Posted by Ed Viswanathan on January 17, 19102 at 09:53:06:
Mahathma Gandhi said: UNTOUCHABILITY IS A CRIME AGAINST GOD AND MEN. Mahatma Gandhi called UNTOUCHABLES by the name HARIJANS meaning CHILDREN OF GOD. He fought for their emancipation and in 1949, soon after independence from Britain, Govt. of India made it a criminal offense to practice UNTOUCHABILITY. Still in many parts of India, you can come across the ugly relics of caste system. One great untouchable who became a prominent leader of modern India, Mr. Ambedker wrote: TO THE UNTOUCHABLES, HINDUISM IS A VERITABLE CHAMBER OF HORRORS. I am the author of an international best seller on Hinduism, AM I A HINDU? [www.amiahindu.com] Since childhood, I am always tormented by the word CASTE and caste system. CASTE is a throbbing question in me. Why a culture so tolerant, so beautiful, so appealing backing a very deplorable division of the society. With hundreds of thousands of DALITS [refer to INDIA WEST November 9,2001--page A22] converting to Buddhism in November and millions of Hindus in India converting to Islam and Christianity, we have to ask this proverbial question,
IS A CASTE A BLESSING OR CURSE?? Jews and Christians gave up on slavery, even though SLAVERY IS AN ACCEPTED FACT [Col. 4:11, Exodus 21:21; 1: Lev. XXV:44- 55; Thessalonians 3:22 ] in the Holy Bible. Christians gave upon slavery, even though Biblical passages were used by over 200 preachers to justify slavery before the Civil War.. Like wise we have to give up on caste system.