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Kancha Ilaiah is the Chairman of the Political Science department at Osmania University, a social activist and author. He is a major ideological figure in the movement that claims to be a movement for the empowerment of the Dalits. However, his rhetoric is often labelled as anti-Hindu by several of his critics (both Hindu and Muslim) , Hindu advocacy groups , and scholars such as Koenraad Elst.

Background

He was born into Kuruma Golla (an 'other backward caste' in the Indian caste system and not a Dalit, or outcaste) family on October 5 1952 and was brought up in a small south Indian village. His family's main profession was sheep farming. He earned his doctorate degree in political science at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. His Ph. D thesis was based on Gautama Buddha's political philosophy.

Activism

He is an activist in the Dalit-Bahujan (Scheduled and Backwards Castes) movement. He is also affiliated with the All India Christian Council, headed by Dr. Joseph D'Souza and other Indian Christian activists . Ilaiah and D'Souza are also associated with the USA based Dalit Freedom Network, an Christian Missionary organization that claims to work for the rights of India's Dalits - believed by some Hindu groups to promote aggressive, socially divisive and anti-Hindu missionary activities - which actively participated in the Californian Hindu textbook controversy, opposing edits proposed by Hindu advocacy groups and scholars. They believed that the edits promoted a "biased Brahminical view", a claim denied by the the advocacy groups.

On 6th October, 2005, he testified before a U.S. Congress subcommittee against the practice of untouchability and urged the US Government to work with the Indian government to end what he said was the persecution of Muslims, Christians, and other oppressed people groups in India. The congressional hearing was organized in conjunction with a conference organized by the Dalit Freedom Network on the same day.

His description of the relationship between communities in India has been criticised by columnist Francois Gautier as being biased and unrepresentative, and having a hidden agenda of deceptively converting Dalits to Christianity and turning them against Hindus.

According to Joseph D'Souza, Kancha Ilaiah has served as the "influential ideologue" for the "Quit Hinduism" movement leading to a mass rally on Dec 6th, 2002 .

Books by Ilaiah

He is the author of several books written in English, including

Why I Am Not a Hindu: A Sudra critique of Hindutva philosophy, culture and political economy
God as Political Philosopher--Buddha's Challenge to Brahminism
Democracy in India --- A Hollow Shell (edited by Arthur Bonner)
Buffalo Nationalism--A critique of spiritual fascism

His books are widely promoted and sold by missionaries .

Why I am not a Hindu

His book, Why I Am Not A Hindu purports to the life-experience of the Dalits and Other Backward Castes and alleges that their poverty-ridden experience holds little connection to the Brahmin religious experience. By explaining this dichotomy from his own personal experience as an OBC, he advocates the "Dalitization" of Indian culture. As Ilaiah claims, the Dalit philosophy prizes productivity over personal pleasure and values the graciousness of community over the "elevation of Brahmin men" at the expense of women and Dalits/OBCs. Ilaiah asserts that this shift in societal thinking will enable India to become a more prosperous and egalitarian society.

However, it has also drawn severe condemnations from Hindus and Hinduism experts, who note that the book reflects a shallow understanding of Hindu religion and blissful ignorance of all positive aspects of its philosophy and mythology. In particular, Koenraad Elst criticizes the book as unfairly biased and portraying Hinduism in an exceptional light as discriminatory, while ignoring similar discriminations in other cultures. He writes:

"(Why I am not a Hindu) offers a description of the differences in life style between upper castes and Shudras, with the declared intention of getting the reader indignated at the injustice and absurdity of the typically Hindu castle system. Yet, his testimony unwittingly shows just how similar Hindu caste inequality is to the social inequality in other societies, e.g. Ilaiah’s repeated observation that women are more controlled in upper castes and more assertive and free in lower castes is or was just as true for Confucian China or the feudal and bourgeois societies of Europe .

Ilaiah was censured by for publishing "Why I am not a Hindu" in a letter addressed to him by Dr. Pannalal, the Registrar of Osmania University. The registrar conveyed that some articles in popular newspapers on the book were creating social tensions. Therefore, he said that Ilaiah should "write within the canons of conduct of our profession" and his articles "should not accentuate prejudices and inflame hatred among various sections of society.".Ilaiah has responded in interviews that his writings are an attempt to reduce prejudices and that they have "not led to riots". He has also said that the book aims to suggest ways to "eliminate the caste system" and proposes "unity on an equal basis".

Anti-Brahmanism and allegations of Anti-Hinduism

Ilaiah is a controversial figure because of what some have called rabidly anti-Brahman and anti-Hindu rhetoric and hypocritical methods of argument. Koenraad Elst criticizes his book Why I am not a Hindu as having anti-Brahman cartoons that are nearly "replicas of the anti-Semitic cartoons from the Nazi paper Der Stürmer".

References

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