State/Government Control Of Hindu Temples

STATE/GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF HINDU TEMPLES

How to protect our temples' money? How to ensure financial honesty in our temples? The whole debate is focusing on only one factor: who must control a temple - the government or an independent trust. Swarajya website has done an excellent analysis of this issue. It points out that the most important factor is not who controls a temple - but whether the temple's accounts are regularly audited by an independent auditor. Temples whose accounts are regularly audited by an independent auditor have *not* had any financial scandals - regardless of whether they are controlled by the government or by an independent trust. Whereas temples whose accounts are *not* regularly audited by an independent auditor have had financial scandals - again, regardless of whether they are controlled by the government or by an independent trust . . .

I Am Nupur Sharma

Today a friend warned me about my Facebook post saying #IsupportNupurSharma. Let us look at this whole situation:

1. Hinduism respects all religions. This is the most fundamental feature of Hinduism.

2. The practical consequence of the above point is: For Hindus, not offending others is more important than telling the truth. That is - Hindus do not tell the truth if it will offend others.

# Feature #1 is great. Feature #2 is bad - but it is also a fundamental characteristic of Hindus.

# Nupur Sharma only stated a fact. In fact, she just quoted from Islam's own scripture. But in doing so, she violated rule/feature #2 of Hindus. But she did so when she lost her temper because Islamic fundamentalists were continuously abusing Lord Shiva in that debate.

# She later apologised unconditionally for what she said. Her party also punished her by firing her from her job and suspending her from the party.

# So the matter must have ended there. But next Islamic fundamentalists started threatening to rape and kill her - and liberals were tacitly supporting these threats.

# A Hindu called Kanhaiya Lal posted in support of her - and two Islamic fundamentalists killed him.

# A Supreme Court Judge says Nupur Sharma is responsible for Kanhaiya Lal's murder.

What does all this mean? Cannot we live and speak freely in our own country? Should we live in fear that somebody will kill us just because we stated a fact - or supported someone who stated a fact? If so, then what is the point of being alive?

So I no longer 'support' Nupur Sharma - now I am Nupur Sharma.

#IamNupurSharma

Hinduism And Hindutva

HINDUISM AND HINDUTVA

Q: What makes humans different from animals?

A: Culture.

Every group of humans have a system of beliefs and practices - ie, a culture. This culture makes us human. Without it, we are no better than animals.

We are Hindus. Our way of life is Hinduism. This way of life has sustained our civilisation for 5000 years. If we lose our way of life, we will be no better than animals. Islamic/Christian fundamentalism have been waging war on Hinduism for 1000 years and have been trying to destroy it. This war continues even today.

Today is Vijay Dashami - the day Goddess Durga killed Mahishasura. It is the victory of Dharma over Adharma, of good over evil. On this sacred occasion, let us vow to fight for Hinduism and against anti-Hinduism in our own humble way. Let us preserve our 5000-year-old way of life - and remain humans.

Sanatana Hindu Dharma ki jai!

ಜಾತ್ಯತೀತ / ಜಾತ್ಯತೀತತೆ

Secularismಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ 'ಜಾತ್ಯತೀತತೆ' ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಈ ಅನುವಾದ ಸರಿಯೇ? Secularism ಎಂದರೇನು? Secularism ಎಂದರೆ ಹಿಂದು-ಧ್ವೇಷ - ಅಂದರೆ ಹಿಂದುಗಳನ್ನು ಮತ್ತು ಹಿಂದು-ಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಧ್ವೇಷಿಸುವುದು. ಸೆಕ್ಯುಲರವಾದಿಗಳು/ಎಡವಾದಿಗಳು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಹಿಂದುಗಳನ್ನು ಧ್ವೇಷಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ - ಅಂದರೆ ಅವರು ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಜಾತಿಗಳ ಹಿಂದುಗಳನ್ನು ಧ್ವೇಷಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅವರ ಹಿಂದು-ಧ್ವೇಷ ನಿಜವಾಗಿಯೂ ಜಾತ್ಯತೀತ. ಆದುದರಿಂದ secularismಗೆ 'ಜಾತ್ಯತೀತತೆ' ಎಂಬ ಶಬ್ದ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸೂಕ್ತವಾಗಿದೆ.

