Thursday, August 17, 2017

Caste System: Where did it come from?





Caste System: Where did it come from?

The word  "Caste" was coined by Christians of Europe in seventeenth century. Spain and Portugal were very strong countries then. The most infamous
" Spanish Inquisition " was in full force. The Catholic church was involved in one of the most heinous crime perpetrated on Jews and Muslims in forcibly converting lakhs of  them to Christianity and killed thousands of them who refused to follow the church's diktat.

Many Jews and Muslims ran away to Southern American countries. The Spaniards chased them there also and along with the Aboriginals of America  whom they called "Indians" , huge number of African  Negroes whom they enslaved enroute to America,they continued their barbaric religious tirade.

Over a period of time the majority males of Jews, Muslims,  Negroes and a few Spanish people started marrying the local American women. Spanish people in order to maintain the "pure blood progeny" created a social system where they remain on top of the ethical hierarchy and the " mixed, impure breed depending on the colour of the skin were grouped differently. They called themselves as 'Chaste' and in Spanish it was 'Caste' and thus started
"Systema da Caste' . They were provided jobs as per their caste, treated socially, taxed as per their caste and the Catholic Church amassed huge amount of money from them.
The local Americans were relegated to the much lower class and  their social and religious system were rubbished.

Same thing the British did when they came to India..!!

India historically has Gothras, Kula, Jaathi and Verna embedded in the social structure. This system worked fine for the religious and social functions like wedding etc.  The relevance, depth and importance was never understood by the British and the church. They didn't want to understand, for the British came to loot  one of the richest country of that time, and the Church to spread the Christianity willingly or by use of force.

What Lord Thomas Macaulay did to the Indian education system by destroying traditional Gurukul system, Completely removing Sanskrit and Sanskrit based scriptures..to make way for English and to undermine the values of Sanathana Dharma so that the Christianity gets a free passage across the length and breadth of this country, another villain in the garb of a census Commissioner was emerging to destroy the social fabric of our country and introduce
"Caste System " in India..he was Sir Herbert Hope Risley (1851-1910) and from the fallout of such a fallacy we haven't recovered even now..not easy to do so for the poison this man administered was so potent.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Primary Education in Sanathana Bharath

Primary Education in Sanathana Bharath

On 10 Mar 1826 Thomas Munro, the Governor of Madras Presidency submitted a detailed Census and a survey Report to the British government.
The report was a 'breaking news' not only to the British government in India even in England it surprised the top brass.

What was in that report that revealed certain unknown facts about India to the world ?

The geographical dimensions of Madras Presidency was  from Ganjam district of Orissa and to the entire South India. The population was 1,28,50,941. There were 12,498 primary schools. This is inspite of the fact that the collector of Mangalore did not send a report due to some reasons, and many hilly areas were not covered.

As per the report on an average there was one primary school for one thousand population. Whereas England had a dismal average of primary education record. In fact Britain didn't have an education policy then.

Another interesting fact that even Indians we're not aware of was that only 24% , of students in these schools were Brahmanas, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. Shudras constituted a Lion's share of 65%!
So that shattered the general impression that existed that the Brahmanas dominated the education field. Of course in the higher education institutions they were in majority.

Why then, the Britishers who came to India to loot and pillage,.. conducted such a nation wide survey covering Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Bombay Presidency and Madras Presidency?

By beginning of 19th century Britishers established themselves in most part of India. They now wanted a steady, assured revenue to fill the British coffers. But they were few in numbers to collect revenue from every nook and corner of such a huge milching cow of a nation like India. Also employing British personnel was becoming an expensive proposition.
They wanted to find out how to bring in an education system to make certain locals 'literate' so they can be employed at cheaper rates to maintain accounts, help in Administration. Such English speaking people will remain loyal to them and it would be easier to keep them dividend as "English speaking class" and "others".

This survey made British wonder that how come inspite of outsiders plundering India repeatedly destroying their assets, culture and sentiments such an education system continue to exist?

Traditionally every village temple was sponsoring a Pathashala, Gurukul or Mutt. On an average 35% of the land in a village belonged to the temple. This was a revenue free land. The temple rituals, festivals, fee for the teachers were paid out of this income from the land.

Sending a boy on the "fifth day of the fifth month of fifth year" was widely believed to be an auspicious day in those days. Some temples even provided "Anna Prasad" to the students. Every family used to send a boy for at least three years till he learns to read, write and do basic calculation.  Subsequently learn the trade of his family tradition. Girls were normally taught at homes.

First thing that the Britishers did was to hide this report.

In England factory workers left their children in a room before entering the workplace. These rooms were called "Schools" in fact the terminology.. School originated here. Children were given some rudimentary education by a worker who wasn't fit for factory work.
There were "Grammar Schools" for the children from well to do families who had to pay a very hefty fee.

This was the education system that existed there. How could they digest the fact that India had a robust primary education system in place without any government grants or endowments.

Next thing they did was to reduce the revenue free land of temples to 5%  so that the temples barely sustained themselves. Gradually temples stopped sponsoring Gurukuls and Pathashalas.

Then came Thomas Macaulay...!
Destroyer of Sanathana Bharath's Education System.  The primary education system was dying due to lack of support and sponsorship. Britishers introduced English education system in high schools. The fee was high and only few well to do families could afford it. The literacy rate of India nosedived to never heard of limits.

In 1931 Gandhiji raised this issue in the Round table conference. He accused British government of destroying the education system. British denied Gandhiji allegations. They wanted the proof. Even Gandhiji was aware of the 1826 survey was either hidden or destroyed. It was much later discovered that it was hidden in the archive room of British Library.
Do the Macaulay's children who are now thriving in sold media, Lutyens circuits are aware of this?
✍ Wg Cdr Sudarshan
     sudarshanbadangod@gmail.com