HAIL HINDUTVA

Jnanendra Barman

(Jnanendrabarman9@gmail.com)

''Passage to India! Lo. Soul, seest thou not God's purpose from the first?", wrote Walt Whitman paying tribute to India's rich heritage. Great Hindu leader Swami Vivekananda, on 9/11/1893, addressed a huge gathering at the Parliament of Religion in Chicago and asserted the Hindu belief that "we not only believe in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true." Pluralism has been the essential ingredient of Hindu identity. Bhagwan Krisha says in the holy Gita, "As men approach Me, so I accept them to My love; men follow in every way my path, Oh son of Partha." Hindu way of life was severely threatened by the Islamic rule and then by the British colonial rule. The consciousness of Hindu identity gave rise to Hindutva politics in India during and after the colonial period. Hindutva is a way of life of the Hindus; in politics, Hindutva ideology asserts its belief in cultural nationalism and integral Humanism. A Hindu worldview is largely pantheistic, it sees life everywhere. Nature is also part of our self; Humanism is integrated to accommodate nature as well. Hindutva proponent Deendayal Upadhyaya emphasizes integral Humanism. Freedom from fanaticism and superstitious belief marks the Hindutva discourse. As one of Hindutva ideologues, J Nandakumar writes, 'no belief system that denies one's freedom of choice or conscience can be part of Hindutva. There is an interesting saying about Hindu Dharma: "The only dogma that Hindu Dharma admits is the one that does not permit a dogma." A person can be an atheist, still, he/she can be a Hindu. As Savarkar, the proponent of Hindutva wrote: "Are you a monist-a monotheist-a pantheist-an atheist-an agnostic? Here is ample room, oh soul! Whatever thou art, to love and grow to thy fullest height and satisfaction in this temple of Temples…" 'Nationalism is a choice to love and express that love monogamously, towards one's country.

The Hindu worldview presents the world as a family. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a devoted Hindu often asserts, "We believe in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" ( the world is one family).

Respect for plural values comes naturally to the Hindus since the inherent worth of Hinduism is pluralism. The ideology of Hindu right represented by Hindutva never abhors new ideas, rather it welcomes Ano Bhadra kritavo yantu vishwathah (let noble thoughts come to us from all sides). It believes in the Rig Vedic philosophy of "ekam saat vipra bahudha vadanti"(God is one, though the sages address Him by multiple names." These ideas are deeply rooted in the Indian soil since time immemorial and have shaped Indian national culture for centuries. Muslim rule dismantled India's civilizational heritage and destroyed great educational institutions like Nalanda, Takshashila, destroyed thousands of Hindu temples, imposed Zajiya tax upon the Hindus. British colonialism also exploited the people but not to this extent. Despite the suffering endured for centuries, Hindus across the globe have not abandoned the principle of peaceful coexistence and the basic ethos of ahimsa (non-violence). Independent India's secular constitution guarantees equal rights to all the citizens regardless of caste, creed and religion. Article 30 (1) provides special rights to the minorities. But Islamic fundamentalist groups prefer the Shariat to the secular constitution. Coming under pressure from the Islamist groups the then Prime Minister Rajib Gandhi in 1985 nullified the Supreme Court verdict on the Shah Banu case. The Supreme Court ordered Shah Banu's husband who divorced her to provide maintenance money similar to alimony. This, the Islamic groups alleged went against the Shariat law and came to the street. In Kashmir some 5 lakhs Hindus have been forced to flee in the 1990s by the Islamic militants, thousand killed but not a single Hindu resorted to guns. The Deoband which runs thousands of schools teach the Hedaya, supposedly guidance provided by Allah, which preach the use of the sword to spread Islam:

"When the Muslims enter the enemy's country and besiege the cities or strongholds of the infidels, it is necessary to invite them to embrace the faith, because Ibn Abbas relates to the Prophet that he never destroyed any without previously inviting them to embrace the faith. If therefore, they embrace the faith, it is unnecessary to war with them, because that was the design of the war is then obtained without war. The Prophet, moreover, has said we are directed to make war upon men only until they shall confess, "There is no God but One God." (Page 288, quoted from Arif Mohammad Khan's book "Text and Context: Quran and Contemporary Challenges").

Contrary to the Islamic doctrine which recognizes only one God, Hindutva recognizes multiple paths to the Almighty. One of India's leading Hindu nationalist leaders, the then Deputy Prime Minister of India LK Advani in November 2002 asserted in the parliament that India can never be a theocratic state. A Hindutva Government under Narendra Modi has ensured a riot-free India for the last 7 years. Lakhs of Muslim students have been given a scholarship, world-class schools have been established in the minority areas. "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas"(with all, development of all) has been the guiding principle of the Modi-led Government. But the pro-Islamic groups are not satisfied with his Hindu way of life. They are not happy because Modi has enacted a law to ban triple talaq, article 370 scrapped to fully integrate Kashmir into the nation. Modi's strong stand against Islamic jihadi organizations has angered the Islamic/ pro-Islamic lobby. Modi categorically stated the Taliban regime as 'the empire of terror.' while All India Muslim Personal Law Board leader Sajjad Nomani has praised the Taliban. Earlier imam of Delhi's Jama Majid Imam Bukhari called upon Indian Muslims to fight for the Taliban. In the Leftist and so-called secular narratives in India, the USA is the culprit and the Taliban is just the USA's brainchild. The ideology of Hindutva unambiguously counters this narrative and dare to question Islamist ideology that creates terrorism. India without Hindutva force will be a haven for the Islamists. The Congress party has already surrendered its secularism to Shariat. There are Islamic groups in India like All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul-Muslieen (AIMIM), AIUDF, MUSLIM LEAGUE which want to establish Sharia rule in India. AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi openly threatened to destroy 100 crore Hindus if police removed them for 15 minutes. Congress party has allied with these groups: it has an alliance with the Muslim League in Kerala and with the AIUDF in Assam, AIMIM was part of the Congress-led UPA Government. Appeasement of the Islamic fundamentalists has alienated the majority of Hindus from the Congress party.

The Hindutva forces while adheres to the constitutional values of secularism and pluralism shows their commitment to fighting fundamentalism. "Appeasement to none, justice to all is its clear policy. Without Hindutva force, India will fall into the hands of the Pro-Islamist force. The rise of the Talibani force in India won't be a good sign for the whole of humanity.