The rise of the BJP poses as many questions as it answers and it is always interesting for political thinkers for they do get research material when these events happen. A look across the politics of the world suggests that in every major nation in the world the so called ‘Right-wingers’ have come to power. As much fear as it has generated in the leftist press there has also been an elation in the mood of the people in India. The people had lost their trust in the congress government and anyway you can only use Gandhi’s name so much. The Modi government in many areas of nation building has been a breath of fresh air,for even foreign delegates say there is no corruption these days and the beaurecracy is fucntions very smoothly. There have been attempts by the leftist press and the left leaning intellectuals to disturb the government fucntioning with certain movements for causes which in no way are new for the people of this country nor have they happened for the first time in India’s history. The only difference is that there is a government in power which talks about hindu rights too and that irks them.
The Hindu sangathan movement started somewhere around the 1920’s when the hindus in India were fighting against the British while the muslim leaders wanted to mobilise support for the Khilafat movement. Gandhi lent his full support for the Khilafat movement and it would prove detrimental to India’s unity in the future. The hindu sangathan movement was a movement that wanted to consolidate all Hindus to form a political force and give them a collective political identity. Unlike many others who denounce Hindutva (I was one of them too) I have actually read the 52 page essay written by Veer Savarkar in the Ratnagiri Jail. There is absolutely no crime in wanting to find your roots and actually tell your people who they are and what their origins are. It was this puruit of finding the collective identity combined with the current political situation which led Savarkar to write the essay. We need only discuss one point in the essay which is of importance here. Savarkar gives a general description of the history of the Sindhu river and the nuances associated with names and how different people can spell the same thing differently. There are accounts of Persians,Chinese and Romans calling us Hindus and historically against all invasions a collective resistance was offered by the people as if they were one nation-say Aurobindo and Savarkar. Savarkar defines a hindu as one whose fatherland is India and whose religion of birth is also India. This would mean that
jains,Buddhists,Sikhs and sanatanis all are Hindus. Then what is hinduism. It is the ‘ism’ of the hindu people and as contemporary understanding would have us believe it is the sanatan Dharmis.The Neo British understanding of the oneness and the collective identity of the people of India conflates it with Euroean worldview. Savarkar’s definition is a very accurate historical and politcal understanding of the hindu nation. The hindu movement at the outset was led by nastiks and these nastiks fought for the cultural and religious rights of the hindus. The British government in collusion with the congress had made some very stringent anti-Hindu laws similar to the ones made by Portugal in Goa (see the talk by shefali Vaidya on Goan inquisition) and so Savarkar and others thought to avert any future invasion and subordination of the Hindu people it was necessary to consolidate the hindus politically. Most of the people outside the Sangathan movement have not read nor do they want to read the essay ‘Essentials of Hindutva’. People have written research papers stating that it is a fascist religious movement which is at best laughable. The amount of scrutiny the hindu society has had to bear by the leftist press and the Marxist academia makes it is no surprise that the Hindu Sangathan movement has taken it’s current shape.
Savarkar himself was the harshest critic of hindu superstitions. He criticised the vedas,Puranas and many rituals and says hindus should adopt a utilitarian approach and mobilise towards scientific progress. A movement is what the movers make it and I concede that today it is not exactly what Savarkar,Shyam Prasad Mukerjee and others had in mind.
Finally I would like to urge everyone who hasn’t read the essay ‘essentials of Hindutva’ to read it and try and understand what Savarkar had written and the historical context as well as the political scene of India. It would come to the honest and inquiring mind that Savarkar was as secualr as they get and the hindu sangathan movement is only about the protection of the rights of the Hindu nation (there is a difference between nation and country) and it does not endorse the abuse of rights of any other community of India. One thing is certain that hindus who had gone to great lengths for Hindu muslim unity should not make the same mistake again and I would like reiterate that the other party should also shoulder half the responsibility and be ready to make concessions as the Hindus have for a greater unity in civil life. As for the Sangathan movement being anti secular -“ In India you can only have Dharma which will prevail and all other artificial contructs for the unity of the country will collapse and so is the fate of secularism. As Makarand Paranjape of JNU said ‘हमारे देश में लोग धर्म से अपेक्षा रखते है तो फिर हम धर्म निरपेक्ष कैसे हो सकते हैं |’
I am willing to carry the debate foward only if it is contructive and leads us to new solutions and ideas.
