Caste means profession!

Readers would have got by now that the caste is nothing but the profession one adapts for the livelihood. Also we have seen that how new castes emerged with new innovations and inventions and how some castes disappeared as their professions no more were required. It was the flexible system, unlike the pyramid of Vedic Varna system it was horizontal. People could move from one to other professions easily. We have many historical evidences to prove this fact.

 The problem of the scholars is invariably they have tried to analyze Indian social system through Vedic glasses. One must bear in mind that Vedic literature naturally would talk about its own system. This is why Vedic literature doesn’t provide any definition of origin of the caste system. “Jati” (Caste) was never ever foundation of their social order. It was Varna, descending order of the social classes. Larger segment of the Indian society always remained non-Vedic, following their pre-Vedic religious and social order. Hence connecting both, Vedic and non-Vedic, was wrong which created social confusion. 

The Smriti’s started giving strange explanations of origin of the castes. They found it in anulom and pratilom marriages. The offspring’s of such marriages would form certain caste. Social history doesn’t support it. It was a lame explanation in absence of the knowledge of practical reasons that formed a caste. Dr. Ajay Mitra Shastri says in this regard that, as various occupations became ancestral, they formed the castes. To adjust the castes in Varna system Smriti’s considered anulom (marriage of lower Varna woman with high Varna man)and pratilom (marriage of high Varna woman with lowerVarna man) marriages being responsible for emergence of various castes. However, the attempt seems to have failed as people mentioned their own castes in various donations inscriptions.  (Itihas: Parachin Kal (Vol.1) Maharashtra State Gazetteer, page 489)   

However, the idea that was invented to explain the castes (professions) of non-Vedic masses through Vedic perspective; was certainly insulting as the definition treated them as a product of corrupt marital ties. This couldn’t have been accepted by the masses or rather they may not even know it because they anyway were forbidden from Vedic literature. What we can say is it was a fine example of moral corruption of Vedics.  

Here Dr. Shastri is referring to the donation inscriptions in Buddhist caves of early history of Maharashtra. We also know the instances of numerous Shudra kings, mentioned by Mahabharata, Satapatha Brahmana and Manu. Dr. Shastri sates that there were many Shudra kings came in the power in early and medieval era as well, and with proud they have mentioned their Shudra origin in inscriptions. However there are rare instances where kings are referring themselves as Kshatriyas. 

Most of the occupational professions were controlled by the non-Vedic masses. They were money lenders, artisans, landlords, peasants, knights, traders, sea farers, service providers and soldiers. Vedic’s too on small scale have seen to be entering in to such professions during Mauryan era those were prohibited to them by Smritis. What we can see that the social mobility did prevail. 

Warrior was never ever a permanent class in INDIAN society. Kings seldom established their permanent salaried forces. The Farmers and peasant would be part time soldiers while most of the times landlords being their commanders. They would assemble their army in the times of the needs to join the expeditions. Such profession couldn’t have been traditional. It was occupation of choice, unrelated to Vedic social system simply because they were not part of it. 

Vedic kings appear in the history in form of Shungas and Kanvas. Revival of Vedicism is attributed to their reign. Maurya’s were non-Vedic and so were the Satvahana’s, the most powerful dynasties of India. THE WARRING Clans like Yodheya, Abhira, Kuntal, Shakya etc. too were non-Vedic, not belonging to any Varna of Vedic social order. In fact the influence of Vedic religion is nowhere to be traced in iconography of ancient times. Had it been influential we could note some presence of it in numismatics or inscriptions.  But this also is not the case.

When we hardly can trace influence of Vedicism in early era, except for few regions of north, it is unscientific to say that Indian social order was  influenced by Vedic code in those times. People in inscriptions inscribed their castes, but not Varna is also a proof to indicate Vedic social order had not been accepted by the people at large.

People have mentioned their castes (professions) with pride in the donation inscriptions. Such  castes include Halik (ploughers), Sutar (carpenter), Sonar (Goldsmith) Lohar (Blacksmith) Teli (oil makers), Vinkar (Weavers), Koli (Fishermen), Mali (gardener), Charmakar (Cobbler) etc. It would appear that the donor castes were rich enough to donate. They could accumulate wealth and spend it as per their own choice without any social or religious restrictions.

