Adi-Dharam
Movement and Punjabi Dalit Literature
Balbir Madhopuri
Rise of Dalit Movements: Background
The seeds of Dalit Movements were sown in the Indian sub continent with the arrival of those Arayans who frequently shifted places, the wanderers and shepherds in this region in about 1800 BC. They entered Punjab (the land of five rivers, the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and the Jhelum) from Central Asia in the North of undivided India through the Khaibar Pass. Even though those white complexioned, grey and brown eyed and grey and black haired Aryans were far less in numbers but they were strong willed with self determination and a well built body. It was quite natural that the sons of the soil, the aboriginals violently resisted the Aryan invaders, plunderers and domineers in their expansionist and land grabbing tendencies in greater Punjab, Sind, some regions in the Himalayas, Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh etc. As a result those Aryans struggled to their hilt, to destroy the World’s richest and the most ancient (2500 BC) Sindhu Valley civilization and the Harappan culture and civilization. They destroyed the aboriginals most developed Harappa and Mohenjodaro cities who had laid the foundation of growth of civilization in the world. They tried to shatter the economy and destroy natural resources in the region. For example, river Saraswati, is abundantly mentioned in many of the ancient scriptures, including the Rigveda. However, there is no mention of the drying up of the river Saraswati in the Vedic literature or the Mahabharata epic. Instead, there is evidence in these scriptures of its flowing in full stream. The findings during the last over 100 years have established that river Saraswati was flowing at the dry bed of the Hakrha/Ghagar. The litterateurs and historians working tirelessly on this subject were of the opinion that the reason for the drying up of the Saraswati could be the change of course by river Sutlej. As a result, it stopped merging with the Saraswati and started pouring into Sindhu river. The change of course of the Yamuna (joining the Ganges, flowing into the East instead of the West) was another reason propounded by them for this change. (Jansatta, Sunday the 18th December 2011 – The River that was Lost – Saraswati by Bishan Tandon).