Hindus, Hinduism and Islamic/Christian Fundamentalism

Every human automatically/sub-consciously thinks: "All humans think like me". This is an assumption – and it is a fundamental nature of humans. But it is also a very FALSE assumption.

We Hindus believe that all religions are true – and therefore respect all religions. This is a good thing – but unfortunately we also go one step further. We think: "ALL people believe that all religions are true. Therefore ALL people respect all religions." This is the BIGGEST MISTAKE that we Hindus make – because it is a FALSE assumption.

Islamic/Christian fundamentalism says:
1. Only Islam/Christianity is true – all other religions are false.
2. 'Good' is nothing but spreading the truth and 'evil' is nothing but tolerating falsehood.
3. So 'good' means spreading Islam/Christianity and 'evil' means tolerating other religions.

Therefore Islamic/Christian fundamentalists believe:
1. Hinduism is false/evil.
2. So it is every Muslim/Christian's sacred duty to wipe out Hinduism and replace it with Islam/Christianity.
Thus for the last 1000 years, Islamic/Christian fundamentalism have been waging war on Hindus and Hinduism.

So if we Hindus want to survive, the first thing we must do is to stop thinking: "All humans think like me/us".

Anti-CAA Riots/Protests and Anti-Hinduism

Islamic fundamentalism (Turks + Mughals) and Christian fundamentalism (British) assaulted Hinduism and Hindus for 1000 years - and tried their best to destroy us. Due to Hinduism's great inner strength, we somehow survived - and finally became free in 1947. American philosopher George Santayana said: "The punishment for people who forget their history is to experience that history again". When I was an RSS pracharak, my bosses used to tell me this. I agreed with it - but only theoretically. I thought: "After all, we are 80% of this country - so we are safe". But after seeing the hatred and violence of the anti-CAA riots/protests by anti-Hindu liberals and Islamic fundamentalists (supported by Christian fundamentalists) Santayana's statement is no longer theoretical. CAA is just an excuse - the real target of the hatred and violence is Hinduism and Hindus. For the first time in my life, I feel we can no longer take our survival/existence for granted . . .

Citizenship Amendment Bill (C.A.B)

# There are 200 countries in the world.
# There are 120 Christian countries in the world.
# There are 50 Muslim countries in the world.
# There are 2 Hindu countries in the world: India and Nepal.
# Nepal is small and is under the shadow of China.
# So effectively there is ONLY ONE Hindu country in the world: India.
# So India MUST give shelter to every persecuted Hindu from any country in the world.
# Inside India (for Indian citizens) all religions ARE equal. But at our borders (for non-Indian refugees) all religions are NOT equal. India being the ONLY major Hindu country in the world MUST give preference to persecuted Hindus from other countries.
# Liberals always say that we must give special rights to minorities. In the world, Hindus are the minority. So Citizenship Amendment Bill (C.A.B) is nothing but a special right to this real global minority.

The Rama Temple at Ayodhya

The Rama temple at Ayodhya was demolished in 1528 – almost 500 years ago. So from the viewpoint of modern law and evidence, the case for the temple today may not have been 100% solid. But still the Supreme Court unanimously gave the disputed land completely to the temple. Why? The answer is obvious. It is due to the post-2014 and post-2019 political situation in the country. That is – it is due to a Hindu nationalist party winning a majority in two consecutive national elections (with the second majority being bigger than the first).

In theory, a court must give its verdict purely on the basis of law and evidence. But in reality, a court should give its verdict by also considering the larger social context in the country – especially in sensitive cases. This was not an easy verdict to give. The five judges faced the toughest test of their long and illustrious careers – and they passed it with flying colours. Let us thank them. And let us thank the thousands of ordinary men and women who fought this long war. May Lord Rama bless us with wisdom and strength. Jai Shri Ram.

