--- Consider reading the article Cannot withdraw prosecution based on religion, says Andhra Pradesh HC in case where Muslim mob laid siege on Guntur police station: Details on OpIndia website ---

In a significant decision, the Division Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday observed that the state cannot withdraw a prosecution filed against any accused based on religion and noted that it was against the public interest, reports Hans India.

“Withdrawing prosecution based on religion is against the public interest,” a division bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Justice J Umadevi observed while hearing the public interest litigation (PIL).

A petition was filed by P Ganesh of Legal Rights Protection Forum (LRPF) against the decision of the Andhra Pradesh government to withdraw the prosecution of Muslim youth, who had attacked a police station in Guntur in May 2018.

A mob of more than 2,000 Muslims had unleashed terror on the Old Guntur police station demanding handing over of a youth who had allegedly committed a sexual assault on a minor girl at that time. The mob had attacked the police station leaving the police personnel severely injured.

The mob used deadly weapons and caused injuries to the police personnel and inconvenience to the public. Six FIRs were registered against the accused based on the complaint by the aggrieved police personnel.

Andhra Pradesh govt had ordered withdrawal prosecution against Muslim youth

The Andhra Pradesh government had decided to withdraw prosecution against an accused Muslim youth and had directed the DGP to issue instructions to concerned officers to file a petition under Section 321 of the CrPC for the withdrawal of prosecution in crime registered in old Guntur police station.

However, the petitioners challenged the order issued by the Home Department and argued that this attack was nothing but waging a war against the sovereignty of the government.

Issuing stay orders on the state government’s order to withdraw prosecution the Court also instructed the government to make NIA as the party in the case.

Using religion to withdraw petition was highly objectionable, observes HC

Justice Rakesh Kumar observed, “The using of Muslim youth in the GO is highly objectionable on the part of the Government. Even the language used in the GO is not correct in our secular and democratic country. It is a fit case for NIA to be probed into.”

JV Phanidath Chanakya, the counsel representing the petitioners, said that the Director-General of Police himself asked the government to withdraw the prosecution in this case, in the month of February this year.

The High Court, stay the order, also directed the government pleader to file the counter by October 1. The counsel for the petitioner was directed to implead the NIA in the case.

--- Consider reading the article Turiyavād: A Socio-Political Framework Premised on Truth and Transcendence in Life, Society and Politics on OpIndia website ---

Dogma and ideological stagnation has percolated through the cracks and crevices of contemporary life, society and politics. I feel that there is a need for freshness, a certain inflow of novelty, to move beyond the glaring inadequacies of western constructs and ideologies that are all-so-often blindly adopted and realized by all and sundry, sans the much-required close-reading and understanding of the distinctly different realities of people across the world.

Even at the level of ideas, there is an almost primitive alignment with binaries and extremes, without an inkling of nuance and comprehensiveness in addressing the problems and requirements of human beings, both at the individual as well as societal levels. Upon reflection and meditation, it seems to me that it is not as much the inadequacy of one ideology with regards to another as much as the inadequacy of the entire framework that afflicts our society today.

Previously, I had pondered on the possibility of striking a balance between extremes of the political spectrum, organically and naturally, using ancient Indic tenets. However, upon further reflection, I feel that this jugglery is also not sufficient in overhauling the political space ideologically for the benefit and advancement of humanity.

A lot of the current problems in the world unfortunately arise from the triad of materialism, parochial politics and perversion of religion. All the three can be potentially addressed and resolved by introducing, or may I say reintroducing, the principle of transcendence that was championed by the Indic and Dharmic people since the times of yore.

Three is ubiquitous in the civilizational psyche of myriad people, with the most prominent being that of the trinitarian conception of divinity in Hinduism and Christianity. But what if I were to say that it is actually the Fourth that holds preeminence. In ancient Indic culture, we were introduced to the principle of the underlying truth – Satya in our scriptures, from our Vedas to Upanishads and Puranas.

While the Vedantin may call it Brahman, the cosmic creative principle, other schools of thought characterized this fundamental substratum of reality in terms of what it is not. According to the famous Neti Neti idea, the Absolute Truth cannot be conceived or conceptualized in terms of anything that is empirical, immanent and physical, since that fundamental level is from what the material, the empirical, the immanent emerges. This fundamental level has often been spoken of in terms of ‘pure consciousness’.

While the nature of this in terms of relative ideas and constructs is tough, nay impossible, there have been experiential explorations of the same since times immemorial. Experience opens the doors that scholastic cartwheels and intellectualism may not, simply because in this framework, the human mind is also emergent from the underlying fundamental layer of reality.

Ancient philosophers also saw that the essence of the universal is manifested in the localized, as beautifully expressed in the Mahavakya तत् त्वम् असि – ‘Thy Art that (Universal Essence)’. At the localized level of human consciousness and understanding, the seers of the past spoke about reality in terms of the levels of human consciousness, which were primarily three – wakefulness, dream-filled state and deep sleep. However, there was a Fourth beyond-the-deep-sleep-state – Turiya (तुरीय).