Also we can see that many castes of early centuries of our era no more exist, such as Ploughers (Halik). Hence there is no proof that the caste system was rigid from its inception. Many new castes appeared and old were vanished. Also there was a caste “Odyantrik” (makers of water-run-machines) which also is no more now.

We can safely conclude that the caste meant profession. The names of the caste too clearly suggest profession. It was a flexible and horizontal system. Status or dignity of the profession would naturally depend on the financial or authoritative status it would provide. There could be up and downs depending on the economic and political circumstances. We are aware that many people lost their professions during waning era of the Indus civilization as foreign trade came to gradual halt and worsening climatic changes. Naturally people turned to other professions for survival. However evidences indicate that the independent invention of glass making helped some to establish other profession (caste) for survival. No one can claim, under the circumstances, that his ancestors always belonged to the same caste to which he belongs now! Pride of the caste hence is unnatural.

So there is no shred of the evidence to show that caste system was rigid, birth based since its beginning and it was enforced upon indigenous people by invading barbaric Vedics. It originated with the professions those human being invented, innovated in course of the time for survival. It has nothing to do with any religious doctrine. confusing caste system with the Vedic religion's  social Varna system have already done irreparable harm to Indian society. The caste customs have entirely different origin that we will discuss in next chapters.

This also would mean that the status or prestige of the castes solely were dependent on the economic strength or weakness that would provide. The needs of the society are ever changing bringing ups and downs in every profession. Many professions become extinct as there remains no anymore requirement and new professions flourish with the demand.

Such social situation we can find to be prevailing till tenth century AD. The birth based rigid caste system seems to have been emerged after this era. We will naturally have to discuss what led society to enter in a dark era from its original free atmosphere? When Varna system did start plaguing non-Vedic masses and how did they accept supremacy of Vedic religion though they largely remained non-Vedics and continued to follow their pre-Vedic faith?

We shall probe this vital question in next chapters.

Origin of the Vedic's and their schemes!

Superficially, it may appear that the Aryan or Indo-European language speaker’s migration theory, whether correct or incorrect, is a serious attempt to understand our roots. We also can expect from such attempts that they are not prejudiced and marred with hidden agenda to prove some group of the people, speaking certain proto-languages, were superior over others. However, if we look at the history of last 200 years on this ever-boiling ‘homeland’ issue, we will eventually come to the conclusion that the motives of all the sides of this debate are racially and hence, politically motivated. The racial aspects those were prominent during the 19^th century and early 20^th century, now are changed to PIE language origins and the subsequent dispersals of its speakers, but underlying meaning clearly seems to be unchanged. The issue of Proto-Indo-European’s (PIE) homeland has been controversial since beginning, with no consensus on any as it simply is based on the artificial reconstruction of the so called IE languages.

It is not that all scholars agree with the linguistic reconstruction theories. Shaffer et al observed, “Historical linguistic scholars still assiduously attempting to reconstruct Proto-Indo-European language and attempting to link that language to a specific homeland, in order to define population migration away from the seminal geographical base.” ¹

The problem with the scholars seems to be they have preconceived the necessity of the “single location origin” and have been building their theories eversince. To anyhow find the ‘original homeland’ of the PIE language speakers thus became basis of their quest to solve the assumed linguistic mysteries. Several original homelands have been proposed, migration maps have been drawn, and yet there is no agreement because they have not taken into the consideration that to cause ‘Net of the Languages’ original homeland of any particular people and their dispersals were not required. I have focused on this issue and after giving due consideration to the present homeland theories, have challenged “Single Location Origin” theories, based on the pre-history of the humanities and the languages.

