the authors note:
“Of the three castes, Kallan, Maravan and Agamudaiyan, the last are said to have “alone been greatly influenced by contact with Brahmanism. They engage brahman priests and perform their birth, marriage, and death ceremonies like the Vellalas.”
Agamudaiyans have been documented as ‘greatly influenced by contact with Brahmanism’. It doesn’t matter what aspect of Tamil history you investigate, every time you try to assess the causation behind an anomaly, you almost always bump into non-Tamil concepts. While caste as such is entirely foreign for Tamils, the key causation for the problem we are discussing seems to have a connect with ‘brahmanism’. Agamudaiyans called themselves with different names at different times across regions. They also share a difference with Maravans which is a TBD at this point. However, they did not continue with their original heritage when it comes to hiring priests. The brahmin priest identity is, an output of the caste nomenclature which graded Agamudaiyans and Maravans as they called themselves. Agamudaiyans seem to have revered the brahmin identity as a valid one for mediating their exchanges with their gods without realizing the fact that all those stories are made up and that they do not need a middle man to connect with their god of choice (when there is variety, there is choice).
Even while discussing Agamudaiyans, the authors cover the concept of Agamudaiyans using titles and other caste identities to define themselves. They note:
“In Tanjore district the Agamudaiyans are called Terkittiyar, or southerners, a name which is also applied to Kallans, Maravans and Valaiyans. The ordinary title of the Agamudaiyans is Servaikaran, but many of them call themselves, like the Vellalas, Pillai.”
While we already know of the Terkattiyar title being used by Agamudaiyans, the authors identified two more titles namely ‘Servaikaran’ and ‘Pillai’ that the Agamudaiyans have sued to identify themselves. We already had covered the title Pillai that was used by those who left the Devadasi group. Now it is clear that Pillai was used by others as well. If Agamudaiyans must call themselves Servaikaran, why did they choose or accept Terkattiyar? Again, how come they started using Tevan as a common reference.
This is all confusing at this point. The reason is that it is hard to deduce which section of Agamudaiyan chose what title to replace their existing caste identity. However, this ambiguity is by far the strongest evidence that explains how caste identities are manmade and variable over time and in now way do they reflect any difference in genetic composition or social status. All that was and is a consequence of their imagination!
The authors, upon further research, identify more such sub-identities for Agamudaiyans. They note:
“One sub-division of the Agamudaiyans is called Sani (cow-dung). Unlike the Maravans and Kallans, the Agamudaiyans have no exogenous septs or kilais.”
The above reference indicates how people have validated and countered each other’s cast identities. Sani, in Tamil, means cow-dung. Cow dung has insect repellent and manure properties, but the name is nowhere near any acceptable title by anyone in their senses. However, one subgroup of Agamudaiyans had to carry the title ‘Sani’. We need to stop here and take a few minutes to think. Would we, while holding our sanity intact, accept the title of cow-dung as our caste identity? Definitely not! Then, how is it fair to expect the Agamudaiyan subgroup to openly call themselves Sani?
This indicates that each group had got its specific titles both from inside and outside. Also, all the subgroups were not necessarily proud of what they were being called as. Now it makes better sense as to why each section of one group would call themselves one thing and then later pick titles over time. What is appalling is the fact that even when Tamils had to face embarrassing caste nomenclature, the did not have the awareness to realize that the only identity that matters is Tamil and that everything else they were forced to work with were thrust on them to establish a segmented society!
The authors do mention the absence of exogenous kilais as that of the Maravans and Kallans. Now ‘Kilai’ in Tamil means ‘branch of a tree’. This indicates that a whole network of caste identities, offering a mix of caste identities and titles, was thrust on this society and people were left scrambling over the centuries to pick a suitable name for themselves which can get them a superior social status and also bring pride to them. It never occurred to them they we Tamils all the while they were shuttling between caste identities.
While discussing the other cultural practices prevalent in this group, the author notes:
“I am told that, under ordinary circumstances, the offspring of a marriage between a Maravan and Agamudaiyan becomes an Agamudaiyan, but that, if the husband is a man of position, the male issues are regarded as Maravans. Adult marriage appears to be the rule among the Agamudaiyans, but sometimes, as among the Maravans, Kallans and other castes, young boys are, in the southern districts, sometimes married to grown-up girls.”
