What Medium Needs to be Wary Of?
The Oppressed voices need Reassurance on a Global Level
Medium has been a safe and comfortable platform for the oppressed of America. Disillusioned with the status quo of Indian social, political, economic, and environmental, I started a lonely venture. I ended up on Medium. It was about finding a solution to our problems and how to fight the creeping violent Casteist and communal discourse.
I had left Facebook One year back because of the hate it nurtured. Since then I have been wary of social media. I do not have an account in any of social media except Watsapp which I deactivated multiple times. It was my family’s insistence that prompted me to keep Watsapp. They wanted me to have an account on it to keep in touch. My parents are working in Oman. My siblings are in UAE. I am residing in South India.
10 months back after the Ultra-Right of India started attacking Lower Caste, Tribals, and Religious Minorities explicitly, as one among the oppressed I have been deeply disturbed. I found Medium and started writing in it. It took me another 5 to 6 months to discover publications on Medium.
Today I have 134 followers and 8 curated articles. Most of my curations are in Sustainability and as a result, I became one of the top writers in it. After the new changes in Medium, I lost that tag from my profile on November 1st.
Being in India, I am unable to enroll in the Medium Partner Program. I started writing for liberation from the current state of affairs in my country and was driven by passion. Hence, I like writing in medium regularly and neither did the loss of my tag of ‘Top Writer in Sustainability’ discourage me from writing here.
I love Medium. It is better than social media which unfurls hate against the oppressed of India. My parents have often scolded me for writing pieces against our usurpers. It's not that they discourage me but they are afraid that they might lose their child to the state’s bloodlust. They implored me to stop writing against the Indian State. But, I am not able to stay silent.
The rising number of lynchings, communal riots, and the economic downturn has made the oppressed desperate. When people do raise voice they are being slapped by sedition laws and arrested without trial. Disappearances and murders becoming suicides and suicides becoming murders are pretty common in India. This has caused the oppressed to find refuge in religion and spirituality. They are suffering the tortures in silence and tries to find refuge in prayers. They comfort each other by saying that a savior would come for them.
The lower castes, Tribals, and religious minorities make up 65–70% of the Indian populace. They were altogether called Bahujans by Buddha. This 65% remains suppressed to this day by the Upper Caste, whom Ambedkar called Savarnas. They have dominated the religious, social, economical, and political landscape of India. I do not believe in a savior instead I want Bahujans to rise against their usurpers. As Ambedkar said:
‘Lost rights are not regained by appealing to the conscience of the usurpers. It is achieved by persistent struggle’
Death is inevitable. When I look back I can at least die satisfied with my life if I fight. It is at this juncture that I started writing in Medium and continues to write because even if I write or not, they are going to come for me sooner or later. As F. Douglass said,
‘I would rather die free than to live as a slave’
Medium is a comfortable space for the voices of the oppressed. As it is discouraging of ultra-right voices of America It should be wary of similar voices elsewhere.
There are two kinds of sexism. They are hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. Similarly, they are two kinds of oppression they are hostile and benevolent oppression.
As hostile sexism is easy to find, caste Hindus (Savarnas) have used benevolent sexism over the years to oppress women. Similarly, the explicit oppression in India towards Avarnas (lower castes, minorities, and Tribals) is being practiced under the guise of benevolent oppression in India.
I have recently come across articles in Medium overemphasizing the beauty of Hindu culture, Hinduism, and Hindu Scriptures. These articles are motivating benevolent oppression. I have found articles in Medium pointing out flaws in Christianity and the Bible but none on similar lines about Hinduism or Islam.
The Hidden Religious Fanaticism
The following article has been trending in Medium.
I responded to the article the following way:
My comment shook some Brahmanical mindset and the next day saw some good logical fallacy at work against me.
I don’t think I need to respond to this comment. The comment is a personal attack and caters well to ad hominem logical fallacy.
The second response is more intelligent but fails to address what I pointed out. Instead caters to red herring logical fallacy. He starts by saying the old RSS-BJP narrative that caste is a western construct. RSS-BJP has often claimed that whatever bad has happened, happening and going to happen in India because of foreigners. This includes Muslims, Westerners, Arabs, and Chinese.
According to the comment, The Varna is what the Vedic system had. This is not caste according to him because caste is by birth and varna is by Gunas (the Hindi word for ‘worth’).
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in his book Annihilation of Caste clearly states that Varna and Caste are the same. Caste is by birth. Varna’s idea of worth is based on one heredity or lineage. This idea argues that a cobbler’s son is worth a cobbler because he is the son of a cobbler. He cannot become a religious master because he is the son of a cobbler. He cannot become a king because he is the son of a cobbler. He cannot become a rich tradesman because he is the son of a cobbler.
But, a Brahmin’s son can become a king and a tradesman. Even when, he is meant to be an academician or a religious master by worth (Guna). Similarly, other upper castes can take up other jobs but a shudra, woman, or a lower caste cannot become a religious master. They cannot rule a kingdom and they can get involved in the trade.