Let us not forget that the history of languages begins minimum of 70,000 years ago. It is not as young as PIE theorists tend to believe. The history of human settlements, too, goes back many millenniums prior to the assumed dates of so called migrations of PIE language speakers. For history of the so called PIE languages, we cannot limit our search just as back as 2,000 BC to 7,000 BC but we need to go beyond that to the era when the faculty of the languages emerged in the remote ancestor of the modern human being. For millenniums, the ancestors, while on constant move in search of the food, with independent innovations and constant interactions, painfully, have developed the basic structures of the languages. Languages, even proto, were not independent, isolated innovations. Human being, with the invention of the agriculture, started settling down about 15,000 BC to 10,000 BC. Then, onwards, the people mostly have independently developed their languages and cultures, based on the accumulated wealth from the past, in different regions, wherever they had settled. The pastoral nomadic life, too, the scholars forget, was limited to the known territories, unless, some drastic circumstances forced some tribe/s to look for new habitats. Foragers long since had limited their roaming in the known territories, interacting with the almost same tribes, either as enemies or as friends. The roaming was intelligent and not aimless. He communicated, exchanged and learnt the innovations, whether linguistic or technological. Rather, most of the settlements occurred in the known regions thus creating a net of the languages and cultures within the horizons of the earlier known regions. During this course inter-breeding within the tribes coming across most frequently were obvious. Thus using archeo-genetics to prove the “expansions” of some groups of the people occurred about 10,000 to 14,000 years ago, also cannot become the foundation of expansion/migration theories as well. The genetics, too, it would appear, to have been used to prove expansionist theories, but not to any avail. 

If agreed to their suppositions, no matter which data they use to prove their theories, the vital question remains unanswered that why as yet they are unable to find the original homeland? Why so heated debates, sometimes reaching to undignified levels? In fact, Biblically motivated, supremacist European scholars, in an attempt to search their own identity in the hypothetical ancestors, located at some imaginary place, speaking the same language in its earliest form and their invasions/migrations to cause cultural and language spread after subjugating  the natives, have given birth to this unending crazy quest of the original homeland!

Recently, taking a clue from the possible repercussions of the theory, Indian Vedicists, too, came forward with a big claim that India was the homeland of the Vedic Aryans. They do not stop here. They claim that the IE languages (and culture) did spread to the West with their outward movements! We can call this a kind of supremacist euphoric and half-baked counter attack on the European theorists of the same genre!

With the same purpose, while trying to prove the progenitors of the cultures across the regions wherever so called IE languages are spoken; these so called indigenous Aryan theorists have staked the big claim on IGC (Indus-Ghaggar Civilization) as well.² Vedicists may not be far advanced in their own remote culture, but, it clearly seems, they are well advanced in their spurious attempts to steal heritages of the others!

The claims from both the sides, unbiased being a few, no matter how scholarly they twist the facts, no matter how they misinterpret the same evidence deriving opposite meanings sometimes, have only a problem that they are heavily influenced by the misconception of the single location origin. Linguistic science is often called as pseudo-science because it does not work like a mathematical model. It has lots of parametres as to how it would evolve and what many other unpredictable factors would affect its course.

Also, the debate overwhelmingly is centered on the horse-chariots, being a major basis of the debate, claimed to be an invention of PIE people. The migration route maps are drawn on that hypothesis based on early and late findings.  Using the same data, surprisingly, indigenous Aryan theorists are now claiming that Vedic Aryans did not know spoke wheeled chariots, rather by ‘Ratha’, they could have been referring to wagons with solid wheels!³ The sole objective behind this somersault is to stretch back the timeline of the Rig Veda, pre-Harappan, to prove migrations of indigenous Vedic Aryans to adjust timeframes of other rich civilization, including IGC, and stake a claim on them as their authors.⁴ Otherwise, there cannot be any explanation to why the Vedicist scholars, previously waging a war to prove that IGC knew the spoke wheels and that horse too, was known to them, should change dramatically their stance? Similarly, we find how the geological explorations conducted at the Ghaggar channels and their findings have grossly been either neglected or shrewdly misrepresented to claim Ghaggar being lost river Saraswati of Rig Veda. This is the ridiculous way our modern Vedicist scholars are overworking, but not scientifically and honestly!

