4.     HINDUTVA – Secular in nature

(Continued from last post – Hindutva the Third Renaissance)

Well is it possible to roll the clock back to 1947?

It is utter stupidity even to ask such a question, leave alone to indulge in such a wishful thinking, unless we stumble onto a real time-machine!  Why then waste our time in discussing something which is impossible to happen.

Wait. Discussions must not be abandoned simply because at the moment they look hypothetical. Who knows any of the stray and insignificant idea of today may germinate into a big and practical ideal of tomorrow!

The word Hindu is not very ancient either. None of the scriptures e.g. Vedas, Mahbharata and Ramayana etc. makes any mention of this word. This sub-continent had been referred to as Sindhu-desh, Aryavarta and Jambudveepa etc. It seems, the word ‘Sindhu’ as it went westwards got transformed to ‘Hindu’ due to linguistic inadequacies. Other such word is ‘Saptah (week)’ which became ‘Haptah’.

This indicates that no particular name was given to this culture and way of life, which was known and addressed by a generic name ‘Dharma’. No need was ever felt to give ‘Dharma’ a name because there was no other Dharma present to make a distinction from.  Obviously, word ‘Hindu’ came into use only after the rise of Christianity and Islam, who called the residents of ‘Sindh-desh’ or ‘Hind-desh’ as ‘Hindus’.

When you venture to understand Hindutva with the parameters of Islam or other isms, you are sure to commit the abysmal blunder of succumbing to its superficial understanding, and taking it for a whole truth. Recently, a friend of mine asked me what the basic elements of Hinduism are. Before I could open my mouth, he rather pre-empted a possible answer by adding that the way-of-life sort of stuff wouldn’t do. Every religion has a way of life which develops into its culture!

What, then, are the elements of Hindutva? Not delving into pedantic philosophies of Shankracharya, Vivekananda and other Scholars, I humbly enumerate the following, rather simplistic elements, which, according to my belief, constitute the minimal definition of a Hindu:

1.     He owes allegiance to the landmass known as Bharat-Versha or Sindhu Desh.

2.     He believes in the history of Bharat-Versha before the advent of Christianity and Islam, and believes that Sri Ram, Sri Krishna once existed on this landmass.

3.     He believes in Vedas and other scriptures and abides by the righteous directions and ‘Maryada’ laid down by these scriptures and is ready to change those directions which are not in keeping with the changing times.

The faith and the way of life professed by this Hindu is Hindutva.

           

Hindutva is perhaps the only religion which does not disparage other faiths. On the other hand it holds all religions equal and gives freedom to adopt any system of worship. In essence, Hindutva is truly a secular way of life. It does not say that the other person’s faith is inferior to that of yours, or you must destroy the non-believers, unless they are detrimental to the faithful. It upholds the equality of all men, social stratification being based on ‘Karma’, which though, in due course of time, degenerated into caste system.

Hindutva is a dynamic way of life. Bhagwad Gita unequivocally says that change is inevitable. Thus a Hindu is open to accept new values and is ready to shun the rituals and dogmas which are incompatible with the modern times. It does not prescribe any symbolism attached to physical appearance of a Hindu. The symbolism is in fact a product of ‘Minority Psychosis’ generated out of fear of losing their identity in the sea of majority and is assiduously preserved by ‘Dharama-gurus’. Hence a Muslim is more worried about his physical appearance in India than a Muslim in Pakistan is.

Therefore, you will agree, Hindutva has all the elements of secularism i.e. equality, freedom of worship, gender-equality and dynamism. For transforming Secular India to a Hindu India requires nothing to be changed, but the name….

                                                                                                                (to be continued…)