When I see the above reference, I am forced to ask the question:
If Maravan and Agamudaiyan are the same Tevan by identity, how come marriage between a Maravan and Agamudaiyan result in an Agamudaiyan offspring?
I am also forced to follow that up with the questions:
How come economic/social status be a reference to make an exception in the above logic and the offspring be branded Maravan, if the Maravan husband holds a high position? Why is the gender disparity tolerated in such a case?
The other odd side of their cultural practice as identified by the authors indicates that, Agamudaiyans had a practice of marrying younger boys to grown-up girls and the odd-practice is being equated to what the Maravans and Kallans were known be accustomed with already. While, child marriage of a quite different format was in practice, for the first time, within the Agamudaiyan discussion, the mention of direct similarity with Kallan group features, touching base on child marriage. Having gone through the Agamudaiyan references, I believe, what is left out (the bare minimum for this discussion) is the look into the Kallan group and how the anthropological research identified and documented them.
The Name That Cannot Be
While describing the Kallan group, the authors note, quoting Mr. T. Turnbull:
“…The word Cullar is used to express a thief of any caste, sect or country, but it will be necessary to trace their progress to that characteristic distinction by which the race is designated both a thief, and an inhabitant of a certain Naud, which was not altogether exempted from paying tribute to the sovereign of Madura….”
Even the western researchers were not entirely convinced with the caste identity literally using the word ‘Kallar’. They could’ve gone with the ‘Well, that’s the way it is’ mentality but their fair thought prevented them from ignoring this quirk of caste nomenclature.
There is no way anyone with normal psychological behavior agree with a naming convention that allows the use of the term ‘thief’ to identify a group of people. If one group had been branded a thief then it means that group has been a victim of stereotyping where the entire group had to pay for what a small subset of the group were responsible for. Tamils not battling against such inhuman caste system does indicate how badly we were under the clutches of religious propaganda. We were so lost in the concept of the non-existent god that we let all rationality go in exchange for saving our spirituality sentiments.
While referring to the criminal background of the Kallan group, the authors note:
“…They still possess one common character, and in general are such thieves that the name is very justly applied to them, for they seldom allow any merchandize to pass through their hands without extorting something from the owners, if they do not rob them altogether…”
I think, a prolonged exposure to multiple criminal case data sets, is driving such an opinion. Looking back at one of the earlier references, 70% of the crime in a location had Maravans getting convicted. Similarly, the criminals of this group had established such a history that the history sheeters were used to describe the entire group. A skewed logic and unfair in every sense, this however could not be ignored as most of what the researchers found about this group was crime records and their persistent participation in the same.
The dacoity was so prominent and unavoidable that, the researchers note that the Kallan dacoits hardly ever let any merchandize pass through without extorting something from the owners. The commonality of such crime and the persistence of one subset of the group in the organized crime are what prompted the researchers to document them in such a fashion. However, this is, on now way, an excuse to bypass the criminal past the group has had. Criminals are criminals irrespective of their caste identity. However, branding an entire community as thieves for the acts of a small subset of the group is just beyond unfair. Moving away from the fairness element of the discussion, this is yet another examples that substantiates that the very concept of caste nomenclature was manmade and was variable over time and therefore was entirely driven by the wish of those who could drive public opinions in such matters. We need to remember that the ‘Tamil’ identity is not something we all collectively created. Our Tamil identity is what we have in the most and only natural sense. Every other name we carry is unnatural and nonsense.
While discussing the details of the organized crime as identified through research, the authors note:
“…In case a Brahman happens to be killed in their attempt to plunder, when the fact is made known to the chief, severe corporal punishment is inflicted on the criminals and fines levied, besides exclusion from society for a period of six months….”
