A CRAWLING ORDER FOR THE HINDUS

OR

A CRITICISM OF

The Punjab Hindu Charitable- and Religious Endowments

Bill (1940)*

BY

SWAMI DHARMA THEERTHA

 General Scheme of the Bill

 

  1. In the name of the Hindu public destroy the Sadhus, the Mahouts and the Fraternities.
  2. In the name of Sanatana Dharma deprive the Hindu public of their rights and give them to the Sanatani public.
  3. In the name of the Sanatana Dharma Pratinidhi Sabha deprive the Sanatani public of their rights and give them to the Sabha.
  4. In the name of the Shastras and Puranas keep the leading strings of the Sabha in the hands of the Brahman community.
  5. Establish a Caste Raj with executive, judicial and legislative powers independent of the Government
  6. Through the Sabha and the priests dominate the District Committees.
  7. Through the Sabha and the District Committees dominate the Central Board.
  8. Through the Central Board dominate all the temples, Dharmashalas and Maths.
  9. Through the temples, Dharmashalas and Maths impose caste rule and Brahman supremacy on the Hindu public.

 *This Bill is still pending in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

MOTIVE BEHIND THE BILL

 

  1. The Monks, the Sadhus, the Maths, the Fraternities, the Saints, the Sannyasis and the Reformers have always been the rivals and opponents of the heredi¬tary priests. They must be crushed.
  2. With Power, Property, the Puranas and the People under their control, the Brahmans can regain their lost position.

AN APPEAL

 It is a shame in the Punjab, the most liberal part of Hindu India, where the progressive influences of the Arya Samaj and the Sikhs have opened the eyes of the Hindu public to the need for freedom, unity and brotherhood, that some Hindus should have brought forward a legislative proposal which aims at crushing what little self-respect and manliness the Hindus have now and enslaving them to the castes and the priests. What is still more strange is that such enlightened and progressive men as the Member-in-charge of the Bill should have failed to realise the suicidal nature of a movement maneuvered by the Brahman community. What is worst of all the Hindu public of the Punjab have been kept in utter ignorance of the humiliation and serfdom into which they are going to be entrapped.

Arise and agitate to vindicate your honour! It may be too late after a few months. Establish a Committee of the Hindu (Socio-Religious) Congress its your village.. Pass resolutions condemning the Bill and calling upon your representatives to – throw it out, and communicate them to us, to the press and the Government. Organise for freedom and unity hereafter at least.

Write to us

SECRETARY,

Hindu Missionary Society,

51, Krishnanagar,

LAHORE.

 INTRODUCTION

 It is the most reactionary, damaging and inequitable measure ever brought before a modern Indian Legislature, and if passed into Law will be an act of betrayal of the Hindus, and a substantial abdication of the sovereign power and obligation of the Punjab Government to protect the rights and liberties of a large section of its subjects, involving as it does, the creation of something like an independent government, a Hindu Raj in its worst and most dreaded form of a ‘Caste Raj’, with separate franchise, separate constituencies, separate legislature, separate executive, separate judiciary and separate laws, all functioning without the control of the existing government and exercising jurisdiction over the souls as well as bodies of its victims.

  1. The Statement of Objects and Reasons is in some important respects misleading and incorrect and disguises the true nature and scope of the Bill.

(a) It is said in the Statement that the Board constituted under the Act shall have no hand in the settlement of Scheme of Religious Worship and Ceremonials meant for Dharmashalas, temples and Maths under the control of Sadhus and Mahants, that the religious liberties and activities of the Mahants will not be interfered with in the least by the operations of the Bill, that the Board will consist of members elected by the general public interested in the religious places (and other members), and the Bill is simply to make the rights of the public easily obtainable and rapidly enforceable. The provisions of the Bill do not corroborate these statements.

