“Hinduism, Hindutva, Partition of 1947 and the road ahead for India”

Hinduism is beautiful, you know why? Because you don’t have to follow a set of rules like other religions to be a Hindu. It is a tolerant belief. Exactly the reason why it led other beliefs flourish over the years on its land. Be it Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism or any other. But not Hindutva. Hindutva is the hijacked version of Hinduism. Like ISIS is to Islam. Clear enough?

Hinduism has six main schools of philosophy (Darshanas) of Hinduism (astika). Yes you read that right. It is a philosophy.

1)    Nyaya

The Nyaya school is based on the Nyaya Sutras, written by Aksapada Gautama in the 2nd Century B.C. Its methodology is based on a system of logic that has subsequently been adopted by the majority of the Indian schools. Its followers believe that obtaining valid knowledge (the four sources of which are perception, inference, comparison and testimony) is the only way to gain release from suffering. Nyaya developed several criteria by which the knowledge thus obtained was to be considered valid or invalid 

2)    Vaisheshika

The Vaisheshika school was founded by Kanada in the 6th Century B.C., and it is atomist and pluralist in nature. The basis of the school's philosophy is that all objects in the physical universe are reducible to a finite number of atoms, and Brahman is regarded as the fundamental force that causes consciousness in these atoms

3)    Samkhya

Samkhya is the oldest of the orthodox philosophical systems, and it postulates that everything in reality stems from purusha (self or soul or mind) and prakriti (matter, creative agency, energy).

4)    Yoga

The Yoga school, as expounded by Patanjali in his 2nd Century B.C. Yoga Sutras, accepts the Samkhya psychology and metaphysics, but is more theistic, with the addition of a divine entity to Samkhya's twenty-five elements of reality. The relatively brief Yoga Sutras are divided into eight ashtanga (limbs), reminiscent of Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path, the goal being to quiet one's mind and achieve kaivalya (solitariness or detachment).

5)    Purva Mimamsa

The main objective of the Purva Mimamsa school is to interpret and establish the authority of the Vedas. It requires unquestionable faith in the Vedas and the regular performance of the Vedic fire-sacrifices to sustain all the activity of the universe. Although in general the Mimamsa accept the logical and philosophical teachings of the other schools, they insist that salvation can only be attained by acting in accordance with the prescriptions of the Vedas. Purva Mimansa also questions the concept of god.

6)    Vedanta

The Vedanta, or Uttara Mimamsa, school concentrates on the philosophical teachings of the Upanishads (mystic or spiritual contemplations within the Vedas), rather than the Brahmanas (instructions for ritual and sacrifice). The Vedanta focus on meditation, self-discipline and spiritual connectivity, more than traditional ritualism. Due to the rather cryptic and poetic nature of the Vedanta sutras, the school separated into six sub-schools, each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own series of sub-commentaries: Advaita (the best-known, which holds that the soul and Brahman are one and the same), Visishtadvaita (which teaches that the Supreme Being has a definite form, name - Vishnu - and attributes), Dvaita (which espouses a belief in three separate realities: Vishnu, and eternal soul and matter), Dvaitadvaita (which holds that Brahman exists independently, while soul and matter are dependent), Shuddhadvaita (which believes that Krishna is the absolute form of Brahman) and Acintya Bheda Abheda (which combines monism and dualism by stating that the soul is both distinct and non-distinct from Krishna, or God).

People usually associate themselves with sects such as Vaishnavites or Shaivities or the believers/worshipers of Shakti.

330 million gods and goddesses in the Hindu faith, but you can still choose to not believe in any of them. Such is the beauty of this belief.

As mentioned in the Vedas, the god is unseen. Ekamevadvitiam (one without a second). And so, the Nirguna sect believes in this aspect of Hinduism quite religiously. They worship a formless god. Much like Christians and Muslims.

"He is never seen, but is the Seer; He is never heard, but is the Hearer; He is never thought of, but is the Thinker; He is never known, but knows all. There is no other seer than He, there is no other hearer than He, there is no other thinker than He, there is no other who knows than He. He is the Inner Controller - your own Self and immortal. Everything but He is perishable." (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad III.7.23)

We bow unto thee, O praana - who controls and governs the whole universe, just as the vital forces in the body control and govern the whole physical system, etc." Sama Veda

Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) on the other hand is the disastrous version of Hinduism. There was no sign of it until the first half of the 1920’s. In early 1920’s, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wrote the essentials of Hindutva. These essentials did more harm to Hinduism than anything else.

By 1925, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) was set up. The idea was that anyone who was different in their ideology was their enemy. Something that never existed in the 5000year old Hindu beliefs and practices.

Until the Hindutva principles were laid down, it wouldn't be wrong to say that there was no sign of Hindu-Muslim divide and the fight against the British government was for India’s freedom (Secular India).