To define this state, let us look at these ślokas from the Mandukya Upanishad (Verse VII)

निवृत्तेः सर्वदुःखानामीशानः प्रभुरव्ययः।
अद्वैतः सर्वभावानां देवस्तुर्यो विभुः स्मृतः॥

In these ślokas, the Absolute Truth is said to be changeless and wherein there is a cessation of all miseries. It is non-dual and not-two: it is one without a second. This is known as Turiya, which is omnipresent, all-pervading and effulgent. In the Mandukya Upanishad, this state of Turiya is said to be amātra – the ‘immeasurable’. This is the state that is attained in Samādhi in the Yogic system.

The attainment and realisation of this state is said to take sustained efforts and practice – Sadhana. However, one can see resonances of this great Beyond, the transcendent reality, even in the common-place. The crucial elements in doing so would be to see that often times the sum of individual elements of a system, either in property or effect, is lesser than that of the system as a whole, due to the manner in which the system relates and correlates with systems around it as well as the correlations of elements within the system. This dismantles the reductionist premise of being able to picture all entities in the Universe simply as a sum of their constituents. In essence, the whole always has something qualitatively more.

But how does this detour into my musings and a domain of abstraction have anything to do with life, politics or society? Well, the predominant thought here is the inadequacy of any of the elements of a binary, a duality or even a multiplicity to have the pre-eminent and absolute value. In simpler words, none of the options available to us to do anything useful, be it in terms of ideology, policy or platform, have a sacrosanct absoluteness associated with it.

One has to transcend that binary, that duality or that multiplicity, and in doing so one transcends the dependence we have on constructs and ideologies altogether. For instance, in the world of politics, while the market economy may drive economic growth, the welfare state can ensure equity in that growth. Both are important, and so policy platform one opts for is tough to ascertain without knowing the realities of a time.

At one point, more government spending is possible if the economy is strong while there may be austerity required when there is a lapse or lack in government funds and finances. Much like in Darwinian theory, where the environment self-selects the mutation or option that is best suited to the sustenance and growth of a species, it is the reality of a time and place that must determine the most suited policy platform.

Is this fickleness or unprincipled vacillations? No. It is just the realisation that all the ideologies and policy platforms only capture different sections and aspects of the greater reality. The only ideology that matters in this then is the ideology of truth, of evidence, of looking at reality as it is. In doing so, one transcends the (over-) reliance on dogma and ideology.

This evidence-based policy-making, customized solvability and solutions for addressing problems has been studied extensively. Prof. Abhijit Banerjee and Prof. Esther Duflo have formulated a certain experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. The political economy and development economics that is context-specific and driven by an almost dogged pursuit of evidence and truth, as it stands, is the only way where politics can be about effective decision making and policy rather than political theories as an end in themselves.

This is easy for bureaucrats to understand but surely this cannot be a political platform or ideology? I do not think so. It is when one realizes that the bedrock of reality is transcendent and beyond the empirical, one can loosen oneself from the clutches of blind faith and dogma in any specific construct in the empirical – particularly with political systems and theories.

While many of the ideas and elements of that age may not be applicable to this age, the principle of transcendence and the element of seeking truth without being constrained by certain conceptions or aspects of that truth, remains as relevant and important today as it was in the past. And it is with this understanding that I humbly place a new ideology that is paradoxically about not being reliant on any ideology, in only the active pursuit of truth and transcendence, for our society and politics – Turiyavaad (तुरीयवाद).

Some may ask whether this would give a free license for people to do as they please, based on their interpretation of the truth and how to address it. Would this give a license, say for the crony capitalists to run riot? No. It is only with the understanding of truth and transcendence, even at the societal level – of transcending the shackles of class, caste, gender, nationality, race, sexuality and ideology, that one can truly implement such evidence-driven politics.

There is an inherent element of humanity, compassion and, more importantly, universality, when one inherently respects the reality of the society, culture, economics and values of people in a specific time and place. It is not like we give the one-for-all solution and theory for everyone, but go by what the situation and reality of the time requires, to the best of our abilities, without a bias to any ideology.

The only principles that matter are probably just the universal, human principles of compassion and truth.

ॐ

--- Consider reading the article How Muslims made Periyar bend a knee, while he continued to abuse Hindus despite protests on OpIndia website ---

A striking aspect of the Dravidian brand of rationalism is how it attacks only Hindu beliefs and icons and is very careful to never critique the beliefs and practices of any other religion. Let us peer back in history and see if it was always so.

Dravidian publications and rationalist critique

In Kuti Arasu, EV Ramasamy’s journal, an essay titled – “Why Purdah must be abolished” – was published on 14-10-1928. On 4-11-1929, M S Hussain Saheb, writing for Kuti Arasu, wrote in an essay titled “The Injustice of Purdah” – 

“Men and women must be allowed to see each other freely and intermingle, so that they may wed based on mutual attraction and understanding. Can a man have any greater pleasure than a wife of his heart’s desire? Why must we hide our women behind a visual prison in the name of religion?”

In 3-3-1929, Kuti Arasu published another essay – “Islam and the Self-Respect Movement”, in which they decried the clergy as “Pauranika liars” who would cheat young Muslims and mislead them away from the path of rationalism and making enlightened choices for themselves.

