HINDU or SINDHU
Exposure of the Bloodthirsty Hindutta of the
Sangh Paribar
Bharat Patankar
Let
us remember the brave warriors and heroes of our country:
Who were the chieftains of Bali's kingdom,
and the meritorious king Bali
who we recall at the second day of Diwali.
Why is it he is the warrior remembered with,
"Let troubles and sorrows go and the kingdom of Bali
come"?
The Aryabhats came and looted all, made the warriors
Why did Baman send Bali under the earth?
This is the question of Joti, a Mali….(from Mahatma Phule, Akhands)
Introduction
The
politics of "Hindutva’ have surged forward tremendously in the last ten
years. "Ram" and "Ramjanmabhoomi (the birth place of Ram) "
have become the core of this new link being forged between political power and
religion. While the Mullas and other Muslim fundamentalists are keeping the poor
Muslims in bondage, the Sangh paribar is trying to bring back the old Brahmanic
religion. The Hindutvavadis are the offspring of the capitalists who exploit
workers, agricultural labourers, peasants, women, adibasis, dahlits, nomads,
balutedars and tenants; they are trying to heighten casteist exploitation by
restoring the old brahmanic religion in a new form. Muslims have been made the
direct target of their bloodthirsty attack, while they spread poison to confuse
bahujans and dalits to trap them anew in a brahmanic religion. This makes it
necessary for poor Muslims and Hindus alike to rip off the veil of the Sangh
paribar.
In
this situation we will use the perspective of Phule to find a way out. We will
need the light of the thinking of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Gadge Maharaj, the
heritage of Charbak, Gautam Buddha, Mahabir, Basaveshwar and others. It is
necessary to rally around the trumpet of king Bali. There is a need to give a
framework to the ideology of dalit and bahujan men and women, drawing on
researchers like D.D. Kosambi. Jotiba had expressed the theme that human beings
must behave humanely towards one another. Even while ferociously opposing
brahmanic superstitions whenever showed blind hatred for those born as brahmans.
In his own words, The Aryas used caseteism to split the Mlecchas for their own
interests, Aryas were declared superior for all births and others throughout the
world inferior. They used religious differences for self-interest, looting the
shudras in the name of faith. There is no such differentiation among Christians
or Muslims. Do not respect religious or political differences, Behave truthfully
for the lord; keep Christians, Muslims, Mangs just as brahmans as brothers.
There is only one truth in the creator’s religion; but many quarrels: for
what?
With
such a perspective we confront the religious fanatics of the Sangh paribar who
aim to re-establish the old brahmanic religion. Jotiba stated that without
annihilating the exploitation of caste and religious-cultural oppression, the
nation or the "people together" will never come into existence. He
brought forward the role of equality in religions such as Buddhism and Islam,
while saluting dalit and bahujan elements in Hindu traditions. Cultural and
social traditions along with political and economic integration play a central
role in giving shape to the "people together" of any nation. But the
time has come to analyze a new the traditions of the majority of people in
India. If Bharatiya people are not to be trapped in the claws of religious
insanity, this search has to be done with a clear head. With this it will be
easy to rip apart the veils of the Hindutva of the Sangh paribar.
The
Oldest Heritage of Bharatiya Society: Hindu or Sindhu? Those Sanghists who call
themselves "Hindutvavadis" consider only the tradition of brahmanic
Hinduism to be theirs. But there is a difference of earth and sky between their
brahmanic Hindu tradition and the "Hindu" tradition of the entire
people. Even before the concept of "Hindu" came into existence there
was a great tradition of the Indian community, one that Indians can claim with
pride as theirs. This great tradition is that of Sindhu civilisation. According
to archeological evidence, the Sindhu civilization is the oldest one on the
Indian subcontinent. It was found not only in the environs of the river Sindhu,
but was spread even up to today’s Gujarat. It was an urban civilisation and
had achieved an agricultural-artisan and seafaring mode of production. It goes
back 5000 years, with dating fixed not only by archeological evidence but also
with the help of radiocarbon technology. Nearly 700 settlements from small
villages to cities have been unearthed so far. The script of the civilisation,
found on its seals, has not been deciphered. But there is still much to learn
from what has been discovered so far.
