As Nepalese want the Hindu Rashtra to return to the Himalayan kingdom, it is time Bharatiyas look to hit the reset button. Why Hindu Rashtra and why now? What is wrong in Bharat being a ‘secular’ nation? What difference will it make? Are some of the questions that might crop up in people’s mind. I’m going to put forth my honest view in this article explaining the harm caused by secularism to Hindu Dharma and Hindu Samaj and why it is important we need to reset this nation as a Hindu Rashtra.
The incomplete partition of 1947
The story begins with Bharat’s partition in 1947 which was not just incomplete but even arbitrary and totally illogical. Hindus suffered the most during the 1947 partition and continue to pay the price for the incomplete partition. The British having looted Bharat, decided to leave it with a permanent headache in the form of Islamic Pakistan (that Indira divided into two ensuring Hindus in the subcontinent have twice the headache, but that is another topic for another day). Brown sepoys Nehru and Gandhi were happy to oblige their English masters by being the subservient to their agenda. They refused to heed the sane advice of Veer Savarkar and Dr Ambedkar of a complete population exchange between the newly partitioned rashtra.
It is one thing to randomly cut up a country but quite another to let just one community to suffer. While the displaced Muslim population was given the Waqf board in India, displaced Hindus were left with literally nothing. Hindus who left everything behind in Pakistan were literally empty-handed whereas the land left behind by Muslims migrating to Pakistan was handed over to the Waqf board.
Apathy of politicians, Babudom, and judiciary
One can be excused for thinking that the above Letter to the Editor lamenting the plight of Hindus in Bharat is a recent one. However, it was written in the 1940s but the plight of Hindus continues to remain almost the same even today, thanks largely to the apathy and Muslim appeasement of the political class, and Babudom and judiciary’s Hinduphobia.
Politicians continue to trample upon Hindu interests while appeasing Muslims, a scene that has changed for the better since 2014. Since independence Congress and other governments had been on an Muslim appeasement overdrive. The Congress is accused of illegally settling Bangladeshis in the slums of Indian cities for votes, although nothing is on record but locals are well aware of this.
Even the BJP government prior to PM Modi (read the Vajpayee government) was largely secular. However, the saving grace was they never discriminated against Hindus. Even though a section of Hindus accuse PM Modi and BJP of not being ‘Hindu enough,’ we cannot overlook the fact that they have made the Hindu voice heard and the Hindu vote count. However, this is merely a start and Hindus have a long way to go in becoming a political force to reckon with.
Political class can be voted out if the people are not satisfied. However, Babudom is the bigger threat for Hindus along with the judiciary. We can neither vote them out nor hold them accountable. Besides being extremely arrogant, a majority of Babudom is also highly Hindudveshi (anti-Hindu/Hinduphobic). Be it Muslim IRS official Reshma Lakhani who tried to forcibly enter the Sri Jagannath Mandir or IAS official Ritika Jindal who apparently “taught lessons of equality to priests” by performing a havan at HP’s (Himachal Pradesh) Solan, a large section of Babudom suffers from a sense of entitlement.
As such the role of administrators (Babudom), including IAS officers, is not what they consider ‘social reform’, but to improve the governance and delivery of services to citizens. Many officers in recent years have taken it upon themselves to become celebrities and even have dedicated Public Relations teams. Babudom is the feudalism of today’s Bharat. It is unsuitable to the times, exploitative and has done more harm than good. Constitutional changes after independence might have changed the veneer of the civil service, but the spirit remains the same.
The judiciary is no different which is seen from its numerous anti-Hindu stance. The Ayodhya Ram Mandir verdict was an exception and probably the apex court had no choice as it was fought for the deity’s land rights. If the court cared for Hindu lives, it would not have rejected the petition seeking investigation into the killings and forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley triggered by Islamist violence. In a travesty of justice, the apex court refused to even hear the plea.
