| GENOME RESEARCH Genetic Evidence on the origins of Indian Caste Populations Michael Bamshad, Toomas Kivisild, W. Scott Watkins, Mary E. Dixon, Chris E. Ricker, Baskara B. Rao,
J. Mastan Naidu, V.b. Ravi Prasad, P.Govinda Reddy, Arani Rasanayagam, Surinder S. Papiha, Richard Villems, Alan J. Redd, Michael F. Hammer, Son V. Nguyen, Marion L. Carroll, Mark A. Batzer and
Lynn B. Jorde. Genome Res. 2001 11:994-1004; originally published online May 8, 2001 Access the most recent version at doi:10.1101/gr.GR-1733RR Supplementary data: http://www/genome.org/cgi/content/full/GR-1733RR/DC1 article cited in: http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/full/11/6/994#otherarticles www.genome.org ****************************** Genetic Evidence on the Origins of Indian Caste Populations Michael Bamshad1,10,12, Toomas Kivisild2, W. Scott Watkins3, Mary E. Dixon3, Chris E. Ricker3, Baskara B. Rao4, J. Mastan Naidu4, V.B. Ravi Prasad4,5, P.Govinda Reddy6, Arani Rasanayagam7, Surinder S. Papiha8, Richard Villems2, Alan J. Redd7, Michael F. Hammer7, Son V. Nguyen9, Marion L. Carroll9, Mark A. Batzer 9,11and Lynn B. Jorde3. 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA; 2Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Tartu University and Estonian Biocentre, Tartu 51010, Estonia; 3Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA; 4Department of Anthropology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India; 5Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta, India; 6Department of Anthropology, University of Madras, Madras, Tamil Nadu, India; 7Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA; 8Department of Human Genetics, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK; 9Department of Pathology, Biometry and Genetics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA ---------------------------------- The origins and affinities of the ~1 billion people living on the subcontinent of India have long been contested. This is owing, in part, to the many different waves of immigrants that have influenced the genetic structure of India. In the most recent of these waves, Indo-European-speaking people from West Eurasia entered India from the Northwest and diffused throughout the subcontinent. They purportedly admixed with or displaced indigenous Dravidic-speaking populations. Subsequently they may have established the Hindu caste system and placed themselves primarily in castes of higher rank. To explore the impact of West Eurasians on contemporary Indian caste populations, we compared mtDNA (400 bp of hypervariable region 1 and 14 restriction site polymorphisms) and Y-chromosome (20 biallelic polymorphisms and 5 short tandem repeats) variation in ~265 males from eight castes of different rank to ~750 Africans, Asians, Europeans, and other Indians. For maternally inherited mtDNA, each caste is most similar to Asians. However, 20%–30% of Indian mtDNA haplotypes belong to West Eurasian haplogroups, and the frequency of these haplotypes is proportional to caste rank, the highest frequency of West Eurasian haplotypes being found in the upper castes. In contrast, for paternally inherited Y-chromosome variation each caste is more similar to Europeans than to Asians. Moreover, the affinity to Europeans is proportionate to caste rank, the upper castes being most similar to Europeans, particularly East Europeans. These findings are consistent with greater West Eurasian male admixture with castes of higher rank. Nevertheless, the mitochondrial genome and the Y chromosome each represents only a single haploid locus and is more susceptible to large stochastic variation, bottlenecks, and selective sweeps. Thus, to increase the power of our analysis, we assayed 40 independent, biparentally inherited autosomal loci (1 LINE-1 and 39 Aluelements) in all of the caste and continental populations (~600 individuals). Analysis of these data demonstrated that the upper castes have a higher affinity to Europeans than to Asians, and the upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are the lower castes. Collectively, all five datasets show a trend toward upper castes being more similar to Europeans, whereas lower castes are more similar to Asians. We conclude that Indian castes are most likely to be of proto-Asian origin with West Eurasian admixture resulting in rank-related and sex-specific differences in the genetic affinities of castes to Asians and Europeans. [Present addresses: Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, 15 - North 2030 East, Room 2100, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-5330, USA. Department of Biological Science, Biological Computation and visualization Center, Louisiana State University, 508 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, LA-70803, USA. email mike@ genetics.utah.edu] LANGUAGES Shared Indo-European languages (i.e., Hindi and most European languages) suggested to linguists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that contemporary Hindu Indians are descendants of primarily West Eurasians who migrated from Europe, the Near East, Anatolia, and the Caucasus 3000–8000 years ago (Poliakov 1974; Renfrew 1989a,b). These nomadic migrants may have consolidated their power by admixing with native Dravidic-speaking (e.g., Telugu) proto-Asian populations who controlled regional access to land, labor, and resources (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994), and subsequently established the Hindu caste hierarchy to legitimize and maintain this power (Poliakov 1974; Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994). It is plausible that these West Eurasian immigrants also appointed themselves to predominantly castes of higher rank. However, archaeological evidence of the diffusion of material culture from Western Eurasia into India has been limited (Shaffer 1982). Therefore, information on the genetic relationships of Indians to Europeans and Asians could contribute substantially to understanding the origins of Indian populations. INDIAN CASTES Previous genetic studies of Indian castes have failed to achieve a consensus on Indian origins and affinities. Various results have supported closer affinity of Indian castes either with Europeans or with Asians, and several factors underlie this inconsistency. First, erratic or limited sampling of populations has limited inferences about the relationships between caste and continental populations (i.e., Africans, Asians, Europeans). These relationships are further confounded by the wide geographic dispersal of caste populations. Genetic affinities among caste populations are, in part, inversely correlated with the geographic distance between them (Malhotra and Vasulu 1993), and it is likely that affinities between caste and continental populations are also geographically dependent (e.g., different between North and South Indian caste populations). Second, it has been suggested that castes of different rank may have originated from or admixed with different continental groups (Majumder and Mukherjee 1993). Third, the size of caste populations varies widely, and the effects of genetic drift on some small, geographically isolated castes may have been substantial. Fourth, most of the polymorphisms assayed over the last 30 years are indirect measurements of genetic variation (e.g., ABO typing), have been sampled from only a few loci, and may not be selectively neutral. Finally, only rarely have systematic comparisons been made with continental populations using a large, uniform set of DNA polymorphisms (Majumder 1999). SOUTH INDIA SCENE To investigate the origin of contemporary castes, we compared the genetic affinities of caste populations of differing rank (i.e., upper, middle, and