Comment of the Moment
Bahunists and Bahunism: Caretakers of Nepal’s Feudal Tradition
March 10, 2007 UWB	93 Comments
Comment of the Moment: Originally Posted Here by Dinesh Koirala (Courtesy: Sano Baje)
[UWB: We do not necessarily agree with the following piece but decided re-publish it here mainly for two reasons: One, we respect voices from all sides. Two, the article cites two of UWB posts as “excellent examples of Bahunists in action” though the word “excellent” doesn’t come for us as something to be proud of. We are strongly against any discriminations based caste and ethnicity. We support the empowerment of all communities in Nepal.]
For those of us who have lived with this phenomenon all our lives, what is described below is no big revelation. However, for the benefit of those who think Nepali politics boils down to a struggle between Royalists and Maoists, or democrats and autocrats, or centrists and extremists, they are only partially correct. There is one other critical grouping that serves as chief sponsor of the political turmoil in Nepal – the Bahunists.
Who are the Bahunists?
So who (what) exactly are the Bahunists? Well, those who believe in Maoism are Maoists; those who believe in the Royal tradition are Royalists. Similarly, those who believe in the “Bahun-baad” tradition, are the Bahunists.
What is the “Bahun-baad” tradition and who precisely are the Bahunists? Ask any Janajati, Dalit, Newar, Madhesi (or non-Brahmin individual) – he or she will provide you a dissertation on what “Bahun-baad” is and exactly how much damage the Bahunists have done to the idea of liberal democracy in Nepal.
Ask the Chhetris, the Thakuris, the Ranas, the Thapas, the Mallas, the Shresthas, the Tamrakars, the Kayasthas (etc.) the same question, and it is likely they will give you a different answer. Members of these groups are sure to know who the Bahunists are, but they probably don’t understand the phenomenon that well.
Why? Because for centuries, Bahunists have successfully performed as the mechanism that enables (and amplifies) Nepal’s feudal traditions; at the same time, the Bahunists have been successful in portraying the non-Bahunists as either the face, or the victims of feudalism.
Why are the Bahunists so Angry and Dangerous?
It is important to note that not all Brahmins are Bahunists. Just like not all Chhetris are Royalists and not all Janajatis are Maoists. This being said, all Bahunists (like other minority extremists), are bad news. Just like the hard-core Royalists give the Chhetris a bad name, the hard-core Bahunists give the Brahmins a bad name.
At least when Royalists have disagreements with other Royalists, all they do is publish trashy articles about each other in the media. When Maoists argue with other Maoists, the one with the bigger balls puts the other one in detention and then India steps in and sorts things out.
When Bahunists have arguments with other Bahunists, all hell breaks loose – look at what happened when the Bahunists in the Nepali Congress and the Bahunists in the Maoists disagreed – the whole country suffered for 12 years!! This is one of many reasons why Bahunists are bad for Nepal, just like their extremist friends from other camps.
To put it plainly, the Bahunists have functioned for ages as priests and “purohits” (mostly in the houses of high-caste Chhetris, Hindu temples, etc.) during times of unrest and war. During times of peace, they have operated in the shadows, for example, by completely Sanskritizing the exam to enter the Nepali Foreign Service, by excluding members of other ethnic groups and castes from politics, by monopolizing the state’s political beaurecracy, by inserting key Bahunists in the Nepali Police, etc.
The Bahunists’ fathers and forefathers accomplished the process of monopolizing state power (from within government), but some Bahunist off-spring are still angry. Why are Bahunist off-spring so violently against the idea of Monarchy? Because they are now accomplished in their own fields and find shame in the fact that their ancestors were preists in the Palace.
It’s all very simple. Bahunist off-spring feel entitled to respect because of their accomplishments, but are unable to let go of their ancestral pasts and earn the respect just like everyone else. Shame is a powerful driver of hatred, as anti-Americanism flourishing the Arab world has shown. But Bahunists are embarrassed and angry for the all the wrong reasons.
If Bahunists (who have enjoyed privileged existences their whole lives) are angry, how should the Janajati and Madhesi and other minority groups feel at being repressed by the Bahunists all their lives? Remember, it may be a stupid individual like Gyanendra who sits at the wheel of the “ship,” but read history – it has always been Bahunists that have guided and assisted idiots like Gyanendra, navigate the “ship.”
What do Bahunists, Illiberal Democrats and the Ku Klux Klan, have in common?
In Nepal, Nepotism, sycophancy and exclusion all have one thing in common – the Bahunists. With the exception of a few “token” members from other caste groups, Nepal’s politics, Nepal’s education system, Nepal’s public sector, Nepali media, are all completely dominated by Bahunists and their circle of semi-slaves.
When examined according to the dimensions of elite-ness and exclusivity, the Bahunists in Nepal behave much like the Ku Klux Klan (at their height), in the United States of America. The Bahunists look down on other castes, they feel superior to other classes and they advocate Bahunist supremacy, non-stop.
The “beauty” of how the Bahunists operate is that they do so under the idea of democracy, inclusion, equality and social harmony. They project the image that they are for the rights of minorities, that they are for the weak and downtrodden, that they are the most democratic of all groups.
But truly, nothing could be further from the truth. Bahunists act in favour of other Bahunists. They elevate the status of only Bahunists. They represent the very core of what is rotten in Nepal’s democracy. The “Bahun-baad” phenomenon (as propagated by the Bahunists) is the single biggest threat to social harmony, to liberal democracy, to equality, and peace in Nepal.
What do you think Dor Bahadur Bista was talking about when he wrote “Fatalism and Development in Nepal?” Who do you think the International Crisis Group is referring to when they issue statements like: “Control over the peace process has not increased confidence; that all decisions were made behind closed doors by a handful of Brahman men leaves sceptics wondering if ten years of conflict has done anything to change underlying structures.”
Here’s another (more recent) quote from ICG: “So far the (peace) process has concentrated on building elite consensus at the expense of intense political debate or extensive public consultations.”
If you guessed the Bahunists (in response to all three references above), you’re absolutely right.
Who are some of the more prominent anti-Bahunists and why is their struggle not providing results?
What makes the Bahunists particularly destructive is that they are found at the top layers of every political entity in Nepal. They are at the top of the UML, they are at the top of the the Maoists, they are entrenched in the judiciary. In fact, the very core leadership of the Nepali Congress right now, are all Bahunists.
If you ever wondered about why people like Gagan Thapa, or Rabindra Shrestha (or even the JTMM) are so very annoyed with their mother organizations, it’s because they resent being subdued by the Bahunists.
If you’re still wondering why the Madhesi community’s spontaneous uprising has been so full of passion, it’s simple. It’s because the Madhesis resent all decisions of political importance being made by a congregation of Bahunists. It’s because they are sick and tired of Bahunists playing games with the future of Madhesis.
Like the Janajatis, the Madhesis know from experience who runs the mechanics of Nepal’s feudal structure. There might be an idiot at the top of the pyramid of feudalism, but the entire base of this pyramid is full of Bahunists and their sympathizers. Thank goodness Jana Aandolan-II has clarified this beyond any credible doubt.
