Hindutva: The Primacy of Culture
Sandhya Jain
15 February 2011
Great Britain, mother of Western colonialism whose footprints still deface the world, admits it cannot cope with citizen-adherents of a sister faith unless they accept the primacy of her Anglican Christian culture, while practicing their religion in private. In other words, national identity will be determined by the 'core values' and political concepts of western liberal democracy as upheld by the Anglican majority; lateral entrants from the Islamic world will not be allowed to challenge or disturb this system.
The British Prime Minister's confession that multiculturalism has 'failed' (The Telegraph, 5 Feb 2011) vindicates the Hindu concept of Hindutva, which asserts that India's natal, primordial and still living civilization must determine her national character. India has long suffered at the hands of Islamic and British-Christian invaders, and continues to be stifled by an elite comprised of soulless atheist-Marxists, hostile minorities, and fellow travellers, all of whom advance the power of the two millenarian trans-national faiths.
Today Britain, which welcomed Diaspora groups for use against ex-colonies, and hosted virulent Islamic doctrines in UK mosques for export elsewhere, finds the kitchen too hot. Western nations like Germany, The Netherlands, France, are also feeling uneasy with their Muslim populations.
Much of the West's economic and political domination in the era between and after the two World Wars derives from occupation of the land and resources of almost the entire Muslim world (read oil/gas). To facilitate this loot, an interesting trick was to covertly encourage radical clerics to oppose west-propped dictators who, in turn, would rely even more on the West to suppress their domestic enemies. The partition of India was wrought by offering its humiliated Muslim elites a 'soft' target – Hindu non-monotheists, but Pakistan could never become a viable nation and is even today dependent on US doles. Indeed, nowhere in the last two centuries has resurgent Islam won territory or political autonomy for Islam. The Shia Revolution in Iran, which deposed a hated American stooge, is probably the sole Islamic victory against the west; everywhere else it has been dismember-and-rule (or corner-neutralize), East Timor and Sudan being the most recent examples.
Despite political successes in containing Islam, Western nations have become nervous over rising Muslim populations and their failure or refusal to accept western values. Multi-culturalism was an attempt to cope by living in mental and cultural ghettos within a western polity. It failed because Muslims used their citizenship rights to try to alter the socio-cultural and political landscape; neither the established Church nor polity could accept this. This reinforced the mutual suspicions of Islam and Christianity, and has tacitly triggered the quest for totalitarian control by one or the other.
India's sanatana dharma is a religion and living civilization, inspired by the ideal of universal welfare of all beings, human and non-human. Dharma is not fixed in time or space, and eternally renews itself in response to the Age; it is always contemporary… Dharma respects all faiths, for it is not given to any human agency to arbitrate a final truth for mankind. Hindus believe the Vedas are the 'revealed' truth 'heard' by the Vedic rishis (Sruti). Yet that is no reason to impose them on the world by human regents. Hence, despite the belief in One Supreme Being (Parabrahma), non-monotheism is the hallmark of all Indic traditions. Our polity and innate secularism flow from this understanding; Aristotle noted centuries ago that Hindus were the only people to have successfully made dharma the basis of their public life.
This generous tradition made India the perfect refuge for all – the Parsi community fleeing persecution in Persia; the Dalai Lama and his followers; the now controversial Karmapa; the Bahai community... Christians and Muslims established beachheads here centuries ago; Jews believe they came after the destruction of the Second Temple of Solomon in AD 70. Our political culture is equally accommodative - the first cabinet of independent India included Maulana Azad and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Mother India regards her minorities as strands in a multi-strand civilization, who interact with each other at will. Traditionally, they automatically positioned themselves around the core culture based on her ancient and native traditions. They were not accorded inferior status, but they did not determine the nation's identity and ethos.
Post-independence India, however, has been forced to cope with trans-national Islam and Christianity, funded and mentored by foreign regimes and agencies to promote conversions and non-assimilation with Hindu culture, and demand political and economic sops to maintain a deliberately separate identity. The Christian community especially rages against all attempts to protect native culture and faith, particularly among vulnerable tribes, as an assault on freedom of religion. Despite explicit judgments of the Supreme Court, it repeats the canard that freedom of religion means freedom to convert others to Christianity!
A recent instance of Christian bigotry is the furore against the annual Maa Narmada Samajik Kumbh (Feb 10-12, Mandla district, MP), on grounds that it will bring converts back to Hindu dharma. Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur approached the high court, while Father Anand Muttungal asked Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan for security. Hindu sadhus serving tribals in remote areas are gunned down with sophisticated weapons, but merit no state protection; what a farce.
Now the West is cracking under the strain of living with Muslims who reject its values and force deferment of its cultural-civilizational framework. Mr David Cameron has honed in on the two issues that have long plagued Indian society and polity, viz., common citizenship based on a uniform civil code (now a concern of the Indian Supreme Court), and curtailment of the awesome powers of religious leaders.
Reflecting intelligence concerns about terrorists attacks on British soil (London never cared about attacks outside), Mr Cameron says the State will henceforth actively confront those who hold extremist views, and refuge engagement with and public funds to groups that fail to promote British values. Rejecting the idea that different communities may live according to their own values and traditions, he said immigrants will have to integrate, speak English, and all schools teach a common culture and curriculum.
Mr Cameron would realize that the pigeons raised in India have come to roost in Britain. He should move to end his country's funding of the Human Rights and Conversion industries, or watch them make Britain the next target of their rage.
The author is Editor. www.vijayvaani.com
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