Untouchables and Lower Castes of Buddhism.

Tibetian Mibo People :- Mibo did not have heritable rights to land. They were still obligated to their ‘owning’ estate under their status as mi-ser. In contrast with the taxpayer families and householders, they had the freedom to go wherever they wanted and could engage in trade or crafts.When farming, they might lease land from taxpayer families and as payment take on work for those families. Like the householders the landless peasants also used resources in their own individual capacity which were non-heritable.The relative freedom of the mi-bo status was usually purchased by an annual fee to the estate to which the mi-bo belonged. The fee could be raised if the mi-bo prospered, and the lord could still exact special corvée labor, e.g. for a special event.The status could be revoked at the will of the estate owner. The offspring of the mi-bo did not automatically inherit the status of ‘mi-bo’, they did inherit the status of ‘mi-ser’, and could be indentured to service in their earlier teens, or would have to pay their own mi-bo fee.Tibetian Ragyabpa — UntouchablesThe ragyabpa or untouchable caste were the lowest level, and they performed the ‘unclean’ work. This includedRagyapa fishermen, Ragyapa butchers, Ragyabpa executioners, Ragyapa corpse disposers, Ragyapa blacksmiths,Ragyapa goldsmiths ,Ragyapa prostitutes,Ragyabpa were also divided into three divisions: for instance aRagyabpa goldsmith was in the highest untouchable class, and was not regarded as being as defiled as an executioner, who was in the lowest.They were regarded as both polluted and polluting, membership of the caste was hereditary, and escape from the untouchable status was not possible.

Nangzan — Household servantsAccording to Chinese government sources, Nangzan (also nangzen, nangzan, nangsen) were hereditary household servants comprising 5% of the population.Beda People :- The Beda people are a community of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. They live mostly in the Ladakh region, where they practise their traditional occupation of musicianship. They are predominantly followers of the Buddhist faith, According to some scholars, they are an untouchablegroup. Their social status is such that they are not allowed to join Buddhist monastic orders as monks or nuns.Chinese Buddhism Untouchables :- “Untouchables” long existed in China in the form of various groups of jianmin “lowly people”.

They were clearly separated from regular, “good households” (liangmin) in official population registers. Their exact components varied from place to place. But most were in such universal “untouchable” professions as entertainers, undertakers, prostitutes, professional beggars, garbage collectors, etc. Those lowly people were forbidden to marry with “good households”. Nor were they allowed to go to school and to participate in civil service examinations. From 1723 on, Emperor Yongzheng (reign 1723–1734) issued repeated edicts abolishing such “lowly households” in government population registers. It took a “Barbarian” Manchu emperor to legally abolish “untouchability” thathad existed in China for centuries.

Japan :-Burakumin (部落民?, “hamlet people”/”village people”) is an outcast group at the bottom of the Japanese Buddhist social order that has historically been the victim of severe discrimination and ostracism.They have often occupied the lowest level of the traditional Japanese Buddhist social system. The Japanese term eta is highly pejorative, but prejudice has tended even to tarnish the otherwise neutral term burakumin itself.Although the class was officially abolished in 1871 (under the Emancipation Act of the Meiji period), vast numbers of burakumin continue to live in ghetto-like communities throughout Japan, and many are still relegated to unskilled and poorly paid occupations. Identification as a burakumin is often sufficient to prevent or void participation in a marriage, a contract, or employment in any non-burakumin occupation. No official census exists, but about 6,000 segregated communities of burakumin contain a total population variously estimated at between 1,000,000 and 3,000,000.The scholarly consensus is now that the original burakumin were simply impoverished Japanese who had drifted into beggary or lowly occupations, especially occupations tabooed by orthodox Shintō and Buddhism (such as leather making) involving the taking of life. During the Tokugawa (Edo) period, beginning in 1603, feudal laws cast the burakumin officially into segregated communities and occupations and, by the early 18th century, had forced on them certain badges of status — the wearing of special clothing and hair styles, the avoidance of other households, the observance of curfews, and prostration before their betters.Although the burakumin were “freed” in 1871, little was done to implement their freedom Not until the 20th century did groups of burakumin begin organizing for their cause; in 1922 a national organization, Suiheisha (Organization of Levelers), was created, and it engaged in various school boycotts, tax revolts, and other protests until its disbandment in 1941. After World War II, in 1946, a more militant and politically active organization was formed: the Buraku Kaihō Zenkoku Iinkai (All-Japan Committee for Buraku Liberation), which in 1955 was renamed Buraku Kaihō Dōmei (Buraku Liberation League). Its leftist orientation, however, alienated more conservative burakumin leaders. Thus in 1960 a rival national organization, Dōwakai (Society for Integration), was founded; it came to be led by Liberal Democratic politicians, some of whom were elected to the national Diet. A third organization, the Zenkoku Buraku Kaihō Undō (All-Japan Buraku Liberation Movement), was formed in 1976According to a survey conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2003, 76% of Tokyo residents would not change their view of a close neighbor whom they discovered to be a burakumin; 4.9% of respondents, on the other hand, would actively avoid a burakumin neighbor. There is still a stigmaattached to being a resident of certain areas traditionally associated with the burakumin and some lingering discrimination in matters such as marriage and employment. Read at. Neither laws nor mere shallow attempts at reformation can change the minds and hearts of the people who are mere slaves of the conventional taboos. It did not succeed in Indian model and the Hindus have been ostracised for it globally because they are not able to counter the blasphemous pre-empted strategic verbosity of hideous vested interests.

Thailand:-Precariat: They are the most deprived of all groups in Buddhism. No steady job or income. Life is a struggle for these people. Children from these families usually only finish the 9-year mandatory education, if they get the chance to finish that at all. I believe that the majority of girls in the bar industry are from families in this class. At face value, Thais usually determine people’s class in society by how they present themselves, their mannerism and how they talk.Thai scholar, Duncan McCargo, writes, “because of Thailand’s hidden “caste system”, — which is linked to popular Buddhist notions that the poor deserve their lower status because of accumulated demerits from previous lives — Bangkokians typically have a profoundly paternalistic view of the masses”.

Ladakh (India):-Garba (the smiths), Mon (musician) and Beda :-These three groups of untouchable groups in Buddhism are victims of many violations in Ladakh. They have separate cups and glasses for drinking local beer (Chang) or tea at the village gatherings or ceremonies. They are not allowed to eat or drink from the utensils of others as they fear that they would pollute them. Normally they are deprived of becoming the head of the village (Goba) and head of the monastery (Lobon) irrespective of their proficiency due to their caste identity. Atrocities against them basically arise in the context of ‘keeping them’ in their place within the social hierarchy, mediated by caste and untouchability.