Charlie Hebdo doesn’t come up as a cautionary tale now but rather 'why cant we be like that'?
Growing up, Hanuman was an adorable deity for us, who swallowed the sun, or who couldn’t figure out what was Sanjeevani booti so he picked up a whole mountain and came back with it. 2
Or he was loyal, admirable and when he cleaved his chest, you saw both Ram and Sita. Now we have a lot of “Angry Hanuman” stickers. Why is a cute childlike God angry? We don’t know. It's a convenient blank space where to paint all the angst of Hindu Khatre mein hain narrative. 3
The other strange thing that has started happening is pictures of Ram appearing sans Sita. “Jai Siya Ram” has become “Jai Shri Ram”. Some people disingenuously explain it as being the same thing - because Shri is a name of Lakshmi. Not really. Siya is an apbhransh of Sita. 4
Shri is a prefix of respect in this case. Hinduism is being militarised. A woman/Sita has no place in it. Even the militaristic Goddess that is Durga has no place in this conception of neo-Hindu divinity, as evidenced by Dilip Mandal wondering where Durga came from. 5
Ram has always been a parivarik God. He represents affection, forgiveness 7 love - so much so that after he loses Sita, his story's over. It becomes Sita’s story. I am speaking of Uttar Ramayana here. Sita brings up Luv-Kush all by herself. We don’t see Ram’s exploits anymore. 6
In fact when he makes an appearance it is as an adversary. The horse that Luv Kush capture is Ram’s. And Luv Kush are the heroes of the story. Sita’s sons who will beat the father’s army. Sita can exist without Ram, but Ram doesn’t WANT to. 7
He comes back into the picture, only to be chastised by Sita for how unfair he was to her. It is Sita’s story that gets a closure when she goes back to the Earth. 9
Another version says that Ram was predestined for this misery, he was cursed by Saraswati to suffer Patni Vicchoh, because he watched silently as Brahma married Gayatri. Rama’s story hinges on Sita. But that is not the story the Neo-Hindu wants. 10
What they want is what the Abrahamic religions have at their heart - the Angry, Jealous God of the Old Testament. They want, in their Ram to have a bit of Yahweh, and a dash of Mohammad’s conquest over Mecca and Medina. 11
They call for Ram Rajya, but they won’t have the Dhobi who can call out Ram, where Ram will have to listen to him and abide by the principles of law, however personally repugnant to him. 12
The monotheistic religions don’t have a place for female deities. It'w mostly a Male God. There are rules often literally written in stone, you stray 7 there are consequences. Most pagan religions Joseph Campbell explains in the “Power of Myth” are religions born out of plenty 13
Harvest cultures. You worked for six months and then spent six months navel gazing, wondering about our place in the cosmic affair of things. Hence we had the time to think about not just sciences, medicine, agriculture, metallurgy but philosophy too. 14
The Abrahmic religions were born out of the desert. All of them. They were constantly fighting the battle for existence. They were being thrown out of their land and had to reclaim that. There is a bit of the survivor hero built into it. 15
There is a need for its followers to listen to its one God. Heteroglossia or multiplicity of voices can be very confusing and almost life threatening in these circumstances.
These are the people who say that it must be done. Hinduism must be militarized. 16
They're scared of the ummah. 'Muslims never belong. They're fanatics. They're sheep. They'll do anything for the Ummah.' But secretly, this is exactly what the Neo-Hindu wants. An Ummah. That's why they are arming Ram as the Commander-in-Chief of the war against minorities. 17
When Biplub Das talks of forming governments in Nepal/Sri Lanka, it's those they claim to hate that they emulate the most – the Ummah. Where the lines between political identity and religious identity obliterated & all the world's a battleground in this ideologicalimperialism. 18
The problem with Hinduism is that the ‘good’ Hindus don’t care all that much for religion. We are turned off by the orthodoxy, the caste system, or superstitions. These are the building blocks of that Hindutva fundamentalists use to forge an army of zombies. 19
Maybe the people who are sick of Hindutva need to delve into Hinduism. The philosophy, the freedom of expression, the challenge to forge your own identity the way you want it without any censor. Just so you can counter the insidious toolkit that seeks to weaponise Hinduism. 20
A lot of Hindus are floating votes between Hinduism & Hindutva. Only Hindutva has massive misinformation dissemination machinery in place. Hinduism has none. You can’t will crores to just give up their religion for a good cause. One needs to speak their language.21
Not talk down to them. Not laugh at them & call out Brahma as incestuous or a stalker. Saraswati's metaphor for intellect, Brahma's the householder & it takes a lot for him to get her- intellect. Read Hinduism as a philosophy, as a cultural telling of 5000 years. 22
Because Hinduism like deconstruction allows you to read it the way you want to. What you make of it reflects on you. It's the original FOE. To forge your own identity without any censor. Read up, so you can counter the insidious toolkit that seeks to weaponise Hinduism. 23
Hinduism is not just temples and the pieces of land it was built on. It is not about who-stole-my- architecture.There is a purpose there when you pick up the Vedas or Puranas. Or the Samkhyas, Or the Dvaita Advaita Hinduism is much more than just the Manu Smriti. 24
In the words of Nasadiya Sukta, that actually seeks to ask “who created the Creator?”, even the Creator may not know. The acceptance of ambiguity, the zest to learn, the humility of always being a student. Mandan Mishr losing to Adi Shankaracharya in Shastrath till his wife 25
Ubhayabharati, asked to debate in his place. She pulled out trick questions from Kama Shastra. Adi Shankara a brahmchari obviously lost. So he put the cudgels down & legend says he inhabited the body of a recently dead King, devoted six months to learning about carnal desires. 26
Hinduism has given birth to three different religions Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. All great religions. Maybe this time it has given birth to something more sinister and monstrous, where the raison d etre has been only the hatred of the other. 27
Even Hinduism can’t always have that great a strike rate. It is infra-dig to identify as a Hindu for all that, that is being done in its name. But then it is a war. And one needs to reclaim Hinduism. It is not Hindu khatre mein but it is Hinduism khatre mein. 28