Hatred Of Hinduism And Hindus (HHH)

# The British created a virus called Hatred of Hinduism (HoH).
# Our liberals mutated it into Hatred of Hinduism and Hindus (HHH).
# They labelled this hatred as 'secularism' - and (more importantly) any questioning of this hatred as itself 'hatred' (of non-Hindus).
# So Hindus are reluctant to question HHH - because they don't want to be accused of 'hatred'.
# This is the most brilliant pre-emptive strike in the history of ideological warfare.

See Hatred Of Hinduism

Hindutva: Hindu Fundamentalism or Nationalism?

Encyclopedia Britannica on 'Hindu fundamentalism':

"What is usually called 'Hindu fundamentalism' in India has been influenced more by nationalism than by religion, in part because Hinduism does not have a specific sacred text to which conformity can be demanded. Moreover, conformity to a religious code has never been of particular importance to Hindu groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For the members of such groups, Hinduism is above all a symbol of national identity rather than a set of rules to be obeyed.

"The nationalistic orientation of the RSS is reflected in its name, which means 'National Volunteer Corps'. Similarly, the name of the BJP means 'Party of the Indian People'. Neither the RSS nor the BJP advocates the creation of a Hindu state. The principal concern of both groups is the danger posed to the Hindu nation by Christian and Islamic proselytisation among the Scheduled Castes (formerly untouchables) and lower-caste Hindus. In RSS tracts, there is little reference to specific Hindu beliefs, and its members acknowledge that they are not themselves religious.

"The nationalism of the RSS and the BJP is also reflected in their religious and moral demands; in this respect they differ significantly from Christian fundamentalist groups in the United States. In a notorious incident in 1992, the Babri Masjid (Mosque of Babur) at Ayodhya was demolished by a mob of Hindu nationalists; the subsequent rioting led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people. Although there was real religious fervour associated with the belief that the site of the mosque was the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama and the location of an ancient Hindu temple, the attack was above all a reflection of the Hindu nationalists' belief in the essentially Hindu character of India. The fact that Hindu nationalism is sometimes called 'Hindu fundamentalism' illustrates how indiscriminately the term 'fundamentalism' has been used outside its original American Christian context."

Hindutva and Free-Market Capitalism (FMC)

* Hindutva is nationalism.
* The aim of nationalism is to build a strong country.
* A country can be strong only if its economic system is efficient.
* Free-market capitalism (FMC) is the most efficient economic system.
* So FMC is an integral part of Hindutva.

What Is Hindutva?

What is Hindutva?

* A nation is a cultural entity.
* Culture is the foundation of a nation.
* Hinduism is nothing but the Indian way of life.
* So Hinduism is the foundation of the Indian civilisation.
* The best way to strengthen a nation is to strengthen its culture.
* So the best way to strengthen India is to strengthen Hinduism.

Swami Vivekananda at Chicago

11 September 1893, Chicago - The World Parliament of Religions:

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us.

I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world.

I thank you in the name of the mother of religions.

I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.

We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true.

I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.

It was not a speech. It was the roar of a lion.
The world would never see India the same way again.
Indians would never see themselves the same way again.

All because of one man.
Narendranath Dutta, aka Swami Vivekananda.

A proud representative of a 5000-year-old civilisation (India).
A proud representative of a 5000-year-old way of life (Hinduism).

Today, more than 115 years after that historic day, let us reaffirm our loyalty to our civilisation and our way of life.

The Hindutva Debate (contd)

In this month's poll, 9 readers/visitors have selected the option "I am first an Indian, then a Hindu".

Here is a question for these 9 people: What is there in you that is "Indian", but not Hindu?

You can comment on this post, or you can send your answer to me by e-mail.

Btw, nobody responded the last time I called for a debate on Hindutva.

A Brief History of Hindutva - 3

A Brief History of Hindutva

The trigger came in the form of a temple, in one of the holiest cities of the land. The temple had been destroyed almost 500 years ago to make way for a mosque. Now the people of the country wanted their temple back. The temple was important in itself, yes. But it was even more important as a symbol. A symbol of our great religion, civilisation and history. A symbol of the thousand years of barbarism inflicted upon us. A symbol of the need to end the nonsense called secularism and once again stand up as who we are.