On Jun 17, 1932, a Self-Respect Conference was held in Mannargudi under the chairship of Smt Kunjitham, a young graduate and wife of “Kuthoosi” Gurusami, EV Ramasamy”s confidante. In this, Smt Kunjitham spoke – 

“The Congress under Mr Gandhi wants to keep Hindu, Muslim and Christian faiths as they are and seek unity among all Indians. However, we wish to destroy all such religious faiths as we believe only freedom from such faith can lead to social unity.“

The backlash

P. Kalifullah, a Muslim League leader and sometime collaborator of the Justice Party leadership, openly said that if the Self-Respect Movement had to gain any support among Muslims of South India, they should give up on the habit of applying their principles of atheism to Islam. The Dar-ul-Islam, a Tamil publication wrote against the idea of Dravidian race politics and cautioned “The Tirukkural may be another Holy Book and Tiruvalluvar another Prophet in a Dravida Nadu“. In Aiyampettai, a small town in Thanjavur District, the local jamaat excommunicated all Muslim members of the Self-Respect Movement.

The climbdown

By November 1935, EV Ramasamy wrote – 

“If, to shun the religion that imposes untouchability on them,  Ambedkar and his followers turn to Islam for succour rather than to atheism, we would not have any objections to it.“

Ramanathapuram Baghdad Sahib writing in “Madras Mail” in January 1939 – 

“Periyar is a Muslim inside. His plan is to outwardly stay in the Hindu faith and send the Depressed Classes over to Islam“. There was no objection from any quarters to this claim.

In the Kuti Arasu editorial of April 17, 1947, EV Ramasamy wrote – 

“In a Dravidian Government, Muslims and Christians shall be regarded as groups friendly to the Dravidians. Muslims, being Dravidians, must have equal rights over the Tamil Land. Except for the small matter of religion, there is no means by which one can divide the Islamic and non-Islamic Dravidians“.

The capitulation

Writing in Viduthalai on July 15, 1947, EV Ramasamy –

“There is so much in common with the original Dravidian religion and Islam. The Arab word for Dravidian religion is Islam. When the Aryan faith was sought to be forced on our people, the Prophet Muhammed revived our people”s original faith by means of Islam“.

Addressing the Trichy Employees Association in March 1947, he said – 

“Before Islam, Christianity, Shiva, Rama or Krishna, we Dravidians had our own pristine religion. Do not think Islam is an invention of the Prophet or that the Sahibs (Urdu speaking Muslims of Madras Presidency), Rowthers, Marakkaiyars or Mappillas are the sole Muslims of this land”.

As we can see, the slightest resistance from the Indian Muslim population was sufficient to make the Dravidian movement capitulate, while the campaign of abuse and calumny against Hinduism has gone on for decades, inspite of wide spread protests.

(Translated from Dravida Mayai: Oru Paarvai (The Dravidian Delusion: A View) Part II  by Shri Subbu)

Security has been heightened in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat after Jain pilgrims visiting a Jain temple objected to selling of chicken biryani under the banner of ‘Jain Shikanji’.

अपडेट-
बागपत (यूपी) में जैन मंदिर के बाहर चिकन बिरयानी बेचने, टूरिस्टों से मारपीट करने में 6 लोगों पर FIR हुई।

शराफत, सोनू, शहजाद, अरशद, नदीम, नौशाद पर IPC-147, 148, 149, 295-A, 323, 336, 307, 427, 436, 511 में केस दर्ज।
4 लोग पुलिस ने कस्टडी में लिए।#Baghpat #Up

— Sachin Gupta | सचिन गुप्ता (@sachingupta787) August 16, 2021

As per reports, pilgrims visiting the Jain temple objected to the chicken biryani being sold. Jainism prohibits consumption of non-vegetarian food.

Reports said that when the pilgrims objected, the owner of the stall then called up his associates who attacked them and even tried to set their bus on fire.

Attack on Jain pilgrims who came to Temple in Badot , UP. by local muslims.
They started pelting stones and came in huge numbers with lathi and even tried to ignite the Bus carrying all the pilgrims.
This is something which needs to be stopped immediately @myogiadityanath pic.twitter.com/sLQjg9D4Dr

— Jainism_jewells (@arpitjain__) August 16, 2021

Inspector Novendra Singh Sirohi has said that investigation is on and four have been arrested till now. Six, including Sonu, Sharafat, Shahzad, Arshad, Nadeem and Naushad are booked in the case. Police is currently on the lookout for other accused.

On Sunday, a function was arranged at the Parshwanath temple where many devotees had participated. At around 8 PM, one man was caught selling chicken biryani on a stall which had banner ‘Jain Shikanji’. When some people objected to the same, the seller got violent and called upon his acquaintances. The mob then attacked the devotees and even tried to set the bus on fire.

A case has been registered under sections 147, 148, 149, 295-A, 323, 336, 307, 427, 436, 511 of the IPC.

At least 5,000 teachers in North Kerala districts of Kasargod and Malappuram have stayed away from COVID vaccines citing religious beliefs. Malappuram and Kasargod are Muslim dominated districts in Kerala where Malappuram has over 70% Muslim residents.