Today, while crores of cases are stuck in judicial logjam, our higher judiciary prioritizes petitions and issues that are considered important by a select few – mostly elite lawyers and self-appointed public intellectuals. Legal proceedings use an idiom and language that is unintelligible to the vast majority, and sections of judiciary seem more concerned with winning approval of their counterparts in the Anglosphere rather than adjudicating as per Bharat’s norms and needs.
Some judges seem to have taken on the civilizing mission mantle of the British colonizers. Hindus are discriminated against by denying them control of religious institutions and by repeated state and judicial interference in their Dharmic practices and traditions. Moreover, the collegium system introduced in 1993 has reduced the higher judiciary to an opaque left-liberal club. The judiciary needs to take a good hard look at the colonial hangover plaguing it.
The state of Bharatiya Samaj
A need for a proper Hindu Rashtra also stems from the state of Bharatiya samaj. Despite the fact that Hindu Dharma is accommodating, many Dharmic religious communities are also attempting to delink themselves from Hindu Dharma in their search for ‘exclusivity.’ Jainism and Buddhism distinguished themselves from the Vedic Dharma in ancient times. However, neo-Ambedkarism/neo-Buddhism preaches unreal hate for Hindus and Hindu Dharma. Neo-Buddhists often abuse Hindu Devis and Devatas and and Taliban-style breaking of Hindu murtis. It would not be wrong to say that Hinduphobia characterizes Neo-Ambedkarism/Neo-Buddhism.
This poison (Hinduphobia) is not so prominent in the Jain Samaj, although a miniscule section of the community seems to be heading that way. Parsis were sheltered by Hindus after they faced Islamic persecution. However, people like Justice Nariman don’t think twice before making disparaging comments degrading Hindu Dharma. The Abrahamic religions operate a well-organized conversion mafia aimed at bringing as many ‘kafirs’/’non-believers’ to the ‘true path’ and ‘save them’ from eternal health.
Even the Sikh society is plagued by the Khalistan virus that is extremely Hindudveshi. The biggest threat to Hindu Rashtra comes from HINOs (Hindus in Name Only). This is that section of the Hindu Samaj that swears by ‘liberalism’ (but is anything but that), dubs practicing Hindus as ‘communal’, suffers from wokeism, and hates everything traditional and Dharmic.
The fixes
All the above-mentioned problems call for a proper Hindu Rashtra. A true Hindu Rashtra is one where Hindus are more equal than others but followers of other religions aren’t discriminated against. Hindus have only got a raw deal for their tolerance thus far and the scene needs to change for the better. It cannot be emphasized enough that Bharat is the cradle of Hindu Dharma and the Hindu homeland.
The first thing that needs to be done to turn Bharat into a proper Hindu Rashtra is to thoroughly review and reform the constitution. The constitution is what is known as a Smriti Grantha in traditional Hindu parlance which is alterable and can even be discarded and replaced with another one to be in keeping with the times. After partition, not only was Bharat not declared a Hindu Rashtra but a hash job was made of the constitution. Instead of making it tailored to Bharat and its Dharma, bits and pieces were picked up from every foreign country whose culture is totally alien to Bharat.
A Hindu Rashtra is a Dharmic Rashtra where all Dharmic faiths are given a head-start with the major chunk of it being for Hindu Dharma. In a Hindu Rashtra, there is no place for disrespecting Hindu Devis and Devatas. Unlike Islamic nations with strict blasphemy laws, abusing Hindu deities is a free for all in Bharat. Moreover, Hindus are overburdened with duties with little to no corresponding rights and others piggybacking with all the rights and hardly any duties. We need a Hindu Rashtra to correct these wrongs.
Hindu Rashtra is not just a homeland of Hindus. It is a Rashtra that will be run on Dharmic principles and conform to the Hindu way of life where the four Purusharthas (Dharma, Arth, Kama, and Moksha) are the foundational pillars of the society. Repeatedly saying we already have a Hindu Rashtra won’t change the reality that the present secular democratic setup is a far cry from a proper Hindu Rashtra and is in fact highly discriminatory against Hindus.