lower) to worldwide populations. We analyzed mtDNA (hypervariable region 1 [HVR1] sequence and 14 restriction-site polymorphisms [RSPs]), Y-chromosome (5 short-tandem repeats [STRs] and 20 biallelic polymorphisms), and autosomal (1 LINE-1 and 39Alu inserts) variation in ~265 males from eight different Telugu-speaking caste populations from the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India (Bamshad et al. 1998). Comparisons were made to ~400 individuals from tribal and Hindi-speaking caste and populations distributed across the Indian subcontinent (Mountain et al. 1995;Kivisild et al. 1999) and to ~350 Africans, Asians, and Europeans (Jorde et al. 1995, 2000; Seielstad et al. 1999). RESULTS Analysis of mtDNA Suggests a Proto-Asian Origin of Indians MtDNA HVR1 genetic distances between caste populations and Africans, Asians, and Europeans are significantly different from zero (p<0.001) and reveal that, regardless of rank, each caste group is most closely related to Asians and is most dissimilar from Africans (Table 1). The genetic distances from major continental populations (e.g., Europeans) differ among the three caste groups, and the comparison reveals an intriguing pattern. As one moves from lower to upper castes, the distance from Asians becomes progressively larger. The distance between Europeans and lower castes is larger than the distance between Europeans and upper castes, but the distance between Europeans and middle castes is smaller than the upper caste-European distance. These trends are the same whether the Kshatriya and Vysya are included in the upper castes, the middle castes, or excluded from the analysis. This may be owing, in part, to the small sample size (n=10) of each of these castes. BRAHMINS & EUROPEANS Among the upper castes the genetic distance between Brahmins and Europeans (0.10) is smaller than that between either the Kshatriya and Europeans (0.12) or the Vysya and Europeans (0.16). Assuming that contemporary Europeans reflect West Eurasian affinities, these data indicate that the amount of West Eurasian admixture with Indian populations may have been proportionate to caste rank. Conventional estimates of the standard errors of genetic distances assume that polymorphic sites are independent of each other, that is, unlinked. Because mtDNA polymorphisms are in complete linkage disequilibrium (as are polymorphisms on the nonrecombining portions of the Y chromosome), this assumption is violated. Alternatively, the mtDNA genome can be treated as a single locus with multiple haplotypes. However, even if this assumption is made, mtDNA distances do not differ significantly from one another even at the level of the three major continental populations (Nei and Livshits 1989), the standard errors being greater than the genetic distances. Considering that the distances between castes and continental populations are less than those between different continental populations, the estimated mtDNA genetic distances between upper castes and Europeans versus lower castes and Europeans would not be significantly different from each other. HINDI SPEAKING CASTES Therefore, to resolve further the relationships of Europeans and Asians to contemporary Indian populations, we defined the identities of specific mtDNA restriction-site haplotypes. The presence of the mtDNA restriction sitesDdeI10,394 and AluI10,397 defines a haplogroup (a group of haplotypes that share some sequence variants), M, that was originally identified in populations that migrated from mainland Asia to Southeast Asia and Australia (Ballinger et al. 1992;Chen et al. 1995; Passarino et al. 1996) and is found at much lower frequency in European and African populations. Most of the common haplotypes found in Telugu- and Hindi-speaking caste populations belong to haplogroup M and do not differentiate into language-specific clusters in a phylogenetic reconstruction. Furthermore, these Indian haplogroup-M haplotypes are distinct from those found in other Asian populations and indicate the existence of Indian-specific subsets of haplogroup M (e.g., M3). As expected if the lower castes are more similar to Asians than to Europeans, and the upper castes are more similar to Europeans than to Asians, the frequencies of M and M3 haplotypes are inversely proportional to caste rank. LOWER CASTES Of the non-Asian mtDNA haplotypes found in Indian populations, most are of West Eurasian origin (Table 2; Torroni et al. 1994; Richards et al. 1998). However, most of these Indian West-Eurasian haplotypes belong to an Indian-specific subset of haplogroup U, that is, U2i (Kivisild et al. 1999), the oldest and second most common mtDNA haplogroup found in Europe (Torroni et al. 1994). In agreement with the HVR1 results, the frequency of West Eurasian mtDNA haplotypes is significantly higher in upper castes than in lower castes (p<0.05), the frequency of U2i haplotypes increasing as one moves from lower to higher castes. In addition, the frequency of mtDNA haplogroups with a more recent coalescence estimate (i.e., H, I, J, K, T) was fivefold higher in upper castes (6.8%) than in lower castes (1.4%). These haplotypes are derivatives of haplogroups found throughout Europe (Richards et al. 1998), the Middle East (Di Rienzo and Wilson 1991), and to a lesser extent Central Asia (Comas et al. 1998). Collectively, the mtDNA haplotype evidence indicate that contemporary Indian mtDNA evolved largely from proto-Asian ancestors with Western Eurasian admixture accounting for 20%–30% of mtDNA haplotypes. Y-Chromosome Variation Confirms Indo-European Admixture Genetic distances estimated from Y-chromosome STR polymorphisms differ significantly from zero (p<0.001) and reveal a distinctly different pattern of population relationships. In contrast to the mtDNA distances, the Y-chromosome STR data do not demonstrate a closer affinity to Asians for each caste group. Upper castes are more similar to Europeans than to Asians, middle castes are equidistant from the two groups, and lower castes are most similar to Asians. The genetic distance between caste populations and Africans is progressively larger moving from lower to middle to upper caste groups. CLOSE AFFINITY WITH WHITE RACES Genetic distances estimated from Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphisms differ significantly from zero (p<0.05), and the patterns differ from the mtDNA results even more strikingly than the Y-chromosome STRs. For Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphism data, each caste group is more similar to Europeans, and as one moves from lower to middle to higher castes the genetic distance to Europeans diminishes progressively. This pattern is further accentuated by separating the European population into Northern, Southern, and Eastern Europeans; each caste group is most closely related to Eastern Europeans. Moreover, the genetic distance between upper castes and Eastern Europeans is approximately half the distance between Eastern Europeans and middle or lower castes. These results suggest that Indian Y chromosomes, particularly upper caste Y chromosomes, are more similar to European than to Asian Y chromosomes. This underscores the close affinities between Hindu Indian and Indo-European Y chromosomes based on a previously reported analysis of three Y-chromosome polymorphisms (Quintana-Murci et al. 1999b). Overall, these results indicate that the affinities of Indians to continental populations varies according to caste rank and depends on whether mtDNA or Y-chromosome data are analyzed. However, conclusions drawn from these data are limited because mtDNA and the Y chromosome is each effectively a single haploid locus and is more sensitive to genetic drift, bottlenecks, and