As per reports, about 5,000 school teachers and non-teaching staff have not taken a single dose of Coronavirus vaccines citing religious beliefs and poor health, the Kerala state education minister V Sivankutty said. He said that there is standing instructions that unvaccinated teachers will not be allowed to take classes. He said these teachers will be given some more time to get themselves vaccinated before any action is taken against them.

According to officials, most of these unvaccinated teachers have not even attended offline classes. Administration has been trying to get rid of vaccine hesitancy amongst teachers and are also trying to get religious leaders to step in and educate teachers about vaccines and help them understand the importance of coronavirus vaccines.

As of now, the state education department does not have the data of teachers who have not been inoculated. Most teachers have cited religious beliefs as the reason to not get vaccinated.

Vaccine hesitancy amongst Muslims in Kerala

According to COWIN dashboard, as of today, Kerala has administered a total of 4,26,88,538 doses of which about 1,70,36,736 have been administered both the doses. Recent surveys have showed that significant chunks of the Muslim population do not trust vaccines and vaccination rates for the community was far lesser than that for Hindus. In fact, a January 2020 report states how nearly 5 lakh children had missed polio vaccines in Kerala while Muslim majority Malappuram saw only 54% vaccination. It is pertinent to note that Malappuram in Kerala has one of the highest concentration of Muslim population and according to Census data nearly 70% of residents of the district are Muslims.

Meanwhile, Kerala continues to be the state that contributes the highest number of new active coronavirus cases in India. As per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Sunday, Kerala clocked in 1,500 new cases while the total number of new cases in India stood at 1,832.

On June 5, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issued a press release in which it stated that the party respects all religions and it is against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The press release came amid threats by Islamists to BJP National Spokesperson Nupur Sharma over alleged ‘blasphemy’. However, it is unclear in what context BJP has issued the statement.

In the statement signed by National General Secretary Arun Singh, the party said, “During the thousands of years of the history of India, every religion has blossomed and flourished. The Bharatiya Janata Party respects all religions. The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion.”

They further added, “The Bharatiya Janata Party is also strongly against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy.

India’s Constitution gives the right to every citizen to practise any religion of his/her choice and to honour and respect every religion.”

Speaking about the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, they said, “As India celebrates 75th year of its Independence, we are committed to making India a great country where all are equal, and everyone lives with dignity, where all are committed to India’s unity and integrity, where all enjoy the fruits of growth and development.”

Threats against Nupur Sharma

During a TV debate, Nupur Sharma, National Spokesperson of BJP, stated some facts as per the Islamic texts that irked the Muslims. She argued that since people are mocking the Hindu faith repeatedly, they can also mock other religions referring to Islamic beliefs.

Taking that video out of context, propaganda website AltNews cofounder Mohammed Zubair had shared it with his Twitter followers, declaring Nupur a rabid communal hatemonger and someone who can incite riots. He dog-whistled an online mob against Sharma and accused her of insulting Prophet Muhammad. He was supported by other Islamists, many of whom issued death and rape threats to her and her family. So far, no action has been taken against Muhammad Zubair.

Three FIRs against Nupur Sharma have been registered. First FIR was registered based on the complaint of dubious Islamic organization Raza Academy on May 29. The second FIR was registered against her based on the complaint of one Mohammad Gurfan of Mumbra. The third FIR was registered in Hyderabad, and it was shared on social media by AIMIM chief Assadudin Owais.

Sharma has received death threats, and bounties were announced against her not only in India but in Pakistan as well.

Statement by RSS Chief Mohan Bhagawat

Recently, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat had said that the disputed structure of the Gyanvapi mosque has a history that cannot be disputed. Several temples were desecrated by Islamic invaders, and Hindu society just intends to recover them.

The RSS chief further said, “We cannot change history. Neither today’s Hindus nor Muslims created it. It happened at that time. Islam was brought into India from outside by the Islamic invaders. In the attacks, hundreds of Devasthans (temples) were demolished to crush the morale of those who wanted independence. The Hindu society places a special emphasis on them, special reverence is about them.”

Indian film director SS Rajamouli recently gave an interview with the New Yorker. In this interview, SS Rajamouli expressed his views about films, his sources of inspiration, his choices regarding faith, and other things. However, the interview published on 16th February is being discussed for his one statement in which he said that religion is essentially a kind of exploitation.

The director of blockbuster films like Bahubali and RRR was asked in this interview how his films are influenced by Ramayana and Mahabharata. He answered, “I’ve read these stories since I was a child, and in the beginning, they were just nice, engaging stories. As I started growing up, I read different versions of the text, and the story started evolving into something much bigger for me. I could see the characters, the conflicts within the characters, and their motivating emotions. And I started understanding and loving these texts even more. Anything that comes out of me is somehow influenced by these texts. Those texts are like oceans: every time I visit them, I find something new.”

