Fwd: English - Know My Country - Address at 27th National BAMCEF Convention.docx

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From: <svalicharla@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 11:57 PM
Subject: English - Know My Country - Address at 27th National BAMCEF Convention.docx
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I've shared English - Know My Country - Address at 27th National BAMCEF Convention.docx

Message from svalicharla@gmail.com:

I have made some changes to the doc that I first shared via individual emails. I have now added some structure to the speech to help readers understand the flow. Also posting it to the group I thought, will help get this speech to new members as and when they join. This was my first speech that I ever gave, anywhere so request you all to read the same and share your valuables comments and suggestions.  Jai Mulnivasi, Sidd Valicharla

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• English - Know My Country - Address at 27th National BAMCEF Convention.docx

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Greeting:

President Meshram saab*, Other dignitaries on the dais and delegates who have come from all over India and rest of the world, I inaugurate this 27th National convention and thank you all for this great honor bestowed upon me.

Using Football (Soccer) to illustrate Caste differences:

As I have been introduced I am from the town of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and have been living in America for the past 10 years. When I was invited to address the BAMCEF national convention I thought that I would be a speaker for a smaller group of international delegates amounting to a hundred or so and at a stage apart from this main one. Addressing a gathering of this magnitude and scale was not something I was expecting and definitely not prepared for. However when I dig deeper and look back into my dreams and aspirations as a kid, youth and a young man I do realize that I did seek an opportunity as big as this and in fact bigger. It had to do with a passion of mine called football and I wanted to play for India in the world cup. This convention is being held in the state of West Bengal and it only seems right to me to use football as an example. Just to clarify I do know that this convention is on caste system and in the next few lines it will be clear as to the connection between a kid's dream to play football and this convention. We all know that everything in India is related and affected by caste system and if that's true then my using football to illustrate should be valid and acceptable. Doesn't it strike as odd that in a country of a billion+ people the only game that matters is cricket and that about 80% of the players in this game (playing at first class and international level) are from the upper castes and the management notoriously is entirely from the upper caste. Cricket is a game that can be played standing, a game where sweat and blood are not involved and therby suits the upper castes in every way, Also it is far easy to appear fair and yet not allow anyone even those with merit to enter into it and gain from it. In effect it can be controlled and manipulated by the upper castes.
A couple of things can be inferred from this,
Firstly whether it be a game or any other aspect in life only those activities/transactions that benefit the upper castes will be supported, encouraged, favored & showcased. Any concern for the greater good of the society and or country is virtually nonexistent. And just in case you claim that football isn't a good example 'cause we never showed skill in the same, I can prove the upper caste indifference towards sports other than cricket by taking our national game of hockey as an example. We were world champions but it didn't have anything in it for the upper castes so it was doomed!
Second thing we can infer from this example is the need for correct diagnosis and treatment. As part of analyzing our poor performance in football and sports in general at a world stage we (me and my fellow players) always looked at the external issues. We focused our thoughts around lack of sport facilities, poor coaching standards, indifference of parents to let kids pursue sports and such. What I realize now is that we never questioned as to why the above factors existed. We never had an understanding of the actual problem as I do now. And this diagnosis of a problem is of utmost importance. In most cases right diagnosis is half the battle won and paves way for the right treatment. And in this convention I see you all who have this knowledge of correct diagnosis and the right treatment. You know that caste system created by Brahmins is the root cause of all problems and you know that an ideological change as prescribed by Babasaheb Ambedkar is the treatment for the same. Without this knowledge we are too focused on the symptoms and spend our days and lives fighting them without understanding the real problem. To further illustrate the point, I have during my days seen different issues being tackled by communists, rationalists, rights activists, women's liberation and plenty more. There are if I may say so, as many problems as there are days in a year. But what we were lacking then was an understanding that all these problems stemmed from the one bigger issue of caste system. This realization at least for me is scary and also comforting at the same time. It is scary knowing that just one system (propagated by the cunning Brahmins) is the cause of all the problems but then it is comforting too to know that it is this one system then that we need to consolidate our efforts against and fight for. While working on individual problems we have been not unlike ships that have been tossed up and down by tides but never leaving the dock. Knowing this root cause has given us a new course and direction and BAMCEF has become the ocean current that promises to embark us on this journey that will secure our freedom and dignity. It is this one realization that can help us come together and present a united front.

