India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

India is a secular country with about 80 percent of its population calling itself Hindu. Hindu-ism is recognized as the world’s third largest religion, First being christinaity and second being Islam. Although Hindu-ism is looked as upon as a religion, it can only be defined as “A group of faiths rooted in the religious ideas of India.” About 15 percent of the people in the world are Hindus, and about that much people call themselves secular/non-religious/atheists too.

The first and second largest religions, viz Christianity and Islam is recogonised as the state religion in many countries of the world. For example, Vatican is a Christian state where no other religion exists and England is a secular state which has given official status to the angelical church. Almost all the countries which have more than Sixty percent population as muslims are theocratic non secular states. For example, Saudi Arabia is a sunni Islamic nation, while Iran is a shia Islamic nation. There are a good number of states for those who believe in no religion(secularism). There are a few communist and Buddhist countries also. But why there is no country which recognize Hindu-ism since 2006, when Nepal too was declared a secular state? Why should not Hindus have their own country, which protects them, which help them to compete with the powerful religions of the world?

India is a secular nation, and the word “secularism” was introduced into the constitution during 1976 when Smt Indira Gandhi was the prime minister. What was it before ? What was the need for stressing that we are “secular” and not a Hindu nation, as it is perceived internationally because of obvious cultural identity of ours? India, the land of Hindus have never closed the doors to any religious preacher at any point of time in the history. We have always welcomed jews, parsis , Christians and muslims. While jews and parsis lived happily with Hindus, Christianity and Islam had frequent issues with Hindus. The Islam and Christianity ruled the Hindu majority country for about 1000 years, First came Islam through Babar, then through British, Christianity. Still Islam and Christianity is minority religions in India. But they enjoy special rights in the name of “minority”. How come the religions which formed the ruling class of India for centuries be assumed as vulnerable to majority attacks on their faith? Secularism in India is defined as “sarva dharma samabhava”, but we have reservations and scholarships exclusively given to minorities. Since when secularism meant “giving special status to minorities”?

The secularism in India, in reality, is based on the assumption that the majority will impose their religion on the minorities and so the state must give special attention to minorities in this regard. But in a globalized world who is majority and minority? Christianity and Islam together has  about more than fifty percent of people in the world. That means Hindus who are majority in India are a minority locally which is vulnerable, and victim of global majority, ie Christians and muslims. That further implies Hindus whose numbers are declining each day, should have one nation-state which they can trust. That further demands we need a Hindu nation.

What does Hindu nation mean? Is it something like Islamic countries, where the practice of other faith will lead you to dungeons? Or is it like England which recognize a angelical church? What will happen to non-Hindus of India ? What will happen to Muslims(India is second largest Muslim populated country after Indonesia)? These are the questions which certainly demand answers.

The Rashtreeya SwayamSevak Sangh (RSS) is often accused by the Secularists as an organization which want to convert India into a HinduRashtra,a Hindu nation. They assume that in such a Hindu Rashtra minorities will be deported or persecuted; India will be like another theocratic state etc. But does RSS really want to make India a Hindu nation. The fact is RSS considers India as a Hindu nation, and it is quite clear from their prarthanas they sing in their daily Shakas. So India need not be like Islamic countries, nor like England, nor it need to send away the minorities, we only want India to recogonise itself as a Hindu nation, officially.  We Hindus have the right to demand a Home and we need it soon. We cannot live like beggars in footpaths of secularism. We have the right to live and livelihood, and we need a government which will ensure that we are not killed by dacoits of other religions.