In the next question, the interviewer asked SS Rajamouli, when he first identified himself as an atheist. SS Rajamouli answered, “We have a giant family, and everyone—my father and mother, cousins and aunts, and everyone else—is deeply religious. I remember, as a young kid, I had doubts after reading stories about the Hindu gods. I used to think, This doesn’t seem real. Then I got caught up in my family’s religious fervour. I started reading religious texts, going on pilgrimages, wearing saffron cloth, and living like a sannyasi [ascetic] for a few years. Then I caught onto Christianity, thanks to some friends. I’d read the Bible, go to church, and do all kinds of stuff. Gradually, all these things somehow made me feel that religion is essentially a kind of exploitation.”

SS Rajamouli added, “I worked under a cousin of mine [the Telugu writer Gunnam Gangaraju] for a few months. He introduced me to Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I read those novels and was greatly inspired by them. I didn’t understand a lot of her philosophy, but I understood the basics of it. It was around that time that I slowly started moving away from religion. Even at that time, my love for stories like the Mahabharata or the Ramayana never diminished. I did start pushing away from those texts’ religious aspects, but what stayed with me was the complexity and the greatness of their drama and storytelling.”

SS Rajamouli said that he respects people’s feelings about God. He said, “They (family) feel very sad for me because I am going away from the path of religion. I don’t say bad things about God, I never do that. I respect people’s feelings because I know a lot of people depend on God a lot. Still, my father used to get angry when I used to say that I don’t believe in religious rituals or that kind of stuff. Now he’s made peace with it and respects my way of life.”

SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ bagged the Best Original song trophy for its song ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the 2023 Golden Globes2023 Golden Globes. ‘RRR’ received two nominations at the prestigious award ceremony under the categories Best Non-English Language Film and Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’. This was Rajamouli’s first project after the 2017 blockbuster ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’, which was released across the globe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam simultaneously early this year. The film received a huge response in several countries, including the US and Japan.

If you let people walk all over you, they will walk all over you

I am sure the title of this piece will not surprise many of us in fact any of us.

There is an oft-debated, criticized point – socially, spiritually and now politically- that why Hindus are not united like other religions?

There are several reasons for this situation, and let us see what is lacking and what can be done.

We are not confused as people may think, but we are very clear in our minds- we stand for ourselves and our family alone. ‘We have become indifferent’ too. Because no one told us otherwise. This has happened over a long period- Over the democratization of faith.

 We hide our weakness taking shelter under lofty ideas like ‘Vasudev Kutumbhkam’ or the world is one family or we being the most tolerant people God has created. We do not want to hurt anyone not even sentimentally. We are God’s only creation-we think. We are ready to kiss a snake, a demon or a horse with equal serenity. How great!

In that sense, we all are ‘statesmen’ always on the right side of right which we ourselves don’t know whether it is right or not. At least we want to show that to everyone.

We have been told by our elders – be tolerant and let anyone walk over you. Which god will tell us this? This is a self-inflicted scar. And we are ready to carry that as a cross on our backs forever.

One of Murphy’s laws is ‘Any problem can be made very complicated, if there are enough number of discussions on it’. How right this statement which fits us to a Tee.

Competitive religion-ism

Other religions and their ‘Gurus’ make it a point to tell their people that they have a religion which has certain bindings, certain rules, laws and strictures which are non-negotiable. They point to one super power and call it out as their God their savior. Period. No ifs and no buts.

We on the other hand say it is a religion but it is not a religion- it is a way of life. Obviously this is confusing. Statement itself is a bit mystic, seemingly paradoxical, especially in today’s age where people want things in binary and crystal clear. Why a common Hindu need some highly qualified Pundit to understand basics of good living as a Hindu? That is why so many gurus to teach us about God- my God. Gurus flourish –neither god nor us!

For instance, Sadhguru says ‘The term and concept of Hinduism was coined only in recent times. Otherwise, there was really no such thing. The word “Hindu” essentially comes from the word Sindhu. Anyone who is born in the land of Sindhu is a Hindu. It is a cultural and geographic identity. It is like saying “I am an Indian” but it is a more ancient identity than being an Indian. “Indian” is only about seventy years old, but this is an identity that we have always lived with.

Being a Hindu does not mean having a particular belief system. Basically, the whole culture was oriented towards realizing one’s full potential. Whatever you did in this culture was Hindu. There is no particular god or ideology that you can call as the Hindu way of life. You can be a Hindu irrespective of whether you worship a man-god or a woman-god, whether you worship a cow or a tree. If you don’t worship anything you can still be a Hindu.”

Such scattered diverse idea can confuse than clarify.

So what does one make out of this discourse? More confusion?

Is it a gospel, a creed, a cult, philosophy, ideology or a sect? These are all the synonyms of the word religion. Or we feel Hinduism is none of it. Some confuse it further by saying it is not an ‘ism’ then for God’s sake what is it?

Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. In India which has maximum number of Hindus in the world, the term dharma is also interchangeably used with religion, which is broader than the Western term religion. When you say Raj dharma it means duty of a ruler. Parmo Dharma means ultimate or supreme duty. Therefore Dharma implies being duty bound.

These are high and lofty ideas which may not hit the bulls eye with the generation gasping constantly running on day today basis with little time at hand for household chores, for fitness or family. While others are absolutely clear.