According to the comment, all the working class in the world are Shudras whose children cannot become government officials, rich businessmen, or academicians. This is like telling Barack Obama that since your father is a Black American economist you cannot dream of becoming the president of the United States. This is like telling all working-class people that their children cannot dream of becoming the president of the United States or a lieutenant colonel or the next Bill Gates.
How can the caste of varna be the same as the modern-day freedom to choose what one wants to become?
The problem here is I talked about Vedic times because it was what the trending article in question was obsessed about. This is the culture that prevailed during the time of Vedas. The respondent seemed to have mistaken the time of Puranas to that of Vedas. The Cosmic being theory is the basis of caste (‘Jathi’ in Hindi). This is based on Birth according to Rig Veda 10:90, part of Vedas.
The Varna system (based on worth) finds its basis in the Puranas. The period of Puranas is after the advent of Buddha and Buddhism while the Vedas or Vedic period is before it.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verses 40–46 has the basic concepts of the Varna system. Reading these verses can make one realize how stringent and oppressive is the Puranic Varna system towards women, Shudras, and lower castes.
The ‘dharma’ that the comment talks about is the Hindi word for eternal truth or reality. So, again the Varna system is the reality for women, Shudras, and lower castes in the above-mentioned verses. The reality of the eternal truth of oppression for them.
The Third comment is the best of logical fallacy arguments. The respondent makes good use of ad hominem and Strawman Fallacy. He attacks Christianity which he thinks is my religion. He claims that Katharine Gerbner’s book is all about how Christianity promotes slavery. This is classic whataboutery.
I have not attacked the Hindu religion in my comment and he attacks Christianity thinking that I am a Practising Christian. Classic Ad hominem at work. Then instead of explaining the Rig Veda 10:90, he says that I should refer to one of Mr. Swami’s speeches. This implies that the verses of Rig Veda or the Vedas are archaic and it needs some master manipulator to suit the present discourse.
Then he quotes Hanuman which is out of context. Hanuman is a character in Ramayana, one among the Puranas. I have not even mentioned Puranas in the comment. My whole comment was about the Vedic times-the period of the Vedas. This is the strawman Fallacy.
He makes some troublesome statements. He says that we should be like Hanuman who falls at the feet of Bhagwan. It doesn’t have any relevance here but I guess he was referring to slavery. He considers the Varna system as the Eternal Truth hence the Shudras, Women, and Lower Castes (untouchables) should follow it without question. Even if that means they have to serve Savarnas as slaves.
According to him, this is what Hanuman falling to Bhagwan’s feet and Thulasi das falling to other’s feet signifies. A typical RSS-BJP narrative to justify the slavery of the Oppressed in the Indian subcontinent.
He praises the Cow protection recites some Sanskrit verses and concludes with a youtube link. The whole comment feels like a cryptic rambling of a religious fanatic who painfully tries to show off his knowledge while justifying his religion or beliefs as infallible.
I am not new to such religious fanaticism. In fact, the whole discourse of the Indian Subcontinent is filled with such ramblings and logical fallacy. This is the RSS-BJP’s narrative at work. They have their own Cyber Army of unemployed youths who are paid to amplify the disinformation campaigns of RSS-BJP. They are called the BJP IT Cell. It is headed by Amit Malviya.
They get 1 to 2 US dollars for a retweet. Similar rates are fixed for spreading fake news on Facebook, WhatsApp, Youtube, Quora, and various other internet platforms. This is the reason why I quit all of them. I couldn’t hold my ground in front of a wave of fake news and communal propaganda.
Probably because of Medium’s regulations, they have not infiltrated Medium till now. But I am worried about the present trends. This trending medium article is an example. The comment section is filled with persons who are blind followers of the RSS-BJP narrative. Except for one or two, the comment section of this article has comments from profiles that have not written anything. Many of them have limited followers. The majority of followers have Indian names and turns up just to comment or to clap so that the article would have a higher reach.
The comments I got caters to typical RSS-BJP ideology. This is demonstrated by the amount of ad hominem and other logical fallacy arguments it had. They are probably Indians settled in the developed world. They are staunch supporters of Narendra Modi and RSS-BJP.
Doesn’t it strike that these people when they call out against Trump and his administration’s racism and sexism are vocally supportive of Modi and his Ultra-right RSS-BJP regime?
Modi Love and Blind Followers
The very same Modi under whose regime 2000 innocent people died in 2002 Godhra pogrom perpetrated by his RSS-BJP. The very same Modi who single-handedly brought Demonetization and ill-implemented GST that claimed 124 lives due to intense economic hardships. The Indian GDP growth because of multiple shocks like these has hit rock bottom -23.9% from +9% in 2020.
The present ruling dispensation of India has locked down Kashmir for more than a year because of their opposition to RSS-BJP. 8 million people are incarcerated in their homes. Their livelihoods, education, and healthcare were destroyed.
The Indian State has rendered 1.9 million people stateless in Assam through National Register for Citizens (NRC). They have disbanded the results of NRC literally throwing 215 million US dollars into the dustbin. The reason is that this was targeted at Muslims but 1.5 million among the 1.9 million have turned out to be Hindus.
