Religious Rehabilitation – Is it a neglected entity proposed by Dr B R Ambedkar for “caste” as a disease of mind? - Velivada

Dr B R Ambedkar is recognised as Founding father of Modern India. He was a great social scientist, economist, Barrister of law, human rights activist, philosopher and most educated politician of independent India. He was the principal architect of Constitution of India. It has been more than 85 years double doctorate Dr B R Ambedkar (MA, PhD in social science from Columbia University the USA and PhD in economics from London School of Economics) has emphasised on the concept of caste as a disease of mind prevalent in Hindu religion in India in his famous writing called “Annihilation of caste”. Dr B R Ambedkar was first law minister of Independent India who holds the world record for the highest number of mass religious conversion in one go (5 lakhs people) on October 1956.

In the era of pandemics and anticipated bioterrorism, we look for scientific evidence for each and every preventive step before allowing for a large number of population to follow like whether the healthy person needs to wear a mask to prevent community transmission of COVID-19, the role of HCQS and so on. How are we allowing the large population to follow their religious believes without a proper recommendation from a learned person through a scientific approach like Annihilation of caste, just because a saint preaches religious notions into the community mind in large without realising the devastating outcomes ranging from a depressive illness in oppressed population to extreme outcomes like dangerous behaviour of extremists minded population towards Covid-19 preventive measures. Symptoms of Caste as a disease of the mind in the form of 1) Feeling of the superiority of once own over fellow human 2) Untouchability practices 3) Honour killing. The disease manifests mainly in 2 phenotypes namely oppressor group who are small in number but conscious and committed towards emotion-based religious notions of mythological origin, an oppressed group who are in large number but amorphous. The religious notions and its devastating effects explained in Annihilation of castes is just a philosophical saying or some kind of mental illness endemic in a certain community in Indian Hindu population need to be investigated further. Area of preventive medicine for diseases of mind and its rehabilitation need to be researched further. Presently can Annihilation of caste be considered as religious rehabilitation for such possible disease of the mind is just a matter of debate?

There is enough archaeological evidence to suggest that similar kind of religious rehabilitation took place in India way back about 2500 years BC by Buddha through various religious and social reforms followed by political reform by King Ashoka during Maurya dynasty. It seems Buddhism was never a religion at the time when it was proposed and spread by Buddha. Possibly it was a rehabilitative measure executed by then social scientist Buddha for this disease of the mind. However, a new phenotype of this disease of mind emerged after Maurya dynasty resulting in the vanishing of such massive religious rehabilitative measures to establish the disease everlasting till today. Famous historians and archaeologists like Alex. Cunningham (An Account of the Discovery of the Ruins of the Buddhist City of Samkassa) documented these events as revolutions and counter-revolutions. Similarly, Ambedkarite Buddhism could not be a religion in its true sense at all, indeed it could be a rehabilitative measure for this disease of mind proposed by today’s social scientist double doctorate Dr BR Ambedkar. For reasons unknown Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of religious notions to be evaluated by saints, not by learned persons stand nowhere in today’s scientific era but still holds good in emotion-based religious of mythological origin. On the contrary, the traditional aayas, midwifery home delivers are replaced by learned obstetricians for hospital deliveries proved through evidence-based science.

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