Looking at it another way in its entirety it is too big and too liberal. It is too democratic in its very essence and that could be its strength. It is Omni interpretable or multi interpretable. Or being too liberal could be its weakness too. If you have no strict rules you have no binding. When you do something religiously it implies, you do it regularly.

With such an open ended idea of belief, how do you get people on the same page- as there is no one book or no one page.

For Christians Bible is a Holy Manual. That is why people call any wholesome all-encompassing guide for a topic as a Bible. You say ‘This book authored by XYZ author is a Bible for Marketing’. This implies that there is nothing more to it; one book is all that you need. If you have any doubt about marketing, you go back to that book. If it is the Bible for marketing then that is the ultimate and final authority on marketing. That is how it is perceived. There may be thousand other books but one is sufficient and all others are as reference books.

Deriving a logical inference I would assume that a religion needs to be presented in a well-defined boundary through one book carrying all major tenets of that religions philosophy as its  essence and also needs to be practiced religiously with certain regularity.

Hinduism also has hundreds of deities to choose from.

Saab Chalta hai

It is like making an eight-lane highways to your destination- in this case all mighty – but no rules. You can drive left right or center. Overtake, over speed or stop your car in the middle of the highway to have your lunch! Bravo.

How do you keep things in order? You can’t say ‘my way on the high way’- to my god. This is a sure short cut to death and reach your god and send others too!

Weakness of Hindu religion is that it is very vast, very liberal, spread over huge number of scriptures and hence difficult to interpret for a common man. You need a guru or a priest to understand it- even a fraction of it. This can be a deterrent for people to practice it rigorously. Therefore most Hindus get into devotional obligation after they have finished their responsibility- almost retired. For a modern day Hindu youth it appears too complicated and you can’t make every living Hindu a monk or a saint.

Religion is a Sense of discipline

There is an oft-quoted expression ‘I do so and so thing religiously’. Say ‘I go for my work out with friends religiously- that means religion connotes a sense of regimentation and discipline. Then why pretend otherwise?

One simple way to understand why religions came into existence is -religion gives us purpose in life.

One possible explanation has to do with the way religion tends to act like social glue, drawing the faithful into likeminded communities. People often find social support and a sense of belonging within such communities, which can be a powerful source of perceived meaning in life.

There has to be a list of strict ‘Do’s and Don’ts. Religions are bound by a solid glue called ‘commandments’.

Unless you do this instead of free for all, there is no cohesiveness. These glorious good things were fine in glorious times when people did have values and lived by their values in a gigantic invisible ’bubble’ called a way of life which is religion. But no more as others have well defined lines, clear-cut ideas, and clear commandments. God may be intangible but you need some kind of a roadmap for a common mortal. Else how do you feel a person will follow you?

Then we bring salvation into it.

 Salvation is preservation. It means and aims to conserve, defend, protect, safeguard, save, secure, store, sustain, uphold, cure, guard. Man is looking for this- man needs support. When reason fails faith begins.

For preservation there has to be a sense of collectivism. A sense of belonging and that sense of being together. How can that become possible if it is ‘free for all’?

Harvard-ization of Hinduism!

Today people other than Hindus or Hindus who lean towards left or the western culture are taking a pot shot at Hinduism. They go abroad and take refuge in lofty universities like Harvard and criticize us- they are there to tell us that Hinduism is no good. They mostly talk about caste system as a negative stance of Hinduism.

We have let the others take a pot shot at us.

“Hindu Dharma is the quintessence of our national life, hold fast to it if you want your country to survive, or else you would be wiped out in three generations”. – Swami Vivekanand

What can be done to unite the religion?

After Independence a lot of balancing act has happened because of serious and sincere efforts to provide a level playing field across the Hindu masses. This was legislated.

We need a UHC- Uniform Hindu Code.

Create a citizens forum in every small city- like a Rotary movement. Let it go down to every small village- we have 6 lakh plus villages. Caste creed no bar, everyone to be encouraged to come and treated equally. This is a bottom up approach.

Organize weekly prayers in Mandirs- only one day a mass gathering- like Christians do on Sunday so do Sikhs. After that a simple to understand discourse with a take away ‘no big gyan’.

Two things can be done over and above the caste neutralization.

1. Simplify

1. Simplifying the construct and making it more accessible to all Hindus. Why don’t many Hindus read their holy books like Vedas, Upanishads, and Gita? When asked about their religion, most of the Hindus cannot give a straight answer or give varying answers. Why do we need great scholars/religious teachers to understand what we all need to follow? We need one book as a primer for all. It needs to put the entire essence of all our holy scriptures and tell us what to do and what not to do. Other religions go by their one holy book. That is their strength.

• 2. Religion is about symbolism too.

Every religion has a marker in terms of caps, beards, what you wear and some symbol/symbols to go by. For instance Christians have a cross.

• Of late Hindu women have started donning a ‘Bindi’ with pride. And have started asserting this in no uncertain terms. This is true women power. But that is half the total number of Hindus. And where are the men?
• Can they also don something to demonstrate that they belong to a ‘way of life’- if it helps. Like a cross. Om is a central thread and it is a sound and a symbol- possibly sacred to all. Hindus. Yes this is unique- may be undisputable pillar of a united religion.