What followed was a national movement of epic proportions – the greatest since the freedom struggle. The campaign for the temple created a new awakening. Indians started calling themselves by their true name: Hindus. No more apologising. No more feeling guilty or defensive for being the "majority community". We are Hindus. This is our country and our culture. And we will fight to take it back.

The movement created a tidal wave of nationalist fervour. The wave swept the nationalist political party, which had only 2 seats in a 545-strong Parliament, to power within just 15 years. The party may have lost later, and may be struggling today: with its own weaknesses and failings, and also with the division of Hindus by caste and language. But Hindu nationalism had taken a giant step, from which there was no going back.

A new threshold had been created, best illustrated by the temple/mosque question itself. The pulling down of the mosque was a violation of the rule of law, no doubt. But even the incident's most vehement critics were not proposing that the mosque be rebuilt. The debate had been taken to a new level.

A new spirit had dawned. Indians were now proud to be Hindus. An ancient truth was embraced: India is a Hindu nation, a Hindu rashtra. For a long time, this had been the chant of lonely voices in the wilderness. Now a sizeable section of the population accepted it. The people were finally beginning to call a spade a spade.

True, the journey has only just begun. There is still a long way to go. Hindutva is not yet the dominant ideology. But it is no longer a fringe ideology either. It is now one of the competing ideologies. Meanwhile the nationalist organisation continues its work – slowly, silently, but surely. It may take 10 years, 50 years or 100 years. But succeed we will. Victory shall be ours. Mother India shall once again sit on the throne she once adorned. Our Mother India – smiling, beautiful, radiant and glorious – giving light to the world and hope to mankind. It is only a matter of time.

(Concluded)

A Brief History of Hindutva - 2

A Brief History of Hindutva

When Gandhi became the supreme leader of the freedom struggle, it should have meant the triumph of Hindu nationalism. For he was a deeply religious Hindu, proud of his country's ancient heritage. But it was not to be. For some reasons, Gandhi did not have the confidence to make Hindu-ness, or Hindutva, the basis of Indian nationalism. The ideological vacuum was filled by Nehru (Gandhi's closest follower and chosen heir) with his secularism and socialism. It was left to a doctor from Nagpur to found an organisation that would keep alive the flame of true Indian nationalism. Hindutva, which should have been the dominant, mainstream ideology was instead marginalised and banished to the fringes.

In 1947, after half a century of struggle, India became free. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last! But the moment was bitter-sweet. Along with the joy came shock, horror and anguish. Mother India, our beautiful Mother India, was torn apart. Her right and left arms were chopped off from her body. Meanwhile the Congress became the dominant political party of independent India. It had disregarded the advice of its patron saint to disband itself. Enjoying a virtual hegemony, it imposed Nehru's secularism and socialism on the nation.

The nationalist organisation meanwhile soldiered on, now led by a zoologist-turned-sanyasi. In 1949, Nehru signed a pact with Pakistan agreeing to set up a "Minority Commission" and guaranteeing "minority rights" in the country. This shocking compromise with the nation's sovereignty, unity and integrity was the trigger for the birth of a nationalist political party, which had the blessings of the sanyasi.

For the next four decades the Congress ruled the country, implementing its "secularism", which in practice meant:
– Dividing the country into "majority" and "minority" communities, instead of uniting the country as one.
– Giving special rights to minorities, instead of giving equal rights to all citizens regardless of religion.
– Turning a blind eye to minority communalism, while branding any talk of majority welfare as "fascism".
– Creating and nurturing minority vote banks, while doing nothing to solve their genuine problems.
– Appeasing minority fundamentalists, and creating a separatist mindset in the minds of the minority.

During the freedom struggle and at the time of Independence, Indians had not embraced their identity as Hindus, preferring Nehru's secularism instead. Gradually they realised that something was seriously wrong with this "secularism", that this country was on the wrong track, and that they were being made fools of. As the cynicism and manipulations of the rulers continued unabated, the country started boiling beneath the surface. A correction became overdue. All that was needed was a trigger.

