Clarification on my version of India and Hinduism

After more than a year of Modi's/BJP's government, for both being a Hindu and as one who voted for him/them I feel the need to clarify things. My actions, my vote I believe is being constantly misinterpreted by the fanatic right. They keep projecting me and others like me as a part of their rhetoric, one that I vehemently disagree with. My vote of support was pro progress not pro communal anti secular ideas. I am pro India not pro Hindutva. Actually I may be pro Hindutva too but that may not be the same Hindutva that the RSS or other right wingers project. Well debating the true essence of Hindutva as I or most of my generation see it is another facet to how the projection maybe getting distorted.

I will not talk for the masses but I will talk for the others who are like me. For us Hindutva has always been about tolerance, I choose to be identified as a Hindu not because of my religious adherence or reverence for one or many of the millions of gods in Hinduism but because I see Hinduism as a way of life. As being inclusive of ethnicity, cultures, religions, morality and foremost tolerance. The diversity of what it means to be Hindu is what holds me to it. The day it turns into a mutated rigid unyielding list of tenants that promote discrimination or fascist ideology I will as easily denounce my identity as a Hindu.

So after the elaboration on version of Hindutva that I believe in it must be easier for you to understand where I am coming from. Democracy in all its virtues is also flawed and anyone who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves. I was among those people last year who rejoiced when the Congress was crushed and couldn’t even muster enough seats to take up the title of opposition. But I see the error in my thoughts. I apologise for celebrating a victory of a party which was in fact a failure of democracy and my nation. Democracy is at its highest efficiency with a strong opposition. Democracy is about keeping power distributed, enforcing accountability and moderation of either leftist or rightist extremism. But with this lope-sided mandate we might have caused skewing of all these balancing factors.

Going back to my vote, you have to realise the limitations and context within which the vote was cast for the person it was cast to. In a ballot you choose the best of what you have at offer. I cannot explicitly express my reasons why I chose to vote for the person. Any person may stand for a multitude of ideas or atleast that is what a politician is all about. Mincing different images for various demographics.  For the many ideas that Modi/his party stood for if I got a chance I would have told them that if they stick to their communal ideology I would rather have a corrupt guy who doesn’t discriminate who he screws over than the selective virtuous guy who only screws over one particular section of society.

I have caught myself praying on many occasion for the last one year, praying that Modi would make the right choice. There are multiple points of concern in my prayer itself. I didn’t pray for the government to take a right step I was praying about Modi, I and most of the nation has unconsciously accepted the fact that he is the sole centre of power. But that is completely anti democratic. Either it is our bias or a fact , in both looking upto a person and not to the system as the final authority that drives the nation is a bad bad sign. Secondly, I was praying not hoping because I knew we didn’t have the right proportions in the parliament that could moderate opposing points of view to reach a rational consensus. No one man or one group or one party can ever hope to represent the diverse needs or opinions of India. And as it stands this diversity is not representative and this worries me.

I take responsibility for playing a part in this. For being wilfully ignorant , for being short sighted, for becoming a part of the hysteria without understanding the right way the democratic form of governance was envisioned. I may be saying the same line that the right wingers are saying but what I mean and what they represent are not the same. India is India only because of its vast diversity; Hinduism is Hinduism because of its constant evolution. Because it is, for lack of a better analogy, like the river Ganges which is ever accepting a confluence of different rivers into a seamless unity while retaining it individual identity. Maybe I can put it more clearly if I summarise, for me being Hindu and being Secular are the same. I am secular so I am Hindu and I am Hindu so I am Secular. Hinduism is not a religion and telling yourself anything else is just a doctrine that you have accepted as truth. The day the diversity, religious/cultural/language/any other values is snubbed out that day India and Hinduism will cease to exist. I can’t reiterate enough that I am a Hindu but I am not anti anything unless the anything is bigotry, -ism of any kind, discrimination, intolerance and restriction of rights.