A few days ago, out of sheer curiosity, I googled a title which had been resonating in my mind for quite a while: “Saving the self-respect of Hindus in today’s India”.
Somewhere inside I already knew that what was going emerge on the screen would hardly surprise me and that is exactly what happened. A whopping 80 per cent of search result came up with headings such as: “Hindutva: an assault on Hinduism, “Rise of Hindu vigilante”, “Secularism under danger, and so on.
Now I do not know whether it was because of Google’s search algorithmic compulsions or something else that the results which popped up were completely antithetical to the title I searched; a technical expert is best suited to throw light on that. But setting aside technicalities, the google search result - at a purely intellectual level - pretty much reflects the perception and mentality of those who live in a liberal-secular bubble. Their motive is to create a vicious atmosphere in India wherein talking about the rights and dignity of Hindus is considered tantamount to putting non-Hindu communities, especially Muslims, in jeopardy.
Today when I look back at the unspeakable atrocities my Kashmiri Pandit community faced at the hands of Islamists, because we chose to protect our identity and self-respect instead of bowing to the Wahabi diktat, and compare it to the current scenario - I feel that Hindus continue to be chastised for standing up for their rights, albeit in a different manner altogether.
From the gun in Kashmir in the 90s to the spread of intellectual poison against Hindus in India in the present times, the appearance of the problem may have changed but its nature remains the same.
One pertinent recent example in this regard that comes to mind is the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan in Ayodhya last month. It is an absolute shame that after years and years of relentless struggle to make the Hindu dream of building a Ram Mandir on Ram Janmabhoomi finally came true, the joy of the momentous occasion was accompanied by a latent worry to ensure communal harmony in the country as though the Hindu community had committed a felony by honouring their God.
The question that jolts me, every time I see the Hindu-hating lobby making preposterous claims that there is an attempt to imperil the rights of Indian Muslims, is: whether we have allowed ourselves to drift into this situation?
One does not need to go too far back in history to conclude that the answer to the question posed above is unfortunately a resounding yes. The developments of this year easily suggest that while the collective conscience of ardent Hindus has been given the respect it deserves, the deeper malaise remains untreated.
By deeper malaise, I refer to the dangerous philosophy of those pseudo-secular fake-liberal Hindus - some of whom are driven by their flawed theories while others by their vested interests - who are trying to ensure that as a community we remain divided instead of working in unison to protect our rights and beliefs.
The participation of those Hindus in the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, and their role in the propagation of a false narrative of Islamophobia post the Supreme Court’s verdict on Ram Mandir in November 2019, has established the sad reality that as one community we stand more disunited today than we have ever been before.
In addition to fighting the battle for our honour against Islamists and Hindu-haters, as devoted Hindus, we also regularly receive brickbats from our own misguided fellow Hindus. Hence, a double whammy.
The misplaced agitation against CAA earlier this year, which had the sinister motive to bring the country to a standstill to satisfy the whims and fancies of a certain section, was surely not planned and executed by non-Hindus alone. In Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh protests, which gradually became the hotbed of the anti-CAA agitation, it was not merely the dadis and the nanis stationed at the protest site, accusing the government of injustice against Muslims. Scores of pseudo-secular Hindus overtly and covertly supported that sham of a campaign.
As a staunch Hindu nationalist, I could not have felt more pained and disgusted when I witnessed compassionless Hindus lambasting a new law introduced by the Modi government which would give Indian citizenship to our Hindu brothers and sisters who fled from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution.
On the historic day of laying the foundation stone of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the social media was abuzz with hateful and mocking reactions from pseudo-secular Hindus - some of those people from “elite” backgrounds while others just following the trend to look “cool”. They made an absurd declaration that the era of Hindu hegemony and obliteration of minority rights in India has begun. Not that it damaged my enthusiasm or that of millions of my devout Hindu compatriots but it was most certainly an eyesore.
The thought that perplexes me since that day until today as I write this piece is: How does our devotion to Lord Ram become a thorn in their flesh? How could it possibly become a thorn in anybody’s flesh who identifies himself/herself as a Hindu?
Why do not these people, who feel so disconnected from Hinduism and, at the same time, ashamed to carry out their duties towards Hinduism, renounce the religion? The law of the land does not bind them to Hinduism or, for that matter, any other religion. But if they identify themselves as Hindus, then they are morally duty-bound to feel proud about the August 5 ceremony in Ayodhya rather than insulting or ridiculing it.
But at the same time, credit must be given where credit is due. Within the non-Hindu Indian communities, especially Muslims, the camaraderie and cohesiveness are extremely high and the reverence they have for their religion is even higher. They deserve to be applauded for it. It works brilliantly for them while making their demands or following their beliefs, religious or otherwise.
But the same cannot be said about the Hindu community, which today seems more fragmented than ever. When a barbaric incident, like the lynching of Hindu Sadhus in Palghar, happens, it comes as a personal blow for those of us who see it as an attack on Hinduism. But the pseudo-secular Hindus who vehemently support ludicrous agitations in the name of secularism remain mute when our Hindu saints are butchered.
This brings me back to my earlier question - has the Hindu community allowed itself to drift into this situation? Food for thought!
In the end, I can unequivocally state that the responsibility lies entirely with us to honour and protect our Hindu pride.
image-source : business-standard.com
Very insightful...
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