I have seriously challenged single location origin theories of languages, with new scientific proof in support, which clearly indicates that they do not fit into the picture of the history of humanities. Though the invasionists or migrationists have been claiming the Indo-European movement to India which, they assert, caused substantial impact on the Indian civilisation and languages, there simply are no archeological or literary proof to support such movements.

Kenoyer remarks from the archeological evidence that the genetic data derived from the burials of early and let Harappa indicates very limited biological discontinuities and can be attributed to the movement of the traders travelling from Iranian plateau and Indus Settlements. Such trade interactions are recorded from the earliest Neolithic period (+7,000 BC) through Harappan period. It does not at all indicate massive movement of the people. Scull measurement data, too, indicates that the burials of the Harappan period, too, have closest biological affinity with those of the late Harappan period. The archaeologists confirm, from the beads found in a bead pot in 1996, the technological innovations and change in trade networks and socioeconomic hierarchies in the late Harappan period. The glass industry was becoming prominent in this era (1,900 and 1,700 BC). There is conclusive proof that during this era, there was no interaction of Indus-Ghaggar people with Mesopotamia and Egypt, may be the trade with these civilisations had come to a halt because of the political upheavals. But the agreement is the Indus glass technology was an indigenous development. From the beads made of agate in late Harappan period till the early historic sites of Gangetic plains, it is suggested that this raw material (agate) could have been sourced from Central Deccan plateau or the Vindhya Mountain, thus suggesting a wider trade network within the subcontinent. In short, the continuity in the basic features of architectural traditions as well as in many technologies has been proven. The discontinuities reported by the archaeologists are the use of seals, weights and writing which only prove the changes in key technological and cultural features that were associated with the early Harappan period. Also, the biological evidence from Harappa does not indicate a significant change in population^{.  5}

Senior archaeologist, B.B. Lal, who earlier was in favour of the Migration Theory, later changed his stance and started propagating the Indigenous Aryan Theory using the same proofs, though with some misinterpretations, that there was never any massive movement in India.⁶ Jim G. Shaffer and Diane A Lichtenstein, too, are not in favor of migration and call it a ‘myth’.⁷ Yes, we have to agree, in the absence of any archeological evidence, that there was no migration to India of so-called PIE speakers. But on the same grounds, with utmost certainty, we can state that there was no migration to the west from India as well! The way AIT/AMT theory is loaded with serious faults, Out of India theory too is not an exception, rather is more idiocratic!

Then, naturally, few questions will be raised, such as, where Rig Veda was composed? What relation they had with IGC or rather whether the culture reflected in Rig Veda can be compared with the culture of IGC? Can Rig Veda be pre-Harappan as some scholars tend to believe? Were the composers of Rig Veda part of IGC or was it composed elsewhere? If Rig Veda was composed elsewhere, how come that the Vedic religion found space in northern India, in the absence of migrating hoards of Aryans or branch of Indo-Iranians? Is the Ghaggar river Rig Vedic Saraswati? What relationship, geographical, linguistic as well religious, we can notice between Rig Veda and Avesta? And finally, were the Vedic Aryans indigenous? Well, I have tried to answer these and related questions in this book, as diligently as possible, based on the available proof and facts.