selective sweeps compared to autosomal loci. These limitations of our analysis can be overcome, in part, by analyzing a larger set of independent autosomal loci. Consequently, we assayed 1 LINE-1 and 39 unlinked Alu polymorphisms. Affinities to Europeans and Asians Stratified by Caste Rank Genetic distances estimated from autosomal Alu elements correspond to caste rank, the genetic distance between the upper and lower castes being more than 2.5 times larger than the distance between upper and middle or middle and lower castes (upper to middle, 0.0069; upper to lower, 0.018; middle to lower, 0.0071). These trends are the same whether the Kshatriya and Vysya are included in the upper castes, the middle castes, or excluded from the analysis (data not shown). Furthermore, a neighbor-joining network of genetic distances between separate castes (Fig. 3) clearly differentiates castes of different rank into separate clusters. This is similar to the relationship between genetic distances and caste rank estimated from mtDNA (Bamshad et al. 1998). It is important to note, however, that the autosomal genetic distances are estimated from 40 independent loci. This afforded us the opportunity to test the statistical significance of the correspondence between genetic distance and caste status. The Mantel correlation between interindividual genetic distances and distances based on social rank was low but highly significant for individuals ranked into upper, middle, and lower groups (r=0.08; p~0.001) and into eight separate castes (r=0.07; p~0.001). Given the resolving power of this autosomal dataset, we next tested whether we could reconcile the results of the analysis of mtDNA and Y-chromosome markers in castes and continental populations. BRAHMINS & EUROPEANS Genotypic differentiation was significantly different from zero (p<0.0001) between each pair of caste populations and between each caste and continental population. Similar to the results of both the mtDNA and Y-chromosome analyses, the distance between upper castes and European populations is smaller than the distance between lower castes and Europeans (Table 5). However, in contrast to the mtDNA results but similar to the Y-chromosome results, the affinity between upper castes and Europeans is higher than that of upper castes and Asians (Table 5). If the Kshatriya and Vysya are excluded from the analysis or included in the middle castes, the genetic distance between the upper caste (Brahmins) and Europeans remains smaller than the distance between the lower castes and Europeans and the distance between upper castes and Asians (Table 5). Analysis of each caste separately reveals that the genetic distance between the Brahmins and Europeans (0.013) is less than the distance between Europeans and Kshatryia (0.030) or Vysya (0.020). Nevertheless, each separate upper caste is more similar to Europeans than to Asians. DISCUSSION Because historical evidence suggests greater affinity between upper castes and Europeans than between lower castes and Europeans (Balakrishnan 1978, 1982; Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994), it is appropriate to use a one-tailed test of the difference between the corresponding genetic distances. The 90% confidence limits of Nei's standard distances estimated between upper castes and Europeans (0.006–0.016) versus lower castes and Europeans (0.017–0.037) do not overlap, indicating statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Significance at 0.05 is not achieved if the Kshatriya and Vysya are excluded. These results offer statistical support for differences in the genetic affinity of Europeans to caste populations of differing rank, with greater European affinity to upper castes than to lower castes. Previous genetic studies have found evidence to support either a European or an Asian origin of Indian caste populations, with occasional indications of admixture with African or proto-Australoid populations (Chen et al. 1995; Mountain et al. 1995; Bamshad et al. 1996, 1997; Majumder et al. 1999; Quintana-Murci et al. 1999a). Our results demonstrate that for biparentally inherited autosomal markers, genetic distances between upper, middle, and lower castes are significantly correlated with rank; upper castes are more similar to Europeans than to Asians; and upper castes are significantly more similar to Europeans than are lower castes. This result appears to be owing to the amalgamation of two different patterns of sex-specific genetic variation. The majority of Indian mtDNA restriction-site haplotypes belong to Indian-specific subsets (e.g., M3) of a predominantly Asian haplogroup M, although a substantial minority of mtDNA restriction site haplotypes belong to West Eurasian haplogroups. A higher proportion of proto-Asian mtDNA restriction-site haplotypes is found in lower castes compared to middle or upper castes, whereas the frequency of West Eurasian haplotypes is positively correlated with caste rank, that is, is highest in the upper castes. For Y-chromosome STR variation the upper castes exhibit greatest similarity with Europeans, whereas the lower caste groups are most similar to Asians. For Y biallelic polymorphism variation, each caste group is more similar to Europeans than to Asians, and the affinity to Europeans is proportional to caste rank, that is, is highest in the upper castes. PROTO-ASIAN ORIGIN Importantly, five different types of data (mtDNA HVR1 sequence, mtDNA RSPs, Y-chromosome STRs, Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphisms, and autosomal Alu polymorphisms) support the same general pattern: relatively smaller genetic distances from European populations as one moves from lower to middle to upper caste populations. Genetic distances from Asian populations become larger as one moves from lower to middle to upper caste populations. It is especially noteworthy that the analysis of Y biallelic polymorphisms, which involved an independent set of comparative Asian, European, and African populations, again indicated the same pattern. Additional support is offered by the fact that the autosomal polymorphisms yielded a statistically significant difference between the upper-caste–European and lower-caste–European genetic distances. With additional loci, other differences (e.g., the distances between different caste groups and Asians) may also reach statistical significance. CASTE GRADATIONS The most likely explanation for these findings, and the one most consistent with archaeological data, is that contemporary Hindu Indians are of proto-Asian origin with West Eurasian admixture. However, admixture with West Eurasian males was greater than admixture with West Eurasian females, resulting in a higher affinity to European Y chromosomes. This supports an earlier suggestion of Passarino et al. (1996), which was based on a comparison of mtDNA and blood group results. Furthermore, the degree of West Eurasian admixture was proportional to caste rank. This explanation is consistent with either the hypothesis that proportionately more West Eurasians became members of the upper castes at the inception of the caste hierarchy or that social stratification preceded the West Eurasian incursion and that West Eurasians tended to insert themselves into higher-ranking positions. IMMIGRATION TO INDIA One consequence is that shared Indo-European languages may not reflect a common origin of Europeans and most Indians, but rather underscores the transfer of language mediated by contact between West Eurasians and native proto-Indians. West Eurasian admixture in Indian populations may have been the result of more than one wave of immigration into India. Kivisild et al. (1999)determined the coalescence (~50,000 years before