The
brahmanic Hindutvavadis claim the Vedas as the original books of the Hindus. The
Sindhu civilisation is prior to all of these Vedas. Contrary to the brahmanic
Hindutvavadis, those who paraded the Vedas as their own came from outside the
Indian subcontinent. They knew nothing of urban life. They were wandering
pastoralists, primitive tribes who knew nothing of settled agriculture or the
art of writing. These tribes destroyed the cities of the Sindhu civilisation.
They broke up the dams necessary for their agriculture. The Aryans were the
first outsiders known to history who attacked and looted the Indian people and
destroyed their homes and villages. The Rg Veda is the poetic ballad of the
victories and customs of these marauding barbarians! If, as the Hindutvavadis
say, the Vedas are the original and sacred books of the Hindu religion, then we
will have to admit that it was the people of the "Hindu" religion who
were the first foreign barbarians to attack the Indian people. And we will have
to say that the "Hindu" religion is not an Indian religion but a
religion of foreign marauders! One to two thousand years before conquerors of
such diverse religious and ethnic groups as the Greeks, Shakas, Muslims (Arabs,
Turks) or Christians set foot on the Indian subcontinent, these foreign Aryan
barbarians came to destroy our advanced civilisation. They did not stop at
destroying the places of worship of the Sindhu civilisation but laid waste whole
cities and villages. They also destroyed the agriculture based on advanced
technologies along with its irrigation system. The Hindutvavadis advise the
Indian people to take as their great religious book that book which sings the
praises of such terrible acts. How will the Indian poor who have no knowledge of
Sanskrit understand what this means? The Indian people understand the Hindu
religion according to their own language. The people’s Hindu religion and the
"Hindu" religion of the Hindutvavadis are different. The religion that
they call theirs is a religion that has attacked Indian culture and Indian
traditions.
Some
may ask, where is the proof of all this? There is of course irrefutable
archeological evidence for the existence of the cities and villages. But there
is also proof that Aryan invaders attacked this civilisation. Evidence is found
in the Rg Veda itself. The Rg Veda god and leader, Indra, is described as
"releaser of floods" and "destroyer of cities." There is no
mention of him or his followers as "builders of cities" or
"conquerors of cities." In this first Veda the Sanskrit word for
brick, ista, is never found. The description of Aryan settlements in this
period is simply as "village" (gram). Even in the later Vedas it seems
that bricks were used only for building a place for yagnas. The
"city-destroying" Aryans destroyed the cities of the Sindu
civilisation. Since they were nomadic pastoralists, rather than conquering and
living in them they smashed them and continued to wander. There is a specific
mention in the Rg Veda (6.27.5) of a war attacking and destroying a city called
"Hariyupiya" (Harappa). A pogrom of destroying and looting is clear
from numerous references. Those whose cities were looted were called "dasyu."
This later became the word "das" (defeated people). The people of the
Sindhu civilisation were made into slaves!
In
this connection, some people of the Sindhu civilisation known as "pani"
were mentioned with scorn. The meaning of the word is "merchant." In
destroying the urban settlements of the Sindhu civilisation, the Aryans also
naturally destroyed their agriculture and crafts and the trade based on these.
Some eight to nine hundred years after the Sindhu civilisation was destroyed new
cities began to come again into existence. When coins
began to be used again they were known as pana. Even today,
merchants are called vani in Marathi and bania in Hindi. The
Sindhu civilisation was smashed but not completely uprooted. When settled
agriculture and urban civilisation began to be generalised once again, Indian
civilisation developed on the foundation of the broken remnants of that
civilisation. It could not and did not develop on the basis of the Vedic verses.