(1) The Sadhus and Mahants are to be deprived even of their liberty of conscience. The Hindu Religious Fraternities are generally more ‘ liberal than Grihastas. They do not believe in all the meaningless caste distinctions. They allow great freedom of religious thought: But the Bill enunciates a narrow creed of Sanatana Dharma in Section 2 (9) opposed to all liberal ideas, and

 seeks to impose it on every Sadhu and Mahant. If they do not accept this creed they shall cease to hold office. (Sections 61 and 62),

(2) The temples, Dharmashalas and Maths managed by Sadhus and Mahants have been compulsorily brought under the Bill and included in Schedules III, IV and V, without giving an opportunity to the Sadhus and Mahants to show cause why they should not be so included even according to the principles of the Bill. If an opportunity is given to them, they will be able to establish that they do not believe in the narrow Sanatana Dharma as arbitrarily defined by the Bill, and therefore the Bill ought not to apply to them at all.

(3)        The Bill gives power to the Board to call for a scheme of administration or scheme of religious worship or ceremonials, and if the scheme is not settled or if the scheme is not agreeable to the Board, the Judicial Committee of the Board may settle a scheme and enforce it, and there is not even a right of appeal. [Section 69 (2) 1.

(4)        Section 70 provides that Mahants shall submit their budgets to the Sri Mahants, and that Sri Mahants shall carry out the instructions issued by the Board. In this way the Board can effectively, though indirectly, interfere with the budgets, in spite of the assurance in the Statement that the Board shall not interfere with the framing of the budgets.

(5)        The liberty of the Mahant to take disciples has been extremely curtailed, and no one is allowed to become .a disciple by renouncing the world without first satisfying the local Panchayat. (Section 66).

(6)        Sections 71, 72, 73 prescribe for what purposes only the funds and income of the temples, Maths, etc. should be used. They do not mention anything about the expenses of Sadhus or Mahants or their disciples and followers, which in fact ought to form the first charge. If these Sections are enforced strictly, the Sadhus, Mahants, their disciples and followers may find it impossible to use any fund for their own maintenance.

(7) Sections 22, 61, 62 and 91 give sweeping powers. to the Board to persecute and prosecute the Sadhus and Mahants and make their life miserable when they are allowed to remain in office, and to remove them from office even on minor considerations or vague charges. The provisions of the Bill are so reactionary and drastic that it would seem that the main object of the Bill running through and through from the beginning to the end is. the steady extirpation of all Sadhus and Mahants and the bringing of all their properties and institutions under the control of the Brahman community.

(b) The general public interested in the institutions: is the Hindu public. The Hindu public as such have no voice in the election of the members of the Board. In fact, by giving narrow definitions to the words “Hindu”. and “Sanatana Dharma,” the Bill deprives the vast majority of the enlightened Hindus of the right to vote and be elected to the Board, In effect, the Board will consist of only the most illiberal and caste-ridden members of the Brahman-community and others who are subservient to them, and they will be elected by a small group of illiberal and caste-minded members of the Brahman-community and people subservient to them as we shall see later.

IL The Bill tends to deprive effectively the Hindu public as such of their immemorial and existing rights in the temples, DhaTmashalas and Maths, and to establish the supremacy and monopoly of the Brahman-community over the entire Hindu society and all Hindu institutions.

Section 2 (10) defines who is a Hindu. This definition does not seem to be based on any Shastra or Law. A Sikh is debarred from declaring himself or becoming a Hindu, while Aryas, Brahmos, Buddhists, etc., are not excluded. Why is this invidious distinction?( Hindus respect the cow. They respect their kings, their Gurus, elders and many other persons, things and animals as non-Hindus also do. No Shastra imposes respect for a cow as a condition for being a Hindu. The Bill does that. If a Hindu ill-treats a cow or ceases to respect it, it seems that according to the Bill, he will cease to be a Hindu. No doubt, Hindus do not profess the religion of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, .etc. But the Bill says that they shall not profess their religious doctrines. Those liberal Hindus like Theosophis s, followers of Rama Krishna Mission and millions of other Hindus who approve of and preach the -good teachings of other religions may thus be prevented from declaring themselves as Hindus. The Hindus of the Bill will therefore bet only the illiberal section of the Hindu public.

