If you Google “Hindu murders in Karnataka”, you will get a plethora of reports citing varying numbers of RSS, VHP or Bajrang Dal activists lynched to death by those claiming to wage a jihad against the so-called infidels. There may be disputes over the number of Hindus murdered, but all articles reporting this agree on specific killing of Hindus by jihadi elements. The gross average of the numbers comes to 12 in the past two years.
Twelve families destroyed, yet no reports on media! No outrage at Jantar Mantar. No storming of the streets by the bindi brigade. No discussion on prime time television. No letter of condemnation to the ‘intolerant’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi by former bureaucrats and self-proclaimed academicians. Contrast this with the murder of Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh two years ago. The whole leftist jihadi cabal went berserk and tremors of the ghastly murder were felt even in the United States where The Washington Post and The New York Times published articles on “murderous” Hindu gangs.
The government of the State gave a government job to the kin of the murdered, approximately Rs 1 crore worth of compensation and properties to the bereaved family.
A similar sequence has been repeated in the Kathua rape case. It is as though this rape (still unproved) and murder was more newsworthy than incidents of similar crimes reported everyday by the media. On an average, three Hindu girls are raped everyday in neighboring Pakistan for the singular reason that they are Hindus. Three Hindu underage girls raped everyday! Let that sink into our consciousness. Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about it? Why are Hindus the most forsaken people on this globe?
In any civilized society, a murder or rape is a heinous crime. Why do rapes and murders of Hindus evoke a yawn from the Indian media and so-called civil society while the same entities go ballistic on the mere reporting of a rape or murder of a Muslim? Of course, that one rape or murder is the retribution for another is not my case.
There is a pattern to this madness. Four reasons can be inferred directly from this strange conduct of the global community and the media to this direct assault on Hindu life and ethos.
First, money, the eternal motive. Because Hindu society is devoid of a central core of leadership, all attacks on Hindus are left to be defended by local resistance, which almost never happens. On the other hand, the Abrahamic faiths, plush with funds from zaqaat and tithe, fund the spread of lies against Hindus so as to malign the Hindu faith globally.
It isn’t without reason that very aggressive spokespersons of the Church and jamaat councils find prime airtime to view their side of the narrative whereas Hindus are represented by tilak-wielding, dhoti-kurta clad, usually overfed mahantas from some godforsaken akhada, who not only are ill at ease speaking English but also whose Hindi is pathetically inarticulate, sounding more like a cacophony instead of an argument. Why isn’t ever a Rajiv Malhotra, a Satish Sharma or a Vamsee Juluri invited to TV channels to articulate the Hindu side of the story? Obviously, to make Hinduism look mediaeval and archaic to the global community as well as the urban Hindus themselves.
Second, human beings are generally infected with the desire to appear good and just to the world around him. It is a psychological malaise that camouflages the sloth and cowardice of the self-proclaimed liberals in the garb of justice and equanimity. Hence, all atrocities against Hindus are downplayed or brushed under the carpet because the Hindu intelligentsia and media have internalized the strange hypothesis that crimes against the majority are not as bad as those against the minorities.
So, when there is genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the world looks the other way, but a stray incident where the usual community of perpetrators is targeted — or the religion of the victim does not even occur to the criminal — and the whole cabal mounts horsebacks to defend the so-called minorities. This active trivialization of crime against Hindus is partly due to the lack of efficient and honest Hindu leadership and partly due to the proclivity of looking good to others, even at the cost of hushing up the truth and siding with lies.
Man’s capacity to deceive himself is infinite. And nothing proves this more than the abject bigotry of the nation’s elite and intelligentsia towards atrocities on Hindus in Bharat. A case in point: Ever wondered why not a single movie has been made on the Kashmiri exodus of Hindus by the rudali s of Bollywood? Not a lucrative business? But Mumbai riots and demonization of Balasaheb Thackeray in Bollywood continues uninterrupted.