Proof can also be found in the Rg Veda that the Aryans destroyed the
agricultural system of the Sindhu civilisation. Indra is often called the "liberator
of waters." Indra freed rivers from the clutches of Vrtra. The
meaning of vrtra is obstruction, barricade or bandh. There is also a specific
mention that "he removed the artificial
obstruction to rivers." The method of cultivation of the Sindhu
civilisation depended on this water. Their agriculture flourished on the
floodplains of rivers and on silt deposited by water spread over the fields.
Dams were built to spread this water over greater distances. This was the best
way of irrigating the land and making it cultivable in the low rainfall areas.
Since two early floods came from the seven rivers originating in the Himalayas,
two good crops every year could be taken on this basis. The Aryans destroyed
this method of cultivating the land. It was a deathblow to the Sindhu
civilisation.
In
brief, the claim of the Hindutvavadis that the Vedas are the ancient and sacred
books of the Indian culture or alternatively of the Hindu religion proves to be
a lie. These are books that the pastoral, nomadic, barbarian Aryan tribes
created to sing the praises of their victories. They are the oldest memorials of
the destruction of the Indian culture by "foreigners." It is the
Sindhu civilisation which is the ancient and original culture of the Indian
people.
Along
with the truth that the Rg Veda-parading Aryans were the first outside
barbarians attacking the Indian people is another strange truth. Those Sanghist
brahmani Hindutvavadis who call the Muslims outsiders were Aryans who came from
the Muslim-majority regions! This is the region of central Asia. The region from
today’s Iran to Afghanistan and further up to the Sindhu river was known as
"Arya Pradesh" by the world conqueror Alexander. It is not that
these Aryans wandered somewhere else and Muslims came from outside and
encroached on their land. These onetime Aryans became Muslims and became among
the many groups from outside who became Muslims and then came into India.
(Though most of today’s Indian Muslims come from the non Aryan Dravidian and
other groups). Yet those who claim the tradition of that Aryan religion call the
Muslim Aryans as "outside invaders" and vow to eradicate them! The
region of today’s Iran was previously known as Persia (about 486 BC). The
ruler of Persia at that time, Darius, was the first to have engravings on his
tomb, in which he said, "Persian, the son of a
Persian, Arya, the son of an Arya"! Isn’t it an irony that
those Sanghists who claim the heritage of the Aryans who were the first to
attack the Indian people and culture consider the original Aryas who did not
participate in the attack as alien?
The
Hindu Religion of the People and the Religion of the Hindutvavadis
The
English pronounced Mumbai as "Bombay" and this is the way Indians
write the name of the city even today. Similarly, the people who came over the
Khyber Pass and crossed the Sindhu river in the Indian subcontinent pronounced
the Sindhu as "Indus" or "Hindu" and based on this distorted
foreign pronunciation the Bharatiyas came to be known as "Indian" or
"Hindu." And then all of us living on the banks of the Ganga, Jamuna,
Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri etc. began to be known by the name of
"Hindus" or "Hindustanis." More accurately we should be
called "Sindhus" or "Sindhustanis." The majority of people
of India are of the Hindu (Sindhu) religion of the Baliraja tradition,
while the religion of those who call themselves Hindutvavadis is of the Baman
tradition. In this context a custom known in every home in Maharashtra and
brought to our attention by Mahatma Jotiba Phule is worth noting. It is a
tradition that the women of the house felicitate the men coming home from
"taking the gold of Dussera" with ida pida javo, balica rajya yevo,
"let sorrows and troubles go and the kingdom of Bali come." Only in
the homes of those who observe the brahmanic customs is there the humiliating
custom of breaking the statue of Bali to felicitate the entry of men.
Folk legends describe Bali Raja as a beneficent ruler behaving well with the
people, a hero struggling to give a life of equality and prosperity. In
contrast, without any errors of this king, without any tyrannous actions he is
called a "rakshasa" and the so-called avatar of Bishnu comes
forward as "Baman" to deceive and destroy him. This is
appropriate to the Hindutvavadis who praise the destroying of the Babri Masjid.
