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Philosophy of Hindutva

Date:

Omkar Dattatray

The philosophy of Hindutva is again in the news thanks to the book release of the former cabinet minister Salman Khurshid's Surise Over Ayodhya, Nationhood is our times. Unfortunately the author of the book has written that Hindutva is similar to the Jihadist ideology of ISIS and Boko Haram. His party Colleague and former leader of opposition in the Raj Sabha has said that it is factually wrong to compare the Hindutva with the jihadist ideology of ISIS and Boko Haram. In fact the debate on the topic and philosophy of Hindutva has gained momentum because of the revelations in the book released recently. The fact of the matter is that Hindutva is neither communal nor against any religion. The Hindutva is all inclusive and all absorbing and as such is very vibrant and assimilative and as such it is improper to call it communal. The Hindutva is all embracing and assimilating .It is neither anti religious nor irreligious but is neutral in religious affairs. It is composite like Hinduism and therefore it is wrong to compare it with the Jihadist ideology of ISIS and Boko Haram. Hindutva is actually a concept of Indian cultural, and religious identity. 's identity is intrinsically tied with eternal philosophy of Hindutva. For ages India has offered a unique way of life because it is based on spirituality. India believes that truth can have various forms, names, paths to reach the supreme truth. Though diverse all these paths are equal. Hindutva believes in unity in diversity and India has the capacity to establish unity amongst such expansive variety. Being Hindu or Hindutva has become the identity of all Bharatiyas. The founder of RSS Dr.K.B. Hedgewar made the Hindutva the tool to awaken the sense of unity among all Indians connecting them with each other irrespective of their caste, religion, region and language. He started organizing the whole society by binding them together with the thread of Hindutva. But those who for their individual and political gains wanted to keep the society divided started opposing Hindutva and Sangh by calling them communal, regressive, divisive, and anti minority. Unfortunately elements with vested interests started creating confusion by calling Hindusim a virtue and Hindutva an evil. Those who oppose the Hindutva are themselves espousing Hindutva and their Hindu roots by visiting temples. The congress leader Rahul Gandhi has done the same. Hindutva has been much in the news in the past decade and the debate around it has generated enough heat and not much light. It is frequently presented as a benighted concept, such that even when some recognition is accorded to it, it is presented as toggling between nostalgia  and utopia. Unfortunately the Hindutva movement has been described as a variant of right wing extremism and as almost fascist in the classical sense adhering to a concept of homogenized majority and cultural hegemony. Hindutva is in fact Bharatiyata and it implies cultural nationalism and patriotism and as such it cannot be compared with the Jihadist ideology. Hindutva symbolizes the culture of tolerance and mutual brotherhood and hence cannot be called communal by any standard. Thus Hindutva is a philosophy which is similar to and strives for the Ram Raja in the country and thus to equate it with the militant ideology is wrong and has no takers. Hindutva is no deviation from the composite culture of Hindusim and as such the creed and theme of Hindutva is not the anti thesis of the tolerant culture of the land. Rather Hindutva is extension of the concept of compositive culture of Hindusim and is in no way against the tolerant culture of India and therefore it cannot be labeled as communal and intolerant but the fact is that the concept and practice of Hindutva is inclusive and is not exclusive like some other religions of the country. Hindutva is through and through patriotism and nationalism and it is Sanaskritik Rashtrawad. As such it cannot be narrow, conservative and orthodox but is all embracing and in no way against the spirit of ancient India. Hindutva is in accordance with the ancient Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism and therefore the refined word Hindutva is the soul and spirit of this nation and therefore there is no wrong in the pursuit of Hindutva. Thus Hindutva as the way of life is the aim and objective of the right wing parties of India. The philosophy of Hindutva believes in oneness of the mankind and it does not distinguish between the religions but it is very dynamic and accommodative and tolerant and is the soul and spirit of this nation and therefore it cannot be compared with the Jihadist ideology of ISIS. It is very tolerant and does not believe in extremism and is so not proper to call it as extremist and Jihadist as it is against the spirit of Hinduism. The fact of the matter is that you cannot differentiate between the Hindu and Hindutva as both are same and one is dependent on the other. Hindutva is not narrow, parochial and conservative but is dynamic and all absorbing as well as accommodative and thus should not be bracketed as communal and anti religion. According to congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad, it is factually wrong to compare Hindutva with Jihadist ideology and it is an exaggeration and therefore the concept and principle of Hindutva is a pious term and is not against any religion but is in consonance with the true Hindusim. It is very unfortunate that the congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Prinyanka Gandhi and other leaders are talking against the Hinduism and Sanatan Dharama. The congress leaders by and large take pleasure in humiliating the Hinduism and anything national and Hindu. Hindutva and Hinduism is an eyesore to the congress party and thus its leaders are spewing venom on the symbols of Hinduism. The leaders of the congress have in the past denounced the Hindutva and  have questioned the existence of Lord Rama  and some of the leaders of the congress have said that the Ram, Laximan and Sita are the fictions of imagination and one is not clear whether they really existed or not. Thus some congress leaders take pleasure in denouncing the Hinduism and Hindutva and they take pleasure in saying that if it is true that lord Ram had taken birth in Ayodhya .Thus everything Hindu and Indian is being humiliated by the congress leaders. So Hindutva is the theme which is criticized by the congress leaders and they call it extremist and they have coined the word Hindu terror and saffron terror when the fact is that the Hindu is more tolerant and cannot as such be called intolerant and extremist by any standard. It is very unfortunate that some leaders of the Muslim community have said that remove the police for fifteen minutes and we will teach the infidels a lesson. But as against this mentality the concept of Hindutva is more tolerant and accommodative and there is nothing communal in it. It believes in the oneness of the mankind and equal respect for all religions and therefore it is wrong to bracket the Hindutva as communal and extremist when the stark reality is that the Hindutva and Hinduism are very old and are very tolerant and absorbing and assimilative. The Hindutva is cultural nationalism and patriotism and is not narrow and conservative but dynamic and progressive and thus the concept and the principle of Hindutva should not be labeled as extremist when the fact is that the principle of Hindutva is all absorbing and dynamic and as such should not be denounced by the pseudo secularists of the country. Thus for the sake of the minority appeasement and for the vote bank the doctrine of Hindutva should not be denounced but it should be welcomed by the people of this country because in this lies the good of this nation called Bharat. Therefore what is needed is that the doctrine of Hindutva should be embraced with all humility by the people of this country as in this lies the good of all the people. In brief Hindutva is cultural nationalism through and through.

(The writer is a columnist and social activist)

Northlines
Northlines
The Northlines is an independent source on the Web for news, facts and figures relating to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and its neighbourhood.

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