Actions for Hindus
When the student is ready, the teacher appears” — Chinese Proverb
Irrespective of who wins in Indian elections, Hindus seem to lose. Either they get a government that is antithetical to them or neglects their concerns. ?With this backdrop, the following institutional mechanisms are recommended.
1. Indian Commission for Protection of Hindus and Hinduism
It can be questioned why Hindus need a commission. However, the ground reality is that Hindus are the most vulnerable. They lack institutional support such as Churches, Mosques, and Gurdwaras which congregate masses. Other communities can quickly weaponize mobs and exhibit raw street power, along with a battery of lawyers on standby. It is also important to remind ourselves that Hindus are global minorities and seldom unite and assert when living abroad. Hindus need a commission for their protection, well-being, and welfare. The commission should have a charter not only in India but worldwide.
The Commission for Hindus and Hinduism should be more pervasive by recruiting and engaging with many volunteers, community organizations, and businesses and striving to unify Hindus over all fault lines and divisions. They should try to find pragmatic solutions to issues such as quotas that divide Hindus and conversions that deplete Hindus.? The commission should be proactive and build a vibrant ecosystem locally and globally. The commission can also connect with like-minded diaspora organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation and act as a counter to USCIRF globally. The commission should deplore iconoclasm and annihilation of civilizations which have happened the world over for centuries and raise a global campaign against it.
2. Hindu History of India and the World
Whether it is Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and South East Asia were Hindu or close to Vedic civilization at one point in time.? Now, all this history is relegated to the background and not even acknowledged in many countries.? The commonality between India and Europe is not limited to Indo-European Languages but spans deities, religious parables, culture, and civilization. Countries such as Peru in South America, refer to ancient linkages with Indian civilization. India made a huge contribution to the sciences, mathematics, and philosophies of the world, where due credits are yet to be given. There may be opportunities to revive the river of knowledge that has lost its way. Thus, publicizing and celebrating the Hindu History of India and the World should be a priority.
It is not just the positive history of Hindus that is understated but also their trials and tribulations under the evangelical onslaught and Islamic invasion. Stephen Knapp[2] and Arun Shourie[3] have documented this injustice comprehensively.
3. Securing India by Securing Hinduism
India can be secured only if Hinduism is secured. However, we did not learn any lessons from the Mopalla rebellion and allowed lacs of Hindus to get killed before, during, and after partition. India lacked a clear strategy to secure Hindus and Hinduism around the time of partition, then around the Bangladesh war, then in Punjab, Kashmir, and now most recently Bangladesh, when it was anticipated how people would react under certain situations.
Further, we allowed unhindered conversions of Hindus in North-East, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, and many other states. Now even Sikhs are targeted by Missionaries. Twin challenges of separatism and terrorism become a non-issue when Sanatana thrives and is protected. “Dhramo Rakshati Rakshitah”, the wisdom of our ancestors is very apt here. If you protect Dharma, Dharma will protect you.? Our failure to protect Dharma has meant genocide in Bangladesh and not even a year has passed in the last so many decades, where stones have not been pelting on a Hindu religious procession in one part of country or another. A sense of separatism pervades wherever Sanatana is given second-hand treatment. We only need to look at recent public statements in Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and some North-Eastern states.?? So-called minorities in India do not shed a tear for Hindu minorities whether in the Indian region or outside but expect all kinds of privileges for themselves. Hinduism is also targeted in the name of Social Justice, here even time-honoured rituals are interfered with, priests harassed and properties belonging to temples misappropriated. This is equally toxic and should be uprooted.? Only if we secure and strengthen Hinduism, can we secure India.
What we need is a moratorium on the religious conversion of Hindus for the next 2 millennia, by declaring all Sanatana religions as protected. ?The right to life of Hindus and the?right to practice their religion, customs, traditions, and rituals should be privileged over the?rights of other communities to convert Hindus and annihilate their civilization. Any talk about religion being a personal thing is just that. Religion is always a community affair and people get targeted just because they belong to a community.
In addition, a strong movement is needed for reconversion and new conversions into Hinduism. Democracy always loses against a determined demography. Rajiv Malhotra[1] explains how Buddhism created a positive image globally by converting people whereas Hindu Gurus who went overseas limited themselves to sharing their wisdom, thus neither durably benefitting the disciples nor Hinduism.
We should shake off our colonial legacy and connect directly with our heritage and roots.? West offers democracy as a solution for everything without understanding social structure and cultural environment. This failed in Afghanistan and fingers are crossed elsewhere. We should maintain an arms-length distance from the Western countries, their practices, and thought processes, which have put them only in despair and danger. Let us stop pretending that India is a British offspring born only in 1947 and start acknowledging the contribution of Hindu Kingdoms who have a rich legacy of their own.
