As soon as Worth Health Organization (WHO) suggested ‘social distancing’ as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), hyper-active so-called upper castes got ignited once again to justify untouchability. No matter that WHO later changed that phrase to ‘physical distancing’, so-called upper castes got stuck with whatever benefits them and help them propagate their caste practices. Over the last couple of weeks, thousands and thousands of posts and many articles justifying the cruel caste system and untouchability have appeared on social media. Almost all of these are giving credit to the caste system and practice of untouchability as a cure for coronavirus as practising social distancing was a part of untouchability.

Here are a few tweets about the same for your reference.

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And then there are so-called upper castes who never fail to disappoint me, blaming everything on the reservation and bringing reservation into the discussion for no matter what the topic is. Their whole life problems are because of the representation of Dalit-Bahujans in various fields.

Translation: First-person – Right to get infected with Coronavirus should be for those who get a reservation so SC/ST have first right. Second person – The biggest right get infected by Coronavirus is of miniorty communities.

Udit Raj – South Korea had free tests for Covid-19 hence there was no need for a lockdown. Punit Agarwal – South Korea doesn’t have a reservation also.

(Let me reply to this Agarwal first, neither does South Korea has Brahmin-Bania, leeches, sucking blood and soul of India. And for the matter of facts, not that these matter to so-called upper castes, South Korea has an affirmative action system.)

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I would not have written this article if I had not read the following lines in an article in The Telegraph, remember this newspaper? Yes, it is the same newspaper that you might have been appreciating for its stand against Modi and co. It is not so hard though to believe that these Brahmin-Bania newspapers have been doing the same for centuries – justifying and propagating caste system and untouchability. The article titled ‘caste and contagion‘ appeared in The Telegraph, saying the following –

The caste system is a portmanteau term used to describe Indian society’s genius for hierarchy and discrimination.

In India, the coronavirus is a polluting disease kept at bay by ritualized alertness. It is contained by avoiding proximity and through constant purification. It is a challenge that caste society was built to meet. Come to think of it, the namaskar is the perfect greeting in the time of the coronavirus. It allows you to be polite, even affable, without the undesirable touching that a handshake or a hug or a kiss entails. My great grandfather knew exactly how far he had to be from Dalits to ward off the pollution that he thought they broadcast in every direction. The optimal social distancing norm for this pandemic is six feet or 1.8 metres.

Brahmin can agree that caste system was genius for creating a hierarchical system in which their position at the top is secured and castes are divided in a way that each caste group has someone above and below to despise. Hence, no caste group would be ready to collaborate with other caste groups to fight against the “supreme” caste group – Brahmin. So, let’s call it evil genius. Stop bringing your rituals as a solution to the pandemic. Your Brahminical rituals have killed millions and deprived other millions of their rights.

As for the namaskar is concerned, if you want to take credit for that I would argue that namaskar was devised so that so-called upper castes would not have to touch so-called lower castes while shaking hands. Hence, no hassle of taking a bath after getting polluted. So, it all comes down the concept of purity and impurity, propagated by Brahmins.

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All these so-called upper caste scholars who are trying to justify untouchability using the clutches of social distancing should understand the difference between social distancing and untouchability.

Here is the dummies (Savarna) guide to understand social distancing and untouchability –

Social distancing – Brahmin stays away from his Brahmin sister, wife and daughter

Untouchability – Brahmin stays away from Kashtriya, Vasiya, Shudra and Untouchables

Social distancing – Brahmin can still stay in the same home with his wife, sister and daughter, eat, drink from the same pots

Untouchability – Brahmin can not stay in the same home with other castes groups and forget about using the same pots, it is prohibited. If you use the same pots by mistake, you’re screwed – you will have to take 3 times bath in the cold river outside in the dark somewhere.

Social distancing – Brahmin men can still learn and teach under one roof

Untouchability – None other than Brahmins are allowed to gain knowledge. If you are not a Brahmin and try to gain knowledge, it will pain Brahmin and you are screwed – your ears will be plucked and tongue cut.

Do you want me to further explain? But I think you get the idea, you are not dumb or are you oh, Savarna? Was that so hard for you to understand?

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As far as the Brahmins, caste system and untouchability are concerned, no matter if 10 plagues as described in the Bible (Exodus 7-12) strike 10 times in Brahminical India, nothing will change. We have seen discrimination faced by Dalits during the relief camps during the Tsunami in Chennai, earthquake in Gujarat and Nepal to floods in Bihar or Kerala. Nothing is different in this Covid-19 pandemic, Dalits continue to face blatant discrimination under a brutal caste system practised in Indian society so religiously.

Discrimination faced by Dalits during this pandemic has multi-folded. Given the poor economic status, it has hit Dalits hard and on to that Dalits have to live with all kind of shit these so-called upper caste intellectuals produce – justifying untouchability in the name of social distancing. Charles M. Blow, opinion columnist of the New York Times wrote that Social Distancing Is a Privilege in which he argued that “the idea that this virus is an equal-opportunity killer must itself be killed”.

He makes an argument using afro-Americans community but similar could be true in India as well. Covid-19 crisis has made Dalits lives much more difficult and on to that walls of untouchability and caste system have strengthened during this period. Dalit-Bahujans are the ones who are mostly on the frontline of this pandemic (serving others through their manual work, risking their lives to survive) have suffered the most during this pandemic so special care and policies should be implemented to help them. Response to coronavirus must address the caste bias.

Finally, it would be better if so-called upper castes keep their intelligence for once at bay and not compare social distancing to untouchability. Spreading brahminical myths through Ramayana or Mahabharata and untouchability would do more damage to society, so stop. I understand it is too much to expect from you and is hard for you, but try!

Author – Pardeep Attri

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