Amongst all the distraction with multiple caste identities and titles along with economic suppression, there existed this rather strange practice of prioritizing brahmans over the other caste groups, even within the crime network. Anyone can get killed during the dacoity but if the victim is a brahman, then those involved in that particular crime must go through corporal punishment and even remain excluded from the society for a period of six months. Now, when we look at this from a murder perspective, it seems absolutely ridiculous to even consider such punishment. However, when we look at it from a caste standpoint, we can see a whole new world of unfair practice. The Kallans (the select few who were criminals) can kill any of their victims but if the victim is a brahman, they are not spared from punishment. How uneducated were they and how much economic dependency did they have on the brahmans that they feared killing them? Maybe it was a case of their deep faith in what the brahmans spread as the word of god that the Kallan dacoits thought it wouldn’t be acceptable to the spiritual beliefs they subscribed to. It could very well have been the logical case of the brahmans being very strongly associated with the British rulers (holding positions, directly reporting to the British regime) that anything happening against the brahmans got the best justice possible. The other people were neither brahman nor did they have the support or protection of the powerful authorities and consequently became easy targets for the dacoit groups. We, however, do not have enough evidence to support this idea at this point. One reason or the other, the available evidence above, clearly indicates that the Kallan dacoits had the practice of corporal punishment and social exclusion if their attempt to plunder ended up killing a brahman!
The authors did discover some dark sides of this group and they cover that in a detailed format. While discussing those aspects of the Kallan group, the authors note:
“A horrible custom exists among the females of the Colleries when a quarrel or dissension arises between them. The insulted woman brings her child to the house of the aggressor, and kills it at her door to avenge herself. Although her vengeance is attended with the most cruel barbarity, she immediately thereafter proceeds to a neighbouring village with all her goods, etc. In this attempt she is opposed by her neighbours, which gives rise to clamour and outrage. The complaint is then carried to the head Ambalacaur, who lays it before the elders of the village, and solicits their interference to terminate the quarrel. In the course of this investigation, if the husband finds that sufficient evidence has been brought against his wife, that she had given cause for provocation and aggression, then he proceeds unobserved by the assembly to his house, and brings one of his children, and, in the presence of witness, kills his child at the door of the woman who had first killed her child at his. By this mode of proceeding he considers that he has saved himself much trouble and expense, which would otherwise have much trouble and expense, which should otherwise have devolved on him. This circumstance is soon brought to the notice of the tribunal, who proclaim that the offence committed is sufficiently avenged. But, should this voluntary retribution of revenge not be executed by the convicted person, the tribunal is prorogued to a limited time, fifteen days generally. Before the expiration of that period, one of the children of that convicted person must be killed. At the same time he is to bear all expenses for providing food, etc., for the assembly during those days.”
This above reference clearly tells the kind of social practice the Kallan group had back then. Heavily dominated by illiteracy, deeply drowned in superstitious beliefs and living at the mercy of the few who fancied dacoity for a profession, the Kallan group seems to have had everything going against them in all respects. In this above reference the phrase ‘brings one of his children, and, in the presence of witness, kills his child at the door of the woman who had first killed her child at his’ puts everything in perspective. If one feels infringed upon, he/she can bring the issue to the attention of the senior members by killing their child at the doorstep of the perpetrator. When the spouse of the accused realizes that his/her partner is responsible for the damage to the bereaved party, he/she promptly kills one of their own child in response and the seniors members of the group announce the settlement (the end to the issue at hand) based on the sacrifices from both sides. I believe the authors came across a specific set of such sacrifice cases which prompted them to documents the pattern observed as a custom. May be the practice was not quite common. However, irrespective of the frequency of occurrence, it is a rather disturbing thing to even imagine. If two parties have a dispute, killing their children to settle the score is just inhuman. The group collectively tolerating such acts is even more horrifying in my view.
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| Image Source: Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Kadambi Rangachari, Edgar Thurston |
However, the fact remains that the times of these occurrences are when this group had no access to education. Look at the picture above. Do the children look like they come from a community which had access to education, employment and other essentials for a equitable lifestyle? Some of them believed dacoity was a respectable profession. When the entire community is drowned in illiteracy and superstition, this is what happens, and such acts tend to be part of their normal life. To know that my fellow humans had to live in such social circumstances is incredibly excruciating. Knowing that, even under such disturbing circumstances, my fellow humans had given their subservience to brahmans, disturbs me even more. All they received in exchange was suppression in every sense. They however did not have the capacity to realize that as they were busy lost in their own world.
