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വായന

23 November, 2007

The Courts and the Varna System

The Indian judicial system is afflicted by three D’s – delay, detention and death, says Amit Chamaria, a freelance journalist, in an article contributed to Countercurrents.org.

Citing official statistics, he points out that the worst sufferers are the Adivasis, the Dalits and others at the bottom of the social hierarchy under the Varna order.

He adds, “A convention seems to lend support to it as well. People are asked to swear inside the courtroom by the Gita – a text that upholds Varna Ashram.”

The Gita owes its exalted position as the book by which Hindu witnesses swear in court to the former colonial masters. The British, accustomed to swearing by the Bible, wanted an Indian counterpart for it. They had already decided that all Indians who were not Muslims or Christians were Hindus. From out of the body of Indian religious texts, they picked the Gita for the honour of being the Hindu bible.

Over to Amit Chamaria’s article, "3'D' In Judiciary"

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