Arjak Sangh: A Band of Anti-Caste Atheists Battling Brahmanism in the Hindi Heartland Since 1968

New Delhi: “They reacted as if a bomb had exploded,” said Shiv Kumar ‘Bharti’, recalling the public outrage he encountered on the day he got married in a village in Kanpur in 1977.

Shiv Kumar, then 27 years old, had already spent almost a decade aligning with the principles of the Arjak Sangh when he decided to get married without any Brahmanical rituals or the evocation of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Instead, his wedding was conducted in the Arjak tradition, where there is no chanting of mantras or the presence of pandits. There is also no kanyadaan, the patriarchal ceremony where the bride’s father gives her away to the groom. The couple does not take pheras around the agni (sacred fire) and there is no mandap.

The wedding is a simple social affair, where the man and the woman read out pledge documents affirming each other as wife and husband in front of an audience. They sign the documents and click a photo in the presence of an ‘oath commissioner’ assigned by the outfit.

“They accept each other as spouses and promise to treat each other with equality, and make their life pleasant and indestructible with the vow of forever contributing to the development and prosperity of a society based on the equality of human beings,” said Shiv Kumar, recalling his own vows.

Seventy-four-year-old Shiv Kumar’s rejection of Brahmanical tradition and rituals stems from the philosophy he imbibed at the Arjak Sangh, the tiny organisation of anti-Brahmanical atheists and humanists that has survived 56 years in the Hindi-Hindu heartland of the country.

Last year, the outfit sprung into the limelight again when, during the centenary celebration event of its chief idealogue, the late Ram Swaroop Verma, senior opposition leader and Ambedkarite Swami Prasad Maurya launched a scathing attack on Brahmanism and the caste hierarchy.

Maurya utilised the stage to further his own ideological agenda of questioning the sanctity of the Ramcharitmanas, one of the most popular Hindu epics, just months ahead of the big launch of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

“The roots of Brahmanism are very deep and it is also the cause of all disparities. There is no religion called Hindu. Hindu dharma is just a deception. In true sense, it is a conspiracy to trap the Dalits, tribals and backwards of this country in the web of their religion by projecting the Brahman dharma as Hindu dharma,” Maurya said at the Arjak Sangh event in August 2023.

His utterances may sound too radical for a mainstream politician in the Hindi belt, especially under a government ruled by the Hindutva-based BJP, but they were in sync with what the Arjak Sangh has been propagating since June 1, 1968, when it was founded in Uttar Pradesh by a bunch of Left-oriented socialists led by Verma. In fact, in 1978, members of the Arjak Sangh had even publicly burned copies of the Ramcharitmanas in a historic protest.

The founders of the Arjak Sangh believed that while political change had empowered the working classes and castes post-independence, true change would only come with social transformation, as society was still plagued by unscientific and blind religious beliefs, superstition and caste-based discrimination.

Shiv Kumar was just 18 when he was inducted to the Arjak Sangh by Verma. A socialist politician and social reformer who had founded the outfit along with other anti-caste socialist thinkers, Verma also happened to be Shiv Kumar’s uncle.

Last year, Shiv Kumar was elected national president of the outfit, which although much diminished in its resources and size, still commands a prime position in the anti-caste realm, primarily due to its radical emphasis on scientific values and the rejection of all things associated with orthodox Brahmanism.

The Arjak Sangh advocates humanism, rationalism, scientific temper and education for all through a society where caste hierarchies cease to exist. The outfit believes that the root of all ills in our society are “lack of education” and “pakhand”, which in simple words translates to religious hypocrisy.

At its core, it denounces the idea of a supreme being. Its followers are atheists who reject all forms of god, goddesses, idols and the traps of heaven, hell, afterlife and re-birth.

While the organisation used to be very popular, especially in the 1970s and ’80s, today it has around 15,000 members, spread across many states. Its branches operate in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, where they hold regular meetings, dharnas, marches and discussions.

This year, it launched a nation-wide campaign for reforms to the country’s education system. The ‘national education policy’ demanded by it envisages providing education that is uniform, free, humanist, comprehensive and based on scientific values.

It calls for a restriction on the entry of or intervention by social or religious organisations in the field of education. It proposes that the country’s education budget correspond to its expenditure on defence and advocates the compulsory teaching of nationhood, citizenship, maths, geography and the achievements of science at the primary education level.