present) of the Indian-specific subset of the West Eurasian haplotypes (i.e., U2i) and suggested that West Eurasian admixture may have been much older than the purported Dravidian and Indo-European incursions. Our analysis of Indian mtDNA restriction-site haplotypes that do not belong to the U2i subset of West Eurasian haplotypes (i.e., H, I, J, K, T) is consistent with more recent West Eurasian admixture. TWO BRAHMIN MALES It is also possible that haplotypes with an older coalescence were introduced by Dravidians, whereas haplotypes with a more recent coalescence belonged to Indo-Europeans. This hypothesis can be tested by a more detailed comparison to West Eurasian mtDNA haplotypes from Iran, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. Alternatively, the coalescence dates of these haplotypes may predate the entry of West Eurasians populations into India. Regardless of their origin, West Eurasian admixture resulted in rank-related differences in the genetic affinities of castes to Europeans and Asians. Furthermore, the frequency of West Eurasian haplotypes in the founding middle and upper castes may be underestimated because of the upward social mobility of women from lower castes (Bamshad et al. 1998). These women were presumably more likely to introduce proto-Asian mtDNA haplotypes into the middle and upper castes. Our analysis of 40 autosomal markers indicates clearly that the upper castes have a higher affinity to Europeans than to Asians. The high affinity of caste Y chromosomes with those of Europeans suggests that the majority of immigrating West Eurasians may have been males. As might be expected if West Eurasian males appropriated the highest positions in the caste system, the upper caste group exhibits a lower genetic distance to Europeans than the middle or lower castes. This is underscored by the observation that the Kshatriya (an upper caste), whose members served as warriors, are closer to Europeans than any other caste (data not shown). Furthermore, the 32-bp deletion polymorphism in CC chemokine receptor 5, whose frequency peaks in populations of Eastern Europe, is found only in two Brahmin males (M. Bamshad and S.K. Ahuja, unpubl.). The stratification of Y-chromosome distances with Europeans could also be caused by male-specific gene flow among caste populations of different rank. However, we and others have demonstrated that there is little sharing of Y-chromosome haplotypes among castes of different rank (Bamshad et al. 1998;Bhattacharyya et al. 1999). ORIGIN OF CASTE SYSTEM The affinity of caste populations to Europeans is more apparent for Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphisms than Y-chromosome STRs. This could be attributed to the use of different European populations in comparisons using STRs and biallelic polymorphisms. Alternatively, it may reflect, in part, the effects of high mutation rates for the Y-chromosome STRs, which would tend to obscure relationships between caste and continental populations. A lack of consistent clustering at the continental level has been observed in several studies of Y-chromosome STRs (Deka et al. 1996; Torroni et al. 1996; de Knijff et al. 1997). The autosomal Alu and biallelic Y-chromosome polymorphisms, in contrast, have a slower rate of drift than Y-chromosome STRs because of a higher effective population size, and their mutation rate is very low. Thus, the Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphisms and autosomal Alu markers may serve as more stable markers of worldwide population affinities. CASTE HISTORY Our analysis may help to explain why estimates of the affinities of caste groups to worldwide populations have varied so widely among different studies. Analyses of recent caste history based on only mtDNA or Y-chromosome polymorphisms clearly would suggest that castes are more closely related to Asians or to Europeans, respectively. Furthermore, we attempted to minimize the confounding effect of geographic differences between populations by sampling from a highly restricted region of South India. Because of the ubiquity of the caste system in India's history, it is reasonable to predict similar patterns in caste populations living in other areas. Indeed, any genetic result becomes more compelling when it is replicated in other populations. Therefore, comparable studies in caste populations from other regions of India must be completed to test the generality of these results. MIGRATION OF PEOPLE The dispersal and subsequent growth of Indian populations since the Neolithic Age is one of the most important events to shape the history of South Asia. However, the origin and dispersal route of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent is unclear. Our findings suggest a proto-Asian origin of the Indian-specific haplogroup-M haplotypes. Haplogroup-M haplotypes are also found at appreciable frequencies in some East African populations—~18% of Ethiopians (Quintana-Murci et al. 1999a) and 16% of Kenyans (M. Bamshad and L.B. Jonde, unpubl.). A comparison of haplogroup-M haplotypes from East Africa and India has suggested that this southern route may have been one of the original dispersal pathways of anatomically modern humans out of Africa (Quintana-Murci et al. 1999a). Together, these data support our previous suggestion (Kivisild et al. 1999) that India may have been inhabited by at least two successive late Pleistocene migrations, consistent with the hypothesis of Lahr and Foley (1994). It also adds to the growing evidence that the subcontinent of India has been a major corridor for the migration of people between Africa, Western Asia, and Southeast Asia (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994). METHODS: Sample Collection It should be emphasized that the DNA variation studied here is thought to be selectively neutral and thus represents only the effects of population history. These results permit no inferences about phenotypic differences between populations. In addition, alleles and haplotypes are shared by different caste populations, reflecting a shared history. Indeed, these findings underscore the longstanding appreciation that the distribution of genetic polymorphisms in India is highly complex. Further investigation of the spread of anatomically modern humans throughout South Asia will need to consider that such complex patterns may be the norm rather than the exception. All studies of South Indian populations were performed with the approval of the Institutional Review Board of the University of Utah, Andhra University, and the government of India. Adult males living in the district of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, were questioned about their caste affiliations and surnames and the birthplaces of their parents. Those who were unrelated to any other subject by at least three generations were considered eligible to participate. CHATUR VARNA We classified caste populations based upon the traditional ranking of these castes by varna (defined below), occupation, and socioeconomic status. According to various Sanskrit texts, Hindu populations were partitioned originally into four categories orvarna: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya, and Sudra (Tambia 1973;Elder 1996). Those in each varna performed occupations assigned to their category. Brahmins were priests; Kshatriya were warriors; Vysya were traders; and Sudra were to serve the three othervarna (Tambia 1973; Elder 1996). Each varna was assigned a status; Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vysya were considered of higher status than the Sudra because the Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vysya are considered the twice-born castes and are differentiated from all