HARI OM This piece is an advisory to Narendra Modijee, Rajnath Singhjee and other leaders of the BJP. The message of this piece: do not play into the hands of your opponents,. Regards, Vivekanand Jha Political commentator HINDU NATIONALISM VERSUS SECULARISM BEHIND BURQUA Vivekanand Jha, a political commentator Hindu tan man Hindu Jeevan, Hindu mera rag rag parichay: Atal Behari Vajpayee( Hinduism is my very essence, my very identity: Atal Behari Vajpayee) The recent comment of Narendra Modi describing himself as a ‘Hindu nationalist’ deserves a proper analysis in the view of India being a secular republic. Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life: Supreme court in Kalyan Singh’s case. What exactly is the way of life the apex court had considered before passing a land mark judgment needs a thorough understanding before Modi’s comments can be examined. Hinduism as Swami Vivekananda had defined symbolizes the ‘essence of existential values’, an essence of crystallizing the dream of the Creator which had always espoused and poignantly expounded the eternal values that He had ingrained in the process of unleashing His creation by emphasizing on the synthesis of all the religions the world had ever known. The greatest quote that ever got enshrined in any scripture was that of Vedas which alone encapsulated the essence of Creation by proclaiming: ‘ Ekang sadwipra bahudha badanti’( As all the rivers merge into the sea likewise all the religions lead to the same Brahman). To top it all, Hinduism had never prescribed the glory of invasion, aggression, plunder and loot, whereas the most religions thrive on the very premise of all that which have been anathema to the practices of Hinduism since the dawn of civilization. Hinduism, since its’ inception, had premised itself on the belief of ‘’SAT CHIT ANANDA’—meaning Existence, Eternity and bliss—being the necessary ingredient of the ‘Soul’ which even Bhagat Gita strives to uphold as the very essence of human manifestation in this planet or planets beyond. However, the biggest proven asset of Hinduism had been the ‘process of assimilation’ which encompasses all that which became its’ part while retaining its’ supreme identity—being an overwhelmingly Hindu society. The advent of Islam, British, French and Portugal, all came to be a part of Hindu legacy, as the behemoth of Hinduism embraced them and finally subsumed them into its’ ever expanding spreading tentacles. The liberal face of Hinduism founded on the idealism that ‘ motherhood being the essence, must be revered as even Vedas proclaim in no uncertain terms that mother’s debt is irredeemable even though a son/ or daughter is capable of redeeming his father’s debt if he discharges his responsibilities towards his father. And therefore, when Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote his famous song ‘Bande Matram’, he was actually singing the glory of ‘mother’ and ‘motherland’. Hence, the Hinduism has allotted the place of pedestal for the ‘motherland’ which owes a place of primacy –even far above the heaven and celestial bliss. And here the fundamental differences cropped up: while Hinduism celebrated the ‘ motherland’ above anything else, Islamic doctrine confronts it headlong: Islam premises its’ foundation on ‘Allah’ being the supreme and no entity be the mother or the father can have any place nearer to Him. Incidentally, even Christianity strives to differ with the doctrinal belief of Hinduism where a greater emphasis was placed on father than on mother. Christ repeatedly said that he was doing what his father in the heaven had commanded him to do so. The irreconcilable difference as stated above contributed to the scrapping of ‘Bande Matram’ as a prayer –and even resulted in its’ rejection or demotion when it competed for its’ space with Jan a Gan Man Adhinayak’ of Tagore for the national anthem as the Muslims refused to sing it on the ground that the song connotes the importance of ‘mother’ over and above the ‘Allah’. So called Indian secularism had triumphed when the nation had accommodated the parochial Muslim sentiments by abolishing the greater acceptability of ‘Bande Matram’ which by all standard eclipsed Jan Gana Mana had the monster of secularism not come on its’ way. Did Bankim ever know that his lofty call of uplifting the national morale and spirit would fall victim in the hands of ‘secularism’ that found its’ endorsement from the governing class far distanced and antithetical to the very spirit of nationalism that should actually have governed the national ethos. Ironically, the Islamic freedom fighter for Indian freedom struggle had no hesitation in singing Bande Matram to evoke the national spirit, however, the secularists in independent India serendipitously hit upon a new theme: Bande Matram is meant for Hindus and therefore not acceptable to Indian secularism which developed a tendency to reject anything and everything that had a Hindu tag. Consequently, the doctrine of Savarkar which preaches and espouses that the Hindu nationalism alone can save India and strengthen the root of Indian nationalism in the polity, began gaining its’ ground among a section of the society. Dr Hegdewar later gave a clarion call for Hindu nationalism forming the building block of Indian republic and hence cautioned the nation against the Hindu nationalism falling victim or being kept hostage to Indian patriotism which is nothing but a farce, a fake mask being floated as a disguise to weaken the ‘ nationalism’ in the garb of judiciously crafted garb of ‘secularism’ which will prove an undoing for the Hindu India. When Narendra Modi uses the term ‘ Hindu Nationalist’ he is reviving what Veer Savarkar had expounded and Dr Hegdewar dreamed of executing across India. Modi believes that Hindu nationalism is the only answer to the growing sound bite of the cry of ‘ secularism’ all around. Dr Hegdewar had staunchly argued that ‘Hindus have no other homeland in the world other than India and they will shed every drop of their blood to fight for their Pitrabhoomie which might not concern a Muslim or a Christian who have other places to live’. While Narendra Bhoomie is justified to hold his set of belief, he had no right to condemn the ‘secular credentials or the values that India has been known for cherishing since its’ ancient times. The backbone of India has been its’ capacity of absorbing everything that has come to it. No one has the right to undo what the people of India has traditionally been loving: equal right for its’ citizens. Narendra Modi has a right to champion ‘ Hindu Nationalism’ but he has no right to mock the values of Indian secularism by passing his much politically calibrated remarks to bring about polarization in the polity: his Burka remarks targeting Congress’s championing secularism appeared distasteful which cannot fetch Modi any vote. Modi should know that political polarization never happened when Ram Janma Bhoomie movement was at its’ peak as BJP could fetch only 157 seats in the Lok sabha. Hence in the given backdrop, Modi should focus on development issues rather than introducing a needless debate on Secularism which has lost steam and the taste of the masses. The corruption alone could have been the biggest issue of this upcoming election in 2014, however, by shifting focus on other baseless issues bring a great elation and joy in the Congress camp and unfortunately Modi appears to be falling in the trap by doing the same by providing the necessary fodder which Congress is grabbing as a great respite and blowing it up to its’ full proportion. He should learn from Vajpayee that despite proclaiming himself as a staunch Hindu, he remained a secular face of the nation who commanded the respect of the all the sections of the society and the political class. He must beware that only a liberal face can govern this country and no fundamentalism –of whatsoever form be it of Hinduism or Islamic -- can be accepted by the peace loving people of India. He should tone down on his rhetoric and focus on issues. Jai Hind
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 15:32:05 +0000
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