The right to religion and the Shudra predicament

In conversation with Articles 15 and 16 

KANCHA ILAIAH SHEPHERD·AUGUST 15, 2023

Shudras are the single-largest caste group in India, and there are more Shudras than all other castes and religions combined. Yet they remain a largely marginalised group because of lack of strong leadership and their exploitation by dvija Hindus in their fight against Muslims and Christians, argues Kancha Ilaiah in this piece. 

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BEFORE India adopted a democratic Constitution in 1950, the masses in the country had no idea that religion could be thought as part of the legal system.

After the formation of a civil society and a State in Indian history, the Indian Constitution marked the first instance when the idea of a right to religion was defined in Indian history.

No Indian philosopher wrote a comprehensive theory of the right to religion. Though there were many kinds of religious practices for centuries in this country, the notion of a right was not applied either for an individual or for a social group. It was never defined. 

For example, the idea of religious sentiment was not known in India before the nationalist discourse was deployed around Hinduism and Islam.

Where do Shudras fit into the whole constitutional language? Before Ambedkar came to the scene, Dalits were also in the same predicament. Socially they were placed in the worst position.

Article 25 of the Indian Constitution states that: “Subject to public order, morality and health … all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.”

Further, Article 26 provides that all denominations can manage their own affairs in religious matters. The Article only talks about people who are consciously organised into a religion with equal spiritual rights. The concept “denomination” may mean a Vaishnavite, Shaivite, Catholic, Protestant, Shia or Sunni.

But where do Shudras fit into this whole constitutional language? Before Ambedkar came to the scene, Dalits were also in the same predicament. Socially they were placed in the worst position.

Now Dalits broadly identify themselves with Buddhism. The Adivasis had their own life without much control of Brahmanism over them. Gradually, the Adivasis turned towards Christianity.

Right now, we are witness to a conflict between Christian Adivasis and Hindutva Brahmanism in Manipur. The right to Christianity and Islam have been challenged by the Hindutva forces right from the days of the freedom struggle. The propaganda against these two religions was started by Brahmin intellectuals.

K.B. Hedgewar, M.S. Golwalkar and V.D. Savarkar were well-known Brahmin pioneers of Hindutva propaganda in the early days. Mohan Bhagwat and Dattatreya Hosabale of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) continue their legacy today. Not a single Shudra or Dalit intellectual was integrated into the list, as the communities were mainly drawn into communal wars by Brahmanic intellectualism.

Puzzling Shudra predicament

Nothing in Article 25 solves the problem of Shudras who are now being defined as Hindu by Brahmin thinkers without giving them any spiritual rights that a religion has to give to its members.

Nothing in Article 25 solves the problem of Shudras who are now being defined as Hindu by Brahmin thinkers without giving them any spiritual rights that a religion has to give to its members.

Since Shudras have not yet produced thinkers who could understand their status in ‘Hinduism’, Brahmins and other dvijas (twice-borns) who control that religion are very safe when there is no intellectual force among Shudras.

To ensure long-term control over Shudras, Brahmins prohibited them from learning Sanskrit. Shudras are running the so-called majoritarian campaign against Muslims and Christians as minorities because Brahmins and other dvijas put Shudras in the basket of Hinduism to ensure they have massive muscle power at their command.

Shudras constitute around 52 percent of India’s population and once they challenge the definition of ‘Hinduism’ allotted to them, the efforts of the reigning powers to exploit their muscle power for violent acts and vote power for systematic control will ultimately collapse.

The consciousness of Shudras, who follow the Brahmanic diktat as a loyal social force, is puzzling. Though they have no spiritually equal rights with Brahmins and other dvijas,they follow any theory that Brahmin intellectuals propose.

Even though Shudras are a historical community, they have been unable to formulate a ‘freedom of conscience’. They follow a Brahmin-imposed conscience sans the right to examine whether a religion where Hinduism is restricted to Brahmanism would liberate them. They never pondered the question whether they would attain moksha (liberation) through this religion.

A small section of Indian Christians and Muslims knew what religion meant for them in reference to the Bible or the Quran respectively. However, even the masses in these faiths were credulous to believe what was injected into their consciousness and practised by priests and mullahs.

The saving grace is that in these religions, the path for religious intellectualism is not blocked for any community or caste.

First major debate on religion

A national-level debate about religions took place during the freedom struggle among the English-educated intellectuals of India. Mahatma Gandhi led the Hindu discourse and Mohammed Ali Jinnah led the Muslim discourse. 

Gandhi wrote about his views on Hinduism but Jinnah did not write much on Islam. He seemed to have depended only on oral arguments on behalf of the Muslims.

Since Shudras have not yet produced thinkers who could understand their status in ‘Hinduism’, Brahmins and other dvijas (twice-borns) who control that religion are very safe when there is no intellectual force among Shudras.