In fact, there is a well oiled, well funded machinery of writers who keep churning out atrocity literature against the Hindu faith on a regular basis. Sometimes, in the name of an obsolete Manu Smriti and, sometimes, in the name of caste conflict. They never run out of ideas to malign the Hindu civilisation. The idea is to generate a sense of victimhood in the minds of people, especially from the minorities and the poorer sections of Hindu society. Once victimhood finds roots in the human psyche, man is capable of the worst kind of violence and mayhem.
It is a very dangerous game that the media and self-styled liberals are playing. When the beast of victimhood manifests, it is mayhem unleashed on one’s own citizenry, which even the most well-meaning and well-equipped police cannot control.
Third is the lack of poorva paksha (homework and research). The Indian intelligentsia first co-opted the lines of sarva dharma sama bhava from Hindu scriptures and then turned it on its head to attack Hindus from all sides. The so-called Hindu leadership of the RSS and VHP too are part of this circus since they too believe that all religions are the same. This is a white lie. And this lie comes out of a deficient, linear understanding of dharma instead of a holistic one.
The Macaulay system of English education has produced a crop of apparently educated people in this nation with zero spiritual quotient. Sarva dharma samabhaava is a beautiful yogic realisation penned down by Hindu rishi s after decades of meditation in their ashramas. It was a peak experience they recorded in the Upanishads and it came after real, solid hard work of tapasya. They did not believe in sarva dharma sama bhava ; they saw it and hence they lived it, too. It was an experience of a perfect harmony with nature and fellow human beings.
Now, in today’s world, when there is a direct conflict for supremacy of a religion over another, sarva dharma sama bhava is a perfect recipe for disaster because it is completely out of context, and in fact a white lie, especially when there are religions that come to the table with options of violence and rape for those who do not believe in their religion.
The Hindu leadership and the fake intelligentsia of this besieged nation lies when it parrots an Upanishadic wisdom to unsuspecting Hindus. And lies have consequences. Horrible consequences that are borne by poor, unsuspecting Hindus living on the cusp of jihad in States like Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir.
The Hindus on this globe are confused and lost because they are being asked to be accommodative of all other faiths while the other faiths are carrying on with their predatory nature to kill or convert Hindus all over the world. This is an asymmetric conflict in which Hindus are at a huge disadvantage of narrative as well as resources.
This warrants the study of yet another case in point: Demographics of the Indian subcontinent. About 15% was the population of Hindus in Pakistan in 1947. It is now 1.4%. 35 % of Bangladeshis were Hindus in 1947; the Hindus now comprise a mere 7% of the population.
Even in India, Hindus have reduced from 88% in 1947 to just about 79%. Eight crore Hindus have been murdered in 1,400 years of Islamic invasion of this unfortunate nation of ours. (Will Durant) These are official census data on which there is no TV debate ever, although demography is destiny especially in a democracy.
The state and the media are both ignoring the demographic inversion of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and parts of Jammu to the peril of Hindus. If the situation is a figment of the imagination of the Hindutva brigade, even then, these issues need to be discussed — to call the bluff of Hindu activists.
Fourth, offense is the best form of defense. Because the jihadi-leftist nexus is already indulging in a dance of death in Bharat and globally, the slightest aberration by Hindus is trumpeted as a ‘majoritarian’ backlash — although on the scale and ferocity of it, these acts of Hindu vandalism are no match to what is being unleashed by Islamist terrorists in Kashmir and communists in Kerala.
The constant onslaught on Hindu lives and thoughts have resulted in a Hindu leadership that is constantly apologetic and a Hindu citizenry that is in complete disarray. In spite of being the most unaggressive and sublime thought mankind has ever achieved, Hinduism is on a constant guilt trip and consequently, the great ethos of Hindu civilisation is getting diluted, eventually disappearing.
If the largest community of this nation feels orphaned, it is a matter of serious concern for the policymakers of this nation because a universal grudge of the majority community cannot be ignored for long. Eventually, it will explode with unmanageable consequences. God forbid, if some fanatic Hindu radicals exploit the entire Hindu anguish and come up with a physical response to attacks on Hinduism, we will be witnessing an unprecedented mayhem, the glimpses of which we got in the form of mobs unleashed on streets in the name of cow vigilantism and random lynching of people by madmen masquerading as Hindu warriors in the not so distant past.
