Some self-proclaimed Hindutwa forces are in full swing nowadays in India, they are smelling a fresh ray of hope because of the emergence of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Mr. Narendra Modi in the political arena. Mr. Modi is leading the race for the job of the next prime minister of India, his RSS background and image of a Hindu nationalist leader have made these people very optimistic about their future. There are many religious or cultural organizations all over the world, and they all try to propagate the agenda of their own religion. There are many organizations like RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal in India, that claim to be flag bearers of Hindu ideology. Many others focus on propagating ideas of other faiths also but in this post, I want to focus on some organizations that claim to propagate the message of Hinduism. They all claim that their ideology is synonymous with Hinduism, which is considered one of the oldest-practicing religions of the world. All these organizations have a very sizable number of followers in India. Religion plays a very important role in day-to-day life for many Indians and because of this it is also widely used in politics.
Organized and aggressive campaigning by all these organizations, their strong cadre base, and supply of sufficient amount of funding from various sources help these organizations spread their message. They claim to be the protector of Hinduism, they create a perception that Hinduism is under threat by some invaders and other religions (like Islam or Christianity) are trying to destroy it. A similar line of thought (threat from other religions) is used by almost all religions all over the world, it helps them to polarize society in favor of their own religion (if they are in the majority). If they are in the minority, it helps them to instill feelings of insecurity among their followers which in turn increases their dependence on such organizations. This type of propaganda is especially dangerous in plural societies like India as it creates communal tension and religious animosity. This divide-and-rule policy can take an ugly turn which results in incidents like communal riots, forceful religious conversions, casteism, and other discrimination based on religion. There are many examples of such incidents from history to support this hypothesis.
The perception created by these organizations has worked very well for them, we can see that at least to some extent they were successful in propagating some of their hard-line Hindutwa ideology among people and creating polarization based on religious beliefs. The coexistence of many religions at the same time (pluralism) is a central feature of India. Hinduism is a very good example of a pluralistic religion, a religion where a variety of traditions and beliefs coexist without having any single book or saint dictating the terms. Some countries from southeast Asia after their gaining their independence chose to follow a religious path (for example Pakistan) and we all can see what is their situation today. India, fortunately, chose to follow a secular path that keeps religion and state separate, there is freedom to choose and practice any religion, and state laws are not biased towards any single religion. Many people still need religion and their religious beliefs play a very important role in their lives, many associate their identity with their religion. Because of such a strong influence of religion on people, many politicians use it as a tool to attain their political goals. For this purpose, many of these organizations twist and turn the facts as per their convenience, they try to propagate very biased views of certain cultures to instill feelings of hatred or fear. They try to create as much animosity among people as possible as it helps them to polarize people's opinions. This game has been going on for a very long time everywhere in the world, and India is one of the victims of this type of politics. The British rulers started it and now Indian political parties continue to play the same game. The politics of polarization has resulted in some gruesome communal riots but still, neither political parties nor people are willing to forego this approach.
This hard-line Hindutwa philosophy that these organizations are preaching is totally different than Hinduism. Many people don't consider Hinduism as a religion but consider it as a way of life or call it by some other name like Sanatan Dharma. Like all other religions, Hinduism has its own pros and cons. But in general, it is a very tolerant and inclusive religion. But it also has its own share of bad traditions like casteism, untouchability, discrimination of women, and many superstitions. Like any other religion, there are hardliners that propagate hate under the name of protecting Hinduism. These hardliners are the people who create problems in every religion, they are the ones who are always interested in conflicts. They are the ones who think that some conflict is always necessary to keep their religious movement alive and active. To keep their religious movement alive they can go to any extent, even to the extent of creating a communal riot which results in the loss of many innocent lives. There is no strong deterrent that can stop these people from using politics of hatred and divisiveness. It's entirely up to people to understand this dirty trick and oppose these efforts to divide society on religious grounds.
