Hindu Nation,
Hindu State and Hindutva
By Ram Puniyani
The debate and politics around
these terms keeps coming back to the forefront times and over again.
In the context of Gujarat elections and massive electoral victory of
BJP, some of these have been the subject matter of debate again. One
major point, which has come up in recent times is that RSS family wants
a Hindu Nation. It states that India is a Hindu Nation and that they
are not out for a Hindu state or a theocratic state based on Hinduism.
The other assertion has been around the term Hindutva, confusing it
at some level with religion and at other times stating that its latest
version Moditva is going to be the plank of BJP politics in times to
come. Moditva version of Hindutva goes on to assert that its main agenda
is to protect the Hindus from aggressive Muslims, who are allies by
Osama bin Laden and Miyan Musharf. Also at another level it is pointed
out that Hindutva is our cultural nationalism and that it believes in
secularism.
Too many terms, meanings
and assertions. Initially it was being said that we want a Hindu Rashtra,
nation, then it came to be said that we are Hindu Nation anyway. This
rigmarole was not the part of the discussions during the freedom struggle
neither were they the part of constituent assembly debates, as the thought
during that time revolved around the concept of India, India as a nation
in the making, India as a plural democratic republic where religion
will be the private matter of the individuals while the state will be
guided by the elected leaders and issues of this world (Bread, butter,
shelter etc.). It is with the rise of RSS parivar in the political arena
that these concepts are being imposed as a new politics, as a politics
derived from our glorious traditions.
It was Savarkar who articulated
the concept of Hindu Nation. As per him all those who are followers
of religions, which are Native, or National are Hindus. He put forward
the concept that all those who regard this land as their holy land and
fatherland are Hindus. Thus in the concept of Hindu all religions like
Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism are incorporated. While the major religions
to be left out are Islam and Christianity. Here in a way there is an
attempt to define the nationality of religions. Do religions have Nationality?
Religions born in one part of the worlds are popular and are followed
by people of different parts of the world. Can the religions be foreign
or native? How does one look at the Buddhists of Thailand or Shrilanka
who constitute the majority there? Is it that they believe in foreign
religion? How does one look at the Muslims scattered in over 50 countries,
is it that most of them following foreign religions? How does one look
at Hindu Diaspora in US, Canada and far off countries, do they need
to have subdued existence as they are having faith in a foreign religion?
This very concept of Nationality of religions holds no water, as religions
are Universal in their teachings and values. Even the religions, which
were local and national, have a universal reach today.
Today geographical use of
the term Hindu is invalid. No doubt Arabs coined the term for those
living on the eastern side of river Sindhu, but the terms keep changing
their meaning over a period of time and in due course the word Hindu
came to be used for many a religions which arose in this part of the
world. Again all the religions, which arose in this part, do not want
to be identified as Hindu religions. Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are
based on precepts, which are diametrically opposed to the concepts of
Brahmanism, which is the dominant tradition of Hinduism. By and large
Brahminism is identified as Hinduism. Sikhism has a liberal sprinkling
of precepts from Islam, which by no stretch of imagination can be incorporated
in any Hindutradition so to say. Buddhism is based on the abolition
of caste hierarchy, which is the foundation of Hinduism. It is precisely
for this reason that Shankarachrya took up his cudgels against Buddhism
and in due course the latter was socially and politically wiped out
from India. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism went on to reject the
Brahminical version of Hinduism and Ulema version of Islam to say that,
Na main Hindu na main Muslaman, (I am neither a Hindu nor a Muslim).
He traveled far and wide to ensure that wisdom of Hinduism and Islam
is imbibed and incorporated in Sikhism. Today Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains
will not like to be called as Hindus.
The Savarkar formulation
picked up by Golwalkar and RSS is invalid as far as different religious
streams in India are concerned. If we go on say that India is a Hindu
Rashtra, what does it mean? India emerged as a Nation state due to socio-political
changes during British rule. It has a lot of continuity from the earlier
times and many a changes (socio, economic, political) have made it Indian
Nation. Indian Nation is not based on any religion and this distinction
became very clear during freedom movement. During this period those
wanting Islamic Nation and those wanting Hindu Nation remained aloof
to the process of India in the making and also from the concept of Modern
Nation state. Surely majority of the people from this land rejected
the concept of Islamic Nation and Hindu Nation, but unfortunately due
to British machinations the partition tragedy shattered the concept
of Unified India. Initially the distinction between Hindu Nation and
Hindu State was not very clear. Now it is being asserted that either
we are a Hindu Nation already or we want a Hindu Nation. Both ways it
is a notion, which has to be rejected. The Savarkars definition is basically
faulty as it mixes up geography with religion. To begin with we have
never been a Hindu Nation. Savarkar and followers of Hindutva, assert
that India is a Hindu Rashtra from last five thousand years. Those who
took part in freedom struggle of India said that it is a Nation in the
making. Incidentally for Muslim communalists, Muslims are a Nation since
the arrival of Muhammad Bin Kisim in Sindh.