जय हिंद🇮🇳
The Hindu sangathan movement started somewhere around the 1920’s when the hindus in India were fighting against the British while the muslim leaders wanted to mobilise support for the Khilafat movement. Gandhi lent his full support for the Khilafat movement and it would prove detrimental to India’s unity in the future. The hindu sangathan movement was a movement that wanted to consolidate all Hindus to form a political force and give them a collective political identity. Unlike many others who denounce Hindutva (I was one of them too) I have actually read the 52 page essay written by Veer Savarkar in the Ratnagiri Jail. There is absolutely no crime in wanting to find your roots and actually tell your people who they are and what their origins are. It was this puruit of finding the collective identity combined with the current political situation which led Savarkar to write the essay. We need only discuss one point in the essay which is of importance here. Savarkar gives a general description of the history of the Sindhu river and the nuances associated with names and how different people can spell the same thing differently. There are accounts of Persians,Chinese and Romans calling us Hindus and historically against all invasions a collective resistance was offered by the people as if they were one nation-say Aurobindo and Savarkar. Savarkar defines a hindu as one whose fatherland is India and whose religion of birth is also India. This would mean that
jains,Buddhists,Sikhs and sanatanis all are Hindus. Then what is hinduism. It is the ‘ism’ of the hindu people and as contemporary understanding would have us believe it is the sanatan Dharmis.The Neo British understanding of the oneness and the collective identity of the people of India conflates it with Euroean worldview. Savarkar’s definition is a very accurate historical and politcal understanding of the hindu nation. The hindu movement at the outset was led by nastiks and these nastiks fought for the cultural and religious rights of the hindus. The British government in collusion with the congress had made some very stringent anti-Hindu laws similar to the ones made by Portugal in Goa (see the talk by shefali Vaidya on Goan inquisition) and so Savarkar and others thought to avert any future invasion and subordination of the Hindu people it was necessary to consolidate the hindus politically. Most of the people outside the Sangathan movement have not read nor do they want to read the essay ‘Essentials of Hindutva’. People have written research papers stating that it is a fascist religious movement which is at best laughable. The amount of scrutiny the hindu society has had to bear by the leftist press and the Marxist academia makes it is no surprise that the Hindu Sangathan movement has taken it’s current shape.
Savarkar himself was the harshest critic of hindu superstitions. He criticised the vedas,Puranas and many rituals and says hindus should adopt a utilitarian approach and mobilise towards scientific progress. A movement is what the movers make it and I concede that today it is not exactly what Savarkar,Shyam Prasad Mukerjee and others had in mind.
Finally I would like to urge everyone who hasn’t read the essay ‘essentials of Hindutva’ to read it and try and understand what Savarkar had written and the historical context as well as the political scene of India. It would come to the honest and inquiring mind that Savarkar was as secualr as they get and the hindu sangathan movement is only about the protection of the rights of the Hindu nation (there is a difference between nation and country) and it does not endorse the abuse of rights of any other community of India. One thing is certain that hindus who had gone to great lengths for Hindu muslim unity should not make the same mistake again and I would like reiterate that the other party should also shoulder half the responsibility and be ready to make concessions as the Hindus have for a greater unity in civil life. As for the Sangathan movement being anti secular -“ In India you can only have Dharma which will prevail and all other artificial contructs for the unity of the country will collapse and so is the fate of secularism. As Makarand Paranjape of JNU said ‘हमारे देश में लोग धर्म से अपेक्षा रखते है तो फिर हम धर्म निरपेक्ष कैसे हो सकते हैं |’
I am willing to carry the debate foward only if it is contructive and leads us to new solutions and ideas.
जय हिंद🇮🇳
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