Indian civilization is amalgamation of different cultures, it’s the melting pot in which the Persian, Islamic, Christian, Parsi, and Hindu tradition churn together to produce a poignant and colourful fabric of society. However, when you delve deeper into this enigma called India, we realize that the canvas supporting this colourful fabric of Indian society is Hinduism. This has always been the case since antiquity. There was shift of balance during the Islamic invasions of the subcontinent from the 12th century AD onwards resulting in torrents of brutality, loot, rape and plunder of the ancient civilization. After the dust had settled on this era of anarchy and unimaginable devastation on the polity an empire based on the superiority of tenants of Islam was erected on the edifice of gore and torture in the Indian heartland.
Though Mughal emperor like Akbar were wise enough to realize not push the cradle to the extent that it falls. The real and in a sense irreparable damage to the ethos of Bharat starting occurring with the British occupancy of India in the form of corporate loot of the worst kind from late 18th century and the its hangover in the aftermath of Indian independence in 1947.
In Post-independence in Nehruvian socialistic state the domination of the left liberal in the academia and intelligentsia and the so-called secular parties in the political scene has constantly fed this demon of adversarial relationship between the Hindus and the minorities particularly the Muslims. The rift and mistrust between the two communities whose seeds were sown during the partition continues to fester in the heartland of India because the regimes have failed to address the issues between the communities. The indulgence of pseudo secular policies be it shabano case related to triple talaq in 1980’s, granting special statue to the only Muslim majority state of Jammu Kashmir by virtue of the temporary article 370 or the prevarication of implementing the uniform civil code to the entire population irrespective of the has in fact been counterproductive and further alienating the youth of the Muslims making them feel entitled to different treatment.
In order to grasp this psychological phenomenon, we need to delve into this hypothetical scenario of naughty act committed by your child and his friend you would always be very strict with your own child however with the neighbour’s child, pun not intended you would be very restrained refrain from chiding them to same extent as your child as he is not part of your family. This is in fact the perverse psychology which forms the core pseudo secular politics and minority appeasement in India. If we open our eyes the result of this is easily visible across the landscape of India in the form of rampant ghettoization of minorities especially Muslims in the neo urban and rural centres of this country. For years we have been gloating on the Hindu Muslim bhai- bhai narrative whereas fanning the fire of this divide by deeply divisive policies of the past regimes, it is clearly evident in the ghettoized nature of our housing, where a shroud has been very conveniently been put over our the deep fault lines that exist between the two communities.
Another rather illogical line of thought which has been driving the wedge in the crevices of our cultural edifice is the left liberal intelligentsia. Who seem to equate atheism with secularism? The rationale which has promulgated is that in order to prove my secular Hindu credential I must be in a sense be a non- practising atheist or agnostic. This in a sense is Bizarre logically and culturally for the Hindu who has an inherent tolerant belief system. This line of attack is being used sinisterly and cleverly to brainwash the youth and develop a sense of shame and condescension for its Indian traditions and cultural ikons.
One is left with no option but to attribute a sinister motive to this line of thinking by the left liberals. Case in point being a recent article by leading environmentalist Sunita Narain, environmentalist par excellence named as one of the most influential person in time Magazine due to work on climate change treaties advocating in a blog why India should not be vegetarian, though I respect her credentials as an environmentalist and from ecological perspective her arguments may well be rational she should have known that eating habits in India is a deeply religious spiritual and personal choice. Sunita a mind with very high IQ showed such a dearth of emotional intelligence and lack of empathy. I hope that Sunita Narain made such a statement out of naiveté that there is a section of Hindus Jains and Buddhists for whom it is very offensive and unintelligible to be advocating meat eating.
The left Liberal intellectuals know they can use similar kind of cheap shots to fight their battles with the far-right fringe but what they are not aware that it is this line of thinking which is further pushing the silent vernacular Hindu majority population in the hands of the fringe.
Ramjanambhoomi movement, Godhara carnage and the subsequent riots culminated in raising Narendra Modi to a pedestal of a Hindu icon. It can be argued that even the BJP was caught unaware of the enormity of this undercurrent of emotional exasperation of the majority community pent up for more than 1200 years. Modi is in a sense a creature of the circumstance or rather an idea whose time had come. The humble vernacular leader who is unapologetic at the same time confident in his non anglicized roots gives voice to the people long subdued by anglicized elite of this country.
In any event the inexorable tide of Hindu resurgence would have produced another phantom of a larger than life figure had it not been Narendra Modi. Modi is just a humble pawn which has been sprung to life by the forces and the pent-up emotions of years of Hindu neglect.
What we should be worried about is not Narendra Modi regime but the pent-up emotions of neglect, anger and apathy among the silent Hindu community who were left voiceless in their homeland with their indigenous traditions and cultural heritage being branded as archaic and often scoffed.
IF these issues are not addressed there is a possibility of this emotion being hijacked by a some other militant irrational neo Hindu force.
This might come true if the faultiness is just shoved under the carpet. In order to address these Faultline’s one must restore the idea of the Indian citizen being a “cultural Hindu” akin to the concept of a cultural Muslim as the identity perceived for the Turkish citizens or the way Indonesian or Malaysian citizens take pride in their rich Hindu heritage To further promote amity among the Hindu and Muslims, the Muslims leaders need to promote the appropriation of the Hindu symbols and tradition as part of the shared culture as heritage, this should not be seen as succumbing their faith or some sort surrender of tenants of Islam. For instance it can be scene that Hindus by in large are not averse to respecting even revering the icons of Sufi Islam like Amir Khusro, Hazrat Nizammudin etc.
India has arguably entered the golden age of cultural, economic and psychological a prosperity. It is essential to see Narendra Modi as the opportunity to mend the ties and repair the faultiness between the communities or else the next 25 years without reconciliation could lead to further feeling of indignation among the Hindu populace and there is no guarantee that the ikon they spring to life this time will be as humble ,wise and democratic as Narendra Modi.