Hard and soft effects of caste system:

Based on my limited experience I have figured that the effects of caste system are of two kinds, a hard approach which is more often than not seen in villages and small towns that involves violence and bloodshed. And a second kind more evident in cities and bigger towns that though equally discriminating is of a softer kind. Victims of this later kind I think are at a bigger disadvantage in the fact that they sometimes don't even realize that they are the victims of the caste system. In fact contrary to realizing the issue they are the first to deny the same and the last to support our cause.  I am sure it will come off as insensitive but for the benefit of the cause I feel that if these non-believers were the victims of the hard aspects of caste system they would at least be of use to the movement by becoming a statistic.

Mulnivasi History:

Before attending this convention I had the opportunity to meet Dhange saab in Hyderabad. We had a great session in which he familiarized me with our Mulnivasi culture & history which to our great disadvantage has been hidden from us. We traced our history all the way from Indus valley civilization, life of Buddha, the golden age of Buddhism, the rise of Manuwadi India, the coming of Moghuls, British rule, struggle led by Phule, Periyar and Ambedkar and finally discussing India post-independence. I was amazed at the depth, richness and diversity of our Mulnivasi heritage, and was appalled and saddened on realizing how we have been cunningly kept ignorant of it. By doing this and also dividing us (by breaking us into castes and sub castes) Brahmins have made us destitute and orphan and robbed us of a common lineage which could bond us. Don't we all on realizing that our forefathers were the first followers of Buddha and his righteous path gain immense strength and pride? Brahmins by breaking our lineage have denied us that pride and dignity in knowing that we come from a great and successful lineage. They were also successful in keeping us warring amongst us and never realize their knavery and inhumanity. This I believe is the history that we need to dig out and make available for our generation and generations to come. On conclusion of this discussion I wanted to embark on studying more books and learn our history to bring something novel to this convention. However I later realized that, within these ten days I wouldn't be able to gather the necessary resources and come up with such an address and instead decided on highlighting a few of my experiences as part of living in America and thereby make a comparison of some generic differences that I have been able to notice. I will also as part of this comparison illustrate the different activities that upper caste Indians and us Mulnivasis (living in the US) involve ourselves in and how we differ in our activities and abilities. This I thought would be a better use of this opportunity I have been given rather than trying to teach you something about which you are already the experts. I did falter though for a moment at this realization (that I am speaking to an audience wiser than me, experts) but quickly figured out that when I step down from this dais and mingle with you I will be fortunate to learn something from each of you. And this comes with knowing how hard it is to find a true leader. From our experience we all know that it's easy to become a leader and have followers as evident from the fact that even a gunman for a village sarpanch has a band of followers who salute him and buy tea for him. However the buck stops there, followers don't gain any intellectual liberation nor does the leader gain any value. What I see in you is different you are intellectually liberated and are in a true sense leaders who have accepted Babasaheb's ideology. You/we are the change makers who can take this message of equality and liberty to all corners of this country and beyond.

Need for International Exposure:

Since I will be discussing my international experiences I would like to read the below lines by Babasaheb to set the context. These lines are from his book: The Untouchables: Who Were They and Why They Became Untouchables?
"That the Hindus should not have undertaken such an investigation (to explain the origin of untouchability) is perfectly understandable. The old orthodox Hindu does not think that there is anything wrong in the observance of Untouchability. To him it is a normal and natural thing. As such it neither calls for expiation nor explanation. The new modern Hindu realizes the wrong. But he is ashamed to discuss it in public for fear of letting the foreigner know that Hindu Civilization can be guilty of such a vicious and infamous system or social code as evidenced by Untouchability."
In these lines Babasaheb tells us that orthodox Hindu doesn't consider untouchability as an inhuman practice. Modern Hindu realizes the folly and is ashamed of it but only when in the presence of foreigners. When the above lines were written by Babasaheb we had the benefit of having Englishmen and modern Hindu in India however we are not fortunate to have either in present day India. Britishers have left the country and Hindu has fallen back to his orthodox ways. So I firmly believe that we need to expose the existence of this deplorable practice in front of an international audience, because that's the only venue where Hindu will admit shame. When in India and amidst an Indian audience it is a non-issue (for Brahmins).