Most strikingly, the Arjak Sangh’s education blueprint states that there should be complete rejection of superstition, re-birth, destiny and fatalism, caste, discrimination and miracles at all levels of the education system.

Their philosophy can be summed thus: “Rashtrapati, DM ka beta ya nirdhan ki ho santan, bhed bhav pakhand rahit, shikhsha muft va ek samaan.” It translates to, “Whether it is the son of the president or a district magistrate or the offspring of a poor person, education should be free, uniform and without any discrimination or dogma.”

The Arjak Sangh is also in favour of the equitable distribution of opportunities and resources. “Do baatein hai, moti moti, sabko izzat sabko roti” (There are two broad things, respect and food to all).

Ram Swaroop Verma and Maharaj Singh Bharti: the two main ideologues of the Arjak Sangh

Much of what the Arjak Sangh believes in is traced from the writings, ideas, books and orations of two socialist politicians and reformers – Verma and Maharaj Singh Bharti. Both hailed from a farming background and belonged to what are today described as OBCs.

Verma was a Kurmi from Kanpur Dehat and Bharti a Jat from Meerut. They were staunch opponents of Brahmanism and orthodox Hindu faith built on the caste system.

Verma, today remembered as the main ideologue and face of the outfit, was elected MLA six times from rural Kanpur. He also served as the finance minister of UP under the government of Chaudhary Charan Singh in 1967. ‘Mahamana’ to his followers, Verma had listed “Manav Dharm” as his religion, UP state assembly records show.

Bharti was a national council member of the Samyukta Socialist Party and was previously associated with the Congress. He was elected as a member of the UP legislative council in 1958. In 1967, he defeated three-time sitting MP and former decorated military officer Shah Nawaz Khan of the Congress to win the Lok Sabha election from Meerut.

A Sangwan Jat, Maharaj Singh was an agriculturalist from a zamindari family. He focused on educating farmers on agricultural issues and eradicating casteism, authoring almost two dozen books. He adopted the name ‘Bharti’, drawing from the freedom struggle. Today, several Arjak members, including its president Shiv Kumar, use the surname ‘Bharti’. This is partly also because this allows them to shed their caste identity. Shiv Kumar’s original surname was Katiyar.

Bharti’s main principles were centred around the creation of a society based on scientific values and outlook. “He viewed religious malpractice as a big source of exploitation,” said his grandson Manish Bharti. Following in the tracks of his grandfather, Manish is also a staunch atheist and agriculturalist.

Manish said his grandfather went beyond the usual criticism of the Brahmanical system, debunking it through rational reasoning and offering solutions to these questions through a scientific approach.

Despite only receiving basic education, Bharti thrived on compressing complex scientific concepts for the understanding of the layperson, in their vernacular language. As MP, he introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha on the freedom of religion, proposing that children be taught about all religions till the age of 18. Once they hit the age of maturity, only then should they be allowed to choose a religion of their choice.

Manish said his grandfather led by example. He did not conduct the kanyadaan of his daughter and clearly stated in his will that after his death, Parliament must not refer to him as “swargiya” (one who has gone to heaven) while mourning him, and nor should they maintain two minutes of silence for “atma ko shanti” or peace to his soul. These ideas went against his principles, Manish said.

Bharti was also influenced by Marxist and Leninist philosophies. To better understand Russian literature, he even learnt Russian – one of the six languages he knew – from the wife of a Russian diplomat in Delhi, said Manish.

Humanist society in place of a Brahmanical society

The Arjak Sangh believes in building a humanist society where people are equal and treat each other equally. It endorses inter-dining and inter-caste marriage and stands against discrimination and untouchability. “The Arjak Sangh wants to establish a Manavvadi [humanist] society in place of a Brahmanical one,” Shiv Kumar said.

‘Arjak’ literally means one who earns his or her living through physical labour. In other words, it denotes farmers, manual workers, labourers, artisans and all kinds of creators.

It views physical labour as supreme, acknowledging its role in production and construction. Only Dalits, OBCs, tribals and Muslims – the Arjak communities – are allowed to become members.

Shiv Kumar felt that at the core of Hinduism is Brahmanism, created and sustained solely for the benefit of Brahmins.

