Why thousands riot to support bad boy gurus in India

Quote

You literally can't talk about dera sachha sauda violence without discussing why deras were created in punjab and how their role and warped and changed over time. There's no point to being 'horrified'.

DSS has given thousands of people across north india an identity away from the historical oppression they've known. It's given them safety. a huge number of its members are from backwards castes, who had converted to Sikhism, but found the same upper caste oppression there too. Sikhism is, in theory, casteless. The ground realities, however, are sobering and unfortunate. The jat-khatri coterie has taken over religious politicking, especially representation in sgpc and other gurudwara committee. They've systematically kept new converts out of the loop and have actively oppressed them because they represent a status quo shakeup.

This (along with other factors) has led to people being angry, helpless, disillusioned. They see no way out, no way up. They turn to drugs. Punjab and nasha have become synonymous, and this has been worsened by economic insecurity+lack of education. They're a lost people. So when the dera sachha sauda comes up as a saviour organisation, they're interested. Of course they are. The dera promises them dignity. they dera educates its people, feeds them, keeps them off drugs, gives them jobs, gives them a purpose. It gives them a dignity of being. A lost man doesn't care if a rapist gives him direction. A hungry man will take food from a murderer's hand. Never forget this.

What you see isn't just an expression of misogyny and religious fervour. That too, yes, but it's actively an expression of insecurity too. What you and i see as justice, a large number of people see as a possible slide down to the pits they've barely emerged from. What you see on the today has been simmering over a generation and a half. In our race to appear developed, we forgot that development, as understood by very rudimentary economics, is unfair, unjust, unequal, and problematic. If nothing else, this should serve as a lesson. If we try to climb up by stepping on someone else's broken back, those people will rise.

Politicians understand this. They know a votebank when they see one, that's why they're politicians. they've been allowing these deras to flourish and mutate. Think of this as a very messed up, but immensely effective delegation system. They support the deras in their bullshit knowing the votebank will be appeased by them. this allows deras a free reign. The deras will fight each other, they will fight within themselves, and they will go to any lengths to 'win'. The politicians allow this because it also makes deras comfortably indebted to them. Think of divine right of rule. Same principle applies.

What you have is a reckless product that feeds off people's insecurities and replaces their drugs with a more potent one- faith&security. Religion might be an opiate, but faith? Man, that's a trip if i ever saw one. DSS has a veritable army of people willing to kill for it. And we made this. We allowed this with our apathy. When you look down on the protestors, remember this. We're culpable too, massively so.

Quote

I felt this after reading an abcnews interview that spoke to a guy who was a drug addict once.

It doesn't absolve what the guru does, but it reflects that there are lakhs of people with severe problems thrown by the wayside in the country. Whoever helps them, owns them. And when that person is gone, and we cheer, are we really going to pick up the pieces of their lives?

Quote

As a Sikh (well at least born as one), I can't tell you how the denial in Sikhism about how Sikhism is so much better than Hinduism because "there is no caste". What a bunch of lies. Caste is an integral part of Punjab. Every song has the word "Jatt" and talks about glorious Jatts are. Movies titles? "Jatt and Juliet". Important positions in PCS (civil services) are assigned to Jatts.

Sikhs are in denial about this.

Quote

[–]boredmonkEternal Optimist
Fun fact: Punjab has the highest percentage of people in the Scheduled Castes(28.9 pcent according to Census 2011).
o
Theoretically, Sikhism does not have castes according to its history and scriptures. You probably meant to mean Sikhs instead of Sikhism are in denial.

[–]jasounseebournePunjab 7 points 12 hours ago
Yes, Sikhism by definition did away with castes. The Gurus were against it. Who cares about that though? Caste is still a part and parcel of our life.

[–]me_tera_tauUNESCO Certified Tau of the Year
Exactly! India Untouched documentary exposes along with Hinduism, the hollow claims of all the so called egalitarian religions of India. All the casteism and manual scavenging deniers should watch this documentary. Fair warning, it is quite depressing.

[–]boxtobox313
This is an amazing documentary. Fair warning : you will feel feel angry or sad after this depending which side of spectrum you are born in

[–]banker_boy2
Gurudwaras in Punjab, UK, and Canada are now based on caste lines.

Quote

tardyontrain 6 points 14 hours ago
I am just saying that unemployment and drug use are strongly linked because you said that didn't make sense.

You know as well as I do that not everybody gets to emigrate. There is no money in farming and yields have dropped. The days of Punjab and Haryana being the nation's granaries are over. Soil fatigue has set in and the groundwater table is seriously depleted. Punjab is no longer the top state in any category of agriculture produce. Most small to medium-scale industries have moved to Nalagarh in HP because Badals wanted a 10% cut and HP gives a 10-year tax holiday. So I would believe for sure that Punjab has an unemployment problem. Maybe it's not more than UP or Bihar but then there are other factors that contribute.

Quote

0x746974736268656a6f
This is a really nice post. I am from UP. A lot of people complain that how Mayawati and Mulayam come to power. They blame these politicians for "dividing" people. But what are they doing exactly? If you go to my native village you can see separate wells for lower castes. Guess who gets water, manure, and seeds in last from the government. So when someone comes and pull them out of this discrimination, they treat them like a god.