International Experiences

1. Dr King, Obama, Gandhi

The first one I would touch upon is something from which we draw inspiration, Civil rights movement and the leaders that come to our mind are Martin Luther King Jr who was in the thick of the struggle and America's current president Obama who is the best example of the progress that has been made since. As of today in US there is no place, scenario or instance where discrimination is practiced. All have equal rights, equal opportunities and law. As evident in the fact that America today has its first black president in Mr. Obama. Now we need to realize that unlike in India where we get our representatives picked by the parties (which are all in the hands of the Brahmins) in US representatives are truly picked by the people. In fact even to get the party ticket candidates need to prove that they are the choice of the people. And we can also see that Obama has come to office not just because of the votes he got from the blacks but because he was chosen and elected by all of America (blacks, whites, Hispanics and other ethnicities living in the US). While we take inspiration for our movement in achievements like this (where equality and dignity has triumphed) we need to take notice as to how our enemies are using this into their advantage and be wary of the same. With respect to both these leaders it is clearly evident that they have drawn their inspiration from the principles of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and must have drawn spiritual inspiration from their religion (Christianity) however they attribute these ideals and the principles of Non-Violence to Gandhi who notoriously has gained fame for them when in reality he has been the enemy of a free and fair society as we all know. This is a truth we need to bring to light and by doing so can garner support for our struggle. Now you might be thinking that someone like the president of America greets and meets prime ministers and high-commissioners who in our case are the product of the Brahmin system and hence they will never broach the truth. What we need to remember in this instance is that America is a land of opportunity and it does present opportunities for the common man to rise to influential positions. To illustrate this point I will take the example of a young man about my age. He is an American born to Gujarati immigrants. His Hollywood name in Kal Penn but his given name is Kalpen Suresh Modi. He is an actor and would introduce the then senator Obama during his campaign meetings in universities. So we can see that it was just an opportunity up for grabs and the same has been taken by this young man. Now after Mr. Obama took office he invited Kal Penn to be the Associate Director for South Asian cultural affairs which he has accepted. Now when you search for Kal Penn on the web his Wikipedia lists that he is influenced by Gandhi and revers him and such. What I want to highlight here is the fact that we Mulnivasis living in the US should diversify and enter all fields possible. Assume if it was one of us who was to get this close to the president and be their South Asian advisor wouldn't we give the truth about Gandhi, Congress and the still existent caste system! Some of the fields of works like acting, sports, politics, fashion, media have an inherent ability to reach out to a key and larger audience and as of today I only see upper caste Indian immigrants in them, we mulnivasis settled abroad should get out of the mold of education and employment and take advantage of these other fields.

2. Upper Caste Organizations in the US

When we step down from the level of presidents and get to the level of states and cities we see organizations like TANA, Telugu association of Morth America (upper castes from Andhra) and BANA, Brahmin association of North America. And then of course we have temples sprung up in different counties (equivalent to districts). What we see here is a focused approach on the part of upper castes to maintain their identity, keep all Hindus (mulnivasis) engaged even there in manuwadi dharma and finally channel our earnings into their coffers. Hope you can see all this and more in these simple, seemingly innocent actions. In contrast we mulnivasis have no such united front, no continuous cultural movement to bring us into the fold of Babasaheb. We need this and we need this now.

3. Work interactions

3.1 Arranged Marriage

When we get down to my work area I encounter other Indians and actually get to see our interactions with Americans. It is an interesting, delicate balance I should say when interactions happen between people who are liberated, those who are still bound (but don't know so), technology and innovation and old beliefs, cultures and traditions. One of the topics that comes up in such discussions is the tradition of arranged marriages. Indians are quick to criticize the high failure rate (close to 50%) of the marriages in America and proudly speak of the high success rate of arranged marriages. But we should look into the basics of marriage to understand if the success rate of arranged marriage (couples not seeking divorce) is the right measure, does it also mean that all these are successful marriages? To get married two people need to profess their love for each other and chose to unite, to divorce these same people need to realize the futility in continuing on and be willing to go their separate ways. If the former (professing love) needs 1% of courage the later (separating ways after living together) needs 110% courage. People in America can do this, they can profess their love and then when things go bad and when they realize that it's in the best interests of both parties to separate they build the courage and strength to do the same. They take responsibility for their actions right or wrong and stick to them. What I want to question the Indians supporting arranged marriage is if they are willing to show such courage and commitment. Can it be called a success then if youth in India who don't have the courage and ability to marry someone of their choice stay married to someone whom their parents pick/caste permits? We already decided that it is easy to profess love and hard to break up so when Indians don't have the means to profess love how can we expect them to break up and separate.  In India marriage has been made a caste affair and suddenly the couple involved is not in it for themselves but are in it for every other reason (family pride, caste purity, horoscope, ability of their siblings to get married, prestige of their clan). In this case staying married because they don't have a choice, because they don't want to be social outcastes and bear inhuman social outcomes in my opinion can hardly be considered a measure of success. This is an understanding we need because we will then realize that all the merit that is being given to arranged marriage is humbug, just a sham and in reality arranged marriage is just a means to enforce perpetual caste system.