Rotary- a case in point

Rotary members believe that they have a shared responsibility to take action on world’s most persistent issues. Our 46,000+ clubs work together to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, save mothers and children, support education, grow local economies, protect the environment.

Don’t religions do much more than this?

We need cardinal principles in some form or the other.

Cardinal principles

• We have one cardinal principle which all Hindus follow. Hindus don’t eat beef.
• We tie a thread on our wrist- (A pratisara or kautuka) a sacred thread- we must encourage this.
• Can we have few more like this- for instance your color is gerua or (saffron) tie a small cloth on your steering wheel. When Christians wear a Cross they demonstrate loyalty and sense of community.
• Some more should be dug out and propagated.
• Sabka saath sabka mangal ho.
• Other symbols like Shiv Ling, Swastika or Lotus or Cow should continue along side. No restriction here.
• We cannot allow people or organizations or business houses Indian or Foreign or even Bollywood or Hollywood to walk all over us. One needs a strict code of conduct to handle this.

For all these reasons, below statement becomes a testament.

“hindu ko jagana mushkil he nahi hai- namumkin hai’

On Monday, 14th August 2023, organizers of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, Illinois, abruptly informed Nivedita Raghuram Bhide from Swami Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, India, that her scheduled plenary session speech on August 16, 2023, had been cancelled. Bhide’s exclusion from the Parliament’s plenary session stemmed from a targeted campaign. The collaboration between left-wing media, academia, and Islamist groups worked to stifle authentic Hindu representation at the event.

Who is Nivedita Bhide?

Nivedita Bhide, a Padmashree awardee of 2017, is a ‘Jeevanvrati‘ of Vivekananda Kedra Kanyakumari – an organisation she has been working for since 1977. ‘Jeevanvrati’ is a lifetime devoted worker in the work of the organisation, where Nivedita Bhide is currently working as the vice president. Nivedita Bhide boasts an impressive literary record with more than 15 published books to her name. She conducts regular yoga teachings and spiritual retreats worldwide, imparting her wisdom.

Additionally, she has delivered numerous papers at both national and international conferences and has lectured at prestigious educational institutions across the globe. As a trustee of the Vivekananda International Foundation since its establishment, she has been actively involved in promoting cultural relations and has been a member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations since July 2020.

What is Vivekananda Kendra?

Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, often simply referred to as Vivekananda Kendra, is a well-known spiritual and cultural organisation in India. It was founded in 1972 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, in honour of the great Indian philosopher and spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda. The organisation takes its inspiration from Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and aims to promote his vision of a spiritually awakened and culturally vibrant India.

Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari was founded by Eknath Ranade in 1972. Eknath Ranade (1914-1982) joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while still in school. He became an important organiser and leader for the organisation, rising through its ranks to serve as its general secretary from 1956–62. Eknath Ranade was a dedicated social worker, spiritual leader, and follower of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. He played a pivotal role in establishing and nurturing the Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari, which continues to promote Swami Vivekananda’s ideals and values to this day. His birth centenary year was celebrated by the organisation in 2014-2015 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present as the chief guest.

Key features and activities of Vivekananda Kendra include Yoga and Meditation, Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, cultural and educational activities at various places in India, rural development, Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas (schools), publication of various literature related to the life and works of Swami Vivekananda and the organisation, youth empowerment, and spiritual retreat.

What is the Parliament of the World’s Religions?

The Parliament of the World’s Religions is an international gathering that brings together individuals, organisations, and leaders from various religious and spiritual traditions to promote interfaith dialogue, cooperation, and understanding. It is supposed to serve as a platform for discussing and addressing global issues, fostering peace, and promoting social justice.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions was first held in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was organized as part of the World’s Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. The 1893 Parliament is considered a landmark event because it marked one of the earliest attempts at interfaith dialogue on a global scale. It featured representatives from various religious traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and more.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions typically includes a wide range of activities and events, such as plenary sessions, workshops and panel discussions, interfaith dialogues, cultural performances, exhibitions and displays, youth programs, community services, etc.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions 2023

Since its inception, the Parliament of the World’s Religions has been held at irregular intervals, with subsequent gatherings taking place in different cities around the world. In 2023, it was held in Chicago from 14th August to 18th August. The theme of this year’s gathering was ‘ A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights’. Unfortunately, the organisers of this conference surrendered before the leftists and Islamists and denied the freedom and human rights of one of the invitees to speak in the plenary session. The organisers cancelled a talk by Nivedita Bhide scheduled for 16th August 2023.

How Nivedita Bhide was demonised by leftists and Islamists?

The rise of intellectual intolerance is a notable trend in both the United States and other Western countries. Academic institutions, think tanks, and even corporations are becoming more accepting of practices such as cancel culture, censorship, de-platforming, disciplinary measures, financial penalties, and in some cases, legal actions as their preferred means of addressing dissenting voices and a variety of viewpoints.

