Skip to main content

Munmun Dutta's utterance part of savarnas' 'rampant' feudal, casteist mindset

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* 

A TV actress, more known for her flirting ways than acting, recently exposed her caste mindset when she said: “Lip tint ko halka sa blush ki tarah laga liya hai because main YouTube pe aane wali hoon aur main achha dikhna chahti hoon. Bhangi ki tarah nahi dikhna chahti hoon..." Simple translation: I am planning to speak to you through my YouTube channel and hence I want to look beautiful and not like the 'Bhangis'.
Bhangi is known to be a derogatory term used for the community of those engaged in sanitation and manual scavenging work. The term is officially prohibited, but the Brahmanical mindset continues to use it to humiliate the community.
The actress, Munmun Dutta, later issued a statement by saying that she never 'meant' to 'hurt' anyon and it was a goof-up because she is not a 'native' Hindi speaker, though it is another matter that she is an important player in the TV serial “Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chashma”, which started in August 2008.
If you have watched the show, it might look 'light entertainment' with 'comedy on day-to-day issues’, but, frankly, it is also a way to inject the savarna (dominant caste) cultural values where 'traditions' and 'past' become supreme – as 'prescribed' by the RSS.
Munmun Dutta's so-called 'apology' is nothing but a clever attempt to escape from the 'criminal offence' after the hashtag to arrest started gaining momentum on Twitter. The fact is, what Munmun Dutta said is commonly uttered among caste Hindus. They are part and parcel of the feudal casteist society, particularly in the northern Indian belt, often referred to as 'cow-belt'.
Abuses and slurs on the basis of one’s jaati i.e., caste, gender, disability, is part of our 'culture'. A common abuse in our day today life is 'behanxxxxd', and it comes in our mouth as like a 'mantra'. Terming 'langada', 'loola', 'andha', 'behara' for physically challenged persons with polio, blind and deaf, is also common. For women who can’t conceive the term is used as 'banjh'. Similarly, widows, single women too are called through various derogatory names.
Several ‘idioms’ and 'sayings' in Hindi are actually Brahmanical abuse against the people on the margins. In fact, it is the Brahmanical abuse of the grammar. The abuse, against the Dalits and women, is part of the language and gets maximum claps.
Political leaders and 'orators' have always used 'caste' narratives to 'build' their 'case'. One should not forget that, in the aftermath of Mandal Commission report, many savarna boys organised 'unique' protests where they were 'sweeping' the streets and some of them 'shining the shoes' of the people while the girls 'cried' with a 'slogan' -- “if all the boys were 'doing' this 'work', where would we get our 'husbands'?”
The contempt for the work that Dalits have been engaged in and the thought that it is the work they deserve, while dominant caste people’s job is to dominate and rule, makes the savarnas think that they are 'meritorious' and ‘deserve’ important positions by virtue of their caste supremacy. Accepting that non-Brahmins and Dalits in particular can have merit and perhaps better than them is a rare thought and difficult to fathom.
India needs serious introspection, as such nasty thoughts – that some people are born unequal while others are born with merit – emerged 2,000 back. Yet, in modern times, when we have a Constitution and are a rule based polity, such thoughts must not merely be taken seriously but condemned and punished so that there is no chance of their repetition.
Several ‘idioms’ and 'sayings' in Hindi are actually Brahmanical abuse against the people on the margins
Indeed, India needs a hate crime law which can take up such issues seriously and punish the guilty. Our schools, colleges and dictionaries need a re-look and students must be informed from their childhood as to how caste system is killing humans inside us, and how this system should be thrown into garbage.
In the meanwhile, it is time that Munmun Dutta's utterings should be taken seriously and she must be face the law. The aim is not to punish her but to send across the message that as to what ails our society and why it is essential that such thoughts do not appear in our mind. Caste discrimination must have the same kind of intolerance from us, as world is dealing with racial prejudices.
Our children must know from their homes that they are living in a society where Constitution is supreme and it deals everyone as equal. Caste discrimination and caste system must not be merely condemned but thrown in the dustbin, and for that we must put 'annihilation of castes' on our agenda.
But will that be possible if our students are not taught about the dirty relic of our past, which the caste system is, and how Baba Saheb Ambedkar fought against it? Let this 'Bambai cinema', which often makes jokes on the colour of one’s skin and glorifies the 'past', start taking a lesson from Dr Ambedkar's life and mission.
One hopes, more and more Indian families would read Dr Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and others who preached humanism and human values. Once we become humanist in a true sense, the dirty edifice of the caste system will automatically collapse.
The task is tough, as those enjoying power and patronage for centuries would not leave their privileges. Anti-caste groups in India and abroad and Bahujan masses should join hands to do the needful and get an alternative, as shown by Dr Ambedkar.
---
*Human rights defender

