Only Brahmins right?

CP JOSHI had once contrived to lose an election by one vote when he was the front-runner for the Rajasthan CM’s post. This time when the Congress apparently stands a good chance of pulling off a win in Rajasthan, the veteran’s immoderation may have disqualified him from the contest even before the votes are cast. A livid Rahul Gandhi arm-twisted Joshi to withdraw his statement that ‘only Brahmins know about Hindu religion’ while questioning the authority of non-Brahmins Narendra Modi, Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambara in the context of their campaign for the Ram temple. Joshi in one stroke demolished two cardinal principles that define Independent India: all humans are created equal and religion is a personal and individualistic affair that allows believers to find their own answers.

 Joshi ought to be aware that the practice of upper-caste priests, mostly Brahmins, trying to manage society by their stranglehold over religious rituals began to be progressively loosened with the arrival of the British. The 2014 elections in particular dealt a body blow to this traditional preserve with the political emergence of a new breed of sadhus and sadhvis, other than the names he mentioned from the non-Brahminical fold. The enhanced political competition by the non-Brahmins would have been a cause for irritation for Joshi rather than his innocence of caste dynamics, as was the case with the Twitter official.

If at all the Hindutva brigade is to be halted, it is by pointing out their un-Hindu tendencies, chief of which is their strategy of coercion, a sure- shot recipe for chaos and civil disharmony.  It is the task of political India to dismantle the inequality by birth of different communities within Hinduism. Joshi and his party may win the election, but his prescriptive approach falls short of that ideal and is no different from that being espoused by his rivals who want one size to fit all. His world view of priestly patriarchy as the sole arbiter of matters of religion seems to emulate the cloak of uniformity Hindutva seeks to impose.