Let me begin with disclaimers and disclosures. I use the word ‘Hindutva’ in the generic sense, as a corpus of teachings, values and tenets representing a spiritual wealth which, in its profundity and depth, has no parallel.
It takes one’s breath away to contemplate that more than 5,000 years ago, India’s sages and seers, through their Vedas, Upanishads, shastras and epics, without any material or technological aids, could delve into the innermost recesses of thought and enrich humanity with a veritable treasure-house of eternal verities.
Although I am not a practising Hindu, my admiration for the incomparably precious heritage is boundless. Even Jawaharlal Nehru, whose agnosticism bordered on atheism, did not wish to cut himself off from India’s glorious past.
In his last Will and Testament he said: “I am proud of that great inheritance that has been, and is, ours, and I am conscious that I too, like all of us, am a link in that unbroken chain which goes back to the dawn of history in the immemorial past of India. That chain I would not break, for I treasure it and seek inspiration from it.” And, as witness of this desire of his and “as his last homage to the great ocean that washes India's shores”, he wanted his ashes thrown in the Ganga at Allahabad.
LUCID ENUNCIATION
Hinduism has been held by scholars to be more a way of life than a structured religion. At the core of the vast repository of beliefs and faiths it represents, is righteous conduct or dharma which was immutable and inviolable. India’s Supreme Court, too, in a number of decisions, has taken a broad-spectrum view of Hindutva.
In a lucid enunciation of what it holds to be true essence of Hinduism, it declared in a judgment delivered in 1995: “Hindutva is indicative more of the way of life of the Indian people. It is not to be understood or construed narrowly. It is not Hindu fundamentalism nor is it to be confined only to the strict Hindu religious practices or as unrelated to the culture and ethos of the people of India, depicting the way of life of the Indian people. Considering Hindutva as hostile, inimical, or intolerant of other faiths, or as communal proceeds from an improper appreciation of its true meaning.”
One would normally expect that those who, like the members of what has come to be loosely known as the Sangh Parivar or the Hindu Right, profess reverence for that kind of legacy, would conform, in their human and societal relations, to the values propounded in India’s scriptures. For instance, one of the verses of the Yajur Veda states: “May all beings look on me with the eyes of a friend! May I look on all beings with the eyes of a friend! May we look on one another with the eyes of a friend!”
Likewise, a verse of Atharva Veda asks of Mother Earth to give to her children the capacity to interact harmoniously, and adds: “May we speak sweetly with one another!” Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan has pointed out that “the development of Hindu religion has always been inspired by the endless quest of the mind for truth based on the consciousness that truth has many facets.”
UGLY FACE
I notice time after time that, contrary to all these precepts, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bajrang Dal-RSS-Shri Ram Sena brand of Hindus are the first to fall like a ton of bricks on those with whose views they disagree, with abusive tirades and personal attacks on their character and motives. How come, despite all the commandments of Hinduism to show love, peace, harmony and tolerance for all, they are ever on short fuse, ready to thrash dissenters?
Why are they behind most instances of vandalising of libraries, art galleries and functions? The attack on young boys and girls in a pub in Mangalore on July 28 by the Hindu Jagarana Vedike is only the latest example of the fanaticism the ugly face of Hindutva is capable of.
On the other hand, I have found that person-to-person and one-on-one, they are the most polite and respectful to the point of being obsequious, always adding ‘ji’ to your name, and going all out to be nice.
Can anyone tell me how to reconcile these two faces of Hindutva?
Keywords: intriguing faces of Hindutva, Hinduism, Sangh Parivar, Hindu Right, fanaticism
Comments:
Aren't the answers all too obvious? (a) The virulent "Hindutva" crowd
is one that uses their version of hindutva as a vote getter and as a
means of consolidating some power for themselves. (b) They simply
are not true Hindus and have little understanding of their own
religion. (c) They are over-reacting to attacks from proselytizing
groups which indulge in deliberate misinterpretations of hinduism.
Kindly have patience. In Vedas there is term called 'MNYU'. In common language Manyu stands for anger.But a very famous daily prayer of Yajurved say 'मन्युरसि मन्यु मयिदधेहि'. We pray that Nature has Manyu and like wise we should be blessed with Manyu. No wrong action against nature goes unpunished. Surely Vedic term Manyu is misinterpreted in common usage. Manyu stands for action against wrong doers wrong actions . Entire Geeta is mainly a teaching of Manyu to Arjun. Do not see all actions against those who create social strife like in Assam nearest home as wrong doings of Hindutwa groups only. It takes two to tango. If Govt fails in its duty or sleeps over turning its Nelson's eye like Gandhi ji at Mopla incidents, to safe guard Nations' long term interests, normal human reactions of one part of society should not be considered unnatural.
Adolf Hitler was a teetotaler,a non-smoker and a vegetarian. What does that say? Nothing. Hindutva is just a prop for these thugs. All they want to do is bash up people who are not like them. You find them everywhere.The modus operandi is always the same, only the name tag like 'Hindutva' changes bases on your geography.
Mr. Raghavan, the problem with you people are that you think you are above everyone and the judgement you make is aplicable to all. Connecting random hooliganism with establish organizations like RSS shows it, please refrain from explaining hindutva and hinduism, please avoid your rant and for heaven's sake, write something constructive. PS: A former PM, a number of CMs, leaders, politicians, business people etc are from the same "Hindutva" organization, including Mr. Manohar Parikkar who is the only IITian to hold succh a position and won on a true secular vote this year.
Either I haven't understood that question at the end or it is too simplistic and naive indeed a question. Because the answer seems obvious. There ALWAYS are two faces to everything, aren't there? Don't tell me we don't think or know there are two faces to Christianity. Or to Islam. Or leaving aside Religion, any other aspect of human discourse. Good co-exists with Bad. Has, Does and Always Will. In Everything.
And why does the world go round? Because at the end of the day, good still prevails over evil. And the day that stops happening, when Evil finally prevails, it will signal the end of the world! Call that whatever we might - Apocalypse, Rapture, Kalyug, and so on.
kaup panchayats of jats and others in haryana, untouchability segregate
walls, separate tea glasses, removing chappals while walking thro
steets, refusal temple entry in orissa , some villages in TAMILNADU
what is called? TALIBANISATION OF HINDUS?
Good article. But why is the author using RSS as puncing bag? Is it required to drag RSS into this? Has RSS done anyting militant? Has RSS preached anything militant? Has the author visited a RSS Shakha so far?
Hindu mythology is full of stories 'God killing Devils'. Krishna told Human being Arjun to kill evil people. So Hindus are taught to kill BAD and protect GOOD persons. But because of slavery of 1000 years they have aquired a 'complex'
So Most Hindus suffer from a "peacock" complex - we have grandiose illusions about ourselves and we love to strut around and be magnanimous even to dangerous thugs who want to destroy us. It make us feel exalted even though the rest of the world snickers at our pretensions and our enemies take advantage of our stupidity. And Hindus end up doing both things....simple.
To answer the question that the author raises at the end of the essay, we need toreconcile with the extreme elements of all religions the same way. Be it Hinduism or Islam or Christianity or for that matter, any other religion, there will always be an extremist fringe which views the teachings with a similar extreme outlook.
Hindutva is a way of life. It teaches us what it takes to be' good' or
'bad'.How we understand it is what makes the difference.These days the
'preachers ' of 'Hindutva' are setting a bad example .With the result
more people go to temples and donate huge amounts to wash away their
sins,more so to get 'punya'.
You can wake up a sleeping person but cannot wake up one who is
pretending to sleep..GOD help us
Only c type communist can write such an artical, what is c, it's up to u
to guess.
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