The authors do make efforts to connect the rough, social practices and large presence in crime with their origins. While discussing the origins of the Kallan group, the authors note:
“There are good grounds for believing that the Kallans are a branch of the Kurumbas, who, when they found their regular occupation as soldiers gone, ‘took to maraudering, and made themselves so obnoxious by their thefts and robberies, that the term kallan, thief, was applied, and stuck to them as a tribal appellation.”
The above reference indicates a possible origin from Kurumbas who are said to be spread across regions covering Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Clearly, the territory had been under multiple kings and their territories had covered provinces which are now part of the three states. There were times when Tamil kings had territories covering provinces across the same regions. Over time, dynasties took out each other and every group directly reporting to each king had to lose their livelihood every time that happened. In some cases, such as those of Maravans, they offered allegiance to king Tirumala Nayakkan.
What catches my attention is the phrase ‘they found their regular occupation as soldiers gone’ as that is what tells me what drove this group, specifically the small subset of the group to organized crime. Over time those who found easy wealth and pleasure in such crime, kept it a habit and the society was forced to stereotype the entire group. In came an administration which attempted to recover the small subset out of their criminal lives and all its efforts failed, owing to which, the distraught administration mercilessly classified the entire group as ‘criminal tribes’.
The authors, when discussing the criminal activities prevalent among the small subset of the group, note:
“The Kallans had until recently a regular system of blackmail, called kudikaval, under which each village paid certain fees to be exempt from theft. The consequences of being in arrears with their payments quickly followed in the shape of cattle thefts and ‘accidental’ fires in houses."
"The western Kallans are under a more monarchial rule, an hereditary headman called Tirumala Pinnai Tevan deciding most caste matters. He is said to get his hereditary name from the fact that his ancestor was appointed (with three co-adjutors) by King Tirumala Nayakkan, and given many insignia of office including a state palanquin.”
Again, the organized crime network had spanned across the groups and the system remained the same. Pay up the protection fees to be exempt from theft. However, while one subset was busy extorting protection money from the commoners, the other subset continued to offer subservience to king Tirumala Nayakkan’s administration and enjoyed quite a bit of privilege compared to their peers within the group.
The phrase 'headman called Tirumala Pinnai Tevan’ indicates how ‘Tevan’ was more of a special title which later went on to become a specific identity. This position had the luxury of getting transported on a state palanquin. The moment a slave got to travel on a palanquin carried by fellow humans, he forgot he is discriminating his own for the sake of benefit from his master who never considered him the same. As long as the historical references indicate participation with Tamil kings, these groups have had nothing negative described. However, everything negative including the subset remaining addicted to organized crime have been documented post the group’s allegiance to Telugu kings. Let that obvious fact sink in. We Tamils need the bitter pill of understanding our own bitter history before we come to terms with the reality of how non-Tamil stakeholders were directly and indirectly responsible for us remaining suppressed for centuries!
Irrespective of whom they reported, after their primary master lost to, these subservient groups had to see other means of sustenance as they were after all slave prisoner of wars to the new regime and not all of them treated these groups the same way their enemy kings had treated. The connecting link, looking back at the references we discussed so far, is that the new regimes under whom the economic suppression had caught up with these groups are all non-Tamil.
Every bit of instance when Tamils offered subservience to Non-Tamil regimes, all they got was economic and social suppression which forced them out of the available employment opportunities. The blame, however, cannot be completely thrown on the Non-Tamil stakeholders. Like the subset which practiced organized crime with these groups, one subset enjoyed royal privileges dominating their own fellow Tamils. Again, another historical case of the Tamil proletariat being segmented into subsets using the most elementary of economic division – cash payment.
The authors do cover the diversity in the titles, contradicting each other in the name of subgroups. While discussing how the caste nomenclature within the Kallan group varied, the authors note:
“There is a Tamil proverb that a Kallan may come to be a Maravan. By respectability, he may develop into an Agamudaiyan, and, by slow and small degrees, become a Vellala, from which he may rise to be Mudaliar.”
