Kanchi Mutt And Bob Jones University
By Sridhar Kannan
19 August, 2005
Countercurrents.orgWhen the then US presidential candidate George W. Bush spoke at the Bob Jones University as part of his campaign during the fall of 2000, the visit erupted in to a major controversy and finally he had to apologize. One has to delve in to finer details to understand this issue. Bob Jones is a medium sized Christian university in South Carolina that had a rule prohibiting interracial dating among its students. And it was also known to have an anti catholic bias for several years since its inception. The purpose of the visit was to signal the southern whites and evangelicals that he would be their man and he needed their votes. The visit was a well calculated move by his campaign managers that initially damaged John McCain and later deprived Al Gore even his own state besides the presidency. However he had to regret publicly when the media and the left kept pounding him on this issue. Later in 2002, when the then US Senate majority leader Trent Lott praised the late Senator Strom Thurmond's segregationist policies he was quickly rebuked by Bush and other prominent Republicans and Democrats. Senator Lott never became and will never become the majority leader again.
The point is that Bush visited a place and Lott complimented a person whose policies do not align with the common sense and decency of the vast majority of Americans. An apology was rightly demanded and rightly given immediately in both the cases. These actions by no means portray an egalitarian society or deny the existence of racism in America. But these incidents signal to the world that the actions of American politicians who either directly or indirectly support the concept of racial superiority will never be tolerated.
Now let us compare that with the actions of several prominent Indian politicians who were regular visitors to the now infamous Kanchi Mutt. Ramasamy Venkatraman, the former President was an unofficial spokesman at the mutt. This man recently debased the office of Presidency by participating in an opposition sponsored bandh to protest Jayendra Saraswati's arrest. T. N. Seshan, the former Chief Election Commissioner used a Government jet to fly to Kanchipuram when the older seer passed away. The visitor's book is filled with signatures from the likes of Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Jayalalitha, P. V. Narasimha Rao and many more. Now, it is a valid question to ask what is wrong in visiting the mutt.
While the recent controversy involving the murder of a former employee certainly adds fire to my argument that issue is not the major crux of this discussion. Let us read through a few paragraphs that will help to understand the gravity of the situation. The first one was the official policy of Bob Jones University that was rescinded in 2002 and the latter ones are direct quotes from the deceased Chandra Sekara Saraswati about Varna Dharma.
"God has separated people for His own purpose. He has erected barriers between the nations, not only land and sea barriers, but also ethnic, cultural, and language barriers. God has made people different one from another and intends those differences to remain. Bob Jones University is opposed to intermarriage of the races because it breaks down the barriers God has established. It mixes that which God separated and intends to keep separate. Every effort in world history to bring the world together has demonstrated man's self-reliance and his unwillingness to remain as God ordains."
"During Krishna's own time the various castes were divided according to birth. I mention this because some research scholars today are likely to put forward the view that caste based on birth evolved after the time of Krishna. The epic and the Puranas declare categorically that during the age of Sri Krishna the shastras dealing with varnasrama were the authority for dharma. It was at such a time, when an individual's vocation was determined by birth" "I will give firm proof in support of the view that caste is based on birth and not on the nature or quality of individuals. It would be absurd to claim that one's vocation is based on one's nature of qualities. It is true that the Gita speaks of "samadarsana", seeing the selfsame thing in everything and everybody. But it would be perverse to argue on this basis that the Gita does not recognize any caste distinctions. Only an individual belonging to the highest plane can see all things as one. Samadarsana is not of this phenomenal world of plurality nor is it for us who are engaged in works."
"People belonging to the fourth Varna do physical work to serve the world and in the process acquire inner purity. They will gain proficiency in their hereditary vocations only by learning them from their parents or grandparents. Before a man's individual character develops, he grows in a certain environment, the environment evolved through the vocation practiced in his family from generation to generation. Everybody must have the conviction that he is benefited by the occupation to which he is born" "Some concede that Bhagavan does not deny caste differences, but however argue that, according to the Lord, caste is not based on birth but on the individual qualities. It is jatidharma (ones caste by birth) that goes to make the inner guna (inner quality or nature) of an individual. We have confirmation that by svadharma the Lord means the jati dharma of birth. On the whole we see that the Lord functions on the basis that whatever be the outward qualities of individuals, their inner quality is in keeping with their hereditary vocations."
One can assume that the annulment of Bob Jones' policy can be perceived as an indicator of waning institutional racism in America. Initially the American Shudras were treated as sub-human and then were treated as separate but unequal. Later due to some God fearing decent thinking progressives like Abraham Lincoln the policy got transformed to separate but equal. The nation understood in unequivocal terms that if it has to be respected in the world it has to shed the stigma of slavery and institutional racism forever. And this is the important reason why the incidents mentioned above are never tolerated in America. The great nation of India too understands this and attempts to correct the past by correctly providing reparations to the downtrodden and suppressed in the form of reservation in education and jobs. But the last bastions of institutionalized racism still remains and unfortunately most of the law makers from all major parties patronize them. Our Shudras and Chandalas were initially treated as sub-humans (one could read Manu Smriti to get more information). And now that Islam and Christianity are slowly but steadily increasing their market share the policy of "separate but equal" has suddenly become an unofficial charter to these institutions.
To an unsuspecting follower the policies of Bob Jones and the preaching of Shankaracharya may seem benign explaining the division of labor. To an unbiased lover of human race these are nothing but attempts to maintain the structural hierarchy of the society. So while we have an apology from the world's most powerful person for visiting a racist school, the regrets from the Indian politicians for associating themselves with similar institutions are deafening. Nobody has any qualms about any individual or organization preaching their beliefs however barbaric and indecent they may be as long as they do not interfere with the laws and the constitution of the nation they live. It is one thing to teach Vedas to their own community, to provide financial assistance to their own poor students, to help their own poor women get married. They cannot be blamed for that. But proclaiming themselves as the leaders of the Hindu religion while striving 24/7 to maintain and uphold the discredited supremacy theory is unacceptable and any association of politicians and officials with these forces should be stopped. The question of the day is how an elected politician or a policeman or a judge will perform his or her duty if he is a follower of such organizations that do not believe in the equality for everyone.
It is time that the decent and saner Indians demand an apology from these people. It is also time for a law barring any elected official from visiting not only this mutt but any religious institution that promotes caste or religious superiority. Shringeri that provides preferential treatment based on one's caste by birth and Puri whose head once proclaimed that even if he is hanged he would support untouchability are some of the prominent examples. To be fair and unbiased the law should also prevent the participation of the any politicians and Government officials in Muslim and Christian festivals. One blatant violation of the secular principles was the nation's red carpet welcome to the Pope in 1999 who is a religious head whose organization sees India as a fertile land to gain market share.
While most of the main stream Indian media seem to be progressive it should also be noted that not many of them discussed or exposed the scandals and discriminatory practices of these mutts. In my opinion, there is one person whose apology will be a wakeup call for everyone. He is Dr. Abdul Kalam who also visited the mutt but accepted an inferior seat compared to those of Jayalalitha and Murali Manohar Joshi thereby agreeing to the Varna Dharma in principle. He is a decent man compared to all the others mentioned above and he can set an example. And for people like Sushil Kumar Shinde and others who enjoy being discriminated the law should bar them from ever running for an office again.