“Shouldn’t all followers of one religion be equal? How can it be a religion if people of the same religion are not considered equal and don’t marry each other?” asked Shiv Kumar.

He states other examples to underline this aspect of discrimination and hierarchy within the Hindu religion towards the downtrodden castes and Dalits. Dalits are still beaten for riding horses during weddings processions, maintaining moustaches or wearing neat clothes, and are urinated upon by members of the so-called upper castes.

Verma considered Brahmanical sanskars (rites) as ‘tools of exploitation’ and believed they were designed to ensure that the priestly castes enjoyed the pleasures of life without any physical toil.

A diagram of two trees side by side, labelled as ‘Brahmanvad (Problem)’ and ‘Manavwad (Solution)’, acts as a visual representation of the Arjak objective.

The first picture shows a farmer in a dhoti chopping down a tree (Brahmanvad). The tree’s roots are labelled as rebirth, its trunk as fatalism, its branches as the Varna system, its leaves as castes, its flowers as discrimination and its fruits as oppression. On the other end, a person is seen watering a different tree named Manavvad. The roots of this tree are materialism, trunk equality, branches democracy, leaves socialism, flowers happiness and fruits prosperity.

Calendar of secular festivals aimed at weakening sway of religious rituals

Since its inception, a major challenge for the Arjak Sangh was the grip of religious festivals and rituals over the lives of people, especially the backward castes and Dalits. Well-aware that it would be difficult to completely detach people from the idea of festivals, Verma provided an alternative set of festivals and rites cut off from Hindu tradition.

Today, the Arjak Sangh calendar comprises 14 “humanist festivals” which celebrate the birthdays and death anniversaries of icons of social change, constitutional milestones of the country and agricultural seasons.

Apart from celebrating Independence Day and Republic Day, the Arjak Sangh remembers March 1 as Ulhas Day to mark the harvest of the rabi crop and October 1 as Labh Day to celebrate harvest of kharif crops. Buddha Jayanti is Manavta Diwas, while Ambedkar Jayanti is Chetna Diwas. The birth anniversary of Dravidian thinker E.V. Ramasamy, immortalised as Periyar, is celebrated as Vivek Diwas.

The Arjak Sangh’s foundation day, June 1, is observed as Samta Diwas. It commemorates the death anniversaries of Jyotiba Phule (Shakti Diwas) and Babu Jagdeo Prasad (Shaheed Diwas) as well as the birth anniversaries of Birsa Munda (Jagriti Diwas) and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Ekta Diwas).

After Verma passed away in 1998, the outfit started celebrating his birthday (August 22) as Kranti Diwas. Bharti’s birthday (November 3) is honoured as Science Day, a testimony to his struggles toward the promotion of scientific temper.

The Arjak Sangh allows its followers to participate in only two sanskars – a marriage ceremony and mourning for the dead. Verma believed that these rituals were essential for humankind and its social existence.

How Arjak weddings are conducted has already been described above. The second sanskar pertains to death and mourning. Instead of elaborate Brahmanical rituals, Arjak members conduct a ‘shokh sabha’ on the seventh day after death. Mourners gather to remember the departed and the family is provided a ‘death certificate’ recording how and when the person died. The Arjak Sangh strongly opposes the expenses incurred by Hindus in post-death rituals, especially mrityu bhoj (feasts) held in the memory of their dear ones.

Shiv Kumar pictures this as a “big net of rituals” spread by the Brahmanical system to cash in on everything from birth to death.

“From the charpoy to the utensils, mattress, cows and buffaloes belonging to the deceased person; all had to be given to the Brahmins, who said they would give it to the dead in heaven,” said Shiv Kumar.

“Verma ji understood that these rituals were about the exploitation of the arjak by the non-arjaks and caused them a financial burden,” he added.

Jitendra Patel, 33-year-old Congress worker from Ambedkar Nagar, married in the Arjak tradition last year. He said that in the past, the organisation had used wedding ceremonies as platforms to criticise Brahmanism and spread their worldview.

“They knew that a large number of people attend such personal affairs. So they began putting up a stage with a microphone and went all out against Brahmanism, in the garb of the wedding ceremony. I didn’t agree with this because people of all kinds attend wedding ceremonies,” said Patel.