How do Bahunists react when they face a common threat?
When Bahunists face a threat to their powerbase, they come up with conspiracies. And not just small conspiracies, but elaborate theories that span many years and multiple dimensions. To the Bahunists, any threat to their undemocratic, exclusive, power-base is explained by a sophisticated conspiracy.
Fortunately, over the past few months, Bahunist conspiracies have gotten them into more trouble than they would care to admit.
For example, when the Bahunists came up with conspiracy theories about the Madhesi uprising being part of an elaborate Royalist design, this added anger and fuel to the Madhesi uprising.
When the Maoist Bahunists (yes, the Bahunists are at the top of the pecking order within the Maoists as well) and the Bahunists in the Nepali Congress schemed to discredit the Madhesi movement, the Madhesi movement gathered even more momentum.
When the Bahunists refused to ask one of their own to resign (in order to start negotiations with the Madhesis), naturally, the Madhesis understood exactly how much “respect” the Bahunists have for the Madhesi population.
It is hilarious when Bahunists make statement about how much they have given to the Madhesi community by “allowing” them citizenship rights. This is the Bahunists’ attempt at gaining sympathy from the Madhesi community. Even more hilarious is when the Bahunists claim stake to being members of the Madhesi community (for electoral reasons).
Everyone knows that the biggest threat to continued Bahunist domination comes from movements that demand ethnic assertion, equality and proportional representation – you know, movements like the Madhesi movement and the Janajati movement.
There are thousands of examples of Royalist conspiracies that are outlined by the Bahunists (from within the Maoists and other political groups). In fact, anything that even remotely threatens the Bahunists’ hold on power, is framed as a conspiracy against democracy.
Here are some excellent examples of Bahunists in action:
“Janajati Nepal Banda: Royalists in Charge (and Other Headlines)”
and “Surya Bahadur Thapa Interview: Hidden Messages?”
How do Bahunists react when they are under public scrutiny?
In the old days, if attacked, Bahunists would run back to their priestly duties and seek protection from Hinduism – “respect your priest, do not harm your guru, feed him well, clothe him well, bull shit, bull shit, bull shit.”
In recent times, Bahunists tend to throw money at whatever problems they are having. But when half the country’s population is rising against the Bahunists, they are finding that spending money alone, isn’t getting them relief. This is making the Bahunists extremely nervous.
Another technique Bahunists use is that they immediately mobilize their global Bahunist network, Bahunists in the media, and Bahunists across the political spectrum, to spread misinformation, to sensitize issues and to manipulate (detract) the Nepali public’s mood. As technology has grown and access to information along with it, the Bahunists have mastered the means to amplify their Bahunist cause.
What Royalists failed to understand is the distinction between love for the institution and hatred for the individual; What the Maoists understand (but intentionally ignore) is that one does not have to be a Royalist to oppose Maoist tyranny; What the Bahunists fail to understand is that whether the Maoists come to power or not, whether Nepal becomes a republic or not, the Bahunists are exposed once and for all!!
Forecasting the Future of “Bahun-baad” and the Bahunists
Of course, all “good” things come to an end. With people across Nepal awakening from the Maoist nightmare, ethnic assertion and demands for equality are at the very top of every agenda. People are demanding their rights in the most democratic way possible and such demands have caught the Bahunists off balance.
Being caught by surprise is what is bringing the Bahunists in the Nepali Congress and the Bahunists in the CPN-M together. The merger of the Bahunists from different political leanings is what is fuelling the ethnic movements across the country.
Slowly but surely, the games, the politics, the conspiracies and the machinations that underpin the “Bahun-baad” philosophy and elevate the Bahunists in Nepal, will come to an abrupt end. The days of the Bahunist democracy and Bahunist candidates representing regions that are home to other ethnic groups, are numbered. Just wait till the Constituent Assembly elections roll around.
How will the Bahunists react to this writing?
When the Bahunists read this posting (and they will most certainly read it), I am sure they will come up with one conspiracy theory after another to discredit the ideas embodied in the writing. In reading Bahunist responses, look out in particular for the following themes:
* This is a Royalist conspiracy to bring about ethnic disharmony in Nepal – Right, everything that challenges Bahunist domination is a conspiracy of some sort.
* The writing is completely flawed – it is the Chhetris, the Ranas and the Shahs who are the root of feudalism in Nepal – “238 years of the Shah dynasty, etc. Sure, that is, minus 238 years of Priests and Gurus forecasting the future of the Shah dynasty.
* The ideas captured in this article are designed specifically to derail the Constituent Assembly elections – Why in the world would we want to do that? The CA elections are guaranteed to destroy Bahunism once and for all. If anyone, it is the Bahunists who are eager to sabotage CA elections. Loss of power for the Bahunists, is a certainty.
Watch out particularly for the non-Brahmin authors who comment on the ideas articulated in the writing above. Those will be the most Bahunist responses of all.
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93 thoughts on “Bahunists and Bahunism: Caretakers of Nepal’s Feudal Tradition”
just_me says:
Bahuns have controlled the politics of this country since it began. So who are we to blame for the condition of our country. The jana jatis have had no say.
All top political n military positions are held by bahuns. These Bahuns are the same ppl who started the civil war. They talk n talk send ppl to their deaths. I think we janajatis are the ones who have died the most in this war. The bahuns they are the smart ones with all the brain they just give orders. we are the ppl who have paid with our blood to bring change.
but hey THE CHANGE IS COMING
u know it, i know it
how long are to gonna stop us huh
I’m not sure who wrote this piece. But whoever did, needs to get a life. Instead of sending out mass emails and performing bahun bashing online, the author of the quoted text below should say what he feels out in public, in the media, in public places and straight to the faces of those who he claims are bahunists. I’d like to see that happen.
While creating a socially just society is the duty of every Nepali, doing so by hiding behind the firewall of your computer is not the way to do it. I don’t believe in any of the material below so I’m not gonna take any actions against it. But since the author has issues, he/she should “ACT” on it and not go around preaching like another of our ministers.
Besides, if bahuns were really that evil like the klu klux klan, the author wouldn’t be alive today. Bahuns would have killed him eons ago. And if this is any consolation, if a lot of the ministers are bahuns who are killing rhe nation, a lot of the doctors are also bahuns, saving lives. They are engineers and respectable people of society. B.P Koirala fought for democracy- a bahun, Upendra Devkota- internationally known surgeon- also a bahun, oh and the evil bahun- his friend Mr. Baburam Bhattarai, well he’s married Hisila Yami- a non bahun.
Power and money are driving forces and will exist in any society. Yes, the Brahmins were the priestly class and they did rule over society but what’s the use of crying out loud about that now? If bahuns are priests, so are gurungs and magars. I have personally met several magar and gurung priests (YES WITH THE TITLE PUNDIT!) in kathmandu. So the argument that only bahuns have access to education is flawed.
As far as money is concerned, Nepal’s business sector is controlled by newars and the shahs and the maarwadis. Where do bahuns come into play here?