Hinduism and this so-called Hindutwa are totally different things. Hindutva is a political ideology and is designed to suit some particular organizations and their aim is to target minorities. Any religion which targets minorities can not be considered tolerant or inclusive. Let's oppose this fake ideology which is trying to camouflage its divisive agenda under the banner of Hinduism. Hinduism and this Hindutwa are totally different things. The sooner we understand this better it is for our country and society, otherwise, we don't know how far this communal polarization will go and how many lives it will claim.
Organized and aggressive campaigning by all these organizations, their strong cadre base, and supply of sufficient amount of funding from various sources help these organizations spread their message. They claim to be the protector of Hinduism, they create a perception that Hinduism is under threat by some invaders and other religions (like Islam or Christianity) are trying to destroy it. A similar line of thought (threat from other religions) is used by almost all religions all over the world, it helps them to polarize society in favor of their own religion (if they are in the majority). If they are in the minority, it helps them to instill feelings of insecurity among their followers which in turn increases their dependence on such organizations. This type of propaganda is especially dangerous in plural societies like India as it creates communal tension and religious animosity. This divide-and-rule policy can take an ugly turn which results in incidents like communal riots, forceful religious conversions, casteism, and other discrimination based on religion. There are many examples of such incidents from history to support this hypothesis.
The perception created by these organizations has worked very well for them, we can see that at least to some extent they were successful in propagating some of their hard-line Hindutwa ideology among people and creating polarization based on religious beliefs. The coexistence of many religions at the same time (pluralism) is a central feature of India. Hinduism is a very good example of a pluralistic religion, a religion where a variety of traditions and beliefs coexist without having any single book or saint dictating the terms. Some countries from southeast Asia after their gaining their independence chose to follow a religious path (for example Pakistan) and we all can see what is their situation today. India, fortunately, chose to follow a secular path that keeps religion and state separate, there is freedom to choose and practice any religion, and state laws are not biased towards any single religion. Many people still need religion and their religious beliefs play a very important role in their lives, many associate their identity with their religion. Because of such a strong influence of religion on people, many politicians use it as a tool to attain their political goals. For this purpose, many of these organizations twist and turn the facts as per their convenience, they try to propagate very biased views of certain cultures to instill feelings of hatred or fear. They try to create as much animosity among people as possible as it helps them to polarize people's opinions. This game has been going on for a very long time everywhere in the world, and India is one of the victims of this type of politics. The British rulers started it and now Indian political parties continue to play the same game. The politics of polarization has resulted in some gruesome communal riots but still, neither political parties nor people are willing to forego this approach.
This hard-line Hindutwa philosophy that these organizations are preaching is totally different than Hinduism. Many people don't consider Hinduism as a religion but consider it as a way of life or call it by some other name like Sanatan Dharma. Like all other religions, Hinduism has its own pros and cons. But in general, it is a very tolerant and inclusive religion. But it also has its own share of bad traditions like casteism, untouchability, discrimination of women, and many superstitions. Like any other religion, there are hardliners that propagate hate under the name of protecting Hinduism. These hardliners are the people who create problems in every religion, they are the ones who are always interested in conflicts. They are the ones who think that some conflict is always necessary to keep their religious movement alive and active. To keep their religious movement alive they can go to any extent, even to the extent of creating a communal riot which results in the loss of many innocent lives. There is no strong deterrent that can stop these people from using politics of hatred and divisiveness. It's entirely up to people to understand this dirty trick and oppose these efforts to divide society on religious grounds.
Hinduism and this so-called Hindutwa are totally different things. Hindutva is a political ideology and is designed to suit some particular organizations and their aim is to target minorities. Any religion which targets minorities can not be considered tolerant or inclusive. Let's oppose this fake ideology which is trying to camouflage its divisive agenda under the banner of Hinduism. Hinduism and this Hindutwa are totally different things. The sooner we understand this better it is for our country and society, otherwise, we don't know how far this communal polarization will go and how many lives it will claim.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]
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