(It is important to remember here that the people of the Sindhu civilisation
were also described as rakshasas in the Rg Veda). The majority of the
Indian people observe the Hindu (Sindhu) religious tradition of Bali Raja, while
those who call themselves Hindutvavadis observe the Hindu religion of Baman!
The
majority Indian people of the Hindu (Sindhu) tradition have very many close and
important debotas (dieties). Examples of these in Maharashtra are such
gods as Jotiba, Vithoba, Khandoba etc. and goddesses such as Kalubai, Banaik,
Jokai, Ambabai. There is not a mention of these in the religious books that the
Hindutvavadis take as the main religious books of the Hindus. The devatas
followed by the majority of Hindus (Sindhus) do not have brahman priests and
have only an insignificant place in the religious books of the Hindutvavadis.
The main festivals of the majority, ghatastapana, Dassera, Nagpanchmi, Bendu or
Bailpola, Rangpanchmi, Holi etc. are also not in the religious books of the
Hindutvavadis. The original devata of Maharashtrian culture, Vithoba, is also
absent from their religious books! All these festivals and devatas are linked to
the laborious but creative agricultural life and livelihood of the majority of
Indian people. They have originated from that life. This bahujan religion has an
extremely close relation to the matricentric agricultural tradition of the
Sindhu civilisation.
There
is nothing of this in the Hindutvavadis religious books. Whatever there is
represents a snatching away of the independence of the bahujan Indians. It is a
way of keeping them in slavery. These books have proclaimed a religion that
closes off all women and over 95% of men from knowledge. They have given
instructions to treat women as animals. With the proclamation that toiling
people should be given the lowest status, that some among them should be made
untouchables and treated worse than animals, they have divided them and locked
them into the hierarchy of the caste system. Such religious books cannot
represent the Hindu (Sindhu) religion of the majority of Indians. The Brahmanic
religion, which makes the majority of people and all women into slaves and keeps
them in the night of ignorance, can only be beneficial to the Hindutvavadis. In
the rhetoric of making India a "Hindu nation" the intention seems to
be to implement such a religion once again. If it is not, they should clearly
renounce all such religious books. They should publicly criticise the teachings
in them.
Not
only this, they should condemn the actions in the Ramyana of killing Shambuk for
the crime (!) of tapascharya. They should condemn the injustice meted out to
Sita. They should agree that only Sita and Shambuk could be models for the
majority of Indian people. The majority of Indian people have followed another
"religious" practice. They have gone on discussing and criticising
whatever they considered to be errors in the mythologies. For example, the ovya
sung by "ignorant" women at work in our villages are critical of the
behavior of Ram to Sita. The people have regarded all the religions born out of
the Indian tradition as theirs. Buddhism, Jainism, Beerasaivism, Sikhism were
never regarded as alien. The reason is clear. These religions all opposed the
caste system. They opposed varna. Buddhism in fact waged a struggle against
regarding the majority of people as slaves. The reason for the spread of
Buddhism in India up to the time of Emperor Ashok was that the slave system was
overcome and the toiling people remained comparatively freer as independent
peasants and paid laborers. The Buddhist symbol of this emperor Ashok is today
on our national flag. The Brahmanic Hindutvavadis of the Sangh paribar have
started to oppose this symbol! The empire of Ashok, who accepted Buddhist
religion, extended over all of India. His symbol was in reality the symbol of
the liberation of the majority of Indian toiling people from the slavery of the
das system of the old brahmanic religion. The Sangh parivar does not want the
symbol of the first stage of our liberation. They want to impose again another
casteist slavery upon us along with capitalism.
In
the very period in which the bahujans and dalits of old days were becoming free
from the das system of slavery, the symptoms of the creation of the jati system
could be seen. In this context Gautam Buddha has clearly said, "Only
among nonhuman animals do differences such as jati exist, not among humans."
