Hindutva & “Liberal” Hindus Decoded

I recently came across an article by Sagarika Ghose titled - 'Manifesto for a liberal Hindu'. It’s a nicely written piece betraying her anger and obvious prejudices wholeheartedly. She doesn't, of course, care much for objectivity. It's an opinion voice, after all. But more than focusing on the liberal aspects of being a Hindu, the author uses it as an opportunity to attack "Hindutva" - something she obviously hates. She cites the Hindu values of the pursuit of moksha, meditation and the qualities of tolerance and patience, but apparently embodies none of them.

I am not here to defend Hindutva, but want to make a genuine effort to put things in the right perspective. First of all, whatever the author emphasizes on the negative side of the Hindutva issue, remains primarily a political movement and has hardly filtered down socially. Cow vigilantes, saffron clad politicians, slogans of Hindu rashtra etc are not issues, which liberal Hindus take seriously. They ignore these much like the many symbols of intolerant Islam in their daily lives. The ones who do raise a hue and cry over them without highlighting similar or even more fanatic aspects of Islamism are mostly not liberal! Some untoward incidents of lynching, killings and intolerance are unfortunate but most likely politically motivated. They are condemnable and at worst stray incidents; and do not reflect on the whole Hindu society. The author beautifully voices the positive side of being a Hindu - pluralism, freedom, acceptance. But blows the negative side out of proportions! Her accusation that the custodians of Hindu religion are trying to create a homogeneous religious loyalty to one set of gods, one form of worship and one prescribed diet is a grossly exaggerated narrative. And my simple question to her is that if Hinduism has always been indestructible (as she claims) – even in the face of Mughal and British invasions – then how can ‘petty politics’ destroy it now? Reflecting all the slander and libels she hurls at the so-called custodians of Hindu religion, a new term has become quite fashionable amongst mainstream media, namely ‘Hindu terror’! And it can be safely said that this term is a ghost, fabricated for the purpose of gaining political leverage. It is a version full of awful baloneys, unfounded fears, and senseless allegations.

Let’s see why.

Hindutva notwithstanding, Hinduism has been the most inclusive, tolerant and open-minded culture the world has known. I was in Pushkar recently, by the holy lake. While taking photographs next to a temple, a priest urged me to buy prasad and offer prayers. I told him I wasn’t interested, which apparently upset him. So I went to him and said - 'you know this is the beauty of being a Hindu. Nothing is forced.' He smiled and to my surprise, instantly related to what I meant. We started chatting and he offered me some tea... I was born in a Hindu family. It is sad that the word - Hindu - has become controversial today and I want to clarify that Hindu for me was never a religion or an ideology, rather a sense of complete freedom. While growing up, my parents never imposed anything on me, least of all religion. I was never asked to perform any rituals, go to a temple or worship. If there was anything they encouraged me to do, it was to read and open my mind. If I liked Lord Shiva or the writings of Vivekananda or Osho, I was free to choose, free to learn, free to live life in my own way. This is what being a Hindu meant to me; and probably many of my friends, peers and family. But my personal experience and my immediate society are not necessarily reflected in the social fabric at large.

The social fabric cannot be understood without objectively analyzing the historical context of India. I like a point, which a popular teacher made. He said the Indian civilization is probably more than 10,000 years old (notwithstanding the British version) and it is still recovering from a shock, which started 1000 years ago. It is argued that Hinduism has survived the onslaught of Muslim and British invasions for these 1000 years; but how will you deny the fact that it has been wiped out from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir? Now to the author and other Hindu 'liberals' and 'seculars' it might not matter whether Hinduism survives or not. For many it can go to hell! But what about the millions who still identify with being a Hindu? What of those who are slowly and deliberately being ethnically cleansed in different parts of India? What is their fault if they turn to a political ideology – namely Hindutva - which they imagine and hope is going to save them?

