BÁBÁ
Táraka is turning Delhi Prout into a reformist magazine
Namaskár,
In the English Delhi Prout magazine, an article entitled “Caste in Pakistan: The elephant in the room” has been published. The aforementioned article is directly copied from the internet (see note 1 for a web link). Verbatim copying is not the only cause of concern here. The article quite graphically presents the idea of caste-based and gender-based oppression in Pakistan. The problem is pointed out but no solution has been provided. There is no Proutist analysis. The article is laced with casteist sentiment and goes completely against the teachings of Prout, yet the article is published ironically in the Prout magazine. Here we are talking about an article in the issue 11, volume 27 of English Delhi Prout magazine, entitled “Caste in Pakistan”.
Below is the scan of the front page of the aforementioned article that is published in issue 11, volume 27 of the English Delhi Prout magazine. All the caste related terms have been highlighted using red rectangles.
In the above scan of the article published in issue 11, volume 27 of English Prout magazine the phrases indicating casteist sentiments are highlighted.
Defective way of Delhi Prout
To discuss the problem in terms of "caste-based oppression" is to recognize and give credence to the caste system itself. Discussing “caste” based discrimination or oppression is to recognize and give credence to the caste system itself which is against the teachings of Prout. Thus, the very act of publishing such articles that recognize the caste differences in the Prout magazine, which is supposed to be mouthpiece of Prout philosophy, is an ideological blunder. Prout’s view is to form a society which is race-less and caste-less, as caste and race are false and divisive forces in our human society.
AM ideology states, “Caste is another important factor which brings disruption in society. The evils of the caste are nowhere better known than in India. For unity in society, there should be no small groupings within society claiming unjustifiable economic and social privileges. In our Ananda Marga where “love for all” and “humanity is one family” are the guiding principles, and where individuals identify themselves as only jiivas or living beings, a caste-less society is the only society which can exist. ” (1)
Delhi Prout plagued by reformists’ thinking
According to the philosophy of Neohumanism, a reformist pretends to go slow on reforming the society by addressing the problems of caste-based exploitation while harboring a true intention of continuing the process of exploitation. Reformists demand equal rights for all castes yet without even thinking about how to remove caste system in the first place. Reformists, therefore, do not want the true welfare of the society. The articles published by Delhi Prout support such reformist thinking. The reality is that Delhi Prout editors themselves are plagued by the reformists’ thinking. The worse part of all this is that they mistake such reformist thinking of demanding equal rights to be the same as the Prout philosophy which calls for a revolutionary approach to remove the caste/race system altogether.
The philosophy of Neohumanism guides us about the difference between reformist and a Proutist, “You may have observed many people in the world who delivered long lectures against caste discrimination and untouchability, saying, “No, all are equal. I will take food touched by any caste. If you give me filtered water in a clean glass I will not hesitate to swallow it – just watch me drink!” And the audience applauded, ‘Very good! Very good!’ These people are called reformists, but their inner intention was to maintain the caste system. Had they really wanted to remove caste discrimination, they would have declared, ‘The cause of this untouchability is the caste system. Because of the caste system, discriminations have emerged between high and low, touchable and untouchable, one caste and another. So let us first of all break the bondage of caste!’ If they had had the courage to proclaim this directly, they would have become revolutionaries. But they lacked such boldness, and thus they did enormous harm to humanity by delaying revolution.” (2)
Misguided belief of Delhi Prout
(Taraka thinks that highlighting the plight of so-called Dalit castes is the Proutist approach)
In India and a few neighboring countries, a certain cross-section of the population has been unjustly considered to be belonging to the so-called lower castes who are supposedly inferior human beings compared to the so-called higher caste people. The caste system is dogmatically inherited over centuries in these countries. The so-called low-caste people have often been named using euphemisms like Harijan, scheduled class, and Dalit. No doubt, the so-called lower caste people have been exploited by the so-called higher caste people. But the true reason behind the exploitation is the dogmatic caste system which has no rational basis rather than the people belonging to the so-called high-caste. If we think rationally, it is not difficult to imagine that if the caste system is removed then the so-called high-caste people will become non-existent. Delhi Prout, however, is missing this point and fighting a wrong battle of highlighting the plight of the so-called Dalits. Many reformists have been painting the sordid picture of caste-based discrimination but the main issue remains unaddressed. According to the Proutist approach, the head of the nail can be hit only by fighting against the caste system head-on and not by frittering the energy away by jostling with the caste-based discrimination or oppression. The very concept of caste/race is defective and any talk of abolishing inter-caste injustices will remain hollow until that defective concept is eliminated.
Ananda Marga philosophy guides us, “Members of a particular race who consider themselves superior to others also very frequently inflict injustices on other sections of society. The expulsion of the Jews from Germany by Hitler’s so-called superior Aryan race is a glaring example of racial injustice in society. In this country, also, injustices on Harijans by the so-called superior races have caused a tremendous amount of disruption in society. To obviate this type of social injustice, the first attempt should be to do away with racial distinctions in society.” (3)
“In Ananda Marga the first step that one takes is to forget one’s race or sect – to no longer identify oneself with one’s race, caste or sect – regardless of whether it was superior or inferior.” (3)
How can Delhi Prout magazine improve?