The third idea with a concrete written argument was put forth by Dr B.R Ambedkar. In Gandhi’s Hindu discourse, all castes, including untouchables, were Hindu. 

He never raised the issue of Shudra agrarian mass status in that religion. By then Shudras were allowed to enter Brahmanic temples (it is wrong to call them Hindu temples).

Also read: Significance of caste discrimination ban in Seattle

Shudras also had their own agrarian gods and goddesses temples. They had no other spiritual rights in what Gandhi called Hinduism. They had no right to Sanskrit gurukul education, no right to priesthood, no right to interpret the spiritual texts. 

Such rights are central to any religion.

Many Brahmin intellectuals were fully involved in constructing Muslims and Christians as enemies. Shudras did not know what was happening in the intellectual domain. They followed the Brahmin priest’s guidance in the temple and general intellectual guidance in the civil society.

Dr Ambedkar’s dilemma

Dr Ambedkar wrote about the harrowing status of Shudras, based on Sanskrit texts and ideologies of varna-dharma. However, like Gandhi, Ambedkar considered Shudras to be Hindus, even dvijas, in his book, Who Were the Shudras?

He gradually delved deeper into determining the rights of Untouchables, and later amalgamated Shudras in a broader category of ‘caste Hindus’.

Contemporary universal religions like Christianity gave its followers a fundamental right to be an integral part of the religion, but Dr Ambedkar never examined this element to the core in the Indian context, perhaps due to the baggage of colonialism it carried.

British rulers were largely regarded as Christians, and Christianity, as against the Hindu spiritual system, remained largely unexplored.

By then, Islam in India had become feudal and oligarchic. Ashrafs, Mughals and Pathans dominated the religious community in the absence of a broad theory of public education and practice.

On the contrary, Indian Christianity became the source of English-medium education for all Brahmin, Baniya, Kayastha, Khatri and Kshatriya leaders.

In the medical sector, Christian missionary hospitals were the only option for the dvijas. The so-called Brahmanic ayurveda could not reach even all of the dvijas in India, let alone Shudras, Dalits and Adivasis.

No dvija writer, Gandhi included, wrote anywhere about the Christian seva centres. Pandita Ramabai understood the importance of both the advancements brought in by Christian missionary hospitals and the attempts by Brahmin intellectuals to side-line these advancements, and moved into Christianity, becoming a great social service leader despite her Brahmin background.

No Shudra intellectual of the stature of Dr Ambedkar, Gandhi or Nehru emerged from the Shudras during the freedom struggle. After Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, Periyar Ramasamy rose as a prominent figure in the South as a Dravida activist leader rather than a theoretician. In the wake of the global communist wave, Periyar turned to atheism. 

Patel’s indifference to intellectualism

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the tallest Shudra leader in the freedom movement, but he did not fight the dvijas. 

He became a follower of Gandhi, having accepted that he was also a Hindu like the Baniyas and Brahmins of Gujarat. However, Patels were not considered Hindus.

Dr Ambedkar wrote about the harrowing status of Shudras, based on Sanskrit texts and ideologies of varna-dharma. However, like Gandhi, Ambedkar considered Shudras to be Hindus, even dvijas, in his book, Who Were the Shudras?

They were humiliated by Brahmin Baniyas who treated them as Shudra agrarian tillers, and considered tilling the land to be polluting work. Jain Baniyas from Gujarat treated it to be violent work.

Also read: Why we must annihilate caste to save Indian democracy

If Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were to ever ask Gandhi, a proponent of the varna-dharma system, whether Shudras could be considered Hindus without having the right to send their children to Hindu theological schools, or to become priests in temples, or to own ‘dakshina’ (repayment) economy, which was under Brahmanic control, Gandhi would have been forced to rethink his Hindu majoritarian idea. 

At that time, Shudras did not even have the right to engage in business, which was under the control of Baniyas. Gandhi himself belonged to the Baniya business heritage and forced vegetarianism on Shudras, who were historically meat-eaters. Patel silently followed Gandhi on the path of food conversion, too.

If Shudras were to state that they were not Hindus, as it is a religion only for the dvijas, then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS would not have amassed the power that they hold today. 

Shudras catalysed the dvija majoritarian mobilisation by accepting the definition of Hinduism given to them, i.e., that all non-Muslims and non-Christians are Hindus.

The underlying issue was that even the Indian National Congress was under the control of the dvijas and Shudras lacked a creative, bold and intellectual leader to assess their position among the Hindus and in political parties. They were intimidated by the tyrannical spiritual authority of Brahmins for millennia.