“The usual title of the Kallans is Ambalakaran (president of an assembly), but some, like the Maravans and Agamudaiyans, style themselves Tevan (god) or Servaikkaran (commander).”
I am surprised at the flow of caste identities accommodating so many titles, some of which, over time, took over the primary identities. What catches my attention is the mention of ‘Mudaliar’ where the progressive growth opportunity seems to begin from Kallan, proceeding to Maravan and then on to Agamudaiyan and then to Vellala before converging in Mudaliar.
Is this not enough to realize how manmade and irrelevant the caste identities are??!!
Now, it needs to be noted that the title Mudali (without the aaaaRRRRRR) had been taken by those who left the Devadasi group and started calling themselves Nanchinaatu Vellala.
Apart from this progressive name change opportunity, the evil caste nomenclature had the Kallans call their leader as ‘Ambalakaran’. The phrase ‘style themselves Tevan’ clearly concludes how Tevan was merely a vanity title these groups proudly took over as their primary identity as clearly, the other identities have a lot of dark, economically suppressed criminal history associated with it.
What are the Next Steps?
Having gone through the references above, I am absolutely clear that cast identities are manmade and lack any real substance. All the caste identities did was overlay a segmentation on us, suppressing our real identity – Tamil. It can be concluded beyond reasonable doubt that the caste based religious infrastructure, by design, couldn’t handle original identities as those identities had substance, meant something real and most importantly included a large portion of the population. If you say Tamil, the count is significantly large and that is not the case when you mention a caste identity.
All the centuries of prolonged exposure to manmade ideologies describing spirituality and related customs and practices, made Tamils subscribe to such overlay identities and in the process had them evolve a social fragmentation which eventually went to become what we currently observe as the caste based hatred. Now, ideologies can say and do anything, and they have always done that to mankind. We letting it do the damage, while being an apt accusation we Tamils must accept, was beyond our scope as most of our ancestors had no access to fair sources of equitable education and employment. However, those conditions have changed to a large extent. Today, a good portion of us are educated and employed and still we remain stuck to the evil caste identities, willfully disregarding our only real identity – Tamil.
The fact that the Tamil proletariat remains segmented across multiple intersecting planes, with the caste plane being the most prominent is a persisting evidence that we are no way near the progress we need to go after for a sustainable society. Even when we get the access to real pieces of history, we fall for the tricks of the non-Tamil bourgeoisie, and disregard it as insignificant. It was a case of us missing the facts and right now, when we have the facts, we lack the perspective to get our heading corrected. Yes, it is true that Non-Tamil stakeholders are responsible for the long-term socio-economic suppression we have been reeling under. However, it is alarmingly naïve to notice that translating into hatred for regular people who just happen to have Non-Tamil languages as their mother tongue or origin. Some of them were born and raised here along with us and they don’t even know their ancestors spoke a different language. The idea of identifying the real culprits is getting smudged and we Tamils are lacking the clarity we desperately need. Remember, Tamils had a life when they were associated with Tamil kings and the moment, they offered subservience to Non-Tamil kings, their lives changed completely. While a select few got to go on palanquins, the rest had to struggle for sustenance and some of them had to resort to full time dacoity. Instead of asking why we were being branded, all we did was pick up those identities and got busy discriminating each other, while the real Non-Tamil villain had the entire game under control which later reformed itself to accommodate the Non-Tamils over the Tamils in every sense of the phrase. Those who continue to stick to the social order as constructed/maintained by the Non-Tamil adversaries are the actual Non-Tamil Bourgeoisie who deserve our attention. This group does include Tamils who are economic slaves to the Non-Tamil Bourgeoisie.