The constant attacks on Hindu ethos, and sheer concern for survival, have already led to a reverse consolidation of Hindus against the ‘Breaking India’ forces, a term coined by Rajiv Malhotra who has meticulously identified the patterns of attack by other faiths along Hindu fault lines. It is finding resonance in many upper and middle class Hindu households.
The advent of social media has given a very wide reach to the works of Hindu scholars. This too is leading to a reverse consolidation of Hindus against the incessant onslaught on their way of life. The social media has also ensured that Hindus are no longer helpless victims of this constant demonization of their faith. A counter narrative to Hinduphobia is being built up by some brilliant minds on raw data and meticulous poorva paksha by Hindu scholars.
Every society must either be governed by a just law or impeccable morals. Law comes from the state and morals from religion. In a nation-state like Bharat, the grounds of legal apartheid were laid when different civil codes were applied to different sets of population. So there goes the law.
If Hindus were to take to streets demanding a uniform civil code, would the Indian state be justified in cracking its whip on them? Does the Indian state have the moral fibre to look Hindus in the eye and question the Hindu angst on Article 370, Hindu genocide in Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh, murders of Hindu leaders all over Bharat, and scores of such issues which genuinely contribute to accumulated Hindu anger?
As far as morals are concerned, Hinduism is an egalitarian faith which has been evolving continuously for more than 8,000 years. Even the scriptures are not considered sacrosanct, what to say of holy men or gods of the past. Hindu faith even accepts nastikta ( atheism or non-acceptance of the authority of the Vedas — Ed. ) as a school of thought.
Contrast this with the Abrahamic faiths that insist on one god, one book and one prophet. Without going into the merits of one religion over another, does anyone in his right mind actually think that such varied understandings of religions can eventually give rise to a moral code that can govern a society as complex as India? Even if it is done, how will we arrive at a consensus? By shastrartha (theological debates)? As of now, that does not seem to be happening. All we see are a spate of deceitful or forceful conversions and acts of random but unceasing violence against Hindus.
How does a society function and progress where law and morals are so debilitating and partisan in nature? This is a question that must shake the consciousness of every politician and policy maker of this glorious but besieged nation.
It is only a matter of time before Hindus consolidate and respond to the constant encroachment on the physical, spiritual, moral, educational, emotional and mental space of the Hindus. In the absence of a coherent and visionary leadership, what shape that resistance is going to take is anybody’s guess.
Hindus are being pushed to the wall and the rest of the world led by leftists, evangelists and jihadi forces are trying to put the blame on Hindus themselves, albeit unsuccessfully. The absurdity of this is going to fall sooner than later.
If we have been able to deduce with reasonable certainty that Hindu majoritarianism is a joke and a lie woven by the leftist opinion makers, we can also safely conclude that Hindus themselves are under attack.
So what is the real remedy for Hindu anguish?
First, stick to the idea and practice of secularism with absolute clarity and unflinching commitment. The state must be indifferent to religion. Period. No preference to this or that religion on artificial premises of numbers and economic conditions.
The former prime minister Manmohan Singh had stated that Muslims had the first claim on the resources of India. This kind of thought should be seen as the worst kind of violation of the spirit of secularism. Real secularism is the key to the survival and productive functioning of a modern state; all discrimination based on religion should be firmly done away with.
Second, talk to Hindus. They are helplessly witnessing their 8,000 year old civilisation crumble in front of their eyes. There are enough Hindus who will not let this crumbling happen without resisting it tooth and nail. If a Muslim or a Christian is proud of his faith, why not a Hindu? Do not make ‘Hindu’ a bad word. Let Hindus be.
The anguish of Hindus on the Kashmiri genocide, the demographic inversion, the murders of Hindus of south India, the incessant attacks on Hindu life and property are all genuine. The state and all concerned parties must address these or be prepared for an overwhelming reaction, which could become uncontrollable. The writing on the wall is clear.
Hindus are tired of being defensive about their faith and are patiently waiting for the Hindu leadership to respond. If the state continues to ignore the Hindu narrative, the Hindu beast might be unleashed. Hope things don’t come to that pass.