4. Organization of Civilizational Nations and Regions
Islam has Organizations of Islamic Countries(OIC), UN Human Rights bodies, and so on which are vocal and act on behalf of the community. The Christians have countless NGO’s, USCIRF and so many bodies speak on their behalf. Jews have learned the act of surviving and thriving amidst sustained attacks. It is Hindu and other Sanatana religions do not bat for themselves, are fragmented and divided, and seek solutions in civic institutions, to no avail. It is important to form an Organization of Civilizational Nations and Regions that includes China, Tibet, Taiwan, Japan, India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Laos, South Korea, Mongolia, and any others with European Nations who miss their civilizational past as invitees. Also, a country such as Armenia that has seen sustained ethnic cleansing to recent times can be an invitee. Only then can we preserve these civilizations that have values to sustain and protect the environment and look at the whole universe as divine.
5. Article 356
Over the last decade, there were conditions in several states that justified imposing Article 356.? In West Bengal on several occasions, there was extreme violence against Hindus. In Tamil Nadu, Sanatana itself is attacked. Then there were killings and violence in Karnataka and Hindu activists were killed even under BJP Government.? The Home Ministry should have a clear escalation ladder and when the line is crossed, Article 356 should be exercised. There is no point in trumpeting about not imposing Article 356 when the people are suffering.?It is high time, the reservations about using article 356 are done away when there is a fit case to use. Ironically judiciary itself has found many fit cases and nudged the central government to act to no avail.
It also does not make sense not to use Article 356 when a Chief Minister is in Jail and the state has nobody to govern. Article 356 should again be used to ensure free and fair elections at least 6 months before when a state government machinery is heavily compromised.? It is high time the pendulum swings back and finds its balance.
Expecting people to vote out a bad Government and wait years for that is very na?ve. Firstly, a huge number of people suffer till that happens. That too if that happens. Secondly, democracy and Dharma are not always aligned. There are so many extraneous considerations when people vote. The people’s memories are short.? In essence, Dharma cannot be made to wait.?
When to apply article 356 should be spelled out in the law, as a matter of policy and strategy. It should be socialized such that people appreciate the rationale in any given case. The article should act both as a deterrent and a penal instrument. Attack on Sanatana, call for separatism, and irreparable economic damage should be good enough reasons to apply Article 356.
Home Ministry should have adequate mechanisms to intervene when people suffer due to partisan conduct. There should be clear rules for police officials and judiciary not to discriminate against Hindus. As things stand, there is a stark difference between a Hindu Case and a Muslim or Christian Case. Many activists are jailed without bail for 45 days or more for a Tweet. These things should stop.
Union territories should not be considered an inferior form of Government, compared to state governments. Any objective analysis would show that union territories are likely to be better governed than state governments. In particular, they are an ideal model to adopt when there are national security issues. Equally apt are non-partisan district development councils, where the focus is on development and prosperity for the district. Thus when a state continues to be misgoverned decade after decade and poses a threat to Hindus in particular or India at large, making it a union territory should be a legitimate option.
It is generally a best practice to have an upper house and probably it should be mandated in all states to get necessary checks and balances. Further when any community is only 3% and unlikely to have a voice in the house, a few reputed members should be nominated.
6. National Commission for Brahmins and Other Categories
To have a level playing field it is important to have a national commission for Brahmins and other categories, who are not covered by existing commissions. The essence of India is about the plurality of identities.? Politics is about the coalition of interests. This need is thus natural as well as overdue. We have seen how a reasonable move to hire a small number of officials by Lateral Entry was stonewalled by political parties. We have also seen how laws were made to have a?69% quota using technicalities and continue. When there was an attempt by the Central Government to give some semblance of justice to those who do not get reservations with the?Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) Quota, it is still being blocked by many state governments. Misuse of the?SC/ST act and many issues do not have vocal champions to balance the narrative. We have also seen how cricketers, CEOs, and anybody having pride in Brahmin heritage are targeted.? The attacks do not stop within the?boundaries of India. Brahmins are?targeted even in the?USA, with all kinds of motivated legislative proposals. Whether it is foreign media or Wikipedia, bias in coverage is evident. The Arab Times[4] article probably takes the cake: “There are conflicting reports on who destroyed the ancient campus. Some Indian historians believe that it was the Turko-Afghan military general Bakhtiyar Khilji during his conquest of northern India, while many Buddhist sources blame local Hindu Brahmins who they say were jealous of Buddhist dominance at that time.”