State support to religious dogmas remains a challenge

Shiv Kumar sees caste hierarchy as an impediment to the country’s progress. “Just like a field that is uneven does not produce a good harvest, a society that is not equal cannot produce a strong nation,” he said.

The Arjak Sangh today remains a fringe movement. The charm of Hindutva and Hindu cultural identity remains a social and political challenge. Starker expressions of communal identities over the years have been encouraged by the rise of political Hindutva, especially with the coming to power of the BJP.

Some scholars have termed the inclination of marginalised Hindu castes towards strident Hindutva as the ‘saffronisation’ or Hinduisation of the marginalised castes. This has coincided with the stagnation and decrease in the political power of Ambedkarite parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which could have provided the Arjak Sangh with the relevant ideological ecosystem to sustain itself and grow.

Shiv Kumar rues that the Indian state has actively supported religious ideas and outfits. The mass lighting of diyas on Diwali in Ayodhya and the annual state-sponsored kanwar yatras – where government officials shower flower petals on pilgrims and even massage their feet – are just two instances in recent times when the state has indulged Hindu believers for political goals.

The kanwar yatra, according to anecdotal evidence, is predominantly attended by OBCs and Dalits. This comes as a concern to the Arjak Sangh.

Over several conversations with Shiv Kumar, I sought to know from him why these communities find Hindutva so fascinating and have not been able to wriggle out of the clutches of Brahmanical Hindutva if it is so oppressive.

His responses were pessimistic. The spirits of heaven, hell, destiny, re-birth and afterlife have only gotten stronger in the hearts of the people, said Shiv Kumar.

“People are told that in their previous life they didn’t do enough ‘punya’ and ‘daan dakshina’ (religious charity) and that is why they are poor and were born into a low caste. That is why they face all the suffering. If in this life, they do some daan dakshina and dharam karam (religious acts) as per the path shown by the pandits, they will not only find heaven, but also be born into a richer and higher caste in the next life. Their minds are filled with this on a daily basis. They are entangled 365 days a year, making them believe that it is real.”

Shiv Kumar pins the blame on influential people and political icons in furthering these beliefs among the masses. He refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks in 2014, when he had explained Lord Ganesha’s having an elephant’s head as an instance of plastic surgery in ancient times.

In 2023, ISRO chairperson S. Somanath reportedly claimed that algebra, square roots, conceptions of time and aviation were among the knowledge already available in the Vedas much before they were claimed as discoveries by the Western world.

While the current government has played a big role in promoting Brahmanical ideas and a Hindutva view of life, the previous governments  have also done so.

At the root of this is that the Indian state has been inclined towards Brahminical ideas and has nourished them in a number of ways, argued Shiv Kumar.

Indira Gandhi, for instance, had called for state-sponsored celebrations of the 400th year of the writing of the Ramcharitmanas, something that Verma vehemently opposed at that time.

“If the state supports a scientific way of life, the society will also think that way,” said Shiv Kumar.

After Verma’s death in the 1990s, the Arjak movement started declining amid the absence of a charismatic leader. His shoes have been too big to fill.

Frequent police cases and arrests also started deterring people from participating in Arjak activities. On April 30, 1978, on Verma’s call, Arjak Sangh volunteers burned copies of the Ramcharitmanas and Manusmriti in Kanpur Dehat to build awareness among the masses, in one of its historic moments that is still talked about in the ‘social justice’ circles of North India.

Shiv Kumar was himself jailed as he had been brave enough to put his name on the pamphlets distributed against the Ramcharitmanas.

For his troubles, he was suspended for five years from the post of lecturer in a senior secondary college, but was reinstated later by the Allahabad high court.

“There was even an attempt on my life inside prison from those whose sentiments were hurt,” said Shiv Kumar.

On the other hand, he said, whenever Arjak Sangh people go to file cases against what they say are objectionable materials being disseminated about lower castes through religious sermons and text, they are not entertained.

“They don’t lodge our FIRs even if our complaints are based on upholding constitutional values. Our people started breaking away due to the criminal cases and threats of being jailed. Earlier, there was not much torture in the police stations. But today we find that every police station has a temple,” said Shiv Kumar.

The Arjak Sangh has no restrictions on food as long as it is not banned by the law. They do not consider the cow holy.

Shiv Kumar explains that the Arjak Sangh’s atheistic views are not based on the rejection of Hindu deities, but on a deeper conviction towards believing in material things and disowning beliefs that have no evidence.

“We believe in what exists. A stone exists, so we believe in it. God doesn’t exist, so we don’t believe in it. Heaven doesn’t exist, so we don’t believe in it. Those who believe in god are actually nastiks. They believe in what doesn’t exist. If astronauts and scientists can go all the way to the Moon, why have they never been to heaven?” asked Shiv Kumar.

Manish felt the Arjak movement did not grow as it became stuck in the rut of exposing Brahmanism, something that Ambedkarites were already doing efficiently. Lack of funds, poor membership and weak organisation also prevented the outfit from becoming more visible and organising bigger events. Manish said the rigid approach of the outfit’s old guard is partly to be blamed.

“New people are not connecting with us. The Arjak Sangh is unable to connect with the new generation due to its lacklustre rhetoric and ways of communication,” he said.

Jitendra Verma added that the movement has also been consumed by the very demon it stepped out to exorcise: caste sentiments.

Since Verma was born into a Kurmi backward caste peasant family, over time, the Arjak Sangh has also come to be associated mostly with the community, limiting its appeal among others.

But on the other hand, it is also true that the outfit remains popular among Yadavs, Kachis, Koeris and Lodhis.

Shiv Kumar felt that the penetration of caste identity is a result of a growing jati bhavna (caste sentiment) that makes people latch onto a leader of their own caste. As a consequence, today, even within the Arjak Sangh, members pick their icons according to their caste. Kurmis mostly celebrate Verma’s birthday, while Koeris remember Shaheed Jagdeo Prasad on his shaheed diwas. Yadavs celebrate Lalai Yadav’s jayanti. Saini and Mali castes remember Jyotiba Phule and Pal, while Baghel and Gadaria shepherd castes remember Periyar.

Patel also argues that the BJP’s dominance over the political narrative has kept its opposition busy with the task of tackling Hindutva, thereby reducing the available workforce and ideological faculties to sustain a cultural movement against Brahmanism.

The Arjak Sangh prohibits members of political parties or caste-based outfits or mahasabhas from affiliating with it, in a bid to remain non-political. This “rigid” stance restricts membership, felt Patel, whose decision to join the Congress was not taken positively by the outfit.

“The RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] does not restrict its members from participating in any political party work. It does not impact their ideological work. It only helps them,” said Patel.

Shiv Kumar views caste identity as a form of Brahmanism.

“Those who want a Hindu rashtra and give preference to Hindu dharma are the ones providing support to this rise of castes. Till castes remain, Hindu dharma will stay. Hindu dharma is nothing other than castes. Keeping the caste system is the main business of Brahmins and Hindu dharma,” said Shiv Kumar.

Given the socio-political environment it works in, the Arjak Sangh is often accused of being anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. Its detractors say it does not talk enough about the social ills in other religions.

Shiv Kumar argues that before talking about others, it is best to reform one’s own society.

The Arjak Sangh also does not get enough credit for its efforts towards changing mindsets due to the slow nature of these processes. Its role in watering the field for the political growth of Kanshi Ram and his BSP is also understated.

Many Arjak thinkers, including Manish, believe that the rise of Kanshi Ram and his outfits, and eventually, the BSP, led to the downfall of the Arjak Sangh. Since their ideologies aligned to a large extent, the organisational and political heft that the BSP mustered allowed it to woo those opposed to caste, including Arjak-aligned people.

Shiv Kumar, however, felt that the Arjak movement’s impact is there to see, especially in the way different castes behave with each other. There was a time when people would refuse to sit or dine with people of other castes, he said.

“Vermaji gave people the mantra to implement a manavvadi sanskriti through interaction, and sitting and dining together. Due to the Arjak Sangh’s movement, even ‘chota se chota aadmi‘, who is called inferior and lowly in the Brahmanical system, ends wedding processions and feasts in our area. The charan sparsh (touching of feet) of Brahmins has also reduced.”

But this does not mean that people start following the Arjak Sangh blindly, added Shiv Kumar. Their conviction towards the Arjak way of life must be based on evidence and rationality not mere affiliation. “Jano, tab mano,” goes one of the Arjak Sangh’s principal ideals. First understand, then believe.