Buddha opposed the jati system at the time of its origin. This was the reason he
was attacked. Thousands were killed and their blood was spilled. This terrible
action was done by the brahmanic religion, which is hailed today by the Sangh
paribar. In every footpath in India and especially in Maharashtra there are
relics which prove we were Buddhists. Caves in the hills at Ajanta-Ellora, Karle,
Bhaje, Karad; hills at Naneghat, Nashik, the hill where Tukaram sang his abhangs
are among these. Our ancestors built these with their own hands. Those who
established the first state in Maharashtra and Andhra also, the Satavahanas,
supported both Buddhism and the Hindu (Sindhu) religion. Our Khandoba of Jejuri
was one such Satavahana. The Sangh family is playing a game to once again catch
the necks of the bahujans and dalits in their brahmanic noose.
They
are giving an invitation to turn away from the liberatory tradition and become a
slave again accepting the bloodthirsty tradition. The remedy to this is to tear
apart the veil over their plotting. The Sikh and Lingayat religions came forward
to achieve liberation from the caste system and defeat the brahmanic religion.
It is no accident that the abhangs of Namdev of the bhakti tradition which
opposed caste are in the "Guru Granthsaheb" of the Sikhs. The Lingayat
religion founded by Basaveshwar also aimed at this liberation. It was cause of
this that brahmans were enraged and murderously attacked him. In the abhangs of
Tukaram Maharaj of the Varkari religion of Maharashtra the oppostion to
brahmanic religion is clear. Not only this, but a sympathy is expressed for
Islam. Tukaram and Kunbis like him were forbidden to learn Sanskrit; he made his
own songs and created his own "Veda." The bhakti tradition attacked
brahmanism. This is why he was tortured by the brahmans of the time and killed.
The Sangh paribar is once again following this murderous tradition.
Not
only this, but people following religions that were founded outside the Indian
subcontinent were never seen as foreigners or outsiders by the people of Hindu (Sindhu)
religion. In the villages of Maharashtra, Moharram has been observed as a
festival of all people for generations. In some places the Moharram tabut does
not even go out without Hindus (Sindhus) doing "puja." The people of
Hindu (Sindhu) religion make vows to pirs while Muslims observe the fast days of
Hindu (Sindhu) clan devatas and make vows to them. Behaving humanely to one
another is the religion of the Hindu (Sindhu) tradition. Enslaving human beings,
using power to kill people in order to establish domination, is the religion of
the Baman tradition of the Hindutvavadis. The looting kings whose spirituality
was only in exploitation were the ones who took up the business of destroying
the places of worship of one or anther religion. It was not the people. In the
7th century AD king Shashanka destroyed Buddhist memorials and burned to the
ground the tree under which the Buddha had found enlightenment. In that period
only King Harsha honoured both Hindu and Buddhist religions. The most noteworthy
event is that a Kashmir raja named Harsha in the 11th-12th century, known for
his Sanskrit poetry, confiscated the property of temples, threw out their idols
and melted down important coinage. This "Hindu" king appointed a
special minister known as devotpatannayak for such work! The majority of Hindu (Sindhu)
people remained apart form such politics of destruction. And if the question
comes of retribution for such politics, then a new industry will have to be
started in the country. The first retribution will have to be from those who
destroyed the cities, places of worship and agriculture of the Sindhu
civilisation. And by the logic of justice used by the Sangh paribar, retribution
is owed by all those Brahmans (whether or not their descendents are criminals)
who kept all women and non-Brahman men as slaves for two thousand years, locking
them up in the exploitation of the caste hierarchy, depriving them of knowledge.
That town whose original name of Saket was wiped out in the fifth century and
called "Ayodhya" will have to be given again the name of Saket. The
temple of Ram will have to be condemned and the temples of Sita and the martyred
ancestor of the bahujans, Shambuk, built in its place.
