I am in total agreement with Mr. Tharoor’s definition of Hinduism and his chronicling of what it has become today.
I have grown up in a household that practiced the original undiluted form of Hinduism with each one of us having full liberty to choose the way of life we wanted, of course within the moral framework of honesty, integrity and humanity. I have seen inter-religious marriages in my family accepted without much bitterness and have also seen the practice of atheism by some of the members.
As a child I remember accompanying my grandmother to regularly offer the taziya to the annual Muharram procession in my city.
Born a decade after the country’s independence, I learnt of the modified version of the Verna system, the Caste system, that was encouraged in the country during the Mughal and colonial era and the oppression and atrocities that had happened in its wake. I am also aware of the open heartedness with which a newly independent India had planned to offset the injustices of the past by provisioning for a policy of reservations in education and jobs to its oppressed classes to enable them to participate in the country’s growth.
Such a background and atmosphere had helped me grow up as a liberal individual accepting alternate ways of seeking salvation.
The point is where has this liberal way of life taken Hinduism? A substantial reduction in its population? A string of atrocities heaped on its followers with no retributions? A destruction of its system that had temples as the basic source of education, social engagement and intellectual growth?
The Constitution which I feel was compiled rather than written had left many sections fuzzily defining and restricting the role of the majority( the Hindus) in propagating or defending its rights. An incorporation of the word ‘secular’ had further liberalised the scope of other religions in matters of freedom of propagation and protection while the other restrictive clauses of the constitution made the Hindus susceptible to conversion as a result of the missionary zeal of other religions through inducement, fear or terror.
Over the last few decades one has noticed globally, the enhanced missionary zeal of some sections of Christianity and Islam, the two major religions of the world, leading to a lot of strife and also in some cases near extinction of smaller group of followers of different sects like the Kurds , the Baha’i, the Ahmedias or the Yazidis.
Hinduism following its original tenets of a peaceful co-existence has been facing the brunt of such assaults by the two big religions of the world.
From the awakening of Hindus for self-preservation and self-respect brought forth by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda to the assertive form of Hindutva professed for self-defence and retention of identity professed by Veer Savarkar, Hindus have been trying to find a clear path to survive their Sanatana dharma in a melting pot of religious extremism and supremacy.
Through history Hindus have come to know of battles having taken place to protect Dharma in case of an onslaught from adharmic or alien forces, but this facet of Hinduism has always been suppressed by the colonial masters of India through an education system that undermined its past and subsequently by its secular rulers who glorified its Mughal heritage and its British legacy while at the same time obliterating the contributions of brave Hindus who had fought these colonisers or had professed the liberal values inherent in its belief. I am talking about India as this is the only country that is home for the Hindus.
One does not have to remind the world about how remorselessly they have unseen the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir, or the decimation of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, or the relentless conversions to Christianity or Islam indirectly supported by the western lobbies and aided by a fuzzy constitution that has several articles severely restricting the majority population( the Hindus) from protecting themselves or their Temples.
I eagerly look forward to Mr. Tharoor’s suggestions for survival to the Hindu of today and am hopeful that he comes out with a solution that can help.
Wonder why call Hinduism a religion rather than a way of life.
Some points that strike me:-
Religion does not evolve or change. Sanathan Dharm or Sikhism has not changed. Hinduism which I think is an aggregation of cultural fallout of some religions has changed. That is a mark of culture rather than a religion.
Hindutva is a socio-political manifestation of the Hindu Culture and hence it can be abused as a political tool. How does one abuse a religion as a political tool considering that it does not talk about politics at all. The cultural aspect of symbolic representation of a religion can always be used as a political tool and has always been used.
While the article is insightful and I always find Shashi Tharoor impressive I cannot shut my eye to the strong political leanings which I notice in his writings - a projection for a certain people’s perspective rather than the the whole. While Muslims have been lynched, so have others been and that includes Hindus. To give it a lopsided view is itself a political view of Hindutva. But then he is a politician and has political compulsions - which is fine.