This book is not aimed at creating any controversy, but to bring reality to the notice of the readers and how the debate of origin has been fought ceaselessly to just prove a hypothesis which has no supportive strong evidence. Out of India or from Eurasia to India…both the theories have their vital shortcomings and sometimes loaded with deliberate misinterpretations which have made the comparatively simple issue very complicated. From central to south Asia, various civilisations have evolved, prospered till the time was favorable and collapsed because of the technological shifts, climate changes, political upheavals or cultural revolutions. “It is into the cultural area of Greater Iran that the mobile pastoralist speakers of early Indo-Iranian and Indo-Aryan entered. The sudden decline of all cultures of the area, from Mesopotamia to the Indus and from Bactria to Bahrain and Oman, at the beginning of the second millennium is suggestive, but it cannot simply be explained by an "invasion of Aryan hordes”. The situations in all areas concerned are to disparate and they also are geographically too distant (e.g. in Oman) as to allow such a simple, mono-causal explanation." ⁸ Thus states Michael Witzel. It will indicate that the migrationist scholars, too, are hesitant to attribute fall of the civilisations to the migrating nomadic, comparatively less civilized people. Rather, I have shown with the archeological proofs that BMAC culture was contemporary to the Zoroaster and composers of the Rig Veda. They weren’t new foreign cultural elements encroaching on an established civilisation but apparently were contemporary to it. They spoke the same dialects with regional variances and by and large its descendent languages are still spoken in these regions. There was no need of so called Proto-Indo-European speaker’s migrations to linguistically and culturally influence the already established civilisations. Rather, the development of the languages becomes complex and yet polished in the settled societies for want of their over grown socio commercial needs, rather than in nomadic society for their limited needs of expressions.

However, we can clearly see that the homeland quest was emerged out of racial egotisms. Trautmann had rightly remarked, “This is the theory that Indian civilization was formed by a big bang, caused by the light-skinned, Aryan, civilized invaders over dark skinned savage aboriginal Indians, and the formation of the caste system which bound two in a single society, at once mixed and segregated. If this theory were true, there aught to be evidence in the earliest Vedic texts.” ⁹ However, we shall see further in the book that there was no migration of Indo-Europeans in India or out of India, but what came to India was Vedic religion by way of the missionary activities.

 Vedicist scholars have fallen to the supremacist notions of the European scholars this is why they too have jumped into the band-wagon of the homeland issue, just to prove their superiority over large Indian masses and even over the westerners! The identity crisis of the Vedicists is thus has become a serious issue. While searching for their roots, Vedicists are attempting to discredit non-Vedic masses from their glorious heritage on flimsy and sometimes fabricated grounds. Such attempts demands serious condemnation! 

However, we can see from the opinions of various scholars that the migrations of the people from any direction are gradually being doubted, but still due to the psychological rigidity they possess, they do not want to abandon the outdated and unproven theory. This is why, though their observations and findings are almost correct, their conclusions and counter suggestions and unending arguments to find alternative explanations have become the main hurdle in concluding Aryan or PIE language controversy!

The supremacist views of the scholars thus have marred the spirit of honest cultural debate and search of the roots of civilisations. With all due respect to the scholars of the present and past, I have tried to throw light on the stark realities of the civilisations debated over so far to present new insights about our roots.

* * *

References and notes

1. “South Asian Archeology and the Myth of Indo-Aryan Invasions” by   Jim G. Shaffer and Diane A. Lichtenstein in “The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History”, edited by Edwin Bryant, Laurie Patton, Pub. Routledge, 2005, page 93.

2. For this see “Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate” by Koenraad Elst, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1999. Also see “Rigveda: A Historical Analysis” by Shrikant G. Talageri, Aditya Prakashan, 2000 and “The Rigveda and the Avesta: The final Evidence” by same author, Aditya Prakashan, 2008. 

3. “A Reply to Michael Witzel’s ‘Ein Fremdling im Rgveda’”, by Vishal Agarwal, published online on 11 August 2003. You will find many interesting aspects of the Vedicist views those even deny Vedic Aryans during Satapatha Brahmana era knew iron. The magical play with the term “syamaayasa”, (black metal, i.e. Iron.) has been made here to discard Witzel’s assumption that the Satapatha Brahmana being creation of the full-blown iron age. It is clear Agarwal wants to stretch back the period of this text to bronze age.  

4.  For example see, “Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate” by Koenraad Elst, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, 1999

5. “Culture changes during the Late Harappan period at Harappa: new insights on Vedic Aryan issue”, by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer in “The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History”, edited by Edwin Bryant, Laurie Patton, Pub. Routledge, 2005, page 31-40.

6. “Aryan Invasion of India- Perpetuation of a myth” by B. B. Lal, in “The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History”, edited by Edwin Bryant, Laurie Patton, Pub. Routledge, 2005, page 50-72.