What we have is a hotchpotch of confused identities with Hindus having numerical superiority on paper and a heavily anti-Hindu system. The reverse bias/anti-majoritarianism is so deep that Hindu rights are trampled upon including the right to manage their divine space. It is high time the secular democratic nation is reset to a proper Hindu Rashtra.
This article sincerely represents lamentations of faithful Hindus and come from the author’s heart. You have implied the solution as a “Hindu Rashtra” where:
1. Hindus are more equal than others.
2. All Dharmic faiths are given a head-start with the major chunk of it being for Hindu Dharma. ( So, I understand Shraman dharms too are part of faiths given head-start)
3. There is no place for disrespecting Hindu Devis and Devatas. (How is that enforced? Through blasphemy laws?)
4. The situation is corrected where Hindus are overburdened with duties with little to no corresponding rights and others piggybacking with all the rights and hardly any duties.
5. That will be run on Dharmic principles and conform to the Hindu way of life where the four Purusharthas (Dharma, Arth, Kama, and Moksha) are the foundational pillars of the society.
The primary question here is from whom are you demanding “Hindu Rashtra”? From current government, or from people or judiciary ?
If it is from people, than it is clear that faithful Hindus are clearly fighting for their dominance from HINOS, Shramans, Sikhs, Non-Dharmic followers. The article does not have any executive suggestion how that is even possible.
If it is from current government, than please understand that this government came to power because faithful Hindus, HINOS, Shramans, Sikhs did not vote exclusively along caste/community lines. But on the appeal of economic progress, trust for all.
But these people are also very fickle, so this government may not further narrow their appeal to just active faithful Hindus, who also are notoriously passive. When Congress created Waqf amendment to allow silent capture of a property by Muslim Waqf, but the aggrieved party whenever it comes to know, can only go to Muslim Waqf, not court of law, for redressal and must convince with clear ownership records, what the faithful Hindus did? Nothing. Can you goad these people to enact a Hindu Rashtra via activism?
Judiciary and non-BJP parties are basically Hinduphobic, the later viciously.
Vedic and Shramanic streams have fundamental differences in their core, that by definition keeps them distinct. The four Vedas are based on authority, both metaphysical and priestly. And para-Vedic stream is following four vedas. Shraman ideology core is Karm, Dhyan, Yog and all their Arihants, Tirthankars, Acharyas etc. are strictly humans, with karm being the sole driver. Core Shraman philosophy is older than Rigved which mentions some Tirthankars. And when Shravaks go to temple, they express their appreciation of Tirthankars for being beacon of Shraman ethics and not for bhakti (person worship) or to appeal to them or any authority for intercession. There are no priestly/pundit authority either.
Your classification of “Hindu” which otherises non-Vedic dharma is problematic. Not to mention the static, fossilized nature of your concept of deities. In Shraman dharms all Arihants, Buddhs etc. are from a particular time of history.
– Vedic (Four vedas based),
– para-Vedic (Vedic schools syncretised with Shramanic philosophies with concepts like Karm, Dhyan,Yog, Ahimsa, Aparigraha etc.),
– Shramanic,
– Sthanakwasi & Terapanthi ( Jain sects affected by Mohammadanism),
– Arya Samaji, Brahmo Samaji (Split from para-Vedic and affected by Mohammadanism),
– Sikhi (Split from para-Vedic and affected by Mohammadanism)
These all cannot be treated as not-Hindu.
We must address what the real issue is, and not strive for a particular group from our sundry dharm to be a majority or for a “Hindu Rashtra” as such.
I find this article very encouraging that someone will even promote these ideas. But this must continue. The greatest enemy among Hindus that I see is apathy. That itself will alow Hindu/Vedic culture to fade away without anyone making a stand to preserve it. The other thing is that Hindus need to be bold enough to make a stand for their rightful heritage, and Hindu organizations need to find unity. It is highly impressive when the Hindu community works together to preserve, protect, promote, to perpetuate their culture. And this work must expand and continue. And the more we talk about this, the more aware people become to the issues at hand.
Padma Shri Stephen Knapp
Thank.you for your kind words Stephen ji…it is a privilege to receive the endorsement of a scholar like yourself ????