A Brief History of Hindutva - 1

A Brief History of Hindutva

For almost the whole of the second millennium, India was invaded, conquered and ruled by people from other lands – the Turks, Mughals and British – who brought with them their violence and intolerance. During this period India, and her soul – Hinduism, was bruised, battered and broken. Indians were subjected to a thousand years of atrocities, massacres, persecution and oppression. The result was they forgot their true greatness, their true history and their true identity. In short, they forgot who they were. Indian society limped along, barely surviving and holding on to its traditions. Then, in the 19th century, when the night seemed to be at its darkest, an awakening began. Seers appeared, telling Indians who they really were and reminding them of their true genius. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Dayanand Saraswati were the pioneers. They were followed by Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo Ghosh. They all said the same thing. Their message was very simple:

"We are Hindus. Ours is the oldest surviving civilisation on earth. Our way of life is 5000 years old. For almost 4000 years, Hindu civilisation was the greatest civilisation in the world – having attained the heights of both material prosperity and spiritual progress. But we didn't keep our wealth to ourselves; we shared it with the world. We gave the world our knowledge and culture. We gave the world our philosophy, science, mathematics, art and literature. We gave the world lofty thoughts and noble ideals. For centuries this sacred land, Mother India, was the light of the world. But now she is in chains. And you, her children, have forgotten your true nature. Arise, o lions! You are descendants of gods and goddesses, sages and saints, kings and warriors. Arise, free your Motherland! Rediscover your true spirit and lost genius. Take your Mother to the heights of glory she once commanded. And be the shining light to the world that you always were. This is your role, this is your duty, this is your destiny."

Indians woke up and heeded the call. But the awakening was partial. The people did start fighting for their country's freedom. But the other half of the message – the message of Hindu nationalism – was ignored by the leaders of the freedom struggle. They were city-bred lawyers, products of the British education system. They were Macaulay's children: "a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and intellect". They didn't want to have anything to do with the word "Hindu". Only one leader, Tilak, embraced Hindu nationalism.

Debating Hindutva

3 Indian Take readers have voted that Hindutva is a communal ideology in this month's poll. I invite these 3 readers (and others also) to send me any questions/doubts/queries they have about Hindutva. If you don't have any questions you can jot down your points on "Why Hindutva is a communal ideology" and send them to me. You can either e-mail me or put them up as comments to this post. If you don't want to reveal your name you can put up anonymous comments.

I will try to answer the questions and criticisms to the best of my ability. I want this blog to be a forum for discussing and debating Hindutva; I don't want it to become a one-way street.

The Hindu Phenomenon

I recently came across this remarkable book called "The Hindu Phenomenon" by Girilal Jain. Girilal Jain was the editor of the Times of India during 1978-88. Surprisingly he was a supporter of Hindu nationalism. He was one of the few intellectuals who welcomed the Ayodhya movement of the late 1980s. "The Hindu Phenomenon", a collection of six of his essays, was published in 1993.

The work, though slightly disjointed in some places, is impressive. Ambitious in its scope, it tries to understand Hindu nationalism (a modern ideology) by placing it in the context of the last 1000 years of India's history. Throughout the book the author makes many loaded statements, without giving detailed facts and arguments to support them (possibly due to the posthumous nature of the work). Still, his conclusions are very insightful and offer a lot of food for thought. The breadth of the author's reading is also quite impressive.

History of Hindutva

Though Hindutva is a much-discussed subject, there is hardly any decent material on its history – either on the web or in print. The one exception seems to be Jyotirmaya Sharma's "Hindutva: Exploring the idea of Hindu nationalism" (an anti-Hindutva book; I have not yet read it).

Based on my limited reading, I feel Hindutva – and its evolution – can be best understood by studying the thinkers who shaped the ideology. These are:

1. Raja Rammohan Roy (1774-1833)
2. Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)
3. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894)
4. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
5. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
6. Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950)
7. Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)
8. Veer Savarkar (1883-1966)
9. Dr Hedgewar (1889-1940)
10. Guruji Golwalkar (1906-1973)