7. “South Asian Archeology and the Myth of Indo-Aryan Invasions” by   Jim G. Shaffer and Diane A. Lichtenstein in “The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History”, edited by Edwin Bryant, Laurie Patton, Pub. Routledge, 2005.

8. “The home of the Aryans” by Michael Witzel, available on line on http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf,  page 8.

9. ‘The Aryan Debate’ by Thomas R. Trautmann, pub.: Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 100.

What really should worry us?

 

Kanhayya Kumar’s arrest under charges of sedition and conspiracy raise serious questions on Indian democracy and legal machinery which apparently have acted in haste. We will have to probe our thoughts those normally are influenced by media and the political side we prefer to support to reach bottom of the issue. The truth always get buried if we cannot think unbiased and prefer to talk what people of our preferred side think.

I have gone through Kumar’s 23 minute long speech. There is nothing in that speech which remotely can attract any criminal charge, forget sedition and conspiracy. In his entire speech he talks on our constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Bhagatsingh etc. He has spoken of Pakistan and Bangla in one sentence to express communist ideology, labors of the world be united. He has named terrorists like Kasab, Afjal Guru, but in which context? He says we have to eliminate the reasons why one prefers violent actions? He has bashed BJP, RSS and ABVP for its sectarian and tyrant views and actions. He hasn’t praised any terrorist in his entire speech.

It is facts that at the venue anti-India slogans were shouted in retaliation with ABVP activists slogans blaming the organizers anti-national. The gathering was organized to commemorate hanging of Afjal Guru. Organizers were different students union than of Kanhayya. Kanhayya was invited there to speak on judicial killing. JNU authorities at eleventh hour had withdrawn the permission which was already issued to Umar Khalid’s union DSU. The proofs so far those have surfaced indicate that Umar Khalid and his supporters had raised anti-national slogans. Kanhaiyya did not participate in sloganeering.  But Khalid and his about ten colleagues have so far escaped wrath of the police department and media.

The only student arrested is Kanhaiya Kumar,  after three day custody and brutal physical manhandling by the lawyers,  has been sent to the jail as charges of sedition are non-bailable.  Anyway, now law will take its own course and let us hope that politics and public sentiment, whatever it might be does not influence any judgment.

Students participating politics or having political views is a global phenomena. Students have been instrumental in many revolutions including Indian freedom movement. They have every right to have political views and follow the ideology of their own choice and join any students organization of their choice. I am neither communism supporter nor RSS admirer. However I have right to have my views on what is happening around me. This invites attention at the incidents taking place all around those are shaking very foundation of my nation.

I think Kumar shouldn’t have gone at commemoration of a hanged terrorist, no matter the lecture he was going to deliver on judicial killing.

But is it a crime? Are we aware that Marathi Vishvakosh (Encyclopedia), published by Maharashtra govt.  terms Bhagatsingh- Rajguru etc. as terrorists? Hero of one side always is villain for other side. Rebellions or freedom fighters to us are terrorists or criminals to opposite side. To divisive, separatist Kashmiris Afjal is hero, a martyr. If Kashmiri’s (Khalid is Kashmiri) are thinking that way we have to go deep to the root cause and try to resolve it. Superficial and sentimental outcry or remedies just can’t take us anywhere, as a nation. There are efforts by other organizations as well to establish murderers as an icon. We have seen it in case of Nathuram. There could be many others. If people can still gather at commemoration ceremony of Nathuram and they are not treated as criminals then why there should be chaos on Afjal’s commemoration?

Here I am not trying to make any comparison. But law of the country treated both the criminals in same fashion and had hanged them. We just cannot look at every case in isolation. Gathering at both the commemoration ceremonies, and any for that matter, may be is ethically wrong, but certainly it is not a crime.

Should there be capital punishment in India? Should there be judicial killing permitted? Thinkers of the country are divided on this issue. To me judicial killing should be abolished. Pt. Javaharlal Nehru too was against verdict of hanging of  Nathuram.  It is against Gandhian principles. Death penalties are medieval brutalities. Any society that claims to have progressed cannot have in their law books capital punishment. Law is not to avenge the criminal/terrorist for his acts by taking his life but is for to value life. I too am not with capital punishment.