other castes in the caste hierarchy. This is the rationale behind classifying them as the upper group of castes (Tambia 1973). KAPU & YADAVA The Kapu and the Yadava are called once-born castes that have traditionally been classified in the Sudra, the lowest of the original four varna. However, the status of the Sudra was actually higher than that of a fifth varna, the Panchama. This fifthvarna was added at a later date to include the so-called untouchables, who were excluded from the other four varna(Elder 1996). The untouchable varna includes the Mala and Madiga. The position of the Relli in the caste hierarchy is somewhat ambiguous, but they have usually been classified in the lower caste group. Therefore, prior to the collection of any data, males from eight different Telugu-speaking castes (n=265) were ranked into upper (Niyogi and Vydiki Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vysya [n=80]), middle (Telega and Turpu Kapu, Yadava [n=111]), and lower (Relli, Madiga, Mala [n=74]) groups (Bamshad et al. 1998). This ranking has been used by previous investigators (Krishnan and Reddy 1994). After obtaining informed consent, ~8 mL of whole blood or 5 plucked scalp hairs were collected from each participant. Extractions were performed at Andhra University using established methods (Bell et al. 1981). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank all participants, the faculty and staff of Andhra University for their discussion and technical assistance, as well as Henry Harpending for comments and criticisms. We acknowledge the contributions of an anonymous reviewer who suggested that the Kshatriya and Vysya be analyzed separately from the other upper castes. Genetic distances between STRs were estimated by the programDISTNEW, kindly provided by L. Jin. This work was supported by NSF SBR-9514733, SBR-9700729, SBR-9818215, NIH grants GM-59290 and PHS MO1–00064, the Estonian Science Fund (1669 and 2887), and the Newcastle University small grants committee. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by payment of page charges. 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COMMUNICATION End of Israel will lead to end of US Jews? ALAN HART A Jewish friend in Canada, Dr. Daniel Gordis, of the Jerusalem-based Shalom Centre, a research and education institute, addressing a Jewish synogogue said: If Israel were to be destroyed, American Jewry would be reduced to the bleak existence they experienced years ago in Poland or Russia." I can only guess at what Gordis was seeking to imply with those words. One obvious implication is that he meant something like this. If there was a turning against American Jews, and if Israel did not exist to be a refuge of last resort for them, they would be persecuted and possibly exterminated. One of my own often stated fears is that, provoked by the zionist state's behaviour, there could be another great turning against Jews, possibly starting in America. It follows, or so it seems to me, that the way to stop the monster of anti-semitism going on the rampage again is not by supporting Israel on its present course as Gordis advocates. (usmankhalid@ lisauk.com) Jews & Jews of India in tight embrace V.T. Rajshekar, Editor Dalit Voice, Bangalore adds: India's Brahminical rulers called the "Jews of India", being blood brothers of the Jews, are in tight embrace to fight their latest enemies Islam. Israel fears attack from the nuclear armed Iran. India's 2% Brahmins cannot survive without war and violence which are their staple diet. Both the Jews and the "Jews of India" say they have been able to win over President Obama to tackle their common enemy. But our friend Alan Hart fears another anti-Jew violence in the West. We have the same fears in India: the rise of anti-Brahmin war and violence. The unity of China with Iran, Pakistan and other revolutionary Islamic forces including Palestine plus the Indian original inhabitants will produce a gigantic force before which the micro-minority Jews and "Jews of India" will pale into insignificance.
Tricks adopted by Brahmins to gain all-India leadership NAGESH CHAUDHARI, EDITOR, BAHUJAN SANGHARSH, UDHOJI BLDG., RAHATE COLONY, JAIL ROAD, NAGPUR - 440 022 There is only one caste (Brahmin) which is found all over India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. There is no other caste which is found in all the states of India. All Brahmins propagate vedic culture. All have Sanskrit language background. All perform "thread ceremony" and all have the mindset that they are the "gods on the earth". They are all strict advocates of varna—caste system — and consider themselves as born from the mouth of the Brahma, their god. A common Brahmin may not be in contact with other regions' Brahmins. Yet they all have the common feeling of oneness among them. But for other castes there is no such a common name. There is no such all-India caste which has the same name as Brahmin. There is no other common link. Population-wise, the Brahmin may be a minority caste, say 3.5%, but which single caste is more than 3.5% and found all over India? This also makes the Brahmin a majority caste. There is no common link between any other caste except the Brahmins in the whole of India. Nor do they have cultural relationship. You will not find a Mahar caste all over India, neither Mali nor Kurmi or Kunbi, Shetty or Sonar. They have no common heritage or language. But the Brahmins claim a common heritage, common roots, common language. That is how Brahmins have a "national" organisation (RSS) and that is how they have formed the "national" political parties. They alone are "national". Other castes need leaders for their emancipation. But Brahmins as a caste is itself a leader. Brahmin is no individual. That is how leaders from "lower castes" have coined the word Brahminism. The word "non-Brahmin" itself explains the prime importance of the Brahmin. There is not a single term against Brahminism. We have the Phule-Ambedkarism countering Brahminism, some say Periyarism as anti-Brahmin. There is no caste versus caste fight. There are personalities against Brahmin caste. Thus nobody can say that a complete caste is anti-Brahmin. So in ideology, too, other castes are a minority.
Most admired & also most hated writer of India SALEH MORSHED, LONDON About a week ago I saw a friend reading a book written by you. We were short of time and I took a cursory look at the book where I saw your address and happen to learn that you are one of the most admired and deeply hated writer at the same time. Not many writers manage that. You must be one in a million. Well…. congratulations. Profusely, I mean. The sight of the book gave me the impression that you must be involved in minority rights affairs. Particularly Dalits … a subject to my heart. (smmorshed@talktalk.net) Very rarely people from the oppressed sections are found alert. You are an exception. India's Brahminical rulers (3%) hate us for supporting the cause of the oppressed 85% SC/ST/BCs and Muslim/Christian/Sikhs. But we get no support from the latter. Yet for the past 30 years we have been struggling. Happy that you heard about us at least after 30 years of our struggle. Better late than never — EDITOR.
Hindu racism kills India A DALIT VOICE READER Sachin Parashar in the Times of India (Dec.22, 2009) says India is losing credibility and respect in the international level because of the Hindu racism that is killing its people. He quotes the Pew Research Centre, "the highly respected US think tank", that because of Hindu social hostility and religious discrimination against its SC/ST/BCs and Muslims, India has turend into a bloody battlefield. The study was made after surveying all the 198 countries in the world.