But the question remains - what exactly is Hindutva? As I see it, the 'Hindutva' movement is a socio-political reaction to centuries of foreign oppression, mainly Islamic. It is interesting that a famous Congress politician has been highlighting the British atrocities and exploitation in India but feigns amnesia when it comes to the Muslim despotism over eight centuries. As per the Wikipedia the Islamist invaders and rulers of India slaughtered more than 1.4 crore native Hindus, between 1018 and 1761 AD. These are probably conservative estimates and exclude the thousands of women raped, children enslaved and temples destroyed. The Islamic invasion of India was a hard, ruthless, sustained cultural invasion, which many Left-leaning modern Hindus vehemently deny. Why they do this is beyond my comprehension. Imagine if the Jews denied the Nazi Holocaust! My question is - does not such a horrific and terribly long period of tyranny stay in the collective memory and consciousness of a nation?

Hindutva is foremost a historical reaction, the birth of which can be traced back to a few years before the amputation of India in 1947. As opposed to Islamism, which is expansionist and traditionally aggressive, Hindutva is essentially preservative. Now the ‘liberals’ may laugh at this. And I am well aware of their poohs poohs... The problem is that Hindutva derives its identity from a pre-rational and dogmatic interpretation of Hinduism rather than the truly liberated and transcendental worldview of yoga, the Upanishads and Vedanta. The latter worldview is difficult to understand, let alone preach. At least it seems out of bounds for the politicians. In its present form, Hindutva aims to unite the Hindus of India and has had notable success of late. It also works on the fear psychosis of Hindus citing the rise of ISIS, Islamic fundamentalism within India and the global threat from terrorism. Their stance can sometimes be very myopic and even violent. I believe, that violence of any kind is  unjustifiable, but sadly it is in the very DNA of man. Hindus have traditionally and largely been a peace-loving and tolerant people. But Hindutva is an angry reaction. And it will go it's course do what we may. Liberal Hindus, in the meanwhile are not threatened; at least not by Hindutva in my opinion. Hindutva is a baby in front of expansionist Islamism. That doesn't justify it, but things have to be seen as per their relative values and contexts. All ideas and perspectives are relative but that does not mean that they are all equal. That all perspectives are relative does not prevent some from being relatively better than others. Science is better than superstition; order better than anarchy, freedom better than slavery, preservation better than exploitation, and nationalism better than ego-centrism! Similarly, Buddhism and Hinduism are much more mature and inclusive religions than Christianity and Islam. This cannot be denied. They are more peace-loving, inclusive and naturally pluralistic. The roots of trouble lie in the religions of hegemony. Thankfully, Christians had their renaissance 350 years ago. Islam is not even close. Many deny these things but without investigating. The fact is that If Hindus are not threatened with conversions, Islamic radicalism, cultural invasions, ethnic cleansing; if Islam itself goes through a renaissance of its own; a kind of Sufi revivalism; then we’ll see Hindutva also mellowing down. I repeat Hindutva is only a reaction, it exists and threatens to grow one, because of the rapid rise of Islamism and two, due to the decades of neglect and marginalization of Hindus - the politics of minority appeasement. The threat of Islamism is very tangible as the world knows well enough and is seeing everyday. The ‘liberals’ can deny it as may be their wish but Islamic terrorism and expansionism is an unquestionable fact and here to stay. Being liberal is one thing (Jews are liberal, ain't they?) but to be foolhardy quite another. If we keep our eyes closed and do not objectively see and oppose the looming threat then these very values of free speech, women rights, pluralism etc in India are under serious peril of being superseded by Sharia and intolerance and suffocated living!