In December 2019, they have passed the Citizenship Amendment Act according to which religious minorities except Muslims are entitled to become Indian citizens. The Home Minister of Indian State has reiterated that they will implement nationwide NRC after this so that Indian Hindus are safe by CAA. Muslim citizens become stateless through NRC.
After initial Backlash from India and Abroad, the Indian state is silent on NRC but has come up with an amended National Population Register (NPR). NPR is meant for taking the population census after every 5 years. The amended NPR includes questions on the applicant’s religion, date of birth, father’s religion, and date of birth along with the mother’s religion and date of Birth. Without a doubt, they want to evict all minorities which the Indian Home Minister called ‘Termites’. NPR is the backdoor entry for NRC. He also claimed that he will throw out these ‘termites’.
There’s another comment that I want to discuss. I commented on Umair Haque’s article on religious fanaticism. The comment was as follows:
I have written about Hinduism and Islam in Medium. But, it seems like Savarnas doesn’t want me doing that. And these are the same people who call out racism in the US and elsewhere. One of the hateful comments I got from RSS-BJP supporters is given below:
What more shreds of evidence does one need to call out the hypocrisy of the Caste Hindus (Savarnas)?
From this comment, it is evident that the trending article on Gaushalas (Cow centers) of Texas, its comments, and the hate comments I received have a similar source. The last comment is an angry venting of a blind follower of Modi who wants me to be jailed or thrown out of India. Isn’t this the same as what Amit Shah said about minorities?
Speaking and fighting against oppression is stigmatized as Minority Appeasement. This is the same hate-filled narrative prevalent in India after the humongous win of RSS-BJP in 2019.
Conclusion
Without evidently valorizing their RSS-BJP affiliation they have resorted to valorizing the Vedic age, Veda-Puranas and Shastra-Smritis. These are all various facets of benevolent oppression through which Brahmins and other Caste Hindus have created de facto slavery in Indian society. They do it under the guise of Hinduism which is the gift-wrapped version of Aryan Supremacist Brahmanism.
Trump is the poster boy of white supremacy and champions the cause of White Christians. Modi is the poster boy of Aryan Supremacy and champions the cause of Upper Caste Hindus. Two faces of the same coin, Isn’t it?
The writings that praise Hinduism or Vedic cultures are benevolent oppression. The authors of it consciously or unconsciously championing the cause of Aryan Supremacy. The Medium should be wary of them.
My request to Medium is that as much as they discourage anything from Christian conservatives they need to be conscious and wary of religious conservatives from all religions including Hinduism and Islam.
As much as Medium supports the cause of Anti-racism in America, we expect medium to be supportive of the oppressed on a global level. 30–35% of India has made de facto slavery normal and continues to oppress the 65–70% of Bahujans. Both white supremacism and Aryan supremacism is alive and kicking.
To understand how Savarnas have dominated the discourse with their benevolent oppression, I recommend the following short film. This is made by Indian director Rajesh Rajamani, a Tamizhan. This short film can help understand how discreetly charming the Savarna mindset is.
The oppressed on the global level needs reassurance from platforms like Medium. Reassurance can go a long way towards the empowerment of the intersectionally discriminated and oppressed on a global level.
Update: I actually thought that the writer of the Vedic Ecosystem was civil because I saw her not fuming at me for my criticism but I should have known better.
Again logical fallacy. Instead of answering my inquiry she covertly hails those terrible traits of Vedic culture and typecasts the individual ‘Anti-Hindu’. It doesn’t end here. This tweet got 40 likes and 8 shares. As I am not on Twitter, I am not able to read the one comment. The chances are that it is a verbally abusive statement against me.
Old school ad hominem. Calls me a ‘worm which came out to get some sun.’ Observe the 49 likes this verbal abuse attracted. I speculate the 9 comments to be a downpour of hatred-filled verbal abuse and many of them might be in Hindi. There are 5 shares.
I have had to deal with too much hatred in social media and I have shown examples of it. This was the reason why I quit social media. Every time an oppressed raises her voice against the tyranny of Brahmanical hegemony this is what we get in India. But, its no surprise because the Manusmriti that the Ultra-right RSS-BJP vehemently wanted to become India’s constitution says that,
‘A once-born man (Bahujan) shall have his tongue cut if he speaks against the twice-born (Brahmana or upper caste). If he speaks the name of Upper caste contumely, an iron nail ten fingers long shall be thrust into his throat. If he teaches Brahmana his duty, the king shall cause hot oil to be poured into his mouth and ears’. — Chapter 8, verses 270–273, Manusmriti
These are only applicable to women, and Bahujans. For upper-caste especially Brahmins these rules don’t matter as they are at the top of the caste or Varna. Oppression at its best!
It was Ambedkar the father of the Indian Constitution who burned Manusmriti citing it as an abominable book. But RSS-BJP considers it sacrosanct. The RSS-BJP also celebrates Ambedkar Jayanti saying that he is a proud Hindu when Ambedkar himself converted to Navayana Buddhism after calling Hinduism nothing but gift-wrapped Brahmanism.
Double standards and hypocrisy at its best!