Budhist Nam-Rupa & Islamic Allah are similar DR. V.D. CHANDANSHIVE, COTTAGE VAISHALI, SHAHU NAGAR, NANDED - 431 602 Generally, the world religions have been divided into two categories: (1) theistic religions and (2) atheistic religions. Again, the theistic religions (those believing in the existence of god) have been put into two groups: (1) mono-theistic (believing in only one god) and (2) poly-theistic (believing in more than one god). Budhism is the world's first and very ancient atheistic (non-belief in the existence of god) missionary religion. Islam, on the contrary, is a monotheistic religion founded by Prophet Mohammed in the 5th century AD. Islam & Budhism are same: On the face value Budhism and Islam appear to be contradictory to each other because the Budha has not claimed any prophetic position for himself. Secondly, the Budha's non-belief in god and Prophet Mohammed's strong belief in Allah also seem to put these two religions on a paradoxical level. Though overtly the paradox works prominently, but deep down on the covert philosophical level, the contradiction appears melting down. As we are habituated with seeing only the prominent projections, we generally seem to overlook the deep philosophical undercurrents that create a semblance between these two world religions. Cosmic energy: In the Budhist doctrine the concept of Naam-Rupa acquires a prominent position. In the Budhist cosmology the universe is the manifestation of the play of Naam-Rupa, the Pali expression used by the Budha for psycho-physical energy or what in the scientific parlance is called cosmic energy. According to the Budhist philosophy Naam-Rupa or cosmic energy governs the universe. But surprisingly the cosmic energy is formless and invisible. But again astonishingly, the visibility of this formless cosmic energy is experienced by human beings through the forms of living and non-living things. The word Naam implies the psychic entity and the term Rupa implies the physical form or material entity. The forms appear and disappear but the cosmic energy is eternally present in the cosmos constantly governing , destroying, creating and organising. It neither shirnks nor expands but it constantly changes which brings dynamism, rhythm and order in nature. Man has no control on nature: But man, with his arrogant intellect and hollow pride often pretends to control nature with the help of science and technology which is impossible because man forgets that he is just a fraction of the giant intelligence prevalent in the cosmos and governed by the Naam-Rupa. The Islamic concept of Allah, though related with monotheism, appears similar to Budha's Naam-Rupa. Allah in Islam, apart from all-pervading is omnipotent, omni-present and omniscient which means all powerful, present everywhere and knowing everything. Allah is the creator of the universe. Nothing happens without his will. He is the cause, he is the effect of every thing. That is how the Quran and Islam's followers believe unflinchingly. But one thing which is worth marking about Allah is such a supreme force is formless, not having an image. But the theistic religions are replete with the images of gods and goddesses giving birth to polytheism. Even the image of Prophet Mohammed is not available. This is a unique feature of Allah and Islam. But if we ask a philosophical question as to what is formless in the universe that governs the universe, our answer will have to be the cosmic energy or the cosmic power. Such a supreme power Allah is formless and still gives birth to different forms — living and non-living. The Islamic Allah has been attributed in Koran all the psycho-physical and even the transcendental functions. The Islamic concept of soul (Ruh) also emanates from this psycho-physical attribute. Moral law: Because of the belief in supreme cosmic power, which the Budha has called Naam-Rupa and Prophet Mohamed has called Allah, there appears to be another semblance operating on the level of Budhist ethics and Islamic ethics. The main feature of Budhist and Islamic ethics is man's intellectual arrogance should not and cannot overpower the supreme cosmic power of which man's intellect is like a drop in the vast ocean of psychic cosmic power and, therefore, man should remain subdued and surrender himself to the giant intelligence that operates in the cosmos. The Budha has pointed out that Naam-Rupa follows a moral sequence in the universe. Therefore, man on the earth is duty bound to follow the moral law which respects the moral sequence. If man, because of his arrogance, breaks the moral law, the moral sequence gets affected resulting in the upheaval taking place in the form of natural disasters. Common thread: The Islamic prohibition of man from disobeying and disrespecting Allah also fixes man's inferior position and warns about Allah's invoking anger if the Islamic morality is defied. In short, both Budhism and Islam — though appearing paradoxical due to their atheistic and theistic attributes prima facie — have a common thread running in them concerned with the unconquerability of cosmic power by man so that the millennium of mankind remains intact. Budhism and Islam put a rider to man's investigative intellect and warn him against the uncurbed and wayward journey in science and technology which is prone to disturb the moral sequence in the cosmos. Of course, more research is needed in this respect which will unfold the commonalities in different faiths for the betterment of mankind.
COMMUNICATION Budhism is completely one with Islam MLECCHA, SAN FRANSCISCO, USA This refers to my Letter in DV of Jan.1, 2010 p.17: "Mleccha embraces Islam". I was exposed to Islam first when I was about ten. My cousins were Muslim, being part Arab. They were very kind and did not push their religion, but answered some questions I had. Budha figures in Quran Shortly after meeting them, I began my own research into the religions of the world, which lasted for about 24 years. After such a long research of all major religions and various minor branches and new religious movements, I finally decided to study the first religion I was exposed to in my quest. It was amazing it really took so long to consider Islam. In China, there was a tradition which sought to unite all the major religious traditions of the world; Taoism, Confucianism, Budhism, Christianity and Islam. In 1684, Huang Dehui realized the major non-Hindu religions of Asia, Christianity, and Islam were really one. Prophet Muhammad in the Quran revealed that Allah sent apostles to every nation. The People of the Book, who will also be rewarded with paradise, in addition to consisting of righteous Christians and Muslims, also consists of the Sabians. I studied all the movements which claim descent from Huang Dehui and found none of them embracing the last of the major religions; Islam. Besides, Indian scholars unraveled the mystery of the mysterious prophet of the Quran named Dhul Kafila, the Saint of Kapila. This man was none other than the Budha. Christ calls for sword Having realized Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's Navayana Budhism was completely compatible with Islam, I was that much closer to a life-changing experience. I also noticed that Jesus Christ advocated only one god in the original Greek of the New Testament. The three-in-one trinity making three gods equal to one god is nowhere in the Bible, not in the original language. Church forgets Dalits Jesus said to turn the other cheek in a fight, but to get ready for the battle by securing a sword. In other words, be peaceful as Christians, but prepare for a time when you have the might to defend yourselves in later times. If Christians were true to the teachings of Jesus, they would join righteous Muslims in fighting corruption and immorality of the world, condemning the utter reprehensible treatment of the Dalits. I even found the Prophet Muhammad mentioned by name by the Prophet Hosea in Hosea 9:6-7. The final factor was Christians' large disregard for Palestinians in Israel, Dalits in India, and Muslims throughout Europe. (This is not true of the Dalit Christian organizations, which follow the teachings of Jesus correctly by treating all members of society as equal.)
