Hatred against Brahmins in Maharashtra has historical and sociopolitical roots, shaped by a variety of events and movements. Furthermore, various reasons such as the caste hierarchy, the rise of the Dalit movement, reservation rules, and so on have only fueled the ongoing hatred.
Added to that, Maharashtra politics has frequently been characterized as a struggle between Brahminical forces and the more powerful Maratha and OBC communities. Political parties and leaders have occasionally leveraged anti-Brahmin sentiments to bolster their vote bases among non-Brahmin groups.
Though it appears that animosity for the Brahmin community has decreased as people are seen living together in communities, hatred continues to spread via a new tool, social media. Several non-Brahmanical community people are seen targeting the Brahmins over social media platforms as they question the activities of the lower communities or try to regain their respectful position in society.
In February this year, a Marathi Cinema actress who belongs to the Brahmin community, Ketaki Chitale was booked by the state police for demanding an impartial assessment of all cases registered under the SC/ST Act in the past 5 years. She had claimed that filing false cases under the SC/ST Act had become a racket and sought a probe into all such cases filed in the past 5 years. Also, she was arrested in May 2022 for a Facebook post where she had shared a verse, allegedly written on Sharad Pawar, calling him a person who hates Brahmins.
In a similar case, hatred is now being spread against a Marathi influencer who posted a jovial video on Instagram praising the Brahmin community and describing their usual societal habits. The innocent-looking girl identified as Mansi Kulkarni in the video can be seen talking about her community mentioning multiple diets, the Marathi alphabet, and wedding rituals performed in the Brahmin community. However, all she got in return was hate from the non-Brahmanical community who used abusive words for the community, especially the women.
The video is making rounds on social media platforms with netizens expressing shock over the incident where the influencer is being abused and targeted for attempting to follow a social media trend where one is required to talk about one’s community.
“I am just shocked at the amount of abuse this innocent is being subjected to. Brahmins are less than 2% why is this hate against them? Is it hate against Hinduism because Brahmins are the upholders of Hindu religion and traditions,” said one of the users.
“70+ years of anti-Brahmin agenda, Brahmins have been targeted with a goal to destroy Hinduism. The irony is Brahmins were not rulers, they were not rich, they were not warriors and they are not high in numbers, still, they are accused of oppression, such bullshit argument probably doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Most of these jerks in the Hindu community are the ones who would not think twice about becoming a Muslim or a Christian,” another user said.
The original video posted by Mansi Kulkarni (13.9k followers on Instagram) was posted on 10th April this year. In the caption, she also clarified that she had no intentions to hurt any religious community but made the video to highlight typical societal habits of the Brahmins. “This reel is made only to showcase a typical Brahmin’s behaviour and habits. I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s religious sentiments trying to create any kind of discrimination or trying to offend someone. Keeping that in mind I majorly targeted our food habits and some rituals that we follow,” she said.
The video has attracted more than 6 million views and 8900+ comments most of which are hateful. “Brahmins are looters, fraud, and cheaters,” comments one of the users. “Brahmins are casteists,” says another. “We are Mahar and we do (marry) Brahmin girls,” comments another non-Brahmanical individual.
One another individual commented saying that Brahmins eat non-veg and then hide their faces. “They focus on donations,” “They do not have humanity,” “Marathas don’t like Brahmins,” etc such hateful comments got recognition.
One of the users also indicated that Brahmin girls should be raped.
Athawle says "I put my thing in your (Brahmin) girls, What about that? " pic.twitter.com/6b4HptkmbJ
— Based Monk (#Unreserved) (@thatindicmonk) July 25, 2024
History of hatred against Brahmins in Maharashtra
For the past 200 years, Maharashtra has been a torch-bearer region in the social renaissance of the country. Activists like Jyotirao Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, and Dr BR Ambedkar are often glorified here as a stepwise legacy of social reforms mainly revolving around fighting caste discrimination and gender discrimination. The root causes of these social problems are often attributed to Hindu Dharmik beliefs.
Brahmins, by virtue of their heredity and the definition of their caste, are known for being the traditional custodians of Dharmik know-how and are held responsible for the entire chaos, with the onus being immune to time and space. The post-renaissance Brahmins have further constantly become vulnerable to public violence for no cause while adhering to the progressive movement’s moral compass.
It is crucial to note that the hatred against the Brahmins began long back in history. Most of the Chitpavan Brahmins were targeted in the year 1948 after MK Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse – a Chitpavan Brahmin. The Congress leaders also allegedly took part in the violence against the Brahmins to keep their positions secured in the then cabinet.
The local politics then continued to propel the narrative of a ‘progressive Maharashtra’ led by the ideals of ‘Shahu-Phule-Ambedkar’ while leaving no space for leaders from the Brahmin community. Many Brahmins in the past migrated to the cities after several families succumbed to threats during the 1960s.
The practice eliminated many Brahmin social reformers and thinkers from Marathi social discourse. Lok Hitwadi Gopal Hari Deshmukh is forgotten since he belongs to the Brahmin community. Despite his thought-provoking writing on social changes, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar has been comfortably overlooked. Lokmanya Tilak, formerly seen as the embodiment of Indian rebellion against British rule and a mass leader across caste lines, is now feared to be reduced to the status of another Brahmin political figure. Defaming Veer Savarkar and getting away with it is not uncommon in the Marathi state either.
The state’s left-leaning and Islamophobic progressive liberal seculars depict these Marathi heroes as Brahmin-limited individuals on purpose. The idea behind this is that Hinduism is the underlying source of social evil, and Brahmins are depicted as its representatives, while others who have followed the same Dharma for millennia are given an alternate past in which they fight each other inside Hinduism.
Conclusion
Even now, as a minority community, Maharashtrian Brahmins have little influence over the state’s politics, which are dominated by the Marathas and Kunbis. Even today, they are targeted, whether in politics, education, or societal standards that disrupt peace and tranquility. Addressing and eradicating hatred against any community, including Brahmins in Maharashtra, requires a multifaceted approach that includes education, debate, legislative changes, and community involvement. However, with the state granting caste-based benefits and reservations in the name of upliftment for lower-income populations, Brahmins are still disregarded and attacked for belonging to an independent caste that upholds Hinduism.