I’d like to see YOUR ANSWER. What is bahunbaad? I guess there’s newar or chettri or another caste-baad- that engages in the act of bahun bashing only?
Well, Mr. , hate to break this to you, but there are madhesi “Brahmins” too. So if theyre rising against anything it’s against perhaps the newars calling them “madsya” or other castes, including bahuns, calling them a variety of other names? I don’t hear the madhesis saying we’re against the bahuns! They’re against everyone of us!! YOU included.
Is that all you do? Count how many bahuns are there and what they are doing? Do you even get a good night’s sleep?
“In reading Bahunist responses, look out in particular for the following themes:
Well, you and your predictions can go down dhobikohla. Whoever you are, you:”
1.	Yield no influence over people about social change n Nepal because your approach is pathetic.
2.	Have little or no education (and by education I don’t necessarily mean a university degree/ degrees.) because your rationale and arguments cannot be backed up.
3.	Have ZERO courage. WHO ARE YOU? Can you stand up and say what you believe out loud in a room full of NEPALI people?
4.	Have no vision for HOW to make social changes (assuming for a second bahunbaad did exist and bahuns were evil, if you were a real nepali concerned about social and political change, you wouldn’t go around bashing bahuns and others. You’d make an effort to perhaps make the “evil bahuns” understand that they’re wrong.
5.	Must be very sad.
Yes, some bahuns are evil. But a lot of them are good natured people like the majority of other nepalis.
The same can be said of other castes. Just because you’re a “janajati” doesn’t mean that you are a good person by heart by birth!!! Just because you’re a newar doesnt mean you’re nice and wholesome by birth. There are evil newars and chettris and members of other castes like there are bahuns. So why target bahuns? Bahuns arent stopping you frlom getting a good education. If bahuns can be ministers, so can you. If bahuns can have a voice, you have a mouth too, use it dammit. forget the past. Just because some of bahun;s forefathers were eviil doesnt mean u turn HITLER on bahuns of today. That will just show how uneducated you are.
Sumeru says:
just_me, i would like to correct one thing…. all the top military/police positions are being held by thakuris. But that’s not the problem.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/imbild1.htm —-&gt; this is a link to the mandate passed by hitler… “the jewish question”. If I look for it, i could probably find a similar “tutsi question” in the rwandan archives. Those two were some of the greatest mistakes humans have ever made. This article addresses the “bahunist question”. I would ask the author to find the difference.
blaming a country’s problem on a single group is wrong. Although, you know… its not that bad. The most these types of articles will do is create bad-will among people. So what if it does that. The worst thing that could happen is anarchism….which is sooooo much better than being under a king. So what if our sisters, mother, wives are getting raped everywhere? our neighbours getting looted, our friends getting killed. Anything’s better than being under a “bahunist” right? I guess I agree with you then…. i guess i love your philosophy…. come on brother…we’ll start a revolution, you and me. And we can also have a little game, you know… the one who kills the most bahuns (or rapes the most bahun women, or loots the most bahun properties) gets to be the leader….. Yea I’m up for it… anybody else wanna join?
NepalBlood says:
“Why Blame Bahuns?”
Look at this equation:
Politicians = Corrupt and Devious
Politicians = Mostly Bahuns.
Here, a = b and a = c. Therefore b = c.
Bobby,
Interesting that you bring up the KKK, but let me remind you that through all sorts of bahunust tactics,politics, dominance and exclusion, far far many more people have died then the KKK have killed (the latest being Prachandapath). Far Far many more. According to your theory there should be no more African Americans around in the U.S. – as you said if the bahuns were like KKK then the author should be dead. Besides maybe the author is a Bahun too. In the same light there should be no more European jews as well. I am sure you can now see the flaw in your line of argument.
prajjwol says:
Another baseless article. What is wrong with these people, whoever wrote this article and those who support it. We dont need another classification in nepal. We need every body to be united not divided and discriminated. First royalist nd non royalist, maoist and non maoist, madhises and non madhises, bahuns and non bahuns, what else??? men and women??? people and animal??? this is totally BS.
bahun says:
I’ve never been so proud to be Bahun. Thanks author for making me feel that being bahun is identifying with the brain behind ruling class. Hierarchy is a common phenomenon, tiger rules the jungle, we rule Nepal. Is there any worthy opponent? Come out of ur shell, don’t hide, we respect competition. Remember rules of jungle do not apply in modern society, we respect education and application of imagination and knowledge. Muscle has long been obsolete, especially after the widespread improvement in technology. So don’t be as animal as madhesis ( Gaur hatyakanda) but use your brain in ousting Bahuns.
MD says:
I am not here to make a comment on the authors views but being a medico, I find this style of writing pretty interesting. S/He sounds like a very angry person trying to express her/his feelings through this writing.
This is one of the immature types of defense mechanisms that phychiatrists and psycoloanalysts describe as projection. The behaviour is not as uncommon as one might think.
[Projection is the attribution of one’s undesired impulses onto another. Here the author is projecting her/his anger to an entire community. S/he could have been angry from any cause; eg. failure in life].
q says:
I on the other hand feel it is a very well written objective article without all the emotions as described by the MD above. If anything the responses against the article is loaded with emotion and personal torture and denial. But then I am not claiming to be an expert.
I would like just one answer from MD since we are analysing the psyche here – Are you a Brahmin? Your answer will clarify the issue instantly.
For your reference before people assume the obvious I belong to the so called Brahmin community, although I have chosen not to practice my “birth right”, and would even categorise myself as non-religious as I don’t practice any religion.
bhaun_hear_this says:
we appreciate the hard woks done by bahuns to get educated. we r not fking jelous of u peoples educational achievments. there r so many reasons to name few if u would like to listen to. first of all being political, we didn’t hav problem when u controlled almost whole of gov positions, but our frustration is in how u people messed it up. second one is cultura, linguistic and religous reasons, admit it, directly or indirectly the state constituion backed up by ur policy has discriminated indegenous people. hindunisation was funded massively by the state all backed up by ur policy. we hav our own distinct identity, respect it to get respect for urself. i can see how hard feeling u poeple had when nepal was declared secular n when all this shiit r happening, so don;t get surprised in our aggresiveness. other reason is historical, where ur ancestors were given all lands cultivated by indegenous people as ‘birta’ , ‘jagir’ or some shiiits i can’t remember. above all we never fall in ur caste heirarchy but were put under forcefully.
we beleive in brotherhood, unity but try to accept the differences as well, as u all say urself nepal is multi ethnic, multi cultured, multi linguistic country. long live janjatis revolution…..
sonam says:
‘It’s not my fault I was born a Brahmin’
Reportage: Archana Masih
Aman Jagannathan, 18, had never been arrested before. Neither had he ever publicly protested against the government.
Last year, the police picked him up twice — while protesting at India Gate and outside the Supreme Court — in New Delhi. He and his friends were in custody for 6 to 7 hours.
A friendly and eloquent medical student at India’s best medical college, Aman is unsure if he wants his identity revealed as he looks back at the past year.
