“The original inhabitants of India were dark-skinned and closely resembled the Africans in physical features. They founded the Indus Valley Civilization which, according to historians, was one of the world’s first and most glorious. Aryans tribes invaded India, destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization, and employed a cunning, deceptive religious ideology to enslave the indigenous people. Those who fled to India’s forests and hills later came to be called ‘tribals.’ As these native Indians were gradually overcome, captured and enslaved they were kept outside village limits and ‘untouchability’ was enforced upon them. These people became ‘untouchables.’” “The Black untouchables of today’s India try to hide their identities. They are ashamed of themselves. They hate themselves. How can people who hate themselves love others? This self-hatred can vanish only when we reveal to our people our own glorious cultural heritage, our own gods, goddesses and religious traditions, and the great distinct cultural past. The search for our cultural roots must become our top-most priority.” “The native people of India (currently known as ‘Untouchables, Tribals and Backward Castes’) were not Hindus. They were Animists—Nature Worshippers. Since India’s Dalits were once autonomous tribal groups, each group was known by its own tribal name. The Aryans created ‘caste’ out of these tribal divisions by hierarchically arranging them in ascending degrees of reverence and descending degrees of contempt. So the Black untouchables have hundreds of tribal names. Aryans based their whole philosophy on color (varna). The four-fold caste system is based on skin (varna) color. The natives are dark-skinned and the Aryans fair. So we can say that the untouchables and tribals are India’s Blacks,’ and that India’s Black population is much more than the entire population of Europe. It is also the world’s largest Black population living outside of Africa.” Article by V.T. Rajshekar title “The Black Untouchables of India: Reclaiming our Cultural Heritage” Book “African Presence in Early Asia” Editors: Ivan Van Sertima and Runoko Rashidi Page 236
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:00:34 +0000
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