Add to this whole mix the fact of Leftist influence in Indian politics and intelligentsia. In my opinion of all the ideologies born in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, Marxism and socialism is the least compatible with Indian culture and diversity. It is like pushing Greek gods down Hindu throats! In the modern sense, urban Hindus are people who are fairly liberated from the clutches of pre-modern religion, swear by Western education and science; and are primarily engaged in seeking material prosperity. A special variety amongst the latter subscribes to the views of 20^th century intellectuals such as Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Engels and the likes. Often they lean a bit too much to the Left and feel a sense of shame in the Hindu history and heritage of India. As a philosophy, Leftism espousing liberalism, is a noble intention but the results have often been catastrophic. The reason – Leftism can’t help embracing extreme Leftism. The genocides in Russia, China and Cambodia claiming more than 30 million lives, stand as a brutal testimony of the barbaric face of communism. There are numerous stories of communist massacres in Bengal and eastern India though the mainstream media denies it. How and when this ideology took roots amongst the elite intelligentsia of India is another story. But cut to 2017 and the savage faces of Leftism – Maoism, Naxalism, political murders – are intellectually justified, academically held in high regard and glorified as a form of urban-elite revolutionary culture! The irony is that the left liberals of India still believe that they stand for freedom of expression, civil rights, women’s liberation and other humanistic causes; while the truth is that they exemplify none of these in their own narratives and betray far more intolerance than the so-called right-wing. It would be fair to say that the ideological fanaticism of the Leftists equals and even surpasses that of the Islamists and Hindutva propagators. This is the standard performative contradiction of all self-proclaimed elitists! The Leftist culture today represents the corrupt and immoral establishment of India where the motto is – the end justifies the means! The forces bringing change are lambasted in the hope to maintain the status quo – nationalism, social media, Hindu resurgence; and the forces that threaten us – rampant corruption, Islamism, separatist movements – are ignored and even hailed! With an ideological blindfold over their eyes and a selfish survival instinct, the Leftists are ready to bring India down. They cannot see that in their pseudo-elitism their brains stand eroded. Freedom of expression is demanded by people, who themselves are not free! The mind of the Leftist liberal is not open anymore, rather tethered to a moth-eaten dogma! He cannot think for himself anymore, rather tows the line of a social god long defunct.  

In the meanwhile, the threat which Hindutva poses is blown out of proportions. The simple reason - Hinduism can never become an organized religion. It is only a call to preserve the culture and heritage of Hindus; though manifesting in an angry and sometimes violent way. Stray incidents cannot be made the general rule. ‘One day probably Hindus will be reduced to the size of Israel, who knows... simply because it's not in the Hindu nature to group together...’ - echoes one fear. In my heart of hearts, I hope such a day never comes. It is about territory, yes, but more about a culture that has evolved over thousands of years, a heritage, that is so rich that it contains all the secrets for the salvation and liberation of man. We might not value it, certainly not the ‘liberals’; but ask the thousands of Western seekers who come to India to seek truth, to learn yoga and meditation, to partake in the wisdom traditions of an ancient enlightened land! India is the land of Krishnas, Buddhas, Mahavirs, Kabirs, Meeras, Farids, Nanaks first, before any Gandhi or Nehru can lay claim to it. We need a Hindu resurgence stripped of its dogmatic trappings and uniting Indians in a rational-deterrent way much like the Christian world is doing. To prepare for one's defense is not a crime. Civilizations have to sometimes change and adapt in the course of history to preserve their values, culture, and truths. Jews are the best example. At present, we might think this threat is exaggerated. But wasn't it only 70 years ago that India was divided into three on the basis of religion? The reason - a call for dar-al-Islam. Everyday we hear the same cries in different parts of India, especially Kashmir. We would like the future generations to also live and celebrate this free India - multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-religious! Let us hope that more and more Indians stop taking religion seriously! Many liberal Muslims, the world over, speak openly against Islam. They want to see a Muslim renaissance; and Islam sans its orthodoxy. And we cannot have that without speaking against the evil practices of Islam much like the Hindu reformers could not have abolished Sati and other evils without speaking against them. A post-modern, rational and pluralistic worldview cannot co-exist with a fanatic, exclusive and Imperialistic one. Period. Either we too fall back to a medieval, pre-rational mindset or we help the ones stuck in primeval frozen thought to rise to a more inclusive, pluralistic and truly tolerant worldview!