Need for a Shudra leader

Both the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS were purely dvija organisations headed by Brahmins and funded by Hindu and Jain Baniyas since their inception. Leading businesses were controlled by Baniyas and Parsis during the freedom struggle, who treated Shudras and Dalits as Untouchables.

Dr Ambedkar’s humiliating encounter in Baroda, where he was forced to leave a Parsi inn because he was a Dalit, is a prime example of the status of the lower castes, even though he had a rich educational background.

Shudras had no religious power or control over businesses back then and the situation persists even today. They have negligible political power in some regions where feudal Shudras established regional parties but they have no Central power.

Where were the Shudras in the temple economy and business economy? Nowhere. The temple economy even today mostly gets controlled by Brahmins and the big business economy is in the hands of Baniyas.

Shudras, by and large, work in the agrarian sector and India’s agrarian civilisation remains mostly undocumented in Brahmanic Sanskrit literature. If there were any highly English-educated pioneers among the Shudras, such as Dr Ambedkar, they would have condemned the ‘Hinduism’ given to them.

If a Shudra leader were to give them an identity different from Brahmins, Baniyas, Kayasthas, Khatris and Kshatriyas, who shared the right to wear a sacred thread, read Sanskrit books, and study Sanskrit in gurukulas (traditional schools), the present idea of Hindu majority would not have shaped up.

No Shudras in cultural nationalism

Members of the RSS have been propagating that they want to build the future of the nation centred around their ideology of cultural nationalism found in ancient Sanskrit books. 

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the tallest Shudra leader in the freedom movement, but had no formal training to read, write or fight.

The question is, do Adivasis, Dalits and Shudras, as historical communities, exist in Sanskrit books? Is there an ancient Sanskrit book about their life and contribution to society?

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the most widely read ancient Sanskrit books, which speak of Brahmin rishis (sages) and Kshatriya kings. Both these books are centred around wars and the morality that emerged from the terrain of war.

The narratives of agrarian production and artisanal life are disregarded.

There is no narrative of agrarian production and artisanal life in these books. Shudra, Dalit and Adivasi communities do not exist in the textual Kruta and Dwapara yugas.

Without Shudra and Dalit labourers, what did the saints and kings eat? Who built their castles, their homes and produced technology for their wars? Does the war culture of Brahmins and Kshatriyas solely represent an entire civilisation?

How does culture formulate itself without a narrative of production, the social relations during the process of production and their distribution?

A war zone does not construct culture, but the production field does. However, this production field finds no trace in any Sanskrit books. 

Right from the days of building the Indus Valley civilisation, the agricultural and artisanal work of Dalits and Shudras built the Indian civilisation as a whole, rather than the wars of Brahmins and Kshatriyas.

The nation’s survival and growth are attributed to the efforts of Shudras and Dalits who inhabited the forests and focused on improving agriculture, animal husbandry and artisanal technology.

Brahmins, Baniyas, Kayasthas, Khatris and Kshatriyas played no role in any of the domains of production. They controlled Shudras and Dalits through the Brahmin varna-dharma system, which is now termed the Hindu dharma. They have started modern religious wars through their religious dogmas.

The muscle power of Shudras and Dalits was exploited in communal riots in Gujarat, Delhi and many other cities. Today, the Hindu Meitei tribe’s muscle power is being used against the Christian Kuki tribe in Manipur.

RSS’s Brahmin-run shakhas

The RSS and Hindutva forces refuse to use Brahmanism as an ideological category. They use the ‘Hindu’ category to carry Shudras with them and run shakhas (Hindu theological schools) to train Shudras in lathi rolling and physical fights.

If the RSS, as a Hindu organisation, wants a caste-free Hindu religious system, it should run Hindu shakhas and train all youth for temple priesthood and ritualist activities. However, this domain is completely entrusted to the Brahmins who run gurukulas and train only Brahmin youth. 

Shudras are not allowed to raise any questions about spiritual social equality in the system devised by the RSS.

Despite regional Shudras having land ownership, wealth and State power, their history remains short-lived as there is no intellectual leader among them.

Apart from the Brahmin youth, Baniyas, Kshatriyas, Khatris and Kayasthas also do not get admission into the gurukulas but receive other benefits from the Brahmin religious structure.

It is in the best interests of the RSS and the dvijas to maintain the caste system, while Dalits and Shudras continue to be the main targets, owing to their labour and muscle power against the minorities.

Dalits have come to realise this and have converted to Buddhism and Christianity, making Dr Ambedkar their spiritual liberator. Shudras, however, remained stuck in Brahmanism, a mayavada philosophy that teaches that everything is an illusion.

Temple economy and Shudra rights

Shudras visit temples and give money to priests as dakshina, as they do not have the right to priesthood in Brahmin-run temples. They are also unaware about the extent of money collected in the temples, and how it is put to use.