Delhi Prout is fraught with many problems due to a defective thinking and is not able to deliver on the task of propagating Proutist ideals in the society. The first issue is that the English Delhi Prout editors copy articles from different websites and paste verbatim into the magazine. There is no Proutist analysis. In fact, even the word Prout is absent from these copied articles due to obvious reasons. The Prout editors can improve by analyzing the contemporary issues in the light of Prout and making common people aware of the philosophy of Prout.
The second important issue is that the editors of Prout magazine should refrain from incorporating articles that propagate the caste/race system. Incorporating stories of caste-based discrimination and oppression without establishing proper Proutist context, ends up in teaching the reverse ideology of Prout.
The third important point is to make people aware of exploitation in the economic sphere and to propose solutions to such problems in a Proutist manner.
Doing so, the final result will be that all economically backward people will be benefitted. In that process, so-called Dalits will also naturally be benefitted. And by taking this approach, casteism will be eliminated in due course. Whereas if we move along the wrong path, i.e. if we “fight for Dalits,” then some Dalits may be benefited for a short time; but going forward, social stigma and exploitation will never be removed, and their economic plight will also continue unabated. That is why elimination of caste is the first and foremost approach.
Conclusion
The editors of the Prout English magazine are themselves confused about caste related issues and are confusing everyone including general Ma’rgiis and Sannya’siis. It is the bounden duty of our Delhi Prout editors to first learn and then teach common people about Prout. The main defects in thinking include considering the fight against caste-based discrimination and oppression as the true objective of Prout. However, the teachings of Prout say that the caste system itself is to be abolished. By not fighting against the caste system and just superficially addressing the caste/race discrimination problem, Delhi Prout is committing the same mistake that reformists do. Readers are requested to inform the editors of Prout English of their wrongdoings (see note 2 and note 3).
At His Lotus Feet,
Bhakti
References
(1) Social Psychology, Prout in a Nutshell Part 3
(2) The Liberation of Intellect: Neohumanism.
(3) Social Psychology, Prout in a Nutshell Part 3
Chief wrongdoer in Delhi Prout is Táraka
- You know, Delhi Prout is a very old Prout magazine, and is the mouthpiece of various PROUT organizations. It is supposed to be dedicated for publishing Prout philosophy. But unfortunately, the editors are doing just the opposite. The magazine publishes in English, from Delhi.
- There are many names listed on the Publisher’s page, but the wrongdoer is Tarak Ghista (aka Tiki). His polluted mind is the cause of the degradation of the Prout magazine. When Dada Santoshananda was running the magazine, in those days it was proper. But now his name is printed on the Publisher's page just for show.
- All kinds of names have been listed there on the Publisher’s page, but mostly due to laziness they don’t write anything. Rather, the main wrongdoer Tarak copies left wing type articles from the internet, and prints them in the Delhi Prout magazine. In this way, he deceives the magazine’s readers. Because, outwardly he never writes that it has been copied from the internet, and nor does he provide the link to the articles online. So here in this current letter, Delhi Prout means the editors of Delhi Prout magazine-- i.e Tarak Ghista (the main problem creator on the staff of the Prout Magazine). (Courtesy Ananda Marga News Bulletin)
Note 1: Táraka copied from the web and printed in Prout
This article “Caste in Pakistan”, printed in issue 11, volume 27 of English Delhi Prout magazine, has been verbatim copied from the original web link at https://reddiarypk.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/caste-in-pakistan/
Main Incharges
Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhuta
Ácárya Santosánanda Avadhuta
Ácárya Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta
Sohail Inayatullah
Note 2
Request to Márgiis: In order to make our AM magazines pristine, please forward this posting to the editor (editor@proutjournal.org) of Prout English Magazine. As well as to the magazine’s Editorial Board members:
Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhuta <acyutananda1@gmail.com>; Ácárya Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta <dadaveda@ru.org, dadaveda@gmail.com>; Ácárya Santosánanda Avadhuta <bhaktasamaja@gmail.com, prout.am@gmail.com>; Sohail Inayatullah <s.inayatullah@qut.edu.au, sinayatullah@hotmail.com, sohail@bigpond.net.au, sohail@mail.tku.edu.tw, sohail@metafuture.org; sinayatullah@gmail.com>.
Note 3
The editorial members of Prout (English edition) are listed below.
Editor: Ácárya Santosánanda Avadhut; Editorial Board: Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhuta, Ácárya Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta, Sohail Inayatullah; Correspondents: Kanhu Charan Behura, Rajesh Singh, Ravindra Singh; Layout & Design: Suman Jha, Nishant Jha; Head Office: Prout Bhawan, JC-48, Khirki Extension Main Road, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi - 110017; Mobile No.: 09212199658; Email: prout.am@gmail.com; General Manager: Pranav Koul; Circulation Manager: R N Prasad; Assistant Circulation Manager: Sukhdeo.
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The name of Ácárya Santosánanda Avadhuta can be spelt in various ways as listed here - Dádá Santośánanda, Dádá Santoshananda, Santosánanda Dada, Santoshananda Dada. Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhuta, Acyutánand, Acyutananda, Acyutananda Dada, Dada, Acyutananda, Ácárya Vedaprajinananda Avadhuta, Vedaprajinanand, Vedaprajiṋánanda, Vedaprajiṋánand. The name of Táraka can be spelt in various ways as listed here - Taraka, Tarak, Tarak Ghista, Tiki.
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