“I know I am not saying anything illegal but I just want to be careful,” says the second year MBBS student at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, sitting on the steps of the Institute’s playground. “I don’t want to be known on campus as being against OBCs because I am not. I am just against the idea of reservation. I don’t want to be misunderstood.”
Last year, the government decided to increase the number of reserved seats in central government-run elite educational institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and AIIMS by 27 per cent for the Other Backward Classes, taking reservations up to 50 per cent. Students on the campus were upset and agitated.
Aman knew he could not just sit back. He wanted to do something. He wanted to be heard.
“I am not against social justice but I feel merit should be appreciated. Reserve seats for those who don’t have the economic means. Reserve seats for the children of those in the armed forces. Nobody will protest if you reserve seats for those who earn less than a lakh every year. Why should caste be the overarching factor? It’s not my fault I was born a Brahmin.”
In December, the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006 was passed in Parliament. But for the students, their fight was far from over.
brahim says:
Are Brahmins the Dalits of today?
At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public sectors, nobody talks about the plight of the upper castes. The public image of the Brahmins, for instance, is that of an affluent, pampered class. But is it so today?
There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!
There are five to six Brahmins manning each Shauchalaya. They came to Delhi eight to ten years back looking for a source of income, as they were a minority in most of their villages, where Dalits are in majority (60 per cent to 65 per cent). In most villages in UP and Bihar, Dalits have a union which helps them secure jobs in villages.
Did you know that you also stumble upon a number of Brahmins working as coolies at Delhi’s railway stations? One of them, Kripa Shankar Sharma, says while his daughter is doing her Bachelors in Science he is not sure if she will secure a job.
“Dalits often have five to six kids, but they are confident of placing them easily and well,” he says. As a result, the Dalit population is increasing in villages. He adds: “Dalits are provided with housing, even their pigs have spaces; whereas there is no provision for gaushalas (cowsheds) for the cows of the Brahmins.”
You also find Brahmin rickshaw pullers in Delhi. 50 per cent of Patel Nagar’s rickshaw pullers are Brahmins who like their brethren have moved to the city looking for jobs for lack of employment opportunities and poor education in their villages.
Even after toiling the whole day, Vijay Pratap and Sidharth Tiwari, two Brahmin rickshaw pullers, say they are hardly able to make ends meet. These men make about Rs 100 to Rs 150 on an average every day from which they pay a daily rent of Rs 25 for their rickshaws and Rs 500 to Rs 600 towards the rent of their rooms which is shared by 3 to 4 people or their families.
This reverse discrimination is also found in bureaucracy and politics. Most of the intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assembly are held by Brahmins — the rest are in the hands of the Yadavs.
400,000 Brahmins of the Kashmir valley, the once respected Kashmiri Pandits, now live as refugees in their own country, sometimes in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi in appalling conditions. But who gives a damn about them? Their vote bank is negligible.
And this is not limited to the North alone. 75 per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins. A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh (Brahmins of India by J Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line.
Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the ‘backward classes’ prevented them from providing secular education to their children.
In fact, according to this study there has been an overall decline in the number of Brahmin students. With the average income of Brahmins being less than that of non-Brahmins, a high percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level. In the 5 to 18 year age group, 44 per cent Brahmin students stopped education at the primary level and 36 per cent at the pre-matriculation level.
The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line — below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all-India figure.
There is no reason to believe that the condition of Brahmins in other parts of the country is different. In this connection it would be revealing to quote the per capita income of various communities as stated by the Karnataka finance minister in the state assembly: Christians Rs 1,562, Vokkaligas Rs 914, Muslims Rs 794, Scheduled castes Rs 680, Scheduled Tribes Rs 577 and Brahmins Rs 537.
Appalling poverty compels many Brahmins to migrate to towns leading to spatial dispersal and consequent decline in their local influence and institutions. Brahmins initially turned to government jobs and modern occupations such as law and medicine. But preferential policies for the non-Brahmins have forced Brahmins to retreat in these spheres as well.
According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).
Priests are under tremendous difficulty today, sometimes even forced to beg for alms for survival. There are innumerable instances in which Brahmin priests who spent a lifetime studying Vedas are being ridiculed and disrespected.
At Tamil Nadu’s Ranganathaswamy Temple, a priest’s monthly salary is Rs 300 (Census Department studies) and a daily allowance of one measure of rice. The government staff at the same temple receive Rs 2,500 plus per month. But these facts have not modified the priests’ reputation as ‘haves’ and as ‘exploiters.’ The destitution of Hindu priests has moved none, not even the parties known for Hindu sympathy.
The tragedy of modern India is that the combined votes of Dalits/OBC and Muslims are enough for any government to be elected. The Congress quickly cashed in on it after Independence, but probably no other government than Sonia Gandhi’s has gone so far in shamelessly dividing Indian society for garnering votes.
The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.
Anti-Brahminism originated in, and still prospers in anti-Hindu circles. It is particularly welcome among Marxists, missionaries, Muslims, separatists and Christian-backed Dalit movements of different hues. When they attack Brahmins, their target is unmistakably Hinduism.
So the question has to be asked: are the Brahmins (and other upper castes) of yesterday becoming the Dalits of today?
Scoop wrote:
but let me remind you that through all sorts of bahunust tactics,politics, dominance and exclusion, far far many more people have died then the KKK have killed.
So because a bahun started prachandapath, that’s a part of bahunism? and that any bahin would have done what prachanda did? I can’t understand why people associate one’s actions with their caste or religious belief. If prachanda’s actions reflect what bahuns do, well then a few weeks ago I tuned into Nepal 1’s show on crimes and there was a report on how some criminals who threatened people for money and had even killed some, had been arrested. Guess what, none of them were bahuns. Most were magars, rais, newars, even chettris and the leader was a lama.
DOES IT MEAN THAT JUST BECAUSE A FEW OF THOSE COMMUNITIES COMMITTED THOSE HEINOUS CRIMES, all rais, magars, lamas, newars are evil? NO DAMMIT!!!
And just because a few bahuns like prachanda have done great harm to this country, doesnt mean bauns in general are evil.
Straighten your act people! And develop some good sense in yourselves and stop generalizing.
oh and you also said scoop that more people have died through “bahunist tactics, politics, etc”
where do you get your data from? from your imagination or some cited source?
i’ll tell you where i got my inforation- it was from TV that I watched live online on my computer.
there ya go!
NepalBlood on (22:23:10) wrote:
Well here’s another proof for you.
New politicians=old politicians (in terms of their jobs requirements) – a
Old Politicians (which are bahuns)=Corrupt and Devious #fine, i agree – b
New politicians=NON bahuns (your kind, whichever that is) – c
Since c=a and
a=b
we can say,
You’d be equally corrupt. So ssshhhhh buddy. You’d be no good running the country either. Understand it or print this page and eat it- either way, GET IT IN YOUR HEAD!
To end your silly out of your back BS just answer this one question – How many African Americans did the KKK kill? This is in response to your – “oh and you also said scoop that more people have died through “bahunist tactics, politics, etc”. Before you scrummage through the internet, let me just tell you that it ain’t sweet to churn out lines like the KKK when you don’t know what you’re getting into?