After RSS, it became evident with us v/s them (them being the minority community or specifically the Muslims). 

Jinnah, who was considered as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim (even today) realized that this Hindu nationalism, as it was aggravating and rising wouldn’t be safe for Muslims and would harm the already little in number, Indian Muslims. It was then that he had proposed the idea of a separate state, Pakistan.

Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, both had initially opposed the idea of Jinnah which they claimed to be unhealthy on the part of India and not in compliance with his secular idea of the nation but soon by the end of 1940s accepted and realized the fact that the situation had deteriorated and a lot of things couldn’t be reversed.

It was G.K. Gokhale who in 1931 said ‘If India ever attains freedom, it would be because of Jinnah’.

Death of Indian liberals like G.K. Gokhale and others, fall of Khilafat movement and the rise of Hindu nationalism and its transformation of Congress, resignation of Jinnah in protest from the Imperial Legislative Council, the Home Rule League and the Congress, all lead to growing Hindu nationalism which finally led the creation of Pakistan. 

Jinnah who advocated Hindu-Muslim unity and was the first one to bring them together realized that the Muslims would be in constant fear and under the pressure of these Hindutva ideologists (as it was evident with the rise of Hindutva) and would be denied of their economic and political rights. He wanted a peaceful state for the Muslims, which lead to the creation of Pakistan. Jinnah advocating Pakistan was nothing but a salvage for Muslims, survival of Indian Muslims.

On the other hand, the British government, known for its divide and rule policy played a cavernous role. British very early realized that to rule India they have to crush its backbone which was the Hindu-Muslim unity. Their divide and rule policy worked beautifully.

Coming to Hindutva, it has the least to do with Hinduism, be it in terms of faith or a religion. It is more of a cultural badge of identity. It is mostly used for political mobilization.

Hinduism as mentioned above is a religion without fundamentals. It has no prophet, no church like organization, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship and no sacred book. It is to believe what your perception of it permits. Hindutva is a step to ‘semitise’ it, which would eventually lose the essence of Hinduism.

An amalgamation of various beliefs and numerous practices, Beef-eaters in Kerala and North East are Hindus which isn’t acceptable in the other provinces. Likewise, Brahmins in most parts of the country are vegetarians but the ones in Bengal and Bihar are non-vegetarians. Yajnavalkya even consumed the sacrificed beef, much the way Muslims do. Brahmins in Sanskrit are also referred to goghanas at places meaning one who eats beef.

Carvaka philosophy of the Hindu texts was explicitly atheist, and this was when people were blinded by superstitious beliefs.

After 70 years of Independence and BJP’s massive victory in 2014, once again this Hindutva ideology is seeping in slowly and steadily in the roots of ‘Secular India’. Banned in 1948 by Sardar Patel, this Hindutva ideology as promoted by RSS seems to be growing rapidly. Something that Gandhi as well as Nehru had feared back then. Something that lead to the division of India. Something which changed the perspective of Jinnah.

This can be evidently seen with the way government backed ‘gau-rakshaks’ and all the other fringe elements are on the rise since 2014. With my way or no way, Hindutva is yet again on the rise. In just 3 years, the RSS ideologue can be seen everywhere.

The red flag of Hanuman during Mahaviri Akharas in Patna, was replaced by the ‘saffron ones’ of Hindutva. 
Procession with swords and other lethal weapons were taken out in different parts of Bengal during Ram Navami. 
Children, women and men marched with these weapons. The streets and lanes of Kolkata, Birbhum, Burdwan, Nadia, Malda, Midnapore and Darjeeling reverberated with the slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Har Har Mahadev.

One may wonder, since when has Ram become a major figure in Bengal? Has Bengal given in for Hindu-nationalism and slogans in Hindi? How could Bengal allow slogans like "Na Durga, na Kali, keval Ram aur Bajrangbali"? The land of Durga is being asked to make way for Ram?
As scary as it may sound, Hindutva is trying to root itself in the age old religious traditions and convince Hindus that tri-color goes well with Saffron flag. The RSS stamp can be felt on all religious festivals and occasions. They are suggesting ways on how to be a ‘True Hindu’.

During the Onam celebrating, the RSS and the BJP tried to enthrone Vamana in place of Bali but couldn’t succeed. The situation all across India is alarming.

Savarkar’s paganism of 1920s spoke about a certain kind of nationalism to promote Hindutva, as a ‘way’ of life. Which never was. Let’s clear it. Hinduism is a philosophy which has ‘ways’ of life. Hinduism needs to be saved. Hinduism is in danger. India is in danger. Save Hinduism and India from this Hindutva or it would not only lose its thousands of years old uniqueness in just one go but also the ‘freedom’ which we have achieved with the sacrifices of not one, but hundreds of Indians. Save it. Cure it. Before we lose it.