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Criticism of Hinduism has been applied to both historical and current aspects of Hinduism, notably Sati and the caste system.

Historical background

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2021)

Early opposition

Some of the earliest criticism of Brahminical texts, including the Vedas and especially the Dharmashastras, comes from the Sramana (or renunciate) traditions, including Buddhism and Jainism. Sramana scholars viewed Brahminical philosophy as "heretical." In particular Sramanas denied the sruti (divine) nature of the Vedas and opposed sacrificial rituals which were at the heart of Brahminical philosophy at the time.

Caste system

According to Indian political theorist and writer Kancha Ilaiah (2009), the 'caste-based cultural system that Hinduism has constructed and nurtured for centuries' has empowered three castes (the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas/Baniyas, who constitute about 10–12% of the populations of India and Nepal) to oppresses the 'Dalit–Bahujan' castes (also known as the Shudras), creating enormous social injustice, and stifling scientific and socio-economic progress. He blamed medieval Brahmanic thinkers for developing the 'anti-scientific and anti-egalitarian' Varnadharmic system in which the Brahmins (priestly caste) would hold supreme power in society, and adopting the word Hinduism (from the term Hind taken from Muslim scholars, especially al-Biruni's 1017 Tārīkh al-Hind) as the name for this 'cast-ridden, primitivist, superstitious and barbaric religion'. Next, the Brahmins imposed this religion on the rest of the population (now known as the Dalit–Bahujan castes), who were given a Hindu identity. In his 1996 book Why I Am Not a Hindu, Ilaiah argued that most Dalit–Bahujan people had local religious traditions, gods and goddesses, festivals and practices; they had generally not self-identified as 'Hindus' until the late 20th century, when the modern Hindutva movement 'suddenly' started claiming that every Indian who was not a Muslim, a Christian, a Sikh or a Parsee was a Hindu by default, and regularly pressured them to identify as such. Ilaiah hypothesised that the inequality caused by the caste system, as opposed to 'spiritually democratic religions' (such as Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism), would eventually lead to the demise of Hinduism, as the globalisation of the world that was fuelling the emancipation of the Dalit–Bahujan population would over time end (either through civil war, or a non-violent transformation of society) the hegemony of the three upper castes, and with it Hinduism as a cultural and a spiritual system.

Human Rights Watch describes the caste system as a "discriminatory and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" of over 165 million people in India. The justification of the act on the basis of caste, which according to HRW, "a defining feature of Hinduism," has repeatedly been noticed and described by the United Nations and HRW, along with criticism of other caste systems worldwide.

Hierarchism

Ilaiah (1996, 2019) stated that, aside from the inequality between castes, Hinduism also upholds various other forms of hierarchy, such as inside families. 'Gils must obey boys, children must obey elders.' Aside from a taboo on talking about sex (a taboo Ilaiah claimed does not exist amongst Dalit–Bahujans), it is not possible in Hindu (Brahmin or Baniya) families to discuss violence a father may commit against a mother. 'In Hindu families the father can abuse the mother, but the mother is not supposed to retort. A wife is supposed to put up with all the atrocities that a husband commits against her; the more a wife puts up with the husband's atrocities the more she is appreciated.' Unlike the localised religious practices of Dalit–Bahujans, wherein anyone can worship or talk to the gods and goddesses in their native language, Hinduism requires a priest to talk to deities in Sanskrit on behalf of lay people.

Hindutva

The phenomenon of Hindu nationalism, particulary in its modern Hindutva form, has been criticised by many individuals and groups, especially for stimulating discrimination and hostility against non-Hindus. There is no consensus on whether Hindutva is an inherent part of Hinduism, or a political corruption or abuse of Hinduism. The answer to this question determines whether any criticism of Hindutva is thereby also criticism of Hinduism as a whole, or not.

Cow vigilante violence

One example in which Hindu nationalism has been having a negative effect, especially after the Hindu nationalist BJP's electoral victory in 2014, is the rise in cow vigilante violence in India: in the name of "protecting cows", who are widely considered to be sacred animals in modern Hinduism (from whence the English expression "sacred cow" stems), Hindu mobs have attacked and killed a lot of Muslims rumoured of having harmed cattle, or having slaughtered them for food (beef). There is ongoing debate about whether cattle slaughter and beef consumption has always been forbidden within Hinduism and its Brahmanic and Vedic predecessors, or is a modern prohibition, partially stimulated by Mohandas Gandhi's veneration of the cow in the 20th century. While Hindutva groups claim that cattle slaughter did not exist in South Asia until Muslims arrived in the Subcontinent, Indian historian D. N. Jha (2002) has cited religious scriptures and ancient texts to show that Vedic believers did consume beef in ancient India.

Sati

Sati was a historical Hindu practice, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. Vidya Dehejia states that sati was introduced late into Indian society, and became regular only after 500 CE. The practice became prevalent from 7th century onwards and declined to its elimination in 17th century to gain resurgence in Bengal in 18th century. Roshen Dalal postulated that its mention in some of the Puranas indicates that it slowly grew in prevalence from 5th-7th century and later became an accepted custom around 1000 CE among those of higher classes, especially the Rajputs.

According to Dehejia, sati originated within the Kshatriyas (warrior) aristocracy and remained mostly limited to the warrior class among Hindus. Yang adds that the practice was also emulated by those seeking to achieve high status of the royalty and the warriors. The increase of sati may also be related to the centuries of Islamic invasion and its expansion in South Asia. It acquired an additional meaning as a means to preserve the honour of women whose men had been slain, especially with the variant of mass sati called jauhar, practiced especially among the Rajputs as a direct response to the onslaught they experienced.