Interesting that you bring up magars, lamas, newars figuring in the crimes (and yes even chettris), and it’s probably true as well. But answer this – Prachanda basically ordered the murder of thousands and now he has been caught red handed stealing someone’s car, but no body books him as a criminal for (leave alone for the murders) the theft of a car??? Why? While the magars, newars, etc. will get booked even for crossing the road on a red light? If you can understand this statistic, then you get back to me. Ofcourse needless to mention the state robbery by people like GPK.
Bobby:
What new politicians? It’s a Different Time, Different Government but it’s the Same People.
Brahim: I’m sorry to hear about the plight of Hindu priests. In India, musalmans are allowed to follow their own law when it comes to matters like divorce. That’s what secularism means. Appeasement. Minorities are allowed to do just about anything they want while the meek Hindu majority has to respect the law.
I think i should start a tutorial on “posting appropriate responses”. Would you like it in 3-D fellers?
To Scoop first:
First of all, either you were too lazy to read that article originally posted, or you simple misread it if you did and just read bahunism … bahunist … bahunism … bahunist … all the way.
I did NOT mention Klu Klux Klan (KKK) just out of the blue. I mentioned it in response to what the author of that article wrote about them. HERE IT IS-
The above quoted text is a title in the article. THAT’S HOW I “churned” out the KKK line. And as far as the number of African Amercans the KKK killed, I do not know. That is why, unlike your :
“but let me remind you that through all sorts of bahunust tactics,politics, dominance and exclusion, far far many more people have died then the KKK have killed (the latest being Prachandapath). ” totally baseless remark,
I did not even bother to mention any unquoted, uncited and unerified statistic/fact in my response alltogether.
And as far as Prchanda ordering the killings of thousands, yes, ALL along I have held Prachanda to be nothing short of an evil murderer who sees nothing but his own glorified days as a cold-blooded communist dictator. And I don’t hold that stance because he’s a bahun but because, well…simply put…just evil like that. Not because he’s a bahun. And, LOL, if he indeed stole a car, yeah, he should be bashed.
And how much money has GPK stolen? Were you behind his wicked abutt counting his black cheques or did you come up with a magic numbr while watching the “PRICE IS RIGHT”?? I’m neither a fan of Girija nor a a follower but i will say this, any person who fights for a country’s democracy even to his last breath, can’t possibly be immoral. Put yourself in his place and think. “Eklo birhaspati jhuto huncha”. That’s the case with Girija- one mad standing, the rest eating the clountry’s resources. AND DON’T EVEN JUMP ON THAT LINE WITH AN ARGUMENT SAYING, “Oh, but Bobby, the people under him are all Bahuns”. Well, if all your eyes can see is bahuns, all you feel and hear is bahuns, all you think about is bahun, then maybe you should become a bahun for a day and feel like how hard it is to become the neo-jews of Nepal- under the hatred eyes of neo-fascists of Nepal.
I hope you know what happened in Germany. Jews were prosecuted for being in control of everything from the capital markets to the knowledge base. Yet, the fact remians that the top scientists and thinks and philosophers of the 19th to the 20th century have been Jews- I’ll name a few:-
Science-einstein, Pauli (Pauli exclusion principle), Feynman (quantum physics).
Economics- Milton Friedman, Harry Markowitz (Modern Portfolio theory) and who can forget- Myron Scholes (One of the brains behind the Black Scholes formula for calculating option prices- something yours truly is also studying)
I mentioned all this jewish stuff here because that’s exactly what the bahuns in Nepal are facing right now as Sumeru noted above. I don’t think I need to elaborate further.
So get YOUR statistics and reading skills right before trying to rubutt any article.
This one is for Nepalblood.
I was referencing to the future when a new generation of politicians and leaders will emerge. Even then, the job requirements will be the same but the corruption will simply be handed down, regardless of whether the parliament and decision making bodies are completely devoid of bahuns, are partially filled with bahuns or are swarming with bahuns.
Evil and attributes like jaat and religion are mutually exclusive. The common denominator is human desires.
I have’nt understood a word you have said. It is sooooo confused. Cheerio.
Just one thing I picked up from your mess – the bahuns referred to as the Nepali neo jews???? HA HA HA! Nice try. That right there is what is called bahunist. Jews for your kind information have worked for their living, as opposed to exploited others for their living.
If you are going to compare, then it should be more like for the past many many centuries
Bahuns – nazis
the rest- jews, gypsies, non-christians etc.
Bahuns – nazis under fire
the rest – neo-jews, etc.
With regards the KKK, I am not referring to what the author said, but your claim that the author would be dead if the bahuns were like KKK. Therefore my question – trying to understand why you claim this? It sounds like that there should be no African Americans alive according to you. So my question to you is have you understood the author yourself ? The KKK as I understood from the authors point of view was mentioned with regard to their attitude, exclusion, and supression towards the “others”. The KKK in your point of view refers to physical damage, infact deadly damage. So, again if as you have written – “Besides, if bahuns were really that evil like the klu klux klan, the author wouldn’t be alive today. Bahuns would have killed him eons ago”, then my understanding is that you feel the KKK killed every African American they could. Hence my question – how many african americans do you think the kkk killed? Since you don’t know the answer how can you compare the bahuns with the kkk in your terms? I think buddy you missed the point! And again, I will let you figure it out yourself when I say the bahuns are responsible for far more deaths then the kkk.
Savingnepal says:
Bahunism, WASP(white anglo saxon protestant, the elite of the USA), aryans of India, and other dominant groups in other countries of the world are able to rule over others only as a result of decades or even centuries of better access to the education system.
What a good “education” does to a person is enlightens the brain to a greater level of intellectual being. Now how that person uses the newfound enlightened is up to the individual, but as a group, these groups of individuals generally go straight for the power chair, and try their best how to marginalize others since THEY very well know that if other groups get educated, their chairs or their power circle will be certainly threatened.
Who is this kid trying to teach us philosophy 101?
This did not get past moderation before, here goes.
This is more like it if we are to compare bahuns to the rest of the world:
In the past centuries:
bahun=nazis
the rest of us= jews, gypsies, non-christians etc.
bahun=nazi under fire
the rest=neo-jews etc.
Being completely new to this subject of ‘Baahunism’, I must say I’m intrigued by this article, more so by the responses it is getting.
Being a so-called ‘baahun’ myself but being brought up in a society where a surname is nothing more than a what my father’s surname was, I was shocked to hear that someone had suggested that we should get rid of all the baahuns. Surely, who thinks like that may someday (ones all the bahuns are gone) are going to blame a problem on some other ethnic group and want to get rid of them.
However, here are some thoughts that came to my mind while reading the article. First, I do think I need to read a dissertation on ‘baahunbaad’.. so if anyone has time to write up one and is willing to post it, I’ll take out my time to make sure I read it.
One more thing I would like to add is that I’m not at all trying to defend my ‘baahunism’ here (apparently I have that cause I was born in ‘baahun’ family and I don’t agree with the article). I’m merely going by what the article says..