COMMUNICATION Dalits behind every anti-Muslim riot M.A. RAHIM QURAISHI, HYDERABAD Kindly ponder over the following points: (1) No doubt, unity of Muslims and Dalits is important for dealing with the menace of Brahminist imperialism. The Muslims are reluctant to get closer to Dalits because invariably they see Dalits in every anti-Muslim riots as perpetrators of atrocities on them. They readily become tools in the hands of hindutva groups which are out to establish Hindu Rashtra by exterminating Muslims. (2) Islam is against racism and at times the Dalit leaders' tone and tenor signifies racial sentiment as their basic passion. (tameerm2003@rediffmail.com) ****************************** Elite Muslim failure to probe causes of anti-Muslim riots V.T. RAJSHEKAR We have replied all the charges made by lay Muslim leaders in Dalit Voice many times and also in our books. But Islamic scholars like Brother Rahim Quraishi coming out with such an observation shows he has not made a deep study of our common enemy — Brahminism — which is behind the screen and yet directs the bloody drama. Since the Brahmins constitute a micro-minority of less than 3% and this pyramid-shaped Hindu structure has many layers of castes, on an ascending order of reverence and descending degree of contempt, this centuries-old enemy can never remain as ruler — not to speak of living alive — unless it instigates one caste (or community) against the other. ENEMY BEHIND SCREEN Perpetrators of caste riots and anti-Muslim, Christian, Sikh war and violence are all standing behind the screen. The question you raised, however, is very important and needs a deep thought. But Islamic scholars are refusing to ponder on this all-important subject of Dalits being the main actors in every anti-Muslim riot. What you say is absolutely true. The Babri Masjid demolition was done by the Andhra Pradesh Dalits. The Gujarat Genocide of Muslims (2002) was the handi-work of Dalits and Tribals. There are ever so many instances of Dalits attacking Muslims. Everybody is made to "believe" that the Dalits and Tribals are the culprits. Such a belief system is systematically nurtured and promoted by the Brahminical toilet papers. MUSLIM AS OUR BLOOD BROTHERS As the Editor of Dalit Voice, we have attended several hundred Dalit meetings in different parts of the country. No where we have heard any Dalit leader speaking anything against the Muslims. All their complaints are only against the Brahmins and other upper castes (Hindus). They have all praise for Muslim. In the writings or speeches of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Shyam Sunder, Kanshi Ram nowhere you can find even a word against Muslims. In fact all of us unanimously support Muslims because they are our blood brothers. Dalits fought against Brahmins by first getting converted to Budhism. Then into Islam and Christianity and Sikhism. The entire Bangladeshi Muslims were once Dalits. Muslim scholars have admitted this fact. (Buddhism in South Asia, Prof. M. Abdul Mumin Chowdhury, 2008, LISA, London). If the Dalits are blood brothers of Muslims how did they attack Muslims? This is the million dollar question which the Muslim religious leadership has failed to examine in depth. We had several rounds of discussion on this subject with the late Moulana Ali Miyan, who became our great admirer through the late Moulana Jaffer Ali of Bangalore, also your friend. GULF BETWEEN BROTHERS The failure of the Muslim religious leadership to go deep into this subject has brought about a big gulf between the two blood brothers who live side by side in all urban slums (including Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Delhi etc.) and eat the same food including beef. The Muslims are not only our elder brothers but one endowed with a rich, revolutionary religion. But Dalits are not only poor but culturally deprived by thousands of years of Brahminical oppression —which the Muslims escaped because of conversion. Had the Muslim rulers and the saints of those days converted the Dalits and Tribals in total by this time the entire country would have gone Muslim and become free from Brahminical tyranny. The Muslim rulers and the religious leadership did not do it then. This was a big mistake. AGHA KHAN REBUFFS GANDHI But the Muslim leadership of India before "independence" (1947) and the Dalits led by Dr. Ambedkar had worked together to fight their common Brahminical enemy. The Agha Khan, who led the Muslim delegation to the London Round Table Conference, refused to play into the hands of the treacherous Gujarati Bania, M.K. Gandhi, who abruptly came to the place where the Muslim delegation was staying in London. The "Mahatma's" sudden arrival at the dead of night shocked the Muslim delegation. Gandhi said he came to inform the "happy news" that he had accepted all the 14-point Muslim demand —but on the condition that the Muslims would not support Dr. Ambedkar (who was also in London leading the Dalit delegation) demand for separate electorate. Gandhi then dramatically produced a copy of Quran he was hiding under his dress and asked the Agha Khan to give him a promise on the Quran. The Agha Khan said being Muslims they would not go back on the promise given to Babasaheb to support the separate electorate. The cunning Bania went away disappointed. All this is part of history. All the Muslim leaders of India know this historical truth about Gandhi's mischief. The above historical incident in London reveals that before the "independence", the Dalits and Muslims were together. R.S.S. MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR EXPERIMENT How did they fall out later? How the blood brother Dalits were made to attack and kill Muslims? How did the cordial relations between the two dramatically break? This is because of the multi-million dollar experiment conducted by the premier Brahmin organization, RSS, to hinduise (enslave) the Dalits. How did the Brahmins succeed in dividing the Dalit-Muslim blood brothers? This needs a deep study of Brahminism to answer this question and to understand the working of the "Hindu Mind". Once the Muslim leadership acquires this ability, we can put an end to this frequent Hindu-Muslim (meaning Dalit-Muslim) blood bath and launch Dalit-Muslim unity which will depend upon the initiative to be taken by Muslims being our elder brothers. The problem is too simple. And Dalits are too willing to understand it. The problem lies with the elite Muslims who in their madrasa education system have failed to study the Indian social system (caste system) of which they are also a part. Yet another problem is the elite Muslim desire to be closer to the Brahminical upper castes than get closer to us. We have discussed this subject with top Jamate-Islami leadership. It simply rejected our plea saying they prefer to go with the upper castes. Already the country is choked with anti-Muslim hatred. The longer the Muslim leadership takes to understand our point, faster will be the hinduisation of Dalits. ROOT CAUSE OF PROBLEM The elite Muslims have Brahmins and other upper castes as their lawyers, accountants, tax officers, doctors, managers, neighbours, teachers, club mates, bosses. They read the media produced by this very enemy. They dine in the hotel run by this enemy. Their children go to elite schools and colleges run by the Hindu or Christians. All their day-to-day dealings are with upper castes. Here lies the problem. BIHAR AS AN EXCEPTION But look at the Pasmanda Muslims of Bihar, India's second largest state with a big Muslim population. Here the Backward Muslims themselves are coming forward to embrace the Dalits. We have attended many meetings in Bihar and found very cordial relationship between the two blood brothers. Why this is lacking elsewhere? Even the late Ashfaq Hussain Ansari, MP of UP, was close to us and fully understood us. SC/ST/OBC Muslims never had any problem with us. We admit that Dalits are behind all anti-Muslim riots. Since Muslims are the target of attack it is in their interest to find a solution. We are here to support you. Dr. Ram Nath, a former Vice-Chancellor of a UP Agri. University, has written a book itself on Dalit-Muslim Unity with our foreword. It is necessary the Muslim leadership gives a fresh thought to this subject in their own interest and also the interest of the country. ********** DALIT-MUSLIM UNITY,WHY? & HOW? Dr. Ram Nath 1995 pp.75 Rs. 25 Dalit Sahitya Akademy Write to Dalit Voice office for copies