3.2 Modern India

An immediate topic that follows above discussion and clearly shows the contradiction and confusion in the minds of Indians is regarding development/westernizing of India. We are asked regarding options (sports, music, arts, social interactions etc.) that a young man or woman can avail of in their free time. In a personal interaction with an American manager and about 10 Indian colleagues I answered the manager that the only way to spend free time in India is either by discussing cricket scores or by going to the movies. At this point my fellow Indians countered me by saying "that's not right - You can find all that you do in the US and more in India'. And they gave me examples of clubbing, dancing, parties, music etc. When I asked them as being representatives of that youth how many had engaged in such fun activities back in India none of them came forward. From this we can realized that Indians tend to hide the truth and are willing to believe in the mirage of development and prosperity. They disregard reality and say and act in a way that gives them a false sense of accomplishment & superiority.

4. Meet, Greet and make friends

A mundane thing for us (Indians) was brought to my attention by my wife Amanda. Before we were married she used to live in an apartment building and had some Indians (software engineers) as her neighbors. She tells me that on occasions when they would step out of their respective apartments at the same time and cross paths they would kind of ignore her, not greet her and hang their heads down and briskly walk away to the elevator, In cases where she would be a few feet behind them they would not hold the door for her or wait for her to join them. They would push the button and just head down while the door closes on my wife's face. She questioned me regarding this rude and uncivilized behavior and I to her stark surprise replied that it was civilization as known to Indians and that in most cases Indians walk past each other and definitely folks of opposite gender without acknowledging them and more often than not completely dismissing their existence. Even insects like ants (low on the species scale) with just the basic needs of finding food, reproducing and defending know the importance of communication and do so with other members of the group. Similar is the case with a group of dogs. Even when not of the same pack they never fail to acknowledge and interact with other dogs. They sniff, play or at least fight because that helps them with the group dynamics. Not Hindus though, we have been taught that a civilized person actually ignores another coming down the road and definitely so when it is someone of the opposite gender. Can't but exclaim how cunning are the ways in which Brahmins have tailored Hindu customs and traditions to look pretty inconsequential while effectively sustaining the rigid and inhuman caste system. A sad state it is when we realize that the very religion that is to bind us into a family has laid down the customs and traditions that render us indifferent to the very existence of our neighbors.

