Why do Shudras practice untouchability? - 4

Before independence the Shudras were the tillers of land for the upper castes. They were under the obligation to landlords for their survival since they had no right on the land. The land owners could ask them not to come on other day if displeased. It was as simple as that. This was sufficient to make the tiller shudder with cold in winter as well as in the scorching summer. How he was going to feed his family? The tillers could be changed according to wish of land owners. So these Shudras kept them attached to their land owners as firmly as possible; using all the humility they could muster. To please them they also doubled up as musclemen of the upper castes to fix the recalcitrant untouchables if any. This obviated any need of the high caste people to move out of their houses to fix the untouchables. They had their tillers to do that. They could always enjoy the serenity of their large houses. They could get the heads of the untouchables broken with heavy bamboo sticks without moving a finger. The Shudras could not use the arms. They were utilized to quell any voice of dissent from untouchable cluster. With the piercing of dharmic innocence of village with entry of railway steam engines such voices had started to emerge out of untouchable mud hut clusters. Actually it was the innocence of untouchables which was destroyed not the thick impenetrable, exploitative deep psyche of higher Varnas. They disliked it since it interfered with their permanent exploitation of the village people of lower strata. It pierced the ears and psyche of upper caste to listen to voices of assertion from the fifth stratum. To protect their interests and to make their lives beautiful it was necessary to suppress these voices of untouchable dissent on an enduring basis. So the means used for this purpose had to be such that they had an enduring effect. The acts of merely scolding and rebuking were not enough. The atrocities, torture, murder, death, rapes etc. were more enduring in their effects. Thus they were used for the holy purpose of maintaing Varna dharma.


The Shudra tillers had the highest status among the Shudras because they were connected with land and enjoyed the proximity with the ruling class. However, they still got pittance though they committed atrocities on behalf of upper castes. Any Shudra with a fully filled belly was considered as a danger to upper castes or dharma. Thus the question of leaving enough food with them did not arise.


However, the result of the policy of land to the tiller was that the Shudra tillers were given the land free and the landless untouchables were left standing. May be it had to do something with the mentality of policy makers or there was not enough land to go round. The untouchables were compensated in the form of reservations in government jobs and education. The twice-born people whose land had been taken after giving them due compensation moved to cities and the landed Shudras became the land owning castes; the dominant castes. Each different caste was dominant in each different area. These different land owning castes did not become a class after their rise in status. They maintained their caste identities and maintained their endogamous nature and continue to keep their dining separate from others. But now they were the new overlords in rural areas though not as big as the earlier ones. The non-land owning Shudras continued to be in their same wretched position without the benefit of free land or job reservations. However, the new land owning Shudras behaved in exemplary a way as to justify their newly acquired status. Their past of utter poverty and servility was soon forgotten. The human memory is very short but the history cannot be wiped out. They continued with the atrocities on untouchables; this time on their own behalf. The oppressors changed but not the oppression and neither did the dharmic philosophy behind the oppression of pathetic untouchables.