Even this section of the Hindus as defined by the Bill have no right under the Bill. The Hindu public which enjoys rights under the Bill is narrowed down and restricted by the condition that the Hindu must believe in Sanatana Dharma if he should have a right to vote, to stand for election to the Board or Panchayats or to be Trustee or Mahant, etc. Section 2 (13) lays down that a Hindu has no ‘interest’ in any Dharmashala unless he believes in the Sanatana Dharma as defined by the Bill. A Hindu cannot be nominated to the Judicial Committee unless he believes in the same narrow creed. So only those few Hindus who accept the creed of the Bill will have any of the rights conferred by the Bill. The other Hindus will be deprived of the rights they now enjoy by custom and law by Sections 1, 22 and 93 of the Bill. The high qualifications fixed for the voters and candidates are a further limitation on the rights of the Hindu public.

We shall see later that the creed of Sanatana Dharma prescribed by the Bill is so narrow, unshastric, untrue and humiliating to the vast majority of the Hindus that very few self-respecting Hindus, except members of the Brahman community, will care to accept it. They will prefer to keep out of the Bill. In this way the majority of the self-respecting Hindus will be forced to abandon their immemorial rights. The Brahman corn-•munity and their subservient followers will .become masters of all the institutions and properties.

III. The Bill enunciates a new creed of Sanatana Dharma–a creed which is diametrically opposed to the Sanatana Dharma of the Vedas, Upanishads and Shastras, and which will make Sanatana Dharma unacceptable to all fair-minded Hindus and an object of ridicule to all enlightened persons. As the creed is sought to be pro-pagated and enforced through law, the temples, Dharma– shalas, Maths, Panchayats,letc., it will create a great split in the Hindu community, compel most Hindus to disown’ Sanatana Dharma OT accept the humiliation and subjection to the Brahman community who will once more become-the masters of the Hindus as in pm..-,-British days. The regime of caste and priestcraft will be restored, and caste persecutions and ex-communications will Ife revived.

According to section 1 (9) a Hindu to be considered as a Sanatana Dharmi.

(I) Must recognise the Vedas as revealed.

So far as Sanatani Hindus are concerned, to the-vast majority of them the Vedas have remained and still remain a sealed book. It was not revealed by the priests. who kept them as a secret. It was the Western scholars, who first brought them out from secrecy. Even now the Brahmans generally throughout India propagate the idea that other Hindu communities should not read the Vedas.. The language of the Vedas remains unrevealed even to great scholars; what to say of the ordinary Hindus. The Bill does not make any provision to teach the Vedas. And, as we shall show, the Hindus may even be told under the Bill that except the Brahman-community no other Hindus are even now entitled to read or listen to the Vedas. Books which are so forcibly kept sealed and secret must be recognised as revealed if the Hindu should become a Sanatana Dharmi Hindu. It is placing a premium on ignorance and superstition or it aims at _restricting Sanatana Dharrna to the Brahman-community. And what is the meaning of ‘revealed’? Is it according to the meaning given by Arya Samajists, by Christians, .by Muslims, by Buddhists or English dictionaries?) Is there any injunction in any Shastras that one must believe certain Books as revealed in order to become a Sanatana Dharrni Hindu? Most Hindus respect the Vedas as they Respect the God in a temple. There is no necessity to introduce in a Bill any incorrect reference to this sacred feeling. No judicial court will be able to determine ,exactly the meaning of ‘revealed’.

If the Arya Samajists were to say that the Vedas should be recognised as ‘revealed’, they would be justified ‘because they are prepared to teach the Vedas to all. They aye truly Veda-revealers.

(2) A Sanatana Dbarmi Hindu must believe in Caste by birth.