There have been different
religions flourishing in this country. People adopted and converted
all the possible religions. If holy deity, holy books, places of worship,
ethics and clergy can define religion, India has been having different
religions. Hindu word is definitely a religious category. As such the
boundaries of nation have been changing with the rules of Kings, kings
of different religions and sects have been ruling different parts of
the country and none of those kings symbolizes todays Nationalism, Nationalism
which evolved with freedom struggle. Also people have adopted different
religions by getting converted in to those, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam,
Christianity and Sikhism. So in what sense should we say that India
is a Hindu Rashtra? Why should we accept the RSS formulation that we
want a Hindu Rashtra here? On all the counts it needs to be rejected.
Hindutva as an ideology began
with the crystallization of the political agenda of the declining classes,
Jamindars (feudal lords), and Brahmanism. In response to the rising
classes political aspiration for a Modern, Industrial India based on
Liberty Equality and Fraternity, the old declining classes threw up
Hindutva, the concept of Hindu rashtra etc. In similar way Muslim elite
cam up with the idea of Islamic Nation state. Again it was Savarkar
who crystallized Hindutva into a political ideology. As per Savarkar
Hindutva is not just a religion but is a conglomerate of race (Aryan)
Language (Sanskrit), culture (Brahminical) and land (Indus to seas).
He states, Hindudom (Hindutva, added) is bound and marked out as a people
and a Nation by themselves not by the only ties of common culture, a
common language, a common history and essentially of a common fatherland
as well (Hindu Rashtra Darshan, p. 9, 1984) This Hindutva again was
competing with Islamism, Muslim communal Politics which wanted to base
its Nationhood on religion.
Muslim communal politics
and Hindu communal politics essentially agreed the Nation is based on
religious identity alone. While emerging Indian (India is a Nation in
the making) ideology, regarded this as the primary identity and religion
as the private matter. The Religion as primary identity was common to
both the communalists, in a way both these streams were for Two Nations,
though the implications of this were different for both of them Also
both these streams never took part in freedom struggle and concentrated
on spreading mistrust against the freedom struggle and spread hatred
against the people of other religion. Hindutva was thoroughly rejected
by all the Hindus who overwhelmingly took part in freedom movement.
Also the symbol of this movement, the tallest Hindu of current times,
Mahatma Gandhi, also rejected this notion of Hindutva. In a way one
can say Gandhi adopted the Hinduism of Saint tradition while Hindutva
is based on the elite Brahminical version of Hinduism.
Hindutva has been brought
to the forefront with the rise of upper caste-upper class reaction to
the social changes of caste and gender equality in the decades of 1980s.
Hindutva is also supposed to be Cultural Nationalism. Its culture is
fixed in space, time and caste. It is the culture of upper caste, the
one resorting to Ram Gita and Acharyas. The one having Vedas, Sanskrit
(Language of Gods, Devbhashsa) and is wrapped in the new label to perpetuate
caste and gender hierarchy. It is not the culture of Dalits, Bahujan,
and Adivasis. It has no place for Charvak, essence of saint traditions
and the changing life of the people. Peoples culture is an ever- changing
entity, it adopts with time and interaction with others. It has no orthodoxy.
It can also support social transformation. The culture of Hindutva on
the contrary is the one for halting the process of change so the conservative
notions are being culled out from Holy books, so the Indian constitution
is being denigrated and Acharyas and Mahants are being projected in
the public space.
The concept that secularism
is a part of Hindutva just demonstrates the level to which the proponents
of Hindutva can go to derive the political mileage. Actually we see
RSS family smearing Secularism with all the muck possible. Pseudo secularism
is the most popular abuse by now. The weaknesses of practice of Secularism
by Congress have been turned in to an abuse of the concept of secularism.
Also since till now the electoral democracy persists so the votes of
minorities also matter so far. And thus the formulation the Hidnutva
is liberal, and secularism is a part of it! Nothing can be farther from
truth. Secularism is basically a concept, which regards religion as
the private matter while Hindutva politics stands on the edifice of
Brahminical Hinduism itself!
The concept Hindu state in
a way is no different from the concept of Hindu Rashtra. As Hindu rashtra
itself is based on the elite culture and Brhaminical values, it does
tantamount to theocracy. Its superficial rejection by the proponents
of Hindu Rahstra and Hindutva does not mean much. As Hindu Nation itself
is the concept, which is a conceited way of putting forward the notion
of Hindu elites rule supported by theocracy, albeit in the modern garb.
And with Moditva, Hindutva has arrived at the last but one stage of
its barbaric worst, a stage prior to the one where gas chambers substitute
the trishuls and petrol bombs. As Govindacharya has pointed out there
is no difference between the Hindutva given in Goa musings of Vajpayee
and the one practiced by Modi in Gujarat. Though the language is different
the content is the same. In musings the Hindutva wears
velvet gloves, in Moditva the blood of the weaker section keeps dripping
from the claimants of the pride of a state (Gujarats Gaurav). But what
is the underlying theme? It is spreading of hatred against the minorities,
showing them as the threats. What is common is to create hysteria to
hide the basic and deeper issues of society, and to link up the internal
threat with the external threats, which in a way have no linkage.
(Author works for EKTA, Committee
for Communal Amity, Mumbai)