However,
though such politics is part of the Baman tradition of the Hindutvavadis, the
majority of Indian people of the Hindu (Sindhu) tradition, the heirs of Bali
Raja and Shambuk, will not do such politics. But in order that the Hindutvavadis
should recognise the consequence of their politics and stop their activities,
there is a need to remind them of the traditions of Hindu culture.
Ram,
BJP and Power
When
Advani led the "Ramrath Jatra," BJP’s equation of Ram and power
became clear. Nor did the BJP hide their aims. The organisers of the Rath Jatra
did not forget to paint the lotus electoral symbol of the BJP on the
"chariot." Today the BJP has no alternative to the Congress for
solving the problems faced by the country. They can give no alternative path for
ending the sorrows faced by toilers in villages and cities. They have not an
inkling of a practical and concrete remedy for the terrible diseases of poverty,
starvation, unemployment, indebtedness price-rise, pollution, drought and
desertification. They want to keep the exploitative statist system as it is and
only give it the form of Hindutva. With no alternative path to gain government
power, they have chosen the path of Ramjanmabhoomi. They want political power to
bury Bali Raja again in the earth. They want to exclude Shambuk from attempting
tapascharya and to close the path of knowledge for women. They want to bring
back the raj modeled on a religion which makes a guiltless Sita abandoned. They
want to bring back the system of Manu which throws women into slavery. They want
to bring back chaturvarnya in a new, subtle form. By limiting education they
want to re-establish the old system on which was based the saying,
"Knowledge in the house of the Brahmans, grain in the house of the Kunbis
(peasants), and songs for the Mahars and Mangs (dalits)."
In
the context of the situation today the Sangh family and Muslim fundamentalist
mullahs and Imam Bukhari are of one coin. In the Shahbano case the Supreme Court
ruled on the side of giving maintenance. The Muslim fundamentalists raised a
huge outcry. The Congress government which was doing opportunistic "vote
bank" politics overturned the Supreme Court decision by amending the
Constitution! The Sangh family is yelling that this shows how Muslims are
pampered. But it was a huge injustice to Muslim women. It was the
fundamentalists who were pampered. To say that taking away the rights of women
is the "pampering of Muslims" is to say that pampering is equivalent
to withholding the maintenance to abandoned women. The Sangh parivar feels this
is pampering, since they also want to take away the rights of women. The Muslim
fundamentalists are playing the cruel game of taking advantage of the sorrows of
the extremely poor Muslim masses to keep them in their clutches. Though there is
no caste system in Islam still there is some caste among Indian Muslims. Both
sides are bloodsuckers.
In
the ancient matricentric equalitarian tribal society there was no exploitation
of either men or women. The brahmanical religious tradition and the looting
exploitative kings first imposed slavery on women, and then as the next step on
the majority of toiling men. In the
Mahabharat there is a memory of nearly this society: " Neither
kingdoms nor kings nor punishment nor punished: through the religion of humanity
(dharma) they protect each other." Here the Sanskrit word dharma means
the rules guiding human behavior. Such a dream was reflected in the very
organization of the Buddhist Sangha. The workers and toilers of all religions
and all castes in India want such a society founded on the prosperity of
science, "where there is no kingdom, no king, no
punishment or punished and the citizens themselves protect each other through
the laws of humanity."
If
we want to keep alive the old traditions and old heritage, then the defeated
tradition of the tribal mother has to be recalled. The model of Sita, whose name
means ploughed land and who struggled against the imposition of slavery on the
four varnas and on women, has to be brought forward. In the Ramayana, Ram kills
Tataka, the queen of the Malad-Kurush matricentric tribe. Vishwamitra tells Ram,
who hesitates in the decision to kill Tataka, that "Na hi te strivadhkrut
ghruna karya narottam, Chaturvarnya hitah hi kartavya rajsununa" (" O
Purushottam! It is not proper to feel squeamish about killing a woman. A
raja’s duty is to struggle for the advancement of chaturbarnya"
(cited in Sharad Patil, Das Shudra Gulamgiri, 1986, p. 2). This is the teaching
that aims to establish the four barna system and make all toiling men and women
into slaves through the defeat of the equalitarian matricentric tribal state.
