Terrorists In Saffron
By Swami Agnivesh
Indian Express
21 August, 2003
Hinduism, through which divine light first dawned on the Earth, is
being poisoned to death. Wearing the mask of Ram bhakti, vested
interests are misusing and exploiting Hindu religious sentiments. If
this trend is allowed to continue it is doubtful if, a few years from
now, Hinduism would be recognisable from other violent and vicious
ideologies like fascism and colonialism.Hindutva is Hinduism's internal enemy. In its origin and spirit,
Hindutva is an atheistical ideology. It derives its inspiration not
from Ram, Shiva or Krishna, but from Hitler and Mussolini. Hindutva
is pseudo-Hinduism. It can triumph only by hijacking and degrading
our religion.
The stormtroopers of Hindutva, of course, want to look like Hindus.
It is like terrorists wearing army uniforms while attacking an army
camp. Hindutva is essentially religious terrorism. Its language and
strategies belong to the world of terrorism, not religion or
spirituality. Bullying helpless people, murdering innocent women and
children, intimidating dissent, committing rape, arson and loot are
what we expect from terrorists, not from religious people.Hijackers are thieves who pretend to be owners. They take charge of
something, not because they care for it, but because they want to
exchange it for money. A plane, for example, is hijacked not because
the hijackers love the plane. They will happily abandon the hijacked
plane, when their mercenary goal is attained. That was what the
Hindutva camp did four years ago. All hijackers plan their strategies
carefully. The same is true of the hijackers of Hinduism. Let us look
at some of them.One, no religion can be hijacked without taking religious icons
hostage. Ideologues of Hindutva have made Lord Ram a hostage to
communalism. In this process they degrade Lord Ram, who has stood for
millennia as a shining embodiment of justice, into a caricature of
cruelty and aggression. Millions among us were fooled into believing
that Lord Ram was sulking like a child because a temple was not built
for him where the Babri Masjid stood. The Hindutva version of Lord
Ram resembles Ravana. Only Ravana can rejoice over words of
aggression and strategies of deceit like what the Sangh Parivar
unleashed in Ayodhya. Hindutva has insulted and caricatured Lord Ram
more than any other external enemy of Hinduism. We must not allow
this to go on one day more.Two, turning gods into hostages demands that symbols associated with
them be taken over, modified and misused. Temple and trishul are two
instances of this. There is no mention of temples in the Vedas,
clearly indicting that in the Vedic vision God does not live in
structures of stone and lime, but in the hearts and minds of people.The Hindutva war dance for building a temple for Lord Ram is due to
its communal eagerness to take possession of Lord Ram. By building a
temple for Lord Ram — especially in an aggressive and pseudo-heroic
way — the likes of Pravin Togadia, Ashok Singhal and Giriraj Kishore
can project themselves as Ram's landlords. Ram, then, becomes their
tenant.That is an attractive prospect because the landlords of Ram can claim
greater religious authority than any other orthodox religious leader.
As of today, Togadia and Singhal conduct themselves as greater
religious authorities than all the Shankaracharyas put together.Yet another example is the hijacking of saffron: our cherished colour
of spirituality. Saffron is a symbol of the spirit of renunciation.
Hindutva has degraded saffron into the colour of murder and rape.
Worse than pseudo-Gandhians who cheapened khadi, sadhus who sold
themselves to the Hindutva camp have fouled saffron and destroyed its
symbolic meaning and sanctity.Three, yet another aspect of Hindutva's hijacking strategy is the
studied neglect of Hindu scriptures. The real proof that a person or
group is genuinely interested in Hinduism is the eagerness to
understand our scriptures and to uphold its spiritual mandate. The
Hindutva camp is marked by its total indifference to Hindu
scriptures. They do not respond to issues according to the light of
the Vedas, Upanishads or the gentle teachings of the Puranas and
Bhagavatam.Take the case of Narendra Modi. It was not according to the spirit of
Lord Ram, Lord Shiva or Lord Krishna, but according to the theory of
Isaac Newton that he responded to Godhra riots. L.K. Advani, not to
be left behind, recently explained his anxiety about alleged
numerical growth of minorities with a reference, not to Lord Ram on
whose name he rode to power, but to French philosopher Augustus
Comte. Hitler's Mein Kampf was the source of Guru Golwalker's
inspiration.Four, corrupting the culture of Hinduism is a key element in Hindutva
strategy. This is a serious thing, because more than any other
religion, Hinduism is a way of life. It is a distinct culture, marked
by politeness, hospitality, an intricate web of courtesies, values
and relationships. The sound and fury of Hindutva are in stark
contrast to all this. A young father, who is aware of this cultural
degradation inflicted upon us by Hindutva, said the other day that
whenever Togadia appeared speaking on the screen, he switched off the
TV. He did not want his three-year-old daughter to see his
performance and begin to speak like him!And there is this ardent devotee of the Vedanta in Chennai who said
the other day, ``If the Singhals and Togadias are the custodians of
Hinduism, it is time I converted to some other faith.'' But that is
not the solution. Rather than run away from a burning house, let us
put out the fire. We are obliged to shout from the rooftops: Hinduism
is a way of life and within that way of life there is no room for
communal riots, rape and roguish behaviour. Mercifully, today there
are growing signs that more and more Hindus are waking up to this
grave danger. The Hindu voice of protest against Hindutva has been
rising ever since the massive atrocities in Gujarat.Whatever else Hindutva is, it is not Hinduism. Communalism and
religious fundamentalism are signs of sickness; they flourish when
religions decay and fall into the lap of vested interests. Saving a
religious tradition from the corrupting stranglehold of communalists
is a greater and more urgent need than defending a religion from its
alleged external enemies.Hinduism stayed safe and steady despite every imaginable threat from
outsiders. But this is the first time it is facing an organised and
determined attack from within. When enemies put on the masks of
saviours, there is need to wake up and resist them.