The contemporary political period is a terrain of democratic contestation as history is reviewed by multiple claims, intentions and ideological persuasions. Socio-historical narratives are seen as a necessary capital which is utilised by the intellectual junta to develop a concrete consciousness about the past in order to claim their legitimate space in the present. The Dalit-Bahujans are the new entrants in this knowledge system with a poised motive to debrahmanise history in a radical way by applying epistemological tools derived from their social experiential past. Kancha Ilaiah, one of the important contributors within this discourse, in his recent work, locates the difference between the dominant brahmanical values and the emerging consciousness among the Dalit-Bahujans on the basis of certain ethical concerns. His latest work, Post-Hindu India is a journey to explore the nature of social communities in Andhra Pradesh, which periodically provides a generalised picture of India?s contesting social realities.
The core premise of his argument is based on the formation of a communitarian robust selfhood of the depressed castes in comparison with the obsessive individualism of the Brahmanic self. He uses rich empirical evidences to argue that some tribals have devoted their lives to enhance human capabilities in several ways. They adhere to scientific temperament and their social milieu is highly egalitarian with little offshoots of patriarchal domination. These passionate judgments prove the parasitic nature of Brahmin castes in particular and upper castes in general. He argues that the exclusivity of brahmanic nature has created caste as the divisive force and consciously condemned the productive labour forces as impure, degraded and inhumane beings to perpetuate their control over the society. The usage of new metaphors such as spiritual fascists to demonstrate the social psyche of Brahminism is innovative.
The Dalit-Bahujan perspective judges the popular interpretations of India?s past as another attempt to camouflage the realities of social relationships. The author argues that the projected Hindu spiritual universe is crudely fascistic and crafted under the leadership of brahmanical elite to avoid dialogue over religious superstitions, patriarchy, and caste exploitation. He tries to build a collective Dalit-Bahujan perspective on Indian culture which attacks the operative dominant elements within society and engages in the discourse of reinventing alternative non-Hindu perspectives of culture and tradition. He assumes that it helped them (especially the OBCs) in strengthening their autonomous identity, acquiring self confidence and in carving out a new growth path. It also presents a possible roadmap on what would be the driving force to constitute a future Indian society in a democratic and egalitarian fashion. In this process the author lays the foundation for a transformation of the caste-cultural consciousness among the Dalit-Bahujans, with the aim to wage a final revolutionary battle to annihilate the dominant social psychology of brahmanical system.
The book is a passionate attempt to quench the thirst of the activists who hope for a social revolution. It is a commendable work that utilises wide anthropological resources to bring forth a variety of productive tools, customs and food habits of the Dalit Bahujan communities. Excluding some factual errors eg Manipur is a Christian majority state (page xx) and South Korea is a socialist country (page xvii) and using degraded terms like chandala to notify Dalits (page 237) the book sincerely problematises the notion of Hinduism in a provocative way. It has the capacity to generate a debate over this very notion.
The writer teaches at Delhi University