Right, first it tells me to ask any newars and then goes on to say that ‘the shrestha’s’ would answer it slightly differently. Correct me if I’m wrong, but surely shrestha’s a newar surname..
Then it goes on to talk about Madhesi are repressed by bahunists.. ?!
Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but Madhesi’s are repressed by the Nepali community who like to think that Madhesis are not Nepali. By the sound of the article, baahunists are basically political leaders who have powers and they happened to be baahun. And again, by the sound of the article, they aren’t that many cause you can be a ‘baahun’ and not be ‘baahunist’. Surely, that number is pretty low, compared to our population of the country and surely, that can’t have been the only people repressing ‘madhesis’. And if that was the case, not all ‘madhesis’ would rise against it.
There was a lot of talk about baahunists offspring. I got slightly confused there, so does a baahunist offspring still a baahunists? why are they called baahunist’s offspring? So is it trying to say you are born ‘baahunist’ or you can be converted to ‘baahunists’??!!
Moving on, it sounds like these ‘baahunists’ attend special school, hold secret meeetings (quite possibly like KKK) and are always planning on to see how they can stay in power. But then again, it just sounds like something that’s just been plucked out of the thin year and trying to go on and on about it to try and see how you can drag people into it. and AGAIN divide people. (as it can already be seen). And the ironic part is, this is posted by someone with ‘baahun’ background. (altho, we surely know he’s not a baahunist as he’s the one talking about it, so he’s one on the other side). So anyone who doesn’t agree with him, is?! BUT what makes people so sure, he’s not being satirical and stabbing all of us at the back (with his invisible knife) and trying to be a leader in this ‘baahunist’ ideology.. Surely if there was a non-baahun movements, you don’t want a ‘baahun’ leader, then it’ll just say how right he is about his own article and he’ll be calling himself ‘baahunist’.. see how he’s just contradicting himself.
Overall, all I see this article is doing is laughing at people for being so dumb. And they would actually believe and fall for anything that is just totally built on abstract theory. and hey, it did a good job in dividing people. And maybe people should try and make their own minds up and rather than blaming the shit we are in to other people, maybe work on it together so we can be out of this shit. Because believe me, baahunist.. non-baahunist..newars.. chetris.. kirtatis… madhesis.. . We all are in the same position and all this is our fault. And if we just sit here and keep blaming one or the other, we are never going to get out of here and move on.
indian brahmin says:
Let me tell you something i know about Brahmins.
They are Poor as well as Rich. But they are Brilliant and Intelligent. This no one can steal from them.
Of course they are ridiculed and denied any of the rights (Like Jobs and Higher Education) These are denied from them only by politicians to get votes from Dalits, Christians and Muslims.
Let me tell you. Jews were chased by every one.
What is their position now. They are the Intelligent ones in the World. They are able to Cultivate Apple in a Desert.
Same way the more you crush Brahmins they will also grow. Many Brahmins are abroad and they are rich and bring laurells to our country.
Deny them one they will choose the other and try to make a living.If you deny them higher education in India they will get the same in US and grow well. It is high time that Government stops these reservations and look every one with same view.
In Germany, Hitler (Karunanidhi &#38; Ramdas, Tamilnadu) came to power by instigating the majority Germans against Jews who were very successful in trade and education (remember Einstein?). Jews (Brahmins) were only a few % (like Brahmins 3% (TN)) of the population and they were vilified as having come from “outside” (Aryan invasion theory) and were unjustly cornering the benefits. Theories expounded by Goebbels (Periyar, TN) were used for propaganda. So laws were passed restricting trade ownership (SSI laws), minimum 50% of German (OBC/SC/ST) employees in Jewish (Brahmin) firms, and in appointment of Professors in state funded institutions (IITs/IIMs). In other words, quotas, like in TN for example.
All problems for German majority (OBC/SC/ST), including defeat at British hands were attributed to Jews (Brahmins), and roused the population. To keep the rhetoric high, and the minds of people away from hunger/poverty, the Jew (Brahmin) became the prime symbol to be attacked. Millions of Jews (Brahmins) had to flee to America, Australia, Canada (like Brahmins today) and England. Einstein and other Jews helped create the atom bomb in America. Nepal Should learn from this.
Ok first of all, this thread isnt about the KKK. but nevertheless, here goes:
you sad scoop:
“how many african americans do you think the kkk killed? Since you don’t know the answer how can you compare the bahuns with the kkk in your terms?”
First of all, I’m not comparing them with the KKK. I just said that on the assumption “if the bahuns were like the KKK”…and as far as number goes, I don’t know and wont make claims like u do about bahuns killing more than the KKK. but i will assume, they killed as many as they could.
Now back to your another opinion:
the rest=neo-jews etc
WRONG!!!
past centuries:
bahuns=ones with more access to edcuation and they gained that by virtue of their hard work. Non bahuns could become bahuns. Think about this. Bahuns didnt just emerge out of nowhere. Maybe somewhere along the lines, the ancestors of the bahuns today thought that hey, maybe we should start learning, observing and experimenting with things around us. Whereas the ancestors of others thought, hey, maybe we shouldn’t do that. See the difference?
But times have changed. everyone has access to education. My dad is from the hills. Our grandparents built shool for everyone- everyone from tharu, damai, kami, magar, rai limbu, chetrri to our fathers- the bahuns and priests, went to the same school, had the same books, sat together and worked in the filelds together despite being the landlords. My grandfather used to a strong mand and he used to eat and wrestle with others in the villages for fun and entertainment and most of the time his partners used to be of lower castes- achut even- the ones who lived in huts and small sheds. And these maoists come along and give those people false hopes and brgain that we’ve stolen their rights?
Then one night, those very same people my grandfather and others shared those monents with, worked together like slave with, come by in the middle of the night in maoist uniform and demand their rights? demand money? demand that they be given the rice fields and they literally start looting? Yes,their leader was a messed up bahun too, but could these other non-bahuns think for a minute thet their children were going to the same school, drank the same water, ate the same rice as their landlords? Not even for a minute?
If that’s how dalits think and if thats how the non bahuns think then guess what, maybe we should really be oppressive. Maybe we should hunt down everyone of you.
But oh, wait. We havent. and we wont. cuz like all of you, we’re humans too and there’s a reason bahuns are priests- we are not made to kill and oppress. We’re meant to teach.
Bobby, Bobby, Bobby,
Nice try. But WRONG again.
“First of all, I’m not comparing them with the KKK. I just said that on the assumption …” – well what is the assumption, I understood the authors assumption, and your’s clearly states that if Bahuns were like the KKK the author would not be alive today (SO YOU ARE COMPARING), which to me means, the Bahuns would have killed many, so my response,- which is pointless as you don’t know so you cannot possibly know what you’re talking about.
And again you’re weak attempt to try and figure the Bahuns in the same light as jews. Except of course the Bahuns are the majority here, the ruling class, the elite. And the access to education and opportunities by Bahuns over centuries was not gained through hard work, but through elitist religious and cultural practices by including only “high class” Brahmins and excluding everyone else, originally by taking the Kings under their wing with mumbo jumbo, and now by leading political parties and spreading more modern mumbo jumbo.