Here we have to note that Vishwamitra does not tell Ram that "since Tataka
is a rakshasa, she is bad, therefore you should kill her." In contrast,
Sita says to Ram in the Ramayana, "To commit
violence against other lives who are not your enemies is a third addiction which
you have gotten into, Because, O hero! You have taken a vow to kill rakshasas in
a war for the security of the rishis living in Dankaranya…People will not
approve of the killing of guiltless rakshasas." Ram
answers, "O daughter of Janak! I have vowed to observe all the orders of
the rishis of Dandakaranya. I have always desired truth. O Sita! I will
sacrifice Lakshman, my life or even you, but I will not renounce the vows that
were given and especially the promises given to Brahmans…." (cited
Patil, p. 18).
In
the name of Hindutva and Ramjanmabhoomi, the RSS and BJP are today attacking
Muslims. Their final attack will be on the majority of Indians of Hindu (Sindhu)
religion in order to tighten the slavery of women, in order to increase the
exploitation of the old varna-based jati system. But we have confidence that the
majority of the Indian people who are of Hindu (Sindhu) religion of the
tradition of Bali Raja will understand this conspiracy of the heirs of Waman.
For they are the true heirs of Sita and Shambuk.
"Time
will submit to slavery
from
illusion's bonds we'll be free
everyone
will be
powerful
and prosperous --
Brahman,
Ksatriya, Vaishya, Shudra
and
Chandala all have rights
women,
children, male and female
and
even prostitutes"
--Tuka
(Tukaram), 17th cent. Marathi Sant of India
========================================================================
(Translated
from Marathi) (Originally written in 1993 as a Marathi pamphlet selling at one
rupee, this sold out 10,000 copies within a first few days, mainly when the
Shetmajur Kashtakari Shetkari Sanghatana (an organization of toiling farmers’
and agricultural labourers) held a protest march of 20,000 rural people coming
to Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra).
Dr.
Bharat Patankar, author of the article, "HINDU or SINDHU", copied below, is
life-partner of our well known author and columnist Gail Omwedt. Dr. Patankar
was born in 1951, in a farming family, His father was murdered in 1952 by
certain Congress-connected people because they (Bharat’s parents) were going
towards the left. Mother raised him by herself, going to the fields and teaching
school. After obtaining his MBBS degree, Dr. Patankar proceeded to the USA.
While he was doing his MD in the USA, he met Gail, and they have been together
since that time. He started getting involved in the working class movements, and
has been a full-time activist since then. Currently
he is organizing dam evictees and drought prone farmers in four districts of
southern Maharashtra. In addition, he is very involved with cultural movements
(the Vidrohi Sanskritic Calval (Vidrohi Cultural Movement), which is recently
involved in a Dharmaandhata aur Deshadrohi Virodhi Manch (Opponents of
Religious-bigotry and Nationa-wreckers) -- they call RSS as deshadrohi and say
"we are the Hindustanis, unifiers of the whole Bahujan Samaaj".
Generally the Vidrohi platform poses capitalism and brahlmanism. Tomorrow you
will get Tukaram’s poetry translated jointly by Drs. Gail Omwedt & Bharat
Patankar.
Hindutva versus Hinduism
Saral Jhingran
Hinduism
is the most difficult religion to define as it does not have a Book, a prophet
or a common creed. Consequently, both its supporters and critics can take up any
one of its various aspects and present a conception of it that is nowhere near
the reality. This is exactly what is being done by the protagonists of Hindutba.
First, let us take up the conception of Ram. They project Ram as the sole
Deity of Hinduism, a symbol not only of Hinduism, but of nationalism. This is a
fantastic assertion. Ram cannot be a symbol of nationalism, because religious
faith and nationalism belong to two entirely different conceptual frameworks.
