Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
By Bharat Patankar
Introduction
The people have regarded all the religions born out of the
Indian tradition as theirs. Buddhism, Jainism, Veerasaivism,
Sikhism were never regarded as alien. The reason is clear.
These religions all opposed the caste system. They opposed
varna. Buddhism in fact waged a struggle against regarding
the majority of people as slaves. The reason for the spread
of Buddhism in India up to the time of Emperor Ashok
was that the slave system was overcome and the toiling
people remained comparatively freer as independent
peasants and paid laborers. The Buddhist symbol of this
emperor Ashok is today on our national flag. The
Brahmanic Hindutvavadis of the Sangh parivar have
started to oppose this symbol! The empire of Ashok, who
accepted Buddhist religion, extended over all of India.
His symbol was in reality the symbol of the liberation
of the majority of Indian toiling people from the slavery
of the das system of the old brahmanic religion. The
Sangh parivar does not want the symbol of the first
stage of our liberation. They want to impose again
another casteist slavery upon us along with capitalism.
"To commit violence against other lives who are not your
enemies is a third addiction which you have gotten into.
Because, O hero! You have taken a vow to kill rakshasas in
a war for the security of the rishis living in Dankaranya.People
will not approve of the killing of guiltless rakshasas."
Ram answers,
(Translated from Marathi, this article was originally written in 1993 as a Marathi pamphlet selling at
one rupee, this sold out 10,000 copies within a first few days, mainly when the Shetmajur Kashtakari
Shetkari Sanghatana (an organization of toiling farmers' and agricultural labourers) held a protest
march of 20,000 rural people coming to Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra)