Jains (and other Shraman dharms) have independent temple system than Sanatan dharm temple systems. Yes, they have knowledge experts as well as Munis/Acharyas who can conduct speeches, discourses and preachings during various times and occasions as well as many times helping priests/vidhikars who can help in performing vidhans and vidhis and pujas (not birth based). So, none of these or other practices or individual professions have any notion of caste/jati/varna, leave aside any notion of “Brahminism” or “upper/lower castes” while at the same time vegetarianism as a resultant practice of compassion, empathy and peaceful co-existence is a foundational part of Jain and various other Shraman groups.

In Sanatan traditions we have several Brahmin/Vaishnav and other groups as well as many Sikh traditions that follow vegetarianism as part of their philosophical orientations. In my life, I have encountered numerous so called OBCs/SCs who follow vegetarianism. Trying to label vegetarianism as an unsubstantiated “code for upper caste” or some kind of injustice/oppression of “lower caste” is an extremely mischievous, deliberate activism by many vested interest people.

Arpita Chakraborty, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Ireland India Institute, Dublin City University, is not the only so called academics/researcher/”human rights activists” who take potshots against Hindus (Sanatan/Jain/Bauddha/Sikh people) and try to slap Hindus hard on their face by associating various Hindu cultural characteristics as “upper cast” intolerance. They invariably have, in my experience, deep support of Islamists and their dhimmis as well other anti-Hindu haters.

I do not know anything else about this obviously anti-Hindu Arpita Chakraborty, but I would not at all be surprised if she has never – yes never! – spoken against Halal hegemony, and how Islamists create hell for people who do not support Halal or the associated hate and intolerance in the name of Halal or Roza daytime restrictions or Eid slaughter of hapless animals. Why do I say that? Because she is perfectly safe beating Hindus with any stick and in turn will get rewarded, but would have to watch constantly her neck, tongue or fingers or even her lady parts being mutilated if she ever criticizes Mohammadanism in any way. Such is the pervasive and simmering Mohammadan terror engulfing our ordinary lives worldwide!

I think this frequent hate mounting against Hindus is a call for Hindus to let go of their cowardly passiveness, “tolerance” and adopt a more united leadership stance to properly take care of these anti-Hindu haters and provide them proper justice instead of feeling cowed down by Islamists and their supporters and allow these attackers rewards and encouragement. Appropriate reasoning and humility and politeness, appropriate empathies to victims, appropriate dissemination of our stance is a must. Fear and cowardice which ofter results from lack of organizational Hindu unity will make Hindus very vulnerable and targetted not only in India but worldwide too. Hindu organizations please do providie literature and training materials to fellow Hindus and others why some of our practices are a perspective of our various plural humane philosophies and nothing to do with baseless claims of casteism.