All that apart, Shashi Tharoor always impresses with insights and convincing articulation.
Nice one. In ref to earlier representations of hindus…Though i would add… the eloquence of Vivekananda, Bapuji came from a time hindu kings ruled the land, the space of identity, in thought of representation of the idea of hindu, faced different challenges… attack on religion and kingdoms had a different situation, context in hinduism and sanaatana has narratives that allude to references… why…? , … though the concept of enabling healthy circumstances for fellow humans doesn’t change… the many books legends, teachings aren’t for power wielding, rituals or market systems but for human learning…. & healthy communities… context & challenges of current digital age& change creates a whole new circumstances… how many months did it take for ships to sail, air planes to reach or now a video chat/text? The challenges of religious, political, economic wars are still raging when i last read/heard the news… often changes we see is the economics& power issue…
"In a world where resistance to authority is growing, Hinduism imposes no authorities; in a world of networked individuals, Hinduism respects the truths of others; in a world of open-source information-sharing, Hinduism accepts all paths as equally valid; in a world of rapid transformations and accelerating change, Hinduism is adaptable and flexible, even introducing the world’s oldest and farthest-reaching affirmative action program in the Constitution to overturn the institutional hierarchies of the orthodox caste system—which is why it has survived for nearly 4,000 years. And why a committed liberal can so easily embrace it."
If that's really the case then
1 Why Hinduism is the only religion which is attacked/targeted mostly by Liberal gangs?
2 why all the burden of practising secularism only goes to hindus's shoulder?
Hinduism is able to tolerate even atheists then why are you being so dogmatic about vaidic hinduism now? Allow it take whatever form it(Hinduism )wants to take to tackle 21st century challenges .
After all hinduism has never been a static religion it has evolved overtime then why are you stopping its natural evolution now?
What makes you feel that it has reached at it's optimum evolution level that you are trying to obstruct it by claiming that you are the original hindu . Let's the hindus decide which version they chose for their future.
Hindutva (people should refuse to go by that "Vedic Hinduism" PR name) damages India, and it damages Hinduism. Many reasonable Hindus see Hindutva it as a moment of insanity, with all the anti-scientific nonsense it pushes. It's not a natural evolution, it's an illness.
Evil is and always was a childish idea. Calling someone evil was an excuse not to understand how someone got messed up, and was powerless to help us decide if/when we might be able to fix them or stop others from becoming like them.
No, we don't live in the world of Clockwork Orange. We have laws that set some boundaries. We can make them more stringent if we see sufficient abuses, and we've already done so bit by bit over the decades.
The state is not the enemy, at least not in most western societies; it's society's biggest tool for self-betterment. Likewise, we're not talking about replacing morality with medicine, simply fixing severe defects in our morality like the childish idea of evil. Medicine can help people with their behaviour. It's not the only route; it's important people also learn and value self-restraint.
A very important insight: “In a world where resistance to authority is growing, Hinduism imposes no authorities; in a world of networked individuals, Hinduism respects the truths of others; in a world of open-source information-sharing, Hinduism accepts all paths as equally valid; in a world of rapid transformations and accelerating change, Hinduism is adaptable and flexible ... “
As one who is world religion literate and fascinated by the role of religion in human lives, I found this excellent. May your life-affirming take on what Hinduism is and how it should be lived take hold and grow deep roots that smother the ugly version. May this be true of the authentic representation of all wholesome religions around the world as we realize humanity is ONE and should comport itself that way!
I am in total agreement with Mr. Tharoor’s definition of Hinduism and his chronicling of what it has become today.
I have grown up in a household that practiced the original undiluted form of Hinduism with each one of us having full liberty to choose the way of life we wanted, of course within the moral framework of honesty, integrity and humanity. I have seen inter-religious marriages in my family accepted without much bitterness and have also seen the practice of atheism by some of the members.