7. National Commission for Protection and Preservation of Cattle
Whenever there is talk of a Beef ban, there is a hue and cry that the Government cannot decide what one can eat. These cultural and religious taboos are not unique to India. The USA has banned horse meat, dog meat, and cat meat consumption. In Islamic Countries, pork is forbidden.? There is no reason why India cannot ban the consumption of beef, which includes cow, bull, and buffalo meat.? Even though there is a stronger case for protecting the Indian cow breed, the ban should cover all cattle to ensure ease of implementation. The commission can be a nodal agency to prevent the slaughter of cattle. They can help set up self-help Cattle-watch organizations, in different localities.
Rich temples such as Tirupati should maintain their own Goshalas and control the supply chain for ghee.?Greater involvement of temples in taking care of cattle will protect their lives. They can also provide refuge to the cattle as they get older. The Government can use cattle to promote natural farming and heritage farming. Once there is a prohibition, new ways to sustain cattle economically emerge. ?Bullock carts can be used instead of using Electric vehicles for short-haul transports. This can even happen in theme parks. For international tourists that itself is a novelty.
8. Sanatana Sacred Spaces Authority
For the Sanatana religions, there are a variety of sacred spaces. It can be a Puja room in a house. It can be a local temple. It can be a Kula Devata which attracts the progeny of that Kula(clan) from all over. It can be a temple worshipped by the whole community where people travel far and wide such as Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura, or one of the 12 sacred Jyothirlingas and so on. The idols and Mandaps that are temporarily erected say during the Ganesh Festival or Durga Puja are yet another. Kumbha Melas and Ardha Kumba Melas to Mahabhishekas spanning Hindu and Jain religions yet another sacred space. In addition, religious processions on the eve of a religious festival become a sacred space. All these sacred spaces should be preserved and protected from any kind of attack. One only needs to see the difficulties faced by Hindus in celebrating Durga Puja in Bangladesh.
There was a steady depletion of Sacred Spaces in North India during the?Islamic conquest. For example, many Northern Cities do not have any grand temples as most were destroyed and/or replaced by Mosques. There is a crying need to make up for this loss.
Under the Portuguese, the temples were replaced by Churches as happened in Goa Under the?British, temples came under greater control of the?Government. After independence, many temples continue to be controlled by State Governments. Some State Governments even interfered in rituals and denied ancestral rights to Archakas and some were even arrested. This British legacy needs to be stopped.
If we look at the issue using a civilizational prism, it is important to construct many more temples and temple economics can be a boon where education, art, dance, culture, trade, and crafts can flourish. The Government’s role should be of oversight and encouragement. Simultaneously they should ensure that no institution engages in corruption or compromises the national interest.
Some Governments try to interfere in temples with the pretext of social justice. This needs to be stopped. Empower each community to start their temples instead of forcing their way into any other temple. The temple concept is more nuanced in Hinduism and is very unlike any other religion. Even the same deity has very different manifestations in two different temples. The customs and traditions are ever-changing as well as eternal. The government should leave it to the communities and society to address mutual differences. This is preferred to taking a legalistic view. Let any change happen at the right pace and at the right time.
To address all the above concerns, we should set up an autonomous Sanatana Sacred space authority headed by persons of high repute and known for devotion to Sanatana Dharma, along with legal luminaries and sponsors. Here, the Government can be a facilitator, Sponsor, and catalyst keeping an arms-length distance. With this, it is hoped that the role of Governments will be minimized and political parties will no longer be able to target Sanatana religions.
Many temples are constructed on public land and can become targets of demolition. They also can cause inconvenience to the public if they block or constrain public roads or pathways. The Authority can provide the required space by evolving a mechanism that includes public-private partnerships to set up temples. They can bring together communities and businesses in establishing these sacred spaces. A temple should be considered a civilizational facility and there should be a process to allot appropriate land at reasonable rates..? A temple can support livelihoods, culture, and value systems. Any investment or revenue foregone will pay for itself. If there is tourism, the economic benefits can be all the more.
9. Sanatana Ministry
Sanatana is religion, philosophies (Darshnas), traditions, culture, history, and all kinds of knowledge spanning all disciplines including Sciences and Mathematics. Sanatana is a unique value system that can navigate global challenges far better. Sanatana is simultaneously a bottom-up/decentralized as well as top-down/centralized phenomenon. Sanatana means respect for nature, co-existence, and showing courage when needed.
