Fear unfounded

Kaga Bhushundi Speaketh
Suman K Sharma
On the day before the oath-taking ceremony of the BJP’s government in New Delhi, I was watching on a private TV channel a war of words between our New Delhi anchor and a Pakistani one in Lahore.  The Lahori gent was holding forth on the excesses committed by Hindus on the followers of other religions.  He said Hindutva of the new sarkar would take the sheen off the fake secularism which we Indians are so fond of flaunting before the wide world.  In my heart of hearts I wondered, ‘Will it be right for the Modi’s government to play the Hindu card?’
‘There is nothing the right the way you put it,’ Kaga Bhushundiji’s said tersely.
‘But, Kagaji, it’s mostly Hindus who have brought BJP to power.  Narendra Modi himself is a Hindu and so are all his party’s MPs. He is bound to please Hindus.’
‘Who is a Hindu, son?  Tell me first of all.’
‘A Hindu is one who follows Hinduism.  It’s that simple.’
‘No, it is not.  See, Christians follow teachings of Lord Jesus Christ and Muslims have their Prophet Mohammed.  Guru Nanak Devji founded Sikhism.  But who gave Hinduism to the world? Those hhhhing foreigners – the likes of Greek Herodotus and Persian traders – who could only say ‘hit’ when what they actually meant was ‘sit’.  So our Sindhu became ‘the Hindu’ and those living on its banks, ‘Hindus’.  Then, centuries later, your Gora sahibs found the numberless sects and creeds being followed in this diverse land too difficult to handle.  For their own ease they put together all of you who did not subscribe to Christianity, Islam or such other well defined religion, and named them ‘Hindus’. ‘Hinduism’, my son, is not a religion; it’s a way of life people have been following in Bharat-varsha for thousands of years.’
‘Kagaji, do you mean to say Hindus don’t have any religion?’
‘In my time, son, we did not think of ‘religion’ as you perceive it now.  There was Sanatan Dharma – the Code Eternal – for all and forever.  Shri Ramchandraji Maharaj followed it, Bhagwan Krishna not only followed it himself but spelled it out for all times to come in Shrimad Bhagwad Gita.  The Vedas, the Puranas, the Shrutis, the Smritis and the Upnishads told us how to live in this world and what to do for a lasting peace hereafter.’
‘If that be so, then why the destruction of Babri Masjid and why tell me, why the mayhem at Godhara?’
‘Why don’t you also recall what happened recently in Muzaffarnagar of Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by a party known for its Muslim sympathies? Are not Muslim jihadis killing their brethren in Pakistan? And what have you to say about the never-ending Shia-Sunni conflict?  Surely, your Hindutva does not figure there.
‘Kagaji, next you will say it won’t be wrong for the new government to follow Hindutva!’
‘Hindutva, Hindutva, Hindutva, why are you so obsessed with this word of illegitimate parentage? If your sarkar puts in practice one or two ancient percepts which bring relief to everyone, what’s wrong with that?’
‘But we are a secular country, aren’t we?’
‘Son, being ‘secular’ means that you don’t allow your personal beliefs to come in the way of running your worldly affairs.   If Americans inscribe on their dollars ‘In God We Trust’, do they become any less ‘sukkular’ than your Mulayams and Mayavatis – or Rahul Gandhis, for that matter? This avowal only serves as America’s assurance to the world of fair-dealing in matters concerning money.
‘India is no America, Kagaji; Hindutva or no Hindutva, we cannot afford to revive time-worn beliefs and obsolete practices.’
‘Precisely, son, you can’t.  Discard by all means what obstructs you in your march to progress.  But don’t you throw out the baby with the bath water.  If, while meeting all the challenges that it faces, the Modi sarkar undertakes to cleanse Ganga or strengthen laws for protection of the bovine, will you accuse it of appeasing the majority just because countless generations of Bharatvasis have been adoring both the sacred river and cow as their mother?
‘How about rebuilding of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya?’
‘Ramji is present here, there and everywhere.  I would say Modi should first devote all his attention and energies to rebuild the nation first.  Mandirs can wait.

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