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Vol, XXII, No. 4
207
Were untouchability a product of Brāhmaṇas' contempt for Buddhists we should not find any trace of it during the life of Buddha nor during the days Buddhism dominated the scene in India. But we have seen in the third chapter that Praksti, Suppiya and Sopaka were untouchables who became the disciples of Buddha. The thesis that a section of the Buddhists were degraded and made untouchables subsequentty fails to explain the behaviour of the untouchables too. Ambedkar does not tell us when and how Buddhism taught a section of its followers to keep the Brāhmaṇas away from their locality and to molest them if they attempted to intrude, what we know about Buddhism shows it did not preach caste hatred Ambedkar does not explain when and how Buddhism taught a section of its followers to hate the other and yet we find a section of untouchables hating the other. That demolishes the theory of Ambedkar beyond hope.
Untouchability in Japan and Arabia
Ambedkar proceeds with the assumption that untouchability was not current anywhere else at any time. That makes it easy for him to suggest that tbe Brāhmaṇas' contempt for the Buddhists caused the mischief, But there are other instances of untouchability where that explanation would not do.
In South Arabia there are two classes of Pariahs. One class, comprising of the artisans, was regarded as the subordinate menials of the dominant class. Its members were required to live on the outskirts of the town, and though admitted into the mosques were not allowed to visit Arab houses. The other class of Pariabs was regarded as still inferior, and its members were not allowed to enter even the mosque, though they were devout Muslims":18. There are no Brāhmanas and no Buddhists in Arabja. There is no question of their mutual hostility and contempt. How did then untouchability come about in Arabia ?
Two classes of untouchables are recorded in Japan since the 12th century called Eta and Hinin They were regarded as the fifth class of society up to the nineteenth century. “Every occupation that brought a map into contact with unclean things, such as the corpses of human beings, the carcasses of animals, and offal of all descriptions, were degraded. Occupations that catered for the sensuous side of man as well as those that did not carry a fixed scale of remuneration were regarded as low. The degrading calling, and some others like stone-cutting and casting of metal, were relegated to the outcastes". To this day they catch fish, sell meat and live outside villages and towns, whenever they come in, they warn people
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