The Anti-Tamil infrastructure is everywhere in so many forms we cannot put a definitive list to it as it keeps changing its identities much like how our caste identities have been changing over the centuries. We Tamils need to stop, look back and think for a moment. Someone came from lands far away, settled in our land in the coexistence. Gradually the visitors enforced their version of the society on us and we accepted them without a question! Non-Tamil entities had the nerves to come to Tamil land and brand Tamils as ‘criminal tribes’ as we Tamils watched! It is true we were betrayed by some of our own. However, the fact remains that most of whom enjoyed this new state of the society had non-Tamil origins. The only way, the visitors can take over the original inhabitants in an unfair fashion is by making the original inhabitants subscribe to a new format of society, built over caste and religious frameworks, supported by sufficient ‘cash payments’ so the new social format will include both the original inhabitants (Tamils) and the visitors (Non-Tamils) in a cleverly created hierarchy where the designers of the new format of society had themselves and their allies in higher echelons while the original inhabitants get strewn across the reminder of the framework while being under the visitors.
Gone are those days when the visitors had a distinct identity. Gone are those days when out Tamil identity was still alive. In today’s time, all we have is a heavily segmented society with so many caste identities with the entire lot including everyone where Tamils continue to remain the underdogs. This format of society while being open to anyone from anywhere is not so much open to us Tamils. The reason still stands that the unreal caste based social segmentation is what is keeping away from what is our rightful access to equitable democratic opportunities. What is more disturbing is that if we ever stand up against this new reconfigured social framework, we get instantly suppressed or sidelined using the very caste identities that keeps as divided. However, if one looks closely at this, it will be truly clear that there are many more non-caste identities using which we continue to divide ourselves and even within those newfound divisions we Tamils remain underdogs. In the name of equality, welfare of the working class, safety of the poor, prevention of atrocities and many such ideological references, we have several smaller frameworks which continue to keep Tamils at the receiving end of charity. The game is all about letting everyone have what they have with Tamils alone being the exception. Centuries of us losing our land, resources and equitable opportunities, we stand today in standalone silos where every silo primarily requires us Tamils to shut up, put our head down and follow those in leadership positions. Most of those who control what happens to the Tamil proletariat are Non-Tamil in origin. Now, this cannot and must be mistaken as a hatred against everything Non-Tamil. Let the record show that all Non-Tamils are not against Tamils but all those who have and are acting against the welfare of the Tamils are of Non-Tamil origin. The Non-Tamil bourgeoisie is now conducting many scripted performances of fighting for the rights of ‘the people’ (ideally encompassing everyone for the sake of sounding neutral) while their ulterior motives remain unchanged as they have, for all these years taken better care of their Non-Tamil participants and supporters than the Tamils who trusted them. The Dravidian political movement is one classic example of the same. We Tamils were cleverly cornered into believing the Dravidar tag and the Dravidian political movement did nothing but prolonged our existence as castes. We Tamils saw everyone as Dravidars while the Dravidian political movement saw us as individual castes. Yes, the Dravidian political movements did a fair bit of socio-political correction and the society did benefit from it. However, it came to screeching halt the moment those changes started negatively impacting the opportunities of the Non-Tamil bourgeoisie which ran the Dravidian political show. The Tamil identity thus was left to fade away into oblivion.
The ongoing evil hindutva political propaganda has everything it needs to play its games on us. We have subscribed to the unreal caste identities and they now have the game set in their favor. Given that the Dravidian politics had persisted keeping us Tamils as castes, all that the hindutva propaganda machine needs to do is pick up what Dravidian politics made out of us and flip it over and what we have is the ongoing religious and caste based hate politics. Politics is politics and political stakeholders come and go. However, the impact they leave on our society tends to remain longer and in the case of the evil hindutva political propaganda, irrespective of the results of the electoral processes, the residual impact on our society will remain forever and it will eat us from the inside. The last time the caste based religious propaganda came to our land, we Tamils were largely unaware and uneducated, and we fell for it. We have since been struggling to survive and the sight of equitable opportunities for Tamils within the democracy is nowhere to be seen. The history is repeating itself. The caste based religious propaganda is now on our land with a new game plan. If we commit the same mistake, we did last time, rest assured, we Tamils will end up missing forever in the very society we built. We will remain as mere bodies craving for wealth and opportunity carrying some title as our identity and at the far of this, we will officially declare the Tamil identity as something useless and discard it forever. We already do not get many chances to experience our real identity – Tamil. If that happens, we will become living dead bodies on our own land. The sad reality is, this time around, it won’t take centuries as it did last time to suppress us. The Non-Tamil Bourgeoisie and their Tamil Economic Slaves are right here amidst us to keep us away from getting together in the name that we did not choose or receive but what we naturally evolved – Tamil.