Most importantly, we have to understand students (youth) sentiments. They are to run nation in the future. They have their thoughts and ideas as too how they want to see affairs of the nation are conducted. They are normally attached to this or that ideology.  Their views too keep changing with experience. Nothing is permanent here. To attain maturity we have to provide them free atmosphere. But we often fail in making our next generation more mature. Right from our education system to political system has been trying so often to keep students under stupor of their goals. Youth has been used. Youth is not evolving as they are short of real freedom.

However, why institutions/Universities be involved in advocating some particular ideologies? JNU is famous for being leftist camp. There are schools and colleges those propagate RSS  ideologies. many Madrasa's educate kids in religious fundamentalism. The students are a raw material for many educational institutions, run by political or religious  wings, where students are carefully molded to suit their own philosophies right from childhood to make them a pawn or instrument in achieving their own goals. Main culprits are the institutions. In fact, by law, no institution or university should be allowed to advocate any specific ideology. They should be open to all thoughts. Let student decide what suits them. Institutions have no right whatsoever to corrupt students mind by the specific thought of their own choice. It is students freedom to make their own minds from their own uninfluenced understandings to look at the world. They certainly deserve this freedom and we should grant them unconditionally. 

In fact any government too should not force to introduce curriculum that upholds their thought or ideologies. But in our country it seldom has happened that students have got to study the things those were unbiased, close to the proven facts and not influenced with some ulterior motives.

Rather we have made, so far, an attempt to manufacture the students, our next generations, of our preferences and have tried ever to kill the future. This is why we have been facing such problems, shouting slogans pro-India or anti-India is not the main issue. It all is futile. Main issue is how we desire to build our nation in future and make next generations capable of shouldering the challenges. And only with wisdom this is possible. 

In fact let students participate in politics, let them form their own opinions, let them have understanding of their history, but no attempt should be there to make them blockheads by manipulating their minds.

Let them be free thinkers. 

But this is not happening. From Congress to opposition are trying to get political mileage and government is seen to have handled this issue very immaturely and childishly.

I pray for sanity at both sides and wish they reach to the root of such issues and amend their perspective to make vibrant and free India. 

SBP commends Supreme Court's initiative to re-examine same-sex relationship

SBP commends Supreme Court's initiative to re-examine same-sex relationship

Swarna Bharat Party, India’s only liberal party, commends the Supreme Court’s decision to re-examine the question of same-sex relationship and hopes the Constitutional Bench will quash Section 377 of the IPC which criminalises homosexuality.

SBP president Vishal Singh said in a press note that this provision violates the principle of equality and liberty guaranteed to every citizen by India’s constitution.

From the scientific perspective, homosexuality has long been proven to have a significant biological (i.e. genetic) component. Criminalising homosexuality is a throwback to the time when ignorant prejudice ruled the world.

In 2013, the Supreme Court upheld this obnoxious section of the IPC. The party believes that was an inappropriate decision. A government can have no role in people’s bedrooms in matters of consensual sex. Section 377 is a direct assault on citizens’ liberty and privacy. Such a perspective on human behaviour is inappropriate in a day and age when India must actively promote the scientific attitude so it can prosper on the foundations of scientific knowledge.

Mr. Singh further said that SBP stands firmly on the side of activists who have fought to decriminalize gay sex. SBP hopes the Supreme Court will soon hear the curative petition and determine to abolish this blight on human dignity and liberty.

Mr. Vishal Singh also outlined the party’s position on an important related issue. Gay couples that wish to live together in a marriage-like relationship, should legally be able to do so. It may be inappropriate, however, to term such a relationship as ‘marriage’, to distinguish it from traditional heterosexual marriage.

Mr. Singh also noted that it may be inappropriate to give such form of cohabitation the right to bring up adopted children. However, the party is committed to an evidence-based approach and believes that a detailed assessment of evidence, with the best interests of children in mind, should inform the country’s final position on this issue.