Prior to her departure for Chicago, Bhide came across a social media post by Audrey Truschke, a leftist Islamist faculty member at Rutgers University. In this tweet, Truschke labelled Bhide as a “Hindu nationalist.” She said, “Bhide has personally engaged in spreading disinformation that demonises Indian Muslims in recent years, during which anti-Muslim violence has risen precipitously in India, under Hindu nationalist leadership. Bhide has deep connections with far-right political organisations that support Hindu nationalism, a deeply Islamophobic political ideology.”

This Audrey Truschke is on the advisory board of the Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI), an activist body in the United States of America with close ties to the Democratic party establishment. The activist body is most famous for organising the Hinduphobic ‘Holi Against Hindutva’ campaign in 2020 when it was simply called ‘Students Against Hindutva’.

A fellow member of the advisory board of SAHI is Ajit Sahi, advocacy director of the Indian American Muslim Council. Ajit Sahi is the former executive director of the disgraced Tehelka magazine. He has appeared on prominent platforms in the USA on several occasions to spread propaganda against India.

The Indian American Muslim Organisation (IAMC), one of the event’s sponsors, also took active steps to remove Bhide from the platform. They disseminated pamphlets containing propaganda in the guise of criticism of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Indian American Muslim Council is a radical Islamist group that has alleged links with banned terror organizations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and has a long history of lobbying against India.

Rasheed Ahmed, the executive director of the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) said, “Participants in the Parliament of World Religion must vocally oppose the inclusion of Hindu nationalist Nivedita Bhide in the ‘A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights’ conference. As the leader of the Vivekananda Kendra, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organization, Bhide is helping to advance a fundamentally exclusionary vision of India – the very opposite of ‘defending freedom and human rights’.”

The IAMC is a Jamat-e-Islami-backed lobbyist organisation claiming to be a rights advocacy group. In the past, it had reportedly collaborated with and had even paid money to various groups in the USA to get India blacklisted by the USCIRF (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom). A detailed report by Disinfo Lab has exposed its links with the terror outfit Jamat-e-Islami.

On 7th August 2023, the Middle East Eye published an article titled, ‘Activists raise alarm over Hindu nationalist presence at Parliament of World Religions’. This article was written by Islamist propagandist Azad Essa. He wrote, “Nivedita Bhide has routinely shared the rhetoric of right-wing Hindu nationalists who demonise prominent Indian activists. Targets have included Afreen Fatima, a researcher and activist; Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub; and the late Christian Priest, Father Stan Swamy.”

Azad Essa, posing as a journalist, spearheads the campaign against Nivedita Bhide. Under the guise of addressing Islamophobia, he employs his writing and collaborates with similar voices to portray Muslims as victims and others as aggressors. Audrey Trushke is one of the links in this narrative. Azad Essa has quoted her remarks about Nivedita Bhide to bolster his argument. The other culprits he utilised at his convenience are figures like Rasheed Ahmed from IAMC, who received support from Azad Essa, a self-styled journalist with a controversial background, previously associated with Al Jazeera English, a network linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Azad Essa works for Middle East Eye (MEE), which is owned by Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso, a former official associated with Al Jazeera in Qatar and the Hamas-affiliated al-Quds TV in Lebanon. Hamas is the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist terror organisation. Hamas has a long history of violating human rights. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries including The European Union, the United States, Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom etc. 

Jamal Bessasso operates MEE through M.E.E. Ltd. In the past, he has worked as the director of planning and human resources for Al Jazeera and the director of Human Resources for the Samalink Television Production Company in Lebanon, which serves as the registered agent for Al Quds TV’s website. It was MEE and other leftists and Islamists that launched a severe attack on Nivedita Bhide, leading to the cancellation of her address at the Parliament of World’s Religions’ plenary session.

Karma is cyclic in its operation.

On Friday, 18th August 2023, ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke, known for her history of anti-Hindu narratives, faced an unexpected turn of events during her scheduled talk at the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago. She was slated to discuss topics like ‘censorship,’ ‘free speech,’ ‘disinformation,’ and alleged ‘threats and harassment from right-wing groups,’ alongside fellow anti-India proponents Sunita Vishwanath and Rasheed Ahmed. Despite the event, titled ‘The Importance of Freedom of Speech to Defend Human Rights,’ being conducted virtually, Truschke found herself addressing empty chairs and vacant halls.

The cold reception faced by those advocating for Nivedita Bhide’s exclusion from the religious conference serves as a reflection of the Karma principle, which finds various interpretations in Hindu scriptures. The essence of this principle is that one ultimately experiences the consequences of their actions. Audrey Truschke aimed to prevent Nivedita Bhide from addressing the conference to suppress her views, but ironically, she found herself addressing an audience of empty chairs during her own turn at the same event.

Parliament of World’s Religions and Swami Vivekananda

It is notable that the first Parliament of World’s Religions held in Chicago in 1893 is remembered for the distinguished presence and speech of Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda – a Dharmik figure inspiring the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari. Swami Vivekananda made his iconic address at the Parliament’s gathering in 1893, addressing the issues of sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendants, which have filled the earth with violence, destroyed civilisations, and sent whole nations to despair. He also highlighted a faith that has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance – that is Hinduism. One hundred thirty years later, Nivedita Bhide, a devoted follower of Swami Vivekananda, was denied the opportunity to speak at the Parliament of the World’s Religions.