As a child I remember accompanying my grandmother to regularly offer the taziya to the annual Muharram procession in my city.
Born a decade after the country’s independence, I learnt of the modified version of the Verna system, the Caste system, that was encouraged in the country during the Mughal and colonial era and the oppression and atrocities that had happened in its wake. I am also aware of the open heartedness with which a newly independent India had planned to offset the injustices of the past by provisioning for a policy of reservations in education and jobs to its oppressed classes to enable them to participate in the country’s growth.
Such a background and atmosphere had helped me grow up as a liberal individual accepting alternate ways of seeking salvation.
The point is where has this liberal way of life taken Hinduism? A substantial reduction in its population? A string of atrocities heaped on its followers with no retributions? A destruction of its system that had temples as the basic source of education, social engagement and intellectual growth?
The Constitution which I feel was compiled rather than written had left many sections fuzzily defining and restricting the role of the majority( the Hindus) in propagating or defending its rights. An incorporation of the word ‘secular’ had further liberalised the scope of other religions in matters of freedom of propagation and protection while the other restrictive clauses of the constitution made the Hindus susceptible to conversion as a result of the missionary zeal of other religions through inducement, fear or terror.
Over the last few decades one has noticed globally, the enhanced missionary zeal of some sections of Christianity and Islam, the two major religions of the world, leading to a lot of strife and also in some cases near extinction of smaller group of followers of different sects like the Kurds , the Baha’i, the Ahmedias or the Yazidis.
Hinduism following its original tenets of a peaceful co-existence has been facing the brunt of such assaults by the two big religions of the world.
From the awakening of Hindus for self-preservation and self-respect brought forth by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda to the assertive form of Hindutva professed for self-defence and retention of identity professed by Veer Savarkar, Hindus have been trying to find a clear path to survive their Sanatana dharma in a melting pot of religious extremism and supremacy.
Through history Hindus have come to know of battles having taken place to protect Dharma in case of an onslaught from adharmic or alien forces, but this facet of Hinduism has always been suppressed by the colonial masters of India through an education system that undermined its past and subsequently by its secular rulers who glorified its Mughal heritage and its British legacy while at the same time obliterating the contributions of brave Hindus who had fought these colonisers or had professed the liberal values inherent in its belief. I am talking about India as this is the only country that is home for the Hindus.
One does not have to remind the world about how remorselessly they have unseen the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Kashmir, or the decimation of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, or the relentless conversions to Christianity or Islam indirectly supported by the western lobbies and aided by a fuzzy constitution that has several articles severely restricting the majority population( the Hindus) from protecting themselves or their Temples.
I eagerly look forward to Mr. Tharoor’s suggestions for survival to the Hindu of today and am hopeful that he comes out with a solution that can help.
Wonder why call Hinduism a religion rather than a way of life.
Some points that strike me:-
Religion does not evolve or change. Sanathan Dharm or Sikhism has not changed. Hinduism which I think is an aggregation of cultural fallout of some religions has changed. That is a mark of culture rather than a religion.
Hindutva is a socio-political manifestation of the Hindu Culture and hence it can be abused as a political tool. How does one abuse a religion as a political tool considering that it does not talk about politics at all. The cultural aspect of symbolic representation of a religion can always be used as a political tool and has always been used.
While the article is insightful and I always find Shashi Tharoor impressive I cannot shut my eye to the strong political leanings which I notice in his writings - a projection for a certain people’s perspective rather than the the whole. While Muslims have been lynched, so have others been and that includes Hindus. To give it a lopsided view is itself a political view of Hindutva. But then he is a politician and has political compulsions - which is fine.
All that apart, Shashi Tharoor always impresses with insights and convincing articulation.