Nationalism is a modern conception and is territorial and political in its
connotation. Religious faith is a matter of heart, or soul if you wish, and is
not related to territory or political sovereignty. More importantly, Ram could
not be a symbol of Hinduism even, as the latter has so many gods, and Ram is
but one of them, and that too a later entrant in the Hindu pantheon. If at all
the votaries of Hindutba want to establish the historicity of Ram, they must
depend on Balmiki's Ramayan; and there is no suggestion of Ram's divinity
therein. It is in Tulsidas's Ramacharita Mana that Ram is declared divine. But
this was written approximately one and a half millennia after Balmiki's Ramayana
and cannot be cited to prove Ram's historicity. Second, granting that Ram is
probably a historical figure in view of the depth of feelings for his story;
also granting that Ram was born in Ayodhya, it is hard to believe that the
exact spot of Ram's birth can be pinpointed with accuracy. The declaration that
the spot at which Ram was born is determined by faith is stretching the meaning
of faith. Here it should be remembered that the greatest difference between
Hinduism and the Semitic religions is that, unlike the latter, Hinduism has no
historical beginning. If tomorrow, it could be proved that there was no
historical Jesus Christ, Christianity would be destroyed. But if it were to
proved that Krishna was not a historical person, it would not diminish the
Gita's authenticity. The same holds true for Ram. Hinduism is Sanatan dharma,
marked by its content, attitudes and values, and not by its historicity.
Thirdly, the Hindutva people have destroyed the conception of Ram which the
Hindus have worshipped through the ages. Rama is maryada purushottam, the
embodiment of all Aryan virtues. An extreme dedication to duty, respect for
elders, affection for juniors, compassion for all and peace (shanti)
characterise him. He hardly ever gets angry and is unwilling to attack anybody
unless absolutely necessary. His idols have traditionally portrayed Ram in
shanta or abhaya mudra — with the right hand raised in a gesture of blessing
and a beatific smile on his face. Also, traditionally, Ram, like Krishna, is
never worshipped alone but always with his consort. The Ram of Hindutba stands
alone, with bow held aloft, ready for aggression. Both innovations go against
the traditional conception of Ram. Fourthly, there is hardly anything common
between traditional Hinduism and Hindutba. Traditional Hinduism worships many
gods, and declares that all Gods are but different names of one Supreme Divine
Reality. But the ideology of Hindutba seems to declare that there is but one God
called Ram, who is the symbol of both Hindusim and Indian nationalism. The core
of traditional Hinduism is religious toleration and even ahimsa which, though
borrowed from heterodox sects, has been so internalised by Hinduism that it can
be safely assumed as belonging to the core of Hinduism. In contrast, Hindutva's
central message is aggression and destruction of enemies, real or imagined.
Fifthly, Hindutva has distorted the meaning of religious symbols. The project of
distributing trishuls is an example. That Shiva has been portrayed holding a
trishul does not mean that every Hindu should carry one. Vishnu is portrayed as
carrying four things in his hands—shanka, chakra, gada, padma, Ram carries a
bow and arrow, and Kali is supposed wear a garland of skulls. Does it mean that
a Hindu should carry these things? The Hindutva people have randomly picked
varied elements from all these traditions to project Hinduism as an aggressive
religion, without learning about the intrinsic characters of their Gods. Ram is
God of righteousness, compassion; Krishna of Brindaban is a God of love; Krishna
teaches one to do one's duty selflessly; and Shiva is declared Hole nath, a
simple-hearted God who is easily appeased. None of this holds value for the
Hindutva lot. Hindutva is an attempt at semitising Hindusim. The uniqueness of
Hinduism lay in its extreme liberalness, toleration and vision of one Divine
Reality residing in all. By trying to project Hinduism as a self-assertive,
aggressive, and strictly monotheistic religion, Hindutva could destroy it.
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