My dear fellow Tamils make no mistake, the evil hindutva propaganda machine is here amidst us with multiple masks and one of them is the Tamil mask. In the name of real Tamil history and real Tamil culture, these hindutva units are bombarding our brains with religious ideologies while heavily using multiple caste identities in the process. Do not, I repeat, do not fall for the cleverly packaged poison. There is no such thing as ‘positively framed caste names’ or ‘caste titles of pride for Tamils’!!! The caste identities themselves are not real and came much after we came. The fact that we have changed our caste identities over the years and the caste nomenclature allowed special identity changes clearly establishes the fact that Tamils were Tamils first and had centuries of trouble peacefully accepting the enforced caste identities. We failed because of our religious sentiments and the religious propaganda cleverly inserted the caste-based segmentation into our society. We have been struggling with it ever since. It is now here on our land for another campaign, this time with a more aggressive effort to prevent us from getting what we truly deserve – equitable co-existence with everyone in Tamilnadu and within the union of India.
It is hard to take all this and clearly say who is wrong and who is right. That is an undeniable fact. What is also an undeniable, yet undiscovered fact is that the focus needs to be on the ‘what’ rather than the ‘who’. We Tamils needs to acknowledge the problem and accept its existence. Without this happening, our efforts to secure what we truly deserve will remain in vain.
One of the many things that constitute to our problems is the evil caste system and associated identities. All we need to do is acknowledge the variability and ambiguity of the caste identities and within ourselves declare it as invalid such that the one and only identity we will ever recall, besides the ‘human’, will be something that is not what we were made into or classified under but what we really are – Tamil.
Tamils had nothing to do with caste, they have nothing to do with it now and they will not have anything to do with in in future as well. Tamils couldn’t stop the entry of these overlay identities. Tamils have been paying ever since for this failure. There must be a point in time when we complete the payment and emancipate ourselves from this fake system. The evil hindutva propaganda is here and is busy doing what it does best – divide and destroy. The Dravidian political movements are in a coma and they are busy blaming each other chasing electoral victory so they secure their business as usual. If we Tamils fail to realize the importance of standing up together as Tamils NOW, we will cease to exist in this already dwindling joke of a democracy! Remember, when it comes to everyone’s sentiments and rights, everything is done, tolerated and excused. However, when it comes to Tamils’ sentiments, rights and equitable co-existence, in comes the anti-Tamil framework in various names to slash and trash what we truly deserve as citizens reporting to the same constitution as those who tolerate our suffering. The anti-Tamil framework, like in the past, is persisting to use the same old poison to neutralize the Tamils – Caste! It is not anymore, a mere electoral politics gameshow where the best campaign wins.
It is in all respects the Tamils’ Struggle for Independence!!!
In our independence remains the welfare of not just us but the rest of our fellow humans who are suffering at the hands of the evil hindutva terrorism. In our loss lies the end of what used to be a democracy, however imperfect it was. This end game, make no mistake, will not be a state-level or linguistic-level struggle. This end game will set in motion the beginning of the end of the evil hindutva terrorism. We Tamils remain one of the few who can set the first use case of how a community wins over its original identity from the clutches of a evil, convoluted, religious snare that relies on the caste identity framework to persist and persecute.
The only way to win this struggle will be to take the ambush to the adversary and we need to huddle up as one integrated unit to be able to do that. We cannot get together if we keep holding on to the fake caste identities that override our original identity – Tamil.
Are we going to hold on our caste sentiments just because a popular political leader carried that caste title or are we going to discard the caste sentiments and get together as Tamils to fight for our independence?
I rest my case.
P.S. If you care to think about such topics, I believe you will find this Tamil podcast show interesting:
Best regards,