Sanatana can counter divisive forces inside our country, harmonize conflicts globally, and lead them to reconciliation.? Generations of Indians need to be educated about the Sanatana ecosystem and value system. Sanatana can be a source of superior economics to capitalism or socialism. Sanatana can help find a balance between family and individual. With its Dharmic core, it can counter all kinds of deviant behavior that threatens civilizations and societies.
Increasingly Indians come under the influence of the Western value system because of education, using their platforms, consuming their content, goods, and services, interacting with media, working for their institutions, etc. We accept so-called good things such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, LGBTQ, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), inequality rhetoric or individualism, and gender as individual choices instead of nature’s choice, uncritically. In such situations, we need a Sanatana value system that can act as a bulwark against extreme or deviant behavior as well as counter its irreversible impact on our society.
Thus, establishing a separate Ministry with the charter of promoting Sanatana locally and globally can do a world of good.
?10. Prohibition of Violence against Hindus and Hinduism Act
There are repeated instances where Hindus are targeted for just being Hindus. ?There also could be a disproportionate response to minor altercations or people/property becoming collateral victims. This happens due to adverse demography or when there is a permissive/incompetent regime. ??In such cases, ?the routine laws will not be effective. Stronger targeted laws that acknowledge the problem are needed. There are laws to prevent violence against advocates for example, who are much better equipped with legal knowledge. Thus, a common Hindu lacking agency and funding that other religions have amply needs this protection all the more. In particular, when there is a pattern of violence this law should equip the state to take whatever actions are needed to clean up the neighborhoods and restore a sense of safety in Hindus, including training/equipping them for self-defense. Further, the ecosystem that encourages, facilitates, and equips people for violence should also be tackled. When there are targeted laws, it is also easy to get statistics, otherwise the incidents get lost in routine law and order crimes.
11. Protecting Hindu Voices, Workers, Activists and Leaders
Even though people take a lot of pride in a liberal constitution, there has been significant backsliding of free speech in the last few years, especially for Hindu voices of workers, activities, leaders, and common people. The state governments are taking coercive actions against common people for a tweet. In contrast, the powerful political leaders roam freely even after making the most egregious statements against Sanatana Dharma. Even expressing truth can lead to all kinds of threats.?The courts also have different yardsticks for Hindus. ?Even judges who by chance blurt out the?truth are forced to retract. ?The political parties also sideline leaders who bluntly speak the truth. Nupur Sharma's episode is too well-known.
There should be a comprehensive review of media and social media together. Media also indulges in a?lot of manipulation.?Let there be accountability for platforms to not spread offensive Tweets/posts. However, this should not happen selectively. Let conversations in closed groups be protected except in rare cases. Let there be pragmatic policy to protect free speech.
12. Support versus Approval
They say half-knowledge is dangerous. For decades, we have been taught “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma” as a?key tenet of Hinduism. However, the whole lesson is “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma, Dharma Himsa Tataiva Cha”. For righteous cause, violence is equally apt.? No community can consist only of saintly, peace-loving, and law-abiding people and survive an onslaught of another that believes in contrarian values. Thus, Hindus need, among them, who can fight for them and protect them. In the process, laws may be broken and violence may happen. ?Even those who do not approve of?all actions, still need to support all those who act on behalf of the?community with no personal agendas. Support however does not mean approval. Support to get the best legal defense, support to their family members, and support to uphold truth, however unpalatable and?politically incorrect may it be. Then support should extend to look at systemic issues and root causes and take corrective/preventive actions. The lawyers who can work on systemic issues need to be well supported by the community.
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One may ask, what about the?police? Any police setup is typically designed with the assumption that a small section is criminally motivated. They quickly come a cropper, when these limits are exceeded manifold.
13. Legal Blitzkrieg
There are a?huge number of laws, articles of the?constitution, administrative actions, and wanton acts of appeasement that have discriminated against Hindus in India, big time. It is high time a reset is done with a Legal Blitzkrieg. Some such as Government control of temples are a British legacy and continue to date. The so-called Hindu Personal law should have been a common civil code.? There is nothing particularly Hindu about it. Things like undivided family are societal norms. Then there is Article 25 which has a?‘propagate’ word in it that gets interpreted as ‘convert’. Article 30 instead of calling out minorities should address communities (which could be castes, social groups as well) small and big and give them equal rights. Let all communities be able to run their educational systems on equal terms.
The Places of Worship Act is outright unjust and temples should be restorable. The right to restitution can not be denied. Restitution is not revenge. So it is a case of righting a wrong and not doing a second wrong when the temple gets restored to the deity.