Comments

TRENDING

Avoidable Narmada floods: Modi birthday fete caused long wait for release of dam waters

Counterview Desk  Top advocacy group, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), has accused the Sardar Sarovar dam operators for once again acting in an "unaccountable" manner, bringing "avoidable floods in downstream Gujarat."  In a detailed analysis, SANDRP has said that the water level at the Golden Bridge in Bharuch approached the highest flood level on September 17, 2023, but these "could have been significantly lower and much less disastrous" both for the upstream and downstream areas of the dam, if the authorities had taken action earlier based on available actionable information.

Biden urged to warn Modi: US can declare India as worst religious freedom offender

By Our Representative  During a Congressional Briefing held on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Nadine Maenza, former Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has wondered why the Biden administration should raise issues of mass anti-minority mob violence  -- particularly in Haryana and Manipur -- with Modi. Modi should be told that if such violence continues, the US will be “compelled by law” to designate India as one of the world’s worst offenders of religious freedom, she urged.

From 'Naatu-Naatu' to 'Nipah-Nipah': Dancing to the tune of western pipers?

By Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Some critics have commented that the ecstatic response of most Indians to the Oscar for the racy Indian song, “Naatu-Naatu” from the film, “RRR” reeks of sheer racism, insulting visuals and a colonial hangover. It was perhaps these ingredients that impressed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, one critic says.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Asset managers hold '2.8 times more equity' in fossil fuel cos than in green investments

By Deepanwita Gita Niyogi*  The world’s largest asset managers are far off track to meet the  2050 net zero commitments , a new study  released by InfluenceMap , a London-based think tank working on climate change and sustainability, says. Released on August 1, the Asset Managers and Climate Change 2023 report by FinanceMap, a work stream of InfluenceMap, finds that the world’s largest asset managers have not improved on their climate performance in the past two years.

Evading primary responsibility, ONGC decides to invest Rs 15,000 crore in sick subsidiary

By NS Venkataraman*  It is reported that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will infuse about Rs 15,000 crore in ONGC Petro-additions Ltd (OPaL) as part of a financial restructuring exercise. ONGC currently holds 49.36 per cent stake in (OPaL), which operates a mega petrochemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat. GAIL (India) Ltd has 49.21 per cent interest and Gujarat State Petrochemical Corporation (GSPC) has the remaining 1.43 per cent.

Sales, profits of Indian firms 'deteriorate', yet no significant increase in cost pressures

By Our Representative  The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad's (IIM-A's) latest Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES), a monthly exercise, has said that while cost perceptions data does not indicate significant increase of cost pressures, sales and profits of the Indian firms have deteriorated.

'State-sanctioned terror': Stop drone attack on Adivasis, urge over 80 world academics

Counterview Desk  A joint statement, “Indigenous Peoples’ Un-Freedoms and Our Academic Freedom: A Call for Solidarity”, endorsed by over 80 signatories, including international academics, activists and civil society organizations, as well as diasporic Indian academics and researchers, working with Adivasi (indigenous) communities in India, has made an urgent appeal to prevent future drone bomb attacks by the Indian state on Adivasi villages.