Deadonarrival(DOA) says:
People see what this SPAM is doing to us- opening can of worms on the lines of Caste, community and ethnicity. Sterotyping is not the answer even when reality pictures it as such. The point is look beyond creed and colors. I blame SPAM for bringing this fissure amongst us and it is growing day by day- from Madesh to Hills and within communities. No one benefits in this. We need to stay as one and continue with our own heritage, culture and religion. We run into problems when we try to ape others without the preparation, understanding and basic fundamentals in place.
We speak against Monrachy as if in fashion, we speak against certain caste as if they are not Nepali as us, and we do things that are only in self interest or self serving, not in the interest of a country. The utter lack of foresight and consequencies and tendencies to run with the rent a crowd or henchmen with mile -long charge sheet of murders and corruption scandals gives away as “we” being at fault not them.
So lets find unity in diversity not as SPAM is doing creating diversity where it was non-existent. Long live Nepal.
Crizmoe Mef says:
Bahuns are the most cunning…….double crossing people is one of their best qualities. No wonder most of the corrupt politicians are Bauhuns. No offense!
B=Brilliant
R= Relaible
A=Active
H=Honest
M= Modest
I=Intelligent
N= Noble
That’s Brahmin, an SMS I received.
Sonam,
Not a brahmin name, but a brahmin disguised as a sonam no doubt, therefore from your example:
B = Brahmins
R = Racist
A = Anti-others
H = Hatemongers
M = Money grabbers
I = Inquisitive
N= Not trustworthy
S = Sly
Nepali says:
Talking..Against Bahunbaad…and Bahun people.. And in the same time asking for Ethnic based Federalism in Nepal……..
It seems that people are not interested to build new Nepal with peace and collectiveness but to form their own “BAAD”. Precisely said…they want Tamangbaad, Gurungbaad, Madhesibaad, Newarbaad, so they can exploit……
Writer just seems to be very aggressive to me…. he is shouting throughout the article….. And people who are appreciating him are none but hungry of power for their caste and race, which they think have been taken by Bahuns….. .
….There will be no Nepal anymore in couple of years…. …. You People are SICK.
Gofle says:
After JanaAdnolan II, I have been reading lot of artilces regarding Bahunism and their solo feudalic terror on indigenous people for about 238 years written by same caste origin people like Dinesh Koirala and Krishna Giri. “Dhilo vo tara Chora nai vo” a legendery of Nepali society reflect here. Nepali Indigenous people are still backwards in many aspects. Even today, we need educated and sophisticated bahun origin professionals to hear and gear our voices up. Thanks to Dinesh and Krishna ji for their “BAHADURI” on writting against wrong doings of Bahunism.
I’m an new visitor to this website and the general sentiments towards Brahmins seem to concur with my own limited experience with that culture. I work with a Brahmin, at least whenever he feels like working and only if he considers the job to not be beneath him. He is from Nepal (which is how I ended up on this website) and as the saying goes, will be your friend for as long as you feed him. I was interested in learning if anyone over your way can think of a way to stop these people from becoming Nepal’s chief export if they haven’t already done so.
Personally, I was raised with values where to consider oneself to be above above the activities of one’s fellow workers is about the greatest insult one could give them. If anyone can think of a solution to this problem I would be interested to learn about it. Thanks, and my sympathies to all victims of such unfairness and predjudice,
Yogesh Karki says:
This piece doesn’t present an analysis of Nepali political culture or impact on political institution as it pretends. Appears to be written with certain recipient’s point of view in mind. It is not grounded facts nor any research sources. Writer needs to re-think in its application and alternative approaches….”GLASS IS ALSO HALF FULL”
number 9 says:
From above all the arguements, i realised how much hatred has grown among us and thats a shame to be a nepali. When we go out of our country we represent ourselves as Nepalese and be proud of Nepal not Bahun or Chettri or any other caste. As being from Brahmin family i am proud to say that Gurungs have created history as a brave and honest people in this world, but they are not from outside Nepal. They come from the same place were we call ourself as nepalese. They grow in the same environment as any other caste does. Living in a city i grew up with all sort of castes and i did not see anyone weak. Nobody is above anyone, we competed among ourself while growing up, so we learned while these process took place, it was not that coz you are bahun you are better or you are newar you are better, its the environment and surrounding that helps us to be smarter. So there is no point pointing finger on ones caste and say that you are this and you are that. By doing that you are making yourself smaller. And we should remember while pointing a finger to anyone else the other three points to you. Therefore, there is no point of this discussion. Just learn from them and you will be plus one than them coz you are learning.
palatan subramanyam says:
THE PLIGHT OF BAHUNS-
The ouster of the monarch and the annulment of the 1990 constitution has left us Bahuns with an identity void. This has driven intelligent Bahuns to do some soul searching. Who are we really? Where have we come from? Are all Bahuns the same? Do we all come from the same place? Are we really Aryans? What is the language of the Bahuns? What is our culture? Where is our origin and where is our history? Are Chhetris and Bahuns the same race of people?
These are all pertinent questions. Bahuns should not be afraid of their past and of the truth. The truth is the truth and no matter what we do to elevate our culture and make them at par with the best cultures in the Indian sub-continent, it appears that there is very little to indicate that we were a great and innovative and cultural people.
There is this resurgence in identity of different ethnic groups and their history and Bahuns have not been far behind in trying to build character into their own identity. It has become more urgent now that Bahuns have been kept in the ‘other’ category of different peoples of Nepal.
Where are we Bahuns from?
First of all we need to understand that all Bahuns are not the same. There are Jaisi Bahuns who are considered ‘lesser’ in hierarchy by the Sharma-Upadhyaya Bahuns. The Jaisi Bahuns consider themselves not lesser to these Upadhyaya Bahuns. Now the Bahuns in the East are also different from the Bahuns in the West. Bahuns use the term Brahmin to unite themselves as one entity but Bahuns are not aware that there are other Brahmins in other communities other than the hill Khas community. Chhetris are supposed to be offspring of Bahuns not married to a bonafide Bahun according to Bahun folklore and thus are considered inferior to Bahuns. This is categorically wrong description of Chhetris by Bahuns as one can see that Chhetriyas are a different race altogether as one can see from the Chhetriya history of the different kingdoms of Bharat. Obviously the history of the Brahmins and Chhetriyas in what was called Bharat is much older than our Bahun history. So where are we Bahuns from?
Bahuns were unheard of before the unification of Nepal by King Prithvi Narayan in the Eastern regions of Nepal. Very little history is known of them even in the kingdom of Ram Shah except that they were kept as priests and their number was not that great either. So how come we have so many Bahuns in Nepal now? After the unification of Nepal, Prithvi Narayan told his subjects to cover the hills with children and families so that he can have a secure kingdom with loyal subjects. Thus Bahuns from the West gradually migrated eastwards and southwards. Uncontrolled family planning and rampant migration turned Bahuns into something like a bacterial colony in a petri dish all over Nepal.
