Ramswaroop Verma (22 August 1923 – 19 August 1998) was an Indian humanist. He was the founder of Arjak Sangh, a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

organisation. The organisation emphasises social equality and is strongly opposed to

Brahminism The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedism or Brahmanism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontin ...

. Verma denied the existence of god and soul. He was strongly opposed to the doctrine of ''

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

'' and ''

Fatalism Fatalism is a belief and philosophical doctrine which considers the entire universe as a deterministic system and stresses the subjugation of all events, actions, and behaviors to fate or destiny, which is commonly associated with the cons ...

''. Verma campaigned tirelessly against Brahminism and

Untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

. According to him, Brahminism is rooted in the doctrine of rebirth and it is not possible to eradicate it without attacking the doctrine of rebirth. Verma strongly asserts that Brahminism cannot be reformed, and it has to be negated totally.

Biography

Ramswaroop Verma was born on 22 August 1923 in Gaurikaran village of Kanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India in a Kurmi peasant family. Verma was married to Siyadulari as a student, but his wife died soon. Ramswaroop Verma did his M.A. in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

from

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

University in 1949 and Law Graduation from

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

University. In both the examinations he secured first position in the first class in the University. He qualified in the written examination of the Indian Administrative Services, but did not appear for the interview. Verma was of the view that an administrator has to work within limitations. He wanted to work for social change as a free citizen. He came in contact of prominent Indian democratic socialist leaders of his time such as Acharya Narendra Dev and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. Consequently, he became a member of the

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Party. Several times he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. In 1967, he was for some time the finance minister of Uttar Pradesh in the government headed by Charan Singh, who later became the prime minister of India. After being active in party politics for a long time, Verma concluded that political and economic equality could not be achieved without a social and cultural revolution. Consequently, he founded Arjak Sangh on 1 June 1968 for achieving this aim. He also started ''Arjak Saptahik'', a Hindi weekly. He was the chief editor of the weekly. Verma was also influenced and inspired by

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

. Verma was active in party politics for a long time. However, he is best known and remembered as a thinker, writer and the founder of Arjak Sangh. He kept working for Arjak Sangh throughout his life. He kept writing articles and books and delivered many lectures for promoting

Humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

. Ramswaroop Verma wrote and spoke in Hindi only. He died in Lucknow on 19 August 1998.

Ideology and works

Ramswaroop Verma has been described as a committed Ambedkarite. Like all other

Bahujan ''Bahujan'' is a Pali language, Pali term frequently found in Buddhist literature, Buddhist texts, with a literal meaning of "the many", or "the majority". In a modern context, it refers to the combined population of the Scheduled Castes, Schedule ...

intellectuals, he also nurtured a different perspective on the Brahmanical literatures and characters like '' Ramcharitmanas'' of

Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...

and its lead character, Lord

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

. There necessarily exists two streams of thoughts on the characters like

and

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

in the political circle. While one group of intellectual, the traditional elite, belonging to ''

Dvija Dvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born". The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the rite of passage that initiat ...

'' castes classify them as the ideal human beings, the

intellectuals consider them as purely mythical characters, crafted in order to keep the lower castes subjugated under the banner of religion. Several ideologues have composed their own version of texts on the literatures like '' Ramcharitmanas'' which identifies lord Rama as a negative character and the protector of hated '' Varna System''. In his book ''Brahmin Mahima Kyo aur Kaise ?'', Verma has described the ''Ramcharitmanas'' as a pro-upper caste text written by Brahmins in order to justify their superiority over the other caste groups. Verma had compiled this book from his letters written on various occasions to some of the notable politicians like then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

and the contemporary

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, who according to him were acting against the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

feature of

Indian constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

by organising commemoration ceremony of the day of compilation of various

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

texts. Verma in his book, has described various verses of the text '' Ramcharitmanas'', which justifies the superiority of the

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s vis a vis the other caste groups. The book also contains verses in which the castes like

Kewat The Kewat, also spelled Kevat, is a Hindu caste, found in the states of Assam, Bihar, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in India. They are the traditional boatmen of northern India, and also in neighbouring country Nepal. Origin The na ...

Ahir Ahir or Aheer (derived from the Sanskrit word: abhira) is a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most of whom now use the Yadav surname, as they consider the two terms synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

and Kalwar are classified as "impure". The Arjak Sangh, an organisation founded by Verma was also active in the obliteration of

and the emancipation of downtrodden

Chamar Chamar (or Jatav) is a community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's Reservation in India, system of affirmative action that originated from the group of trade persons who were involved in leather tanning and shoemaking. They a ...

s in the several belts of

. It was supported by other organisations working in this field and Verma himself visited several places where the discrimination against the Dalits were recorded.

Books by Ramswaroop Verma

*''Manavwadi Prashnotri'' (Humanist Question-Answers), Lucknow: Arjak Sangh, 1984. *''Kranti Kyon aur Kaise'' (Revolution: Why and How?), Lucknow: Arjak Sangh, 1989. *''Manusmriti Rashtra ka Kalank'' (Manusmriti a National Shame), Lucknow: Arjak Sangh, 1990. *''Niradar kaise mite?'' (How to Remove Disrespect?) Lucknow: Arjak Sangh, 1993. *''Achuton ki Samasya aur Samadhan'' (The Question of Untouchables and its Solution) Lucknow: Arjak Sangh, 1984.

References

1923 births 1998 deaths Uttar Pradesh politicians Indian sceptics Indian atheism activists Samyukta Socialist Party politicians

Biography

Ideology and works

Books by Ramswaroop Verma

See also

References

Further reading