Most Hindus of the present day observe ‘caste by birth’ because it is the social custom and law, and they are not free to violate it. But there will be hardly any fair-minded Hindu with some education who will believe in it. Even leaders of the most orthodox section do not ‘believe in it. They realise it is untrue and an evil. They have refused to return caste in the recent Census. They have written books condemning it. They daily violate its restrictions in many respects. All true Sannyasins end Sadhus are by the principles of their order required to ignore it and everywhere they openly preach against it. All great national leaders have cursed this evil. To ninety-five per cent. of the Hindus caste is a humiliation and a disadvantage. To many millions of Hindus it is -worse than slavery. The only section of the Hindus to whom caste by birth without any consideration of character, education, profession, Gunn and Karma is a pieasure and profit, are’ the Brahman-community. They lone Really all other Hindus must sacrifice their conscience,. Their self-respect, their rights and status as Hindus , and citizens, and disown their immemorial religious beliefs if they accept this condition imposed by the Bill. But if they want any right under the Bill they must do sol

The Vedas, Upanishads and the Dharma Shastras do not recognise caste by birth only. No great Rishi or Acharya or Saint or Teacher has supported it. It is against all the good teachings of Hindu religion. It is against all ideas of truth, justice and freedom. It is with-out any principle or scientific justification. It is condemned by all civilized religions and peoples of the world. It is the chief cause of Hindu downfall. It is to-day an obstacle to India’s unity and freedom.. It is such an institution which the Hindus are asked to believe in. The only object of this provision is to establish the supremacy and mono-polies of the Brahman-community, and to exclude all other Hindus from the benefits of the Bill and the Hindu institutions.

A true Hindu and a true Sanatana Dharmi will never believe in caste by birth, though, he may observe it because he is bound. Those who respect the Vedas must therefore insist that a man who believes in caste by birth cannot be a true Hindu or Sanatana Dharmi. The Bill, if it is for the good of Hindu religion and society, should exclude those who believe in caste by birth from all its benefits and the services. Because those who believe in caste by birth are enemies of true Hindu religion and true Sanatana Dharma they are enemies of Hindu society; they are exploiters of the Hindus who want to keep the Hindus divided, weak and disgraced. What is more, they can never be good citizens in a civilised country of the present age. They will always be interested in crushing their ,brother citizens and dominating over them.

(3) A Sanatana Dhiarmi Hindu must accept as binding on himself the religious and theological doctrines of the Ramayana, the Mahabharta, the Smritis or the Puranas. He need not believe in the Vedas, but must believe in caste. He need not accept the Vedas as binding, but must accept the Puranas or Smritis as binding. In fact, he must believe in the Vedas because the Vedas do not recognise caste by birth. He should not consider the Vedas as binding because if he does he cannot believe in caste by birth. So the binding authorities are the Puranas, Smritis, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Why? Because these books inculcate not only the worship of God but also the worship of Brahmans, and they make it obligatory on the Hindus to perform all the ceremonies and Poojas which will bring profit to the Brahman, and what is more, they establish that the vast majority of the Hindus have no right for Vedas, for Mantra or Tantra, for Pooja or penance, for any decisive voice in the management of the temples or other religious institutions, or for framing social or religious laws, or for altering the existing ones. If the Hindus accept these books as binding upon them, they will be limsing many valuable rights as human beings, which they have acquired under the British rule. Sadhus and Mahants may be told that they have no right to become Sannyasins or to renounce the world. Even in the judicial courts and the Legislatures it may be :argued that the Hindus have bound themselves voluntarily by these books and they are debarred from doing any¬thing against their directions. Hindus will be silenced and crippled; the Brahmans will become their law-givers .and priestcraft will become their i:eligion; temples, Dharmashalas and Maths will be governed according to their principles; and as the Statement of Objects pndeasons proclaims, the Bill will truly take back the Hindus to the mediaeval age.

Armed with this binding authority of the Purana.s and Smritis, the Brahmans can start caste-persecutions and excommunications all over the Province. They can ‘debar all liberal Hindus from temples, Dharmashalas and