Nice one. In ref to earlier representations of hindus…Though i would add… the eloquence of Vivekananda, Bapuji came from a time hindu kings ruled the land, the space of identity, in thought of representation of the idea of hindu, faced different challenges… attack on religion and kingdoms had a different situation, context in hinduism and sanaatana has narratives that allude to references… why…? , … though the concept of enabling healthy circumstances for fellow humans doesn’t change… the many books legends, teachings aren’t for power wielding, rituals or market systems but for human learning…. & healthy communities… context & challenges of current digital age& change creates a whole new circumstances… how many months did it take for ships to sail, air planes to reach or now a video chat/text? The challenges of religious, political, economic wars are still raging when i last read/heard the news… often changes we see is the economics& power issue…
Hinduism is a fake religion and India is a fake country. I don’t care what you believe, I just want you all deported back to the subcontinent.
Great article and insight. Just that the interpretation of the tricolour doesn’t seem right and is something new and seen first time.
Great article and insight. Just that the interpretation of the tricolour doesn’t seem right and is something new and seen first time.
If Hinduism was that great India wouldn't be still struggling for hygiene
According to this article
"In a world where resistance to authority is growing, Hinduism imposes no authorities; in a world of networked individuals, Hinduism respects the truths of others; in a world of open-source information-sharing, Hinduism accepts all paths as equally valid; in a world of rapid transformations and accelerating change, Hinduism is adaptable and flexible, even introducing the world’s oldest and farthest-reaching affirmative action program in the Constitution to overturn the institutional hierarchies of the orthodox caste system—which is why it has survived for nearly 4,000 years. And why a committed liberal can so easily embrace it."
If that's really the case then
1 Why Hinduism is the only religion which is attacked/targeted mostly by Liberal gangs?
2 why all the burden of practising secularism only goes to hindus's shoulder?
Hinduism is able to tolerate even atheists then why are you being so dogmatic about vaidic hinduism now? Allow it take whatever form it(Hinduism )wants to take to tackle 21st century challenges .
After all hinduism has never been a static religion it has evolved overtime then why are you stopping its natural evolution now?
What makes you feel that it has reached at it's optimum evolution level that you are trying to obstruct it by claiming that you are the original hindu . Let's the hindus decide which version they chose for their future.
Answers to "If that's really the case":
1) No it isn't
2) No it isn't
Hindutva (people should refuse to go by that "Vedic Hinduism" PR name) damages India, and it damages Hinduism. Many reasonable Hindus see Hindutva it as a moment of insanity, with all the anti-scientific nonsense it pushes. It's not a natural evolution, it's an illness.
Evil is and always was a childish idea. Calling someone evil was an excuse not to understand how someone got messed up, and was powerless to help us decide if/when we might be able to fix them or stop others from becoming like them.
No, we don't live in the world of Clockwork Orange. We have laws that set some boundaries. We can make them more stringent if we see sufficient abuses, and we've already done so bit by bit over the decades.
The state is not the enemy, at least not in most western societies; it's society's biggest tool for self-betterment. Likewise, we're not talking about replacing morality with medicine, simply fixing severe defects in our morality like the childish idea of evil. Medicine can help people with their behaviour. It's not the only route; it's important people also learn and value self-restraint.
A very important insight: “In a world where resistance to authority is growing, Hinduism imposes no authorities; in a world of networked individuals, Hinduism respects the truths of others; in a world of open-source information-sharing, Hinduism accepts all paths as equally valid; in a world of rapid transformations and accelerating change, Hinduism is adaptable and flexible ... “
It's a step in the right direction, i.e. toward secularism.
Accepting all religions as true is essentially pitching all religions in the trash basket, no?
Wonderful read and reminder of why "liberal" also can mean "generous."
As one who is world religion literate and fascinated by the role of religion in human lives, I found this excellent. May your life-affirming take on what Hinduism is and how it should be lived take hold and grow deep roots that smother the ugly version. May this be true of the authentic representation of all wholesome religions around the world as we realize humanity is ONE and should comport itself that way!