COMMUNICATION American book on DV philosophy MLECCHA, SAN FRANSCISCO, USA The best way for me to spread your philosophy in America (and the world) is to write a book that applies to the whole world. The four biggest regional topics; India, China, the Islamic World, and America. I have contacted a major socialist organization in California and am working on making the necessary connections for you. The Bahujans and Muslims aren't united enough. The world isn't following China's model for prosperity and wealth-sharing. America's democracy still oppresses minorities and is ruined by corporate capitalism which oppresses workers. Of course, we cannot forget Latin America or Africa. I have studied all these regions in depth. I know where all the freedom fighters in the world are. This is a book Latin Americans, Africans, and Muslims will absolutely love. All these freedom movements will begin to feel as part of one Global Liberation Front. I think proposing a Global Congress as an adjunct to the UN is a good idea, which can address the needs of the world. The UN has no Internal Affairs Dept. which can monitor where it is failing and correct it yet. Also, the following rights need to be addressed; Water Rights, Food Rights, Health Rights, Workers Rights and Animal Rights and Unborn Rights. You will love the books I am sending you. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for helping me realize I matter. You give me a sense of purpose, and I hope I can help your movement even more. These are the proposed chapters: Part - I: Introduction, Writings of V.T. Rajshekar & Michael J, Global Liberation Front, New World Order of the Pentarchy, Islam, China & True India, Latin America & Jewelled Africa, Failures of Western Democracy, Isles of the Sea, Fixing the United Nations, Global Congress and Rights for All Part II: Shariah Portions, Smith, Mills, Jefferson & Madison, Communist Manifesto, Where to Begin by Lenin, Quotations of Mao Tse Tung. Appendix: US Constitution, Global Senate, Global Representatives, Global Constitution
COMMUNICATION DHRM: Kerala Dalits shock Hindus COM. AYYANKALI So far your complaint has been that Dalits are not getting angry. So frustrated were you, that you had even resigned to the fact that they will never get angry and in such frustration, you had even begun to encourage Muslim anger instead of waiting for Dalits. But now there is evidence that Dalits are getting violent which is an extremely good development. In Jharkhand, Dalit Maoists have formed their own Maoist party called Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) after splitting Telugu Brahmin Varavara Rao's savarna Maoist Party along caste lines. Brahmin Maoists killed: This newly formed Dalit Maoist Party is killing Brahminical Maoists. Besides, they hate Nepal's Brahmin fake Maoist Prachanda, also and have accused him of being a fake and a traitor. On the top of this the Cochin-based Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM) in Kerala also seems to be taking up violent resistance. But DV has been ignoring these two developments. This is my charge against you. Such genuinely revolutionary Dalit resistance must be encouraged. Publish their interviews in Dalit Voice — so that more Dalits are encouraged to physically fight Brahminical crooks. You must also popularise your "caste identity" theory and the "caste war theory". An armed, bloody, violent caste-based war for grabbing water and women seem to be inevitable and unavoidable by 2020 or so, when India is expected to run out of water. Dalits are certainly getting angry and they are getting violent also. J. Devika with inputs from Mythri Prasad Aleyamma adds: (http://www.countercurrents.org/devika141209.htm). DV silence: Utterly stupefying news of attacks on Dalit colonies, almost next door to Kerala's capital city and nerve centre of Malayalee politics, and that too by a minor anti-political force that has a legacy of anti-South Indian hatred— the Shiva Sena. And of course when one is confronted with the hard, stony silence of almost all sections of the media about this — including Dalit Voice. The mystery of the murder of an elderly, innocent morning-walker in Varkala, a town close to Trivandrum, remains a mystery. The police story is bunkum. The Hindu press always is anti-Dalit. Activists who have dared have been heckled and hounded, even senior and respected human rights activists like B.R.P. Bhaskar by the Shiva Sena. Meanwhile violence continues to be unleashed against the DHRM. Attack on Dalit identity: There are also reports of violence against Dalits in colonies all over Kerala where people have left the CPM to join the Kerala Pulaya Maha Sabha or the BSP. But the violence against the DHRM by the Shiva Sena and the police looks different because it appears to be a direct attack on the Dalit effort to construct the Dalit identity. DHRM wants a separate identity for Dalits, a new dress code which provoked much violence, group singing, cooking for each other's family, introduction of a unisex dress code of jeans and black T-shirts with Dr. Ambedkar's image. The opposition to the dress code reminds the Brahminical anger against "lower caste". No wonder the panchayat, police, Shiva Sena and other major political forces have all ganged up against DHRM. Any serious effort to resist upper castes will be put up down violently. DHRM is a Dalit organisation formed about two years back at Ernakulam with Selvaraj is leader. Meanwhile, Santosh Rana, a noted naxalite leader active in the Jharkhand region, speaks about the Lalgarh region where 30% of the population is Tribal, 20% Dalits and the rest OBC. The Kudmi-Mahatos are the largest among the OBCs. The Mahatos, Bagals are actually semi-tribals. The tribals constitute 30% of the population of Jhargram. The people of this region have very little participation in govt. Landmine blast: In Nov., WB Chief Minister had gone to Salboni to inaugurate an SEZ-steel plant of Jindals. The Maoist squads operating in the area blasted a land-mine on his way back. It missed the target but the govt. ordered night-raids which ignited a massive uprising of the people led by the Santhals. The All-India Association of Majhis was leading the struggle. The movement was so strong that the police had to withdraw from the sensitive areas. It was a great victory of the people. ****************** DV supports all resistance The educated, employed Dalits having forgotten their Father, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the uneducated, poor Dalits have taken up the mission. The educated Dalits have been virtually co-opted by the Brahminical rulers and silenced. The Maoist movement is nothing but the uprising of the rural, uneducated poor Dalits and Tribals who are our only hope. Dalit Voice extends full support to their resistance struggle — EDITOR.
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