To a topic that never seems to get old: Indian politics. That is what I shall try to focus on here but I want to talk about how this affects Hindu identity globally. OK, on with it.
Now, in India there is a two party system as there is in most countries. One could however argue that there is a bit more choice compared to other countries as the two biggest parties, the Congress and the BJP, often form coalitions with smaller, more locally focused parties. But either way on a national scale that leads to there being two parties, with different thoughts and agendas.
The congress has traditionally been seen as a liberal and left wing party, and has in more recent times formed coalitions with communist parties, which fits in right with their agenda. The BJP is the more conservative, and has often had strong links with Hindu nationalist parties. So that’s how it is right now.
And also as in many countries people and families often identify with one of the two and stick with them throughout their lives. Generally if you’re not Hindu or Sikh, or you work in one of the ‘new’ Indian industries such as IT you go for the Congress. Otherwise a lot of ‘middle-India’ as I so affectionately call them go for the BJP, and they both have their reasons. Congress supporters will argue that the party is investing heavily in new technologies and will point to all the grand building works that have been conducted in the big cities to make them look more glitzy and modern as well as saying that they are a secular party because they don’t associate with Hindu nationalists. A number of minority Indians such as Christians have said that they feel the BJP is ‘racist’ (I put that down to not fully understanding the meaning of the word but I know what they mean) and so they vote for the Congress.
On the other side the BJP supporters argue that all our progress has been for show. Those building works are just to show off to the foreigners that India is going places and does not show the true story of all the problems going on in the heart of India, what with farmer suicides and resource mining destroying communities. There has been insinuation that the Congress will do anything for the minority vote banks and are powerfully un-Hindu. An example they would site is the managing of Hindu temples, where a good portion of the money earned by a temple (primarily through donations) is taken by the government and then being used to fund mosques and churches. And let’s not even get started on the Hajj subsidy…
I didn’t want to get too bogged down in the details and issues here because it will detract from the point. But I hope that paints the picture for those that aren’t so familiar. If you want to know more you really should pull your finger out and look some things up, I could not possibly condense the governmental issues of the worlds largest democracy into a blog post, could I?
As for myself, I have grown up in a BJP supporting family. And for many years I agreed with them that they were the better choice. Indeed, even now they preach of grassroots level development of the nation, which is far better than the more glitzy approach of the Congress. A uniform civil code for all, regardless of religion would be most welcome in a country that purports itself to be SECULAR! That’s why I was so much in favour with them and a number of the Hindu nationalist parties that they support (but not quite all of them). Until the day the façade cracked…
I make it out like there was one decisive factor that caused all this, it wasn’t quite like that. Firstly I remember how when the BJP were in power they never rehoused the deposed Kashmiri pandits, something which pretty much every Hindu nationalist wants. You’re in power, yet they’re still in camps. You ought to look up ‘hypocrisy’! Fast forward to now; the Congress are at an all time low in popularity. There have been a string of terrorist attacks in major cities over the course of the last 2 years or so (something which was suspiciously infrequent under the BJP. Funny that, considering the apparently anti-Muslim party they are said to be…). In addition to this some of you will be aware of the harrowing events by which the Delhi police, that can’t stop all the rapists and thieves in the city but sweep down on Baba Ramdev’s peaceful protest against black money (which I suppose all politicians in India are guilty of) like the corrupt vultures they are. Despite all of this, the BJP have not acted upon it. Infighting, weak exposure of Congress ineptitude and lack of coherent leadership have all played a part in this. Plus they haven’t done enough to shift their anti-anyone-that-isn’t-a-Hindu appearance, which makes them look in the eyes of many to be really backward. So the Indians have a choice between the corrupt evil party or an incompetent party of bigots. Ah, the agony of selection…
I suppose I better expand on Hindu nationalism now before the cataclysm of brain dead comments come in about how I’m intolerant start. Regardless of what it has become Hindutva was about ensuring that the nation where Dharmic thought began can maintain its heritage. Plus, if anyone was to actually pick up the Rig Veda or the Gita you’d see very quickly just how humanist those texts are. Heck, did you know that Sarvarkar himself was an atheist? A Hindu nation would be more secular than most actually secular nations currently, like, for example, INDIA! I know I’ve already said it once but if a Muslim lives and abides by one set of rules and a Hindu by another, in what way is that secular? It isn’t, it’s communal. More than that it’s separatist. It only serves to breed more contempt.
But as I said before I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with the Hindu parties too. There’s two reasons for that. Firstly, they’re all full of hot air. They talk the big talk about how the poor Kashmiris are suffering and how the country is run by an Italian (more on that later that’s why I’m not touching on it now) again and again and again but doing nothing about it. Second, the bizarre fatwa-esque movements they go on. I don’t mean protests about Lord Ram on sandals or Lakshmi on a bikini (I’m on the fence with that). I’m talking about torching cinemas because they showed a film about lesbian themes. I’m talking about the rampant hatred of Valentine’s day. It’s just not the way we do things, people!
This is usually the point where some sappy hippy-like Hindu would say about how ahimsa (non-violence) is the pillar of our faith. NO IT ISN’T! Well, I can say with certainty that in the Gandhi sense it isn’t. There is a time for action when your values are threatened, but the response needs to be calculated and precise (like in the great text Mahabharata, remember that??). Modern and progressive thoughts were how Hinduism first came into being so if you hate everything that comes from the west or isn’t quite like it was when you grew up, there’s no progress, there’s no new thought. I can’t think of anything more anti-Hindu than that. You deserve all that hate mail you get on the 14th of February for that reason! Stop rioting all the time, it doesn’t help anyone!
So what do I do? Supporting the Congress-like principles is to turn a blind eye to the cultural and moral damage that the nation and Dharma is going through but to stick with the right wing ideology is a form of paralysis is just as bad. That’s why I picked the title ‘choosing between hate’, because that is what it feels like. I’m not sure exactly where that leaves me now, to be frank. All I can do is make the right choice when adversity is in front of me. Otherwise I’m going to fall into the trap of fear that has gripped so many of the Hindu samaj. Pick your battles, that’s what it is at the end of the day. What more can be said? If wanting your Dharma to survive is bigotry in someone’s eyes, they need a different perspective. And if embracing a few new ideas is turning your back on your culture, then, again, try looking at it in a different way before you judge or decide. It’s not quite so clear cut. Till then, I’ll try to stay sane in the face of all this ambiguity and stupidity.
Regards
The Vedic Underdog
