An observing Hindu devotes the month of Shrawan to fasting and praying to Lord Shiva. The Mondays of the month are particularly auspicious, especially the last one. I’m not religious anymore, yet the last Monday of Shrawan (August 12, 2024) became special for me at the Pashupati temple premises. On that extraordinary day, I stood at the sacred podium of a month-long Kotihoma Mahayagya and bravely addressed some 15,000 devotees and hundreds of high-caste gurus, demanding religious reform.

A few days prior, at our initiation with some liberal and young organisers of the holy festival, a Shudra, Krishna Damai from Baitadi (who holds a master’s degree in Sanskrit literature), had made history by sitting on the most auspicious chair of a Brahmin pundit and delivering a short sermon. It was the first incident of this kind in Nepal.

Traditionally speaking, my presence on the dais would have been deemed polluting. We aren’t allowed to enter the temples and religious events in many parts of the country, even today. These violations of the conventional caste rules vis-à-vis Hindu rituals and customs at the headquarters of the Nepali Hindu religion, as it were, have reverberated across Nepal and probably India, too—naturally offending some Hindus and encouraging others. This has a significant symbolic meaning in terms of tackling the widespread problem of caste hatred and separation amongst Nepalis in the country as well as in diaspora communities.

Consecrating Shudras for the first time

People may quickly formulate conspiracy theories, and some may even attribute this historical change to the influence of the wave of Hindu politics across the border. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has developed policies and programmes to ensure Dalits somehow stayed within the Hindu fold. Of course, the pundits offering to consecrate some Dalits with the Sanskrit language at the Pashupati Kotihoma must have also felt the urgency to become progressive to contain the rapid expansion of the Christian community here. But it wasn’t really due to the external pressure, nor was it pre-planned as such.

Some open discussions on the relationship between religion and caste have started, mainly on social media. There has been growing awareness about the role Hindi rituals and customs play in subjugating Dalits and relegating them to a status lower than a street dog. Once the grand Kotihoma festival began at Pashupati, some people asked why Bahun priests had not included Dalit scholars of Sanskrit, such as Krishna Damai. Eventually, this call was heeded, and young pundits running the show invited him to deliver his sermon.

A teacher of the Sanskrit language and literature in caste-infested far western Nepal, Krishna had little experience in public speaking, let alone sitting alongside Bahun pundits and delivering a sermon to a massive gathering of Hindu devotees. Unsurprisingly, he claimed that it was something he’d never even dreamt of before. He didn’t speak for very long and certainly didn’t blame the religious texts, customs and traditional culture for caste discrimination.

The contents of Krishna’s brief sermon at the Kotihoma don’t matter. In essence, the presence of a Shudra body in such a sacred and holy space in front of a large crowd of devotees and numerous live television cameras was significant. Bahun pundits were bowing before him is symbolically powerful. It can have a very positive message in spreading views on the need for reforming the religion and abandoning the traditional segregation of the Dalit community—over 90 percent of whom still adhere to Hinduism, rampant humiliation and exclusion based on religious doctrines and principles notwithstanding.

Accepted by the faithful

What I also found extraordinary was the level of ease with which these changes went down in public. There was no anger or disapproval from the audience at the consecration of the untouchable nor did they show any sign of anger at my loud call for religious reform. The incident didn’t lower the attraction of the religious gathering. It also didn’t discourage people from donating money. There have not been any protests in Kathmandu or elsewhere since then.

I’ve heard from hearsay that there has been a level of disquiet within certain quarters of the Brahmin community. Some claim that the whole worship has become impure and worthless as a result of allowing Shudras to occupy the sacred chairs. A few gurus and Hindu scholars are not happy with this dramatic reform.

This kind of objection is hardly surprising. Not everybody can easily digest the changes. Like in all communities, there are both conservatives and liberals in the Bahun communities, among the pundits and gurus, too. But there’s a growing sense, particularly among younger gurus and scholars, that these changes are essential; modernisation is a must. Some popular pundits called me afterwards, thanking me for the bold speech still circulating on social media. This is really encouraging.

Negative voice of some Dalits

The criticism of some Dalits of all people however took me aback. Observing the comments on Facebook, people tend to dismiss the issue of religious reform as non-essential. Some even blamed me for endorsing the Hindu religion’s excesses. Other critics blamed me for becoming a new pawn of the Hindu authorities. Much of the criticism came from men and women influenced by Marxist principles, who believed that a class struggle would also deliver liberation from religion-based oppression.

It isn’t difficult to understand why these partially educated Dalits with some experience of party politics appear unenthusiastic about what we’ve achieved at Pashupati. The major factor is that most Dalits are attached to the parties, which are invariably controlled by high castes. These upper caste leaders have designed Dalit discourses and strategies; Dalits still lack their independent ideologies and strategies for fighting caste oppression. Nor do they have their independent organisations and parties.

Party leaders have ensured that religion is off topic, as they don’t want Dalits to hit the root causes of caste hierarchy. The Maoists do deserve some credit in the past, who made Dalit fighters damage Hindu temples and slaughter cows. But now, the Maoists have followed the strategy of other parties and remained silent on the issues of religion and culture appertaining to Dalit oppression. When their political masters don’t see any point in religious reform, Dalits don’t see it either. Even though they face daily humiliation and separation based on religious injunctions.

But the good news is that a vast majority of grassroots Dalits who have not been “brain-damaged” by Brahmanic ideologies do appreciate the value of the reform at the Pashupati Kotihom. They have no problem understanding that religious reform is imperative for Dalit liberation. They have seen how the communist slogan of a society free from class difference, free from religious belief and practice is a mirage.