Are Hindus Dangerous?
Whenever
news about India make it to the local Nuremberg newspaper, my mother
reads them out to me on phone. Usually, those news portray India in a
poor light, like ‘people died from cold on the streets of Delhi’ or,
especially in the past year ever so often, ‘another gang rape’,
conveniently ignoring the gang rapes on home turf. During recent months,
however, one term clearly dominates the western media, and going by the
language used, it seems to be the most dangerous and heinous trait that
any Indian could have, and that needs to be condemned by one and all.
The term is “Hindu fundamentalist”. And the prime ministerial
candidate Narendra Modi, who is considered the frontrunner in the
elections, is said to be one.
“A racist is India’s hope – Hindu fundamentalist Modi could win the election” my mother read out to me on 4thof
April.
Another article in the same paper, sourced from the German press
agency (dpa) read “A man splits India”. In it, too “Hindu
fundamentalism” was stressed and the RSS even being compared to Nazi
ideology. English newspapers, too, paint ‘Hindu fundamentalist’ Narendra
Modi as highly dangerous for India and the world.
And leading from the
front, the Indian mainstream media freely label any Hindu organizations
as ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘communal’ since years and leave no doubt that
the secular fabric of Indian democracy will be endangered if this ‘Hindu
fundamentalist’ comes to power.
The
relentless media campaign shows already results worldwide. On my last
visit to Germany, a woman sitting next to me in a bus asked, “What about
the Hindu fundamentalists?” when she came to know that I live in India.
I told her that the fear of Hindu fundamentalists is unfounded. In
fact, I am in India precisely because I treasure the fundamentals of Hinduism.
I
am sure that most left liberal ‘intellectuals’ in India and abroad will
come down heavily on me if they hear me say that. There is so much
shouting in TV debates and living rooms that one cannot get down to the
basics and ask simple questions. To be fair to Hindus, such questions
need to be answered by those who malign Hindus in general and Narendra
Modi in particular.
One
question for example is: what makes Narendra Modi a Hindu
fundamentalist?
Is it the fact that he acknowledges that he is a Hindu?
Or is it the allegation that he did not do anything to stop the rioting
in his state in 2002? This allegation has been proven wrong in spite of
intense scrutiny and the explicit desire to find him guilty. Yet let’s
for a moment suppose the allegation were true and he really would have
encouraged killing of Muslims as revenge for the killing of Hindus in
the train burning. In that case, he would indeed deserve severest
punishment, but it would not make him a Hindu fundamentalist.
Let
me explain: the basic philosophy of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma, as it
was originally called is in a nutshell: this visible universe, including
our persons, is divine. Everything is permeated by the same divine
essence which is called by many names. Hindus do not, unlike Christians
and Muslims, divide humanity into those who are chosen by God and those
who are eternally damned. Hindus are those rare human beings whose
dharma requires them to regard all as brothers and sisters. Their dharma
requires them further to respect nature and not to harm unnecessarily
any living being. Hindu children are not taught to look down on
those who are not Hindus, unlike children of the dogmatic religions who
are taught that their God does not love those others unless they
officially join their ‘true’ religions. Hindus are also comparatively
kinder to animals. The great bulk of vegetarians worldwide are Hindus.
Strangely, this fact is hardly ever acknowledged; nor is acknowledged
that Hindus never fought crusades or jihads to establish their religion
in foreign lands. On the contrary, since over thousand years Hindus were
at the receiving end of such jihads and conversion campaigns and
millions of Hindus were killed in cold blood because they were Hindus.
Now
coming back to the media assault on Modi as a Hindu fundamentalist: Is
he called a Hindu fundamentalist because he openly says that he is a
Hindu?
Well, this would not be wrong, as he indeed seems to follow the
fundamentals of Hinduism. He seems to be a genuinely good human being
who wants to give his best to develop India and has the welfare of all
Indians in mind.
However,
though it is factually not wrong, it is at the same time very unfair by
the media to call Modi a Hindu fundamentalist, because the term
‘fundamentalist’ generally has a negative connotation when it comes to
other religions, and especially westerners are not knowledgeable enough
to distinguish between a Christian or Muslim fundamentalist on one side
and a Hindu fundamentalist on the other. If a Christian or Muslim
follows the fundamentals of his religions too strictly, it is generally
considered as bad for society as a whole. The reason is that such a
person will stress his superiority, as his holy book claims that only
his religion is true and therefore naturally superior to all other
religions. Such a person would see nothing wrong and even might feel it
is his duty to convert people of other religions by hook or crook, or,
if they don’t comply, despise or even kill them. One only needs to look
at history to see what havoc Christian and Muslim fundamentalists have
wrought all over the world. So it is no surprise that no European or
American politician is labeled as “Christian fundamentalist”, when he
simply confesses to be a Christian. Muslim politician, too, are not
called “Muslim fundamentalists”, even if they head an Islamic state.
What
most people however don’t know: there is no claim of superiority in
Hinduism. The reason is that it is not an unverifiable belief system
that has to be indoctrinated as the one and only truth, but it is open
to enquiry. Blind belief is not required. The fundamentals of Hinduism
are sound and conducive for a good character. It is actually good to
follow the fundamentals of Hinduism and see the one divine essence
everywhere in this visible universe.
“There
is talk about this God and that God. Our country is not like that. Here
we maintain Ishwar (God) is one. The paths to attain him are
different”, Modi said in an interview on April 12th, 2014
(Aap ki adalat), when a woman asked him whether Christians and their
churches will be safe under him. He assured his audience that the motto
of his party, in tune with the Constitution of India, is to treat all
different paths equally. Communal frenzy will not be allowed to retard
the growth of India, he added.
Modi’s
words deserve to be taken seriously. He has governed Gujarat with a
population of around 60 million for the last 12 years and no major
communal clash took place there after the riots of 2002, whereas many
riots happened elsewhere. Yet in those 12 years, Narendra Modi managed
to greatly develop Gujarat and make it the envy of other Indian states.
He proved that he is not corrupt and highly capable.
So
why is Narendra Modi relentlessly labeled as Hindu fundamentalist by
the world media, which knows fully well that this label will make him
look ‘bad’ in the eyes of the world? Could it be that the west is
actually afraid of an economically strong India and uses the bogey of
Hindu fundamentalism to beat Modi and India down?
Maybe
it is time for Hindus to tell the world to have a close look at the
fundamentals of Hinduism. They might actually want to adopt them.
By Maria Wirth
April 18, 2014 · by mariawirthblog · in Uncategorized