The?Wakf Act is already being studied for amendment.? Then there are all kinds of appeasement such as outright transfer of properties to Wakf board, treating publicly funded institutions as minority institutions, and?considering all Muslims as OBC some of which happen covertly and against existing laws.? The Right to Education Act discriminated against Hindu institutions and led many of them to close. Administrations compete with each other to fund Haj Houses while they neglect temples.
Then there were reportedly tax exemptions for the?income of Nuns against statute which is being examined by the?judiciary. In general, all kinds of appeasement should stop. ?There are?possibly many more articles of the?constitution, laws, and acts, administrative actions that have been taken for decades motivated by vote bank politics and mistaken ideologies divorced from ground reality. A systematic study should be done and corrective measures be taken. Even in the?civic sphere, there is an atmosphere of fear among Hindus to complain even where their complaint is genuine.
The overall regime of quotas that is used to divide Hindus should be looked at. Here the judiciary has also failed as argued by Arun Shourie[5]. The judiciary should have been the protector as political parties are too eager to appease different sections. The quotas were initially started to provide social acceptability to castes that were traditionally doing humbler professions i.e. SC/STs that too with a limited time horizon. Then it got expanded to all kinds of castes and categories and kept getting extended decade after decade. The assumption that only Brahmins got an?education was well refuted in Dharampal’s classic “Beautiful Tree”. Dhrampal studied the?state of education in 1700 to 1900 in India, before the?British came, by delving into British records. Here all castes including girl children got an?education based on their needs in large numbers in India which was even more than in?Britain where there was only practice of Sunday schools for commoners run by Churches during 1700s.
Finally, the laws should protect the?practice of Hinduism. There are thousands of streets, localities, and areas as well as districts(mini non-India's) within India where religious processions are attacked with planning as if Hindus are their enemies.? To make matters worse some state governments prohibit Hindu religious activities in the name of law and order.
No-Go areas now affect not only India but the U.K. and many countries in Europe. Killing of Hindu migrant workers in Jammu and Kashmir and the lack of a safe environment for Hindus to settle in any street to state is a matter of grave concern, that needs to be addressed. It is high time India reclaims whole of India.
Attacks on religious setup and desecration of idols due to extreme intolerance towards the?Hindu religion should not be tolerated. We also should put an end to endless attempts to convert Hindus by every means possible. We have seen that the global community was pretty much mute about attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. It is high time we do what is right for us.
So also attacks on Indian Railways which can cause death and destruction should be stopped in a planned manner by looking at the underlying phenomena rather?than just checking on individual incidents.
14. New Preamble
Coming to the?current preamble in the Indian Constitution, it is not an understatement to say that two words have done the maximum disservice to Hindus and Hinduism and they are secularism and socialism. Let us move beyond the current preamble and see what we are truly losing by not having a new home-grown (Desi) preamble.
Even though we celebrate Independence Day on August 15th, assuming India became independent on the?same day in 1947 It had just become a dominion then. Thus, becoming independent is a journey rather than a milestone we pass. This process however is still ongoing. ?We have now BNS (Bharatiya Nyay Samhita) instead of the?Indian penal code. We can count many more small and big steps. However, what can give a force multiplier is to choose a constitutional preamble that connects with the soul of our civilization. ?We should adopt “Sanatana” and “Swatantra” as two guiding lights. Here we accept pluralism as well as liberalism with a spirit of live and let live. Then the role of Government and Society needs to be completely reworked so that every individual, family, community, business, enterprise, and institution, people's representative, civic body, district development council has agency while serving larger interests.
15. New Vocabulary
It is important to reckon that the?assumptions, beliefs, and vocabularies we have uncritically accepted as given and good, are either irrelevant or harmful to us. Thus, it is important to introspect and start using new vocabulary which in turn will reshape our assumptions and beliefs.
Secularism->Sanatana
Minority->Community
South Asia->India, Indian Sub-Continent, Indic Region, Greater India
Racism->Targeting Hindus
Happy->Shubh
Sarva Dharma Samabhava->Mutual Respect and Reciprocity between religions
Sabka Saath->Justice to Hindus
A few more are below:
Good morning, afternoon,…->Indian Greetings
Caste -> Varna, Jati, Kula, and Kutumba as applicable.
Discrimination->Differentiation and Preference (not about good or bad or value judgment – just different)
Inclusion -> Empowerment
Human Rights -> Universal Rights of living and nature
Social Justice->Natural Justice
Civic Values->Civilizational Values
Constitutional Rights-> Justice, Truth, and Dharma
?Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-> Truth, Honesty and Enterprise
ESG -> Respect Mother Earth and live and let live.
Democracy->Dharma
Inequality->Dharmic Deficit
Unconditional Rights->Rights to perform duties; Rights with a purpose.
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