Even 50 years back, Bahuns were ‘hukke’s and cooks in affluent Rana, Thakuri and Newar families. Still there are many of these Bahuns working for their ‘masters’. The 2007 prajatantra and subsequent ‘revolutions’ brought more Bahuns from the West and the East to Kathmandu and thus slowly the population of Bahuns in Kathmandu rose. The Bahun community slowly rose in rank and affluence. Most Prime Ministers were Bahun and most high ranking government administrators became Bahuns and these Bahuns again called in more Bahuns from the villages and remote corners into the Nepali mainstream. Bahuns started to eat mushrooms, momos, beef and buff and pork and what not. Bahuns became doctors, engineers, shop-owners, vegetable sellers, stock-brokers, butchers and took up all trades of life. Most importantly Bahuns took up the profession of politics and with that they came into power and once in power, called on all their brethren and community members to come to the capital and help them overtake the country in all aspects of social, business and political life.
Bahuns are a very intelligent community and we were just waiting for hundreds of years to shed our old ways and become what everyone around them had been doing for hundreds of years.
Coming to the question of where Bahuns are from, it is with no doubt that they are from the Western regions of the Hindukush mountains near the Pakistan –Afghan border and they gradually spread eastwards to the Kumaon and Gadhwal hills and Far-west of Nepal. Facial features of Bahuns are extremely similar to the Afghans and local Kumaon and Gadhwal features. The facial features of these people have common characteristics such as a broader a brow and longish and aquiline nose and eyes are neither doe-eyed nor chinky and somewhat in-between. The skin is fair and the features are generally a transition from Caucasian towards Tibeto-Burman.
But why do we Bahuns like to call ourselves of Aryan Stock? Perhaps when the first Aryans came to the Pakistan- India plains from the Urals, they inter-married with the local stock and they gave the impression to the community then that to be Aryan was to be of high and honorable class. Thus when the local people took up the cultural and religious beliefs of the new invaders, they too thought that since they are all Hindus, then they too must be of Aryan Stock. In fact, the true Aryans of unaltered blood today are the Iranians who have now taken up Islam. Most people who have taken up Hinduism in the last two thousand years in the Indian sub-continent are not Aryans but rather a transfer of the Aryan belief. Maybe, there is intermix of Aryan blood in these people from the invading conquerors. The Dravids of South India have all the Brahman, Chhetriya, Vaisya and Shudra class- they are not obviously Aryan. The peope of Madhyadesh in the northern plains of the Ganges are darker in colour and are not Aryan although they have a mixture of the characteristics and all the four Hindu classes. The Bengali speaking Hindu peoples too have all these four classes of people and they have distinctly a hint of Tibeto-Burman features.
Thus just being a Brahmin or a Hindu does not mean we are Aryans. We are indigenous hill people sharing strong racial features with the mountain people of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the north-west mountains of India. We Bahuns want to deny this fact and not face the truth. We want to be elevated to an Aryan class!! This is absolutely ridiculous. Why is there such an obsession with an extinct race?!!
If we Bahuns are not true Aryans then how come we became Hindu priests? Well in old Afghanistan, Gandhar (present day Kandahar), the ruling elite were all Hindus and then later on became Buddhists and then later with the advent of invasion from the Muslims Mongols, the local people were all forcefully converted and became Muslims. The number of Muslims started to rise and the Hindu majority slowly eroded in India.
The Shankaracharya from Benaras, then mounted his own campaigns to revive Hinduism and started to train and convert these mountain people to become Hindus and Hindu priests as they fled the invasion from Islamic warriors. This is a fact of history no one can deny. These same local indigenous mountain people slowly migrated towards the Western hills of present day Nepal and slowly came and became part of the Gorkha Shah Bhardari (courtiers) and are currently known as Khas Bahuns. Some historians even say that since we migrated from Khasmir, we are known as the Khas people and the language was called Khas Kura. Thus we Bahuns have forgotten our origins. Our dances and musical instruments are very similar to the ones in the Hindukush region.
Sadly though, we Bahuns have not much civilization to boast about. The Nepali language born in Sinja valley has heavily borrowed from Urdu, Sanskrit, Hindi and even Newari to beome the common lingua franca of Nepal. Even 50 years ago, only 25- 30% Nepalese spoke this language. The language spoken by the Gorkha kings differ much in comparison to present day Nepali.
Although, Bahuns have come in power for nearly 60 years now, we have not managed to build a single city in Nepal or in any Bahun village dominated by Bahuns. The cities of Nepal are predominantly settled by Newars and in fact evolve from old Newar towns. In the Terai, the cities are built by the Madhesiya community. The festivals are 99% of the Newars or the Madhesiyas or the hill tribal ethnic communities. 99% of the temples or architecture is built by the Newars and we Bahuns have only begun to come and accept the festivals as our own recently. We have certain festivals like Teej which is only recently begun to be celebrated like a national festival. The Dashera and Diwali festivals are also not celebrated like the Madhesiyas or the Newars or the Indian people. Our history is rather murky and there is not much to show except when we try to be Aryans or when we try to say that Sanskrit was invented by us or that the great Hindu sages were all our ancestors.
If we were such an advanced race, why is our history not very clear? Why do we not have our own script ( Devnagari was only recently borrowed and the written Nepali language began to evolve). Even the Tamangs, Tibetans, Limbu people have their own written script. The Tibetans, the Bengalis and the Newars have their own script different from Devnagari. They also have their own calendars. We Bahuns are accepting the calendar introduced by Chandra Sumsher and saying that it is ours. The ‘tithi’ used to mark all religious festivals are still used from the Lunar Calendar, which the Newars of the valley have been using for over a thousand years.
This just goes to show that we Bahuns are a nomadic indigenous mountain people with only a recent history of real political power. Bahuns should not be ashamed of our heritage, of our nomadic lifestyle, of our hilly origin, of our true spirit. Wake up all Bahuns and do some soul searching. Let us not be what we are not. Yes, we are Hindus. Yes, we were Hindu priests but now times have changed.
Now Bahuns are politicians, bankers, engineers, businessmen, butchers, builders, restauranteurs, musicians and there is a lot of cross-community marriages and the Bahuns have become omnivorous too. Thus we now should quit calling ourselves high caste Brahmins. We should be all aware of our indigenous, mountain origin and say to all other communities that we are no different from you all and that we are your brethren.
We are not superior to any other class nor ethnic group and we should humbly say that we are now evolving and trying to be a new civil society that respects all. Lastly, we should stop borrowing from a hypothetical ancestry which we never had.
SN B
gattu says:
Proud to be a Bahun, we bahun taught and tamed you u savages just like what Whites did to the rest of the world, so whats ur problem,?? If u really want to compete or are truly able to compete, why don’t u non bahuns come to the forefront?? why do u have to hide behind the veil of reservations and seats and farcical complains? come and compete with us and take away what u can if u can!! We challenge u healthily in any field. We bahuns pride ourselves because we know what we can do.. u guys are still to be tamed for few more decades only then u’ll become more civilzed.. ‘Jai Bahunbad or whatever u non bahuns want to call it!!!’