The Mughal Empire (1526–1857) rulers and the Muslim population were ambivalent about the practice, with Aurangzeb forbidding the practice, and later European travelers record that sati was not much practiced in the Mughal empire. It was notably associated with elite Hindu Rajput clans in western India, marking one of the points of divergence between Hindu Rajputs and the Muslim Mughals.

With the onset of the British Raj, opposition against sati grew. The principal campaigners against Sati were Christian and Hindu reformers such as William Carey and Ram Mohan Roy. In 1829 Lord Bentinck issued Regulation XVII declaring Sati to be illegal and punishable in criminal courts. On 2 February 1830 this law was extended to Madras and Bombay. The ban was challenged by a petition signed by “several thousand… Hindoo inhabitants of Bihar, Bengal, Orissa etc” and the matter went to the Privy Council in London. Along with British supporters, Ram Mohan Roy presented counter-petitions to parliament in support of ending Sati. The Privy Council rejected the petition in 1832, and the ban on Sati was upheld.

See also

• Saffron terror
• Criticism of Hindutva
• Anti-Brahminism
• Anti-Hindu sentiment
• Persecution of Hindus

References

1. Thapar, Romila (1989). "Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu Identity". Modern Asian Studies. 23 (2): 209–231. ISSN 0026-749X.
2. Ilaiah 2009, p. ix, xii.
3. ^ Ilaiah 2009, p. xiii.
4. ^ Ilaiah 2019, p. 14–18.
5. Ilaiah 2009, p. ix–x, xiv.
6. ^ "Hidden Apartheid". Human Rights Watch. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
7. ^ "CASTE DISCRIMINATION:". www.hrw.org. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
8. "OHCHR | Caste systems violate human rights and dignity of millions worldwide – New UN expert report". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
9. "UN report slams India for caste discrimination". CBC News. 2 March 2007.
10. ^ Ilaiah 2019, p. 25.
11. Ilaiah 2019, p. 24–25.
12. ^ Soutik Biswas (15 October 2015). "Why the humble cow is India's most polarising animal". BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
13. Feminist Spaces: Gender and Geography in a Global Context, Routledge, Ann M. Oberhauser, Jennifer L. Fluri, Risa Whitson, Sharlene Mollett
14. Gilmartin, Sophie (1997). "The Sati, the Bride, and the Widow: Sacrificial Woman in the Nineteenth Century". Victorian Literature and Culture. 25 (1): 141–158. doi:10.1017/S1060150300004678. JSTOR 25058378. Suttee, or sati, is the obsolete Hindu practice in which a widow burns herself upon her husband's funeral pyre...
15. Sharma 2001, pp. 19–21.
16. ^ On attested Rajput practice of sati during wars, see, for example Leslie, Julia (1993). "Suttee or Sati: Victim or Victor?". In Arnold, David; Robb, Peter (eds.). Institutions and Ideologies: A SOAS South Asia Reader. Vol. 10. London: Routledge. p. 46. ISBN 978-0700702848.
17. Dehejia 1994, p. 50.
18. Nandy, Ashis (1980). Sati: A Nineteenth Century Tale of Women, Violence and Protest in the book "At the Edge of Psychology". Oxford University Press. p. 1.
19. Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India. p. 363. ISBN 9780143414216.
20. ^ Yang 2008, p. 21–23.
21. Dehejia 1994, p. 51-53.
22. Sashi, S.S. (1996). Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Vol. 100. Anmol Publications. p. 115. ISBN 9788170418597.
23. Jogan Shankar (1992). Social Problems And Welfare In India. Ashish Publishing House.
24. Annemarie Schimmel (2004). Burzine K. Waghmar (ed.). The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. Reaktion. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-1-86189-185-3.
25. Sharma 2001, p. 23.
26. M. Reza Pirbhai (2009). Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context. Brill Academic. p. 108. ISBN 978-90-474-3102-2.
27. ^ XVII. "Economic and Social Developments under the Mughals" from Muslim Civilization in India by S. M. Ikram, edited by Ainslie T. Embree New York: Columbia University Press, 1964
28. Asher, Catherine B.; Talbot, Cynthia (2006), India before Europe, Cambridge University Press, pp. 268–, ISBN 978-1-139-91561-8
29. Sharma 2001, pp. 6–7.
30. Marshman, John Clark (1876). History of India from the earliest period to the close of the East India Company's government. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood. p. 374. ISBN 9781108021043.
31. Sharma pp. 7–8.
32. Rai, Raghunath. History. p. 137. ISBN 9788187139690.
33. Dodwell 1932 p. 141.
34. Kulkarni, A.R.; Feldhaus, Anne (1996). "Sati in the Maratha Country". Images of Women in Maharashtrian Literature and Religion. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-0791428382.

Sources

• Dehejia, Vidya (1994), "Comment: A Broader Landscape", in Hawley, John Stratton (ed.), Sati, the Blessing and the Curse, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195077742
• Ilaiah, Kancha (2009). Post-Hindu India: A Discourse in Dalit-Bahujan, Socio-Spiritual and Scientific Revolution. New Delhi: SAGE Publications India. p. 340. ISBN 9788132104339. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
• Ilaiah, Kancha (2019). Why I Am Not a Hindu: A Sudra Critique of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy (2nd edition). New Delhi: SAGE Publications India. p. 192. ISBN 9789353282639. Retrieved 12 February 2022. (originally published in 1996)
• Sharma, Arvind (2001). Sati: Historical and Phenomenological Essays. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0464-7.
• Yang, Anand A. (2008). "Whose Sati? Widow-Burning in early Nineteenth Century India". In Sarkar, Sumit; Sarkar, Tanika (eds.). Women and Social Reform in Modern India: A Reader. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253352699.

External links

• Media related to Criticism of Hinduism at Wikimedia Commons

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