Author: Bulbul Roy Mishra
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 8, 2004
Both Swami Vivekanand and historian
Arnold Toynbee found Hindu resilience against the onslaught of Islam and
Christianity extraordinary in the annals of civilisations. It was Hindus'
fortress of tolerance and a sense of equanimity that no outside conquerors
could penetrate, and this distinguishes the Hindus from others. Both pointed
out, though in different context, that the Hindu India stood out as the
only country which, despite Islamic rule for six centuries, had not turned
into Dar-ul Islam, and despite British rule for next two centuries had
not turned into a predominantly Christian country.
Some intellectuals distinguish the
term Hindutva from Hinduism, holding that the former being an aggressive
cult is clearly distinctive from traditionally non-aggressive Hinduism.
Hence, to them Hindutva is a distortion of Hinduism, and is comparable
with Islamic fundamentalism. Even though the Supreme Court has not found
any distinction between the above two terms etymologically, let us accept
there is some merit in the perception of the intellectuals who have found
aggressiveness in the exponents of Hindutva, while none in Hindu philosophy.
This phenomenon merits an analysis in perspective which is regrettably
wanting.
In the first place, it is wrong
to think that the concept of Hindutva is a recent phenomenon. On the contrary,
such aggressive face of the Hindus did surface whenever they faced an attack
to their core identity, to preserve which they have taken to uncharacteristic
regimentation and stringent rituals. This was done primarily to segregate
the Hindus from those outsiders who had intended to conquer them not only
physically, but also by extinguishing their core identity. Lord Buddh was
accepted by the Hindus as an incarnation of God, but when Buddhism posed
a threat to the Hindu identity by way of large scale conversion, aggressive
Hindutva surged in reaction, primarily at an intellectual level, under
the leadership of Adi Shankaracharya, the great spiritual master.
Under the Islamic rule and again
during the British, we found resurgence of the same aggressive Hindutva,
holding out a protective barrier to prevent penetration that could shake
off their very identity. The Hindus have never felt the need to convert
a person of another religion to their own. They have never castigated a
non-believer as an outcaste or a sinner. On the other hand, they have recognised
atheists like Charvak as a saint. When the same liberal Hindus excommunicated
fellow-beings on the ... charge of beef-eating, it was only to raise a
protective barrier to prevent further penetration of a foreign culture,
religion or tradition.
The following two questions have
to be addressed here in the above perspective. First, what is the essence
of Hinduism that lies at the core of its identity? Second, what has led
to the resurgence of Hindutva in secular, democratic India? In order to
understand the essence of Hinduism, we should refer to the following slokas
in the Upanishads: "Om poorn madah, poorn midam, poornat poorn mudachyateh,
poornasva poorn madaya poorn mebabosishyate."
Meaning, "Whatever we see is poorn,
whatever is beyond is also poorn; from poorn emanates poorn; if we subtract
poorn from poorn what remains is poorn." Thus the Hindu concept of God
is poorn or the "all-pervasive whole". As in mathematics, zero minus zero
is zero, in Hindu philosophy, poorn minus poorn is poorn. Some describe
this poorn as "shoonya" or zero. All that exists is included in this poorn
or shoonya or zero. Herein lies the difference between the Hindu concept
of God and God in other religions. While other religions believe that God
is one, the Hindus say God is all-pervasive.
Hindu God exists in all beings,
in every atom or sub-atomic particle. Thus the Hindus believe in identity
of souls and develop equanimity or same-sightedness. None is superior or
inferior to a spiritual Hindu. It is possible, according to him, to realise
God within self. He also sees God in others. This explains the multiplicity
of gods in Hindu concept. Hindu philosophy teaches us to respect one and
all as God dwells in all.
As to the question, what has led
to the resurgence of Hindutva in present time, we often indulge in naivete
by attributing it to political motives. The fact remains that ever since
independence, the raison d'etre of vote politics virtually led every major
political party to look for Muslim votes by securing a fatwa from the ulemas.
For the above purpose they responded to every demand of the ulemas regardless
of whether such political response was for the ultimate good of the Muslim
community. Such abject vote politics has increasingly alienated Hindu masses
from those parties, as they were already provoked by Partition on communal
consideration followed by Kashmir annexation.
Cross-border terrorism, three Indo-Pak
wars and the lingering Ayodhya dispute even after the ASI findings have
proved incendiary for Hindu reaction. Then, it was counterproductive with
the Muslims so far as their development was concerned, even though Muslim
percentage has considerably increased since Independence. The compulsion
of vote politics kept them backward so that they listened to the dictates
of the ulemas and continued to vote the ruling party to power.
In a democracy, the number of votes
is the sole determinant in the race to power. Hindu reaction can be seen
in the form of votes for the BJP. Resurgence of Hindutva is a reaction
to above factors since Hindus have felt an identity crisis. Hindutva will
play a greater role in the coming elections unless the ground situation
changes altogether.