The Sanskrit education imparted in gurukulas and the temple economy are interlinked with the system, as Baniyas conduct business in temple towns. Business establishments are largely controlled by Baniyas, who are at par with Brahmins in terms of their spiritual, social, and financial status. They are integrated into the RSS–BJP power structure now.

Also read: SC rejects Maharashtra’s plea to direct Centre to disclose data on OBCs as per 2011 caste census

In some states where temples are administered by endowment departments under the state governments, the chairperson of the temple trust may hail from a Shudra agrarian background and feel inferior to the head priest of the temple. 

Some temples have massive financial resource mobilisation and priests are paid handsomely. The ruling RSS and BJP forces do not wish to make such powerful priestly positions inclusive.

The Congress’s governance operated under the rubric of secularism, thereby escaping most caste-cultural problems. 

The Nehru family’s control over the Congress was multi-cultural and multi-religious, but the RSS and the BJP have systematically targeted their background, due to which Congress heirs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are leaning towards the Hinduism fold. Rahul Gandhi claimsthat he is a janeu (sacred thread) wearing Brahmin.

The Congress was virtually run by the dvijas, but Shudras could not construct an identity of their own within the party’s culture, as it consisted mostly of foreign-educated Brahmins without bringing up issues regarding caste and religion. Dvija forces of the RSS and the BJP found their breeding ground during the Congress rule.

A national Shudra-entity movement

It is well-established that Brahmins and Baniyas flourished in all fields, especially in the educational, social, spiritual and economic spheres, whereas the identity of Shudra was completely erased. 

Of the four varnas of ancient Brahmanism— Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Baniyas and Shudras— the Brahmin varna remained in a hegemonic position despite the change in political systems, spanning the monarchic and colonial, and ultimately the democratic rule since 1947.

Baniyas rose to power during the Gupta period in the fifth century CE and again during the freedom struggle, with Mahatma Gandhi fortifying them. Corporate businesses have been in the hands of the Baniyas since 2014 due to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s strategies. 

Kshatriyas lost their identity significantly after 1947, but because of Yogi Adityanath and the new Sri Rama (Ram was a Kshatriya king) temple being built in Ayodhya, Kshatriyas will get more visibility. They are trying to consciously organise under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath. 

Shudras must evolve their spiritual system by renouncing ‘Hinduism’ if they remain shorn of their basic religious rights.

As of now the Shudras are a more fragmented and regionalised social mass with various caste names based on their occupations. 

Their social links are cut by regional languages and disconnected caste names. Though they have a huge presence in every state, their identity as Shudras is lost. 

A section of them has now obtained a constitutional identity in the form of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). However, the identity is purely related to reservation in jobs and education. This identity does not reflect their history, religious location and civilisational contribution. 

Other dvija castes, such as Baniyas, have also procured OBC certificates by nullifying the historicity of Shudras. Shudra identity-formation has other challenges as well. They are subdivided into reserved Shudras (OBCs) and non-reserved Shudras, who fall in the general category. The latter category comprises Jats, Kammas, Patels, Reddys, Velamas, among others.

Shudras who have gained financial autonomy have not overthrown higher caste English-educated dvijas who work on spiritual, philosophical and historical issues. Middle-class and upper middle-class Shudras are occupied with agricultural activities and the real estate economy.

Some caste leaders from the Kammas, Marathas, Patels, Reddys and Yadavs have their own regional parties with power in states such as Andhra Pradesh, but historical issues pertaining to civilisation, culture and divine agencies remain unaddressed.

Despite regional Shudras having land ownership, wealth and State power, their history remains short-lived as there is no intellectual leader among them.

Persons belonging to Dalit and Adivasi communities have now gained recognition pan-India. Dalits question of Untouchability began a global discourse, especially after the Durban United Nations conference on ‘Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance’ in 2001.

It has led to some US states making anti-caste laws, but Shudras and OBCs have negligible recognition internationally.

In my opinion, Shudras need a unified movement for spiritual equality within modern Brahmanism that is presented as Hinduism. Equality amongst all stratas of society is the need of the hour.

The right to priesthood, admission in theological educational institutions for children and youth, and employment on an equal basis in ‘Hindu religious institutions’ should be prioritised.

Right to priesthood must include the right to head the prominent Shaivite peethas, such as peethas and mathas established by Adi Shankaracharya, the eighth century Brahmin revivalist. 

Shudras must evolve their spiritual system by renouncing ‘Hinduism’ if they remain shorn of their basic religious rights.

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is a political theorist, social activist and author. His latest book, The Shudras: Vision for a New Path co-edited with Karthik Raja Karuppusamy, examined many issues of Shudras. Currently, he is also working on a book titled, The Shudra Rebellion: History from the Field Memories.

The right to religion and the Shudra predicament