5. Dalit organizations, Caste Watch Groups and the truth they are failing to expose

As my last observation I would like to mention some aspects of the Dalit and Caste watch groups that exist abroad. These organizations I feel suffer from the same issue of fighting the symptoms than addressing the actual root cause. None of them I can say have dared to take up an ideological approach like BAMCEF has taken. Consequently they are looking at political and legal means to contain caste system and its discrimination. Please take note that I have used the word contain and not annihilate because legal and political recourse will only help contain caste system and not annihilate the same. Work done by these caste watch groups is akin to neighborhood watch in residential areas. Fundamental necessity for such a watch group is that most of the homes in the neighborhood follow the rules and it's only a handful of neibhors or rather intruders that go against such rules. Assuming a neighborhood of 100 houses, neighborhood watch will be a success if all 100 houses are living lawfully (at least forced to live lawfully) and at least 95% are willing to participate in the watch duties so that incidents (thefts, burglaries) are prevented and in case of an occurrence, are identified before great damage is done and the culprits get away. As part of this watch even if the neighborhood remains safe for an extended period of time it is not because all the thieves and burglars have been reformed it is just because you have stood a constant guard. You run the risk of these incidents reoccurring the moment you drop your guard. On the same lines, for caste watch groups to succeed most of the citizens of the country should be living lawfully and the miscreants need be just a handful and this is so in case of countries like the US and Britain. Hence containing the ill effects of caste system by legal and political methods seems feasible and might enjoy some success. However do note that even when not practiced in day to day life Hindus always carry caste around and its effects can manifest in ways unclear/impossible for legal and/or political action. What I would like to share with these organizations is that they should for sure establish legal and political systems to contain caste issues but then focus their efforts towards an ideological movement. To use an analogy a vaccine (ideological solution) has been developed for this epidemic (caste system) and we need to put efforts to get this vaccine out to all corners of the world and vaccinate all that are affected and are in close proximity. It would be counterproductive to not do so. Assuming that by just beefing up our customs/border patrol we can keep our countries safe is outright foolish. We owe it to these great countries and country men who have welcomed us with open arms, given us the opportunities we couldn't dream of back in India and consider them one of their own to give them the complete truth. And the truth I am talking about is clearly presented in the following excerpt by Babasaheb from his book - Annihilation of Caste.
"All the same, it must be recognized that the Hindus observe Caste not because they are inhuman or wrong-headed. They observe Caste because they are deeply religious. People are not wrong in observing Caste. In my view, what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated this notion of Caste. If this is correct, then obviously the enemy, you must grapple with, is not the people who observe Caste, but the Shastras which teach them this religion of Caste."
And this is the truth we need to bring to light 'that the religion (Hinduism) is the culprit! Also note that failure of legal and political system as a means to end caste system is readily evident in India. Constitution prepared by Babasaheb mentions all such equal rights and anti-caste laws but has failed to liberate the Mulnivasis.
Those were a few observations that I wanted to make. Coming to what I would like to do …

The stories are our's and we should be the ones telling them

Americans relate India to yoga, Kama sutra, software giant, Tajmahal and snake charmers we need to also show them the flip side - countless cases of farmer suicides, poverty, famine, dowry deaths, child labor, religious intolerance and caste atrocities and more importantly show the underlying cause. We have had some movies depicting these issues, slum dog millionaire (highlighting poverty) which won an Oscar and then a short movie Kavi (highlighting child slavery) which was nominated for short Oscar. However these movies linger on the symptoms and don't mention the underlying caste system.  I have heard this saying in last year's convention (26th National convention).
'Agar gulami humari hain tho azaadi khi ladayi humein hi ladna hoga' isi tarah 'Agar kahani humari hain tho use humein hi bataana hoga'.
When slavery is ours, fight for freedom should also be ours.  Similarly when the stories are our's then we should be the ones telling them.

I will better myself and I will better my Family

In conclusion, when I see all of you here who are following an ideological method to defeat this caste monster and we are followers of Gautama Buddha, Phule, Nanak, Periyar and Dr. Ambedkar, I take great pride and draw great courage. I would like to say that when I return home from India. Yes I call America my home now because I consider it my home. Please don't judge me on this by comparing me to the heroes and heroines in movies like Pardesh where it is always shown that coming back to India and settling down is ultra patriotic. Believe me when I say that those movies are made to keep us mulnivasis in the dark. These upper caste people when they go abroad make sure they always settle there or at least make their permanent resident cards so that they have the option of going back as and when needed. Coming back to my pledge! I pledge that I will better myself and I will better my family. It will be a shame not to do so considering the opportunities I am presented with. This time too when I go back to the US I pledge the same thing, I will better myself and I will better my family. However this time when I go back my family will not consists of just my parents, wife and sisters but also all of you and your dreams. When I will land in US with this Agenda I will be called insane, a madman.  I had once returned to my home town when in the middle of my engineering studies and being a football player got into a conflict that was raging at the district football association. A senior mentor pulled me aside and chided me for getting into the same, he said that I was all set to complete my course, get a good job, then fly off to the US and get married to a decent girl. He questioned me as to what I thought I was achieving by getting into this argument and called me insane. When compared to that simple instance taking up this bigger agenda people will not be satisfied at calling me a mad man but will call me a hopeless mad man, But that's alright 'cause as I've read in Meshram saab's speech given in last year's convention that its ok to be a sensible mad man (one with a cause and a goal). I will be a sensible mad man taking on this cause and fighting for our rights and dignity.
I take leave now by mentioning that I will dedicate myself to this cause and request the organizations leadership to suggest future conduct and work that they would like me to proceed with in the international (North America) space. And I see that a meeting to this effect (discussing an international agenda) is scheduled for 3 PM today and I will attend the same sitting in the front rows and eagerly looking for the next steps and general direction!
Jai Mulnivasi!

--
Palash Biswas
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