Image for representation only
It is going to be a century since the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh started striving for the declared goal of making the Hindu-majority India - a Hindu Rashtra. No matter how eloquently leaders like Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru have talked about the dreams of a secular India, no matter how strongly they quote the provisions of the democratic constitution, it has become a realidy that since 2014 the RSS has been able to capture power in the country with the support of popular votes. It is also a fact that despite the resistance of secular parties and religious minorities, the Sangh Parivar under the leadership of Narendra Modi managed to win a second term in 2019. Thus, they are not hindered by the Constitution or even the Judiciary to implement the agendas that they have presented to the country one after the other. The Hindutva collective has also developed a determination to suppress or ignore dissenting voices. The union government does not face any difficulty in bringing not only the central administration but also the administration of most of the states under its control and arm-twist the opposition-controlled states with the help of governors. Efforts are also on with redoubled force to ensure a third term in the general elections of 2024. The radical right wing is confident that they can overcome any crisis with the unstinting help of the corporate giants who control the country's economy on the back of billions of rupees. Viewed thus, it is clear that declaring India as Hindu rashtra is only a matter of time.
But the strange flip side is that despite all the ploys they use, even the staunchest Sangh Parivar intellectuals are not able to explain in a language that people can understand what the Hindutva rashtra darshan is or what it will look like. One has to say that even the RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar's 'Bunch of Thoughts' has failed in this regard. At a loss to give a definition to Hindu, he ended up consoling himself that Hindu is indefinable. Acharyas and Pandits are not ready to admit that Hinduism is a religion. Both theists and atheists can be Hindus. Charvakas who did not believe in God were also a part of Hindu society. No one can force a Hindu to go to a temple - even when fighting for temples. Brahmins continue to be the respectable upper caste even as they argue that Brahminism is not by birth but by deed. All the same, thousands of castes live as avarna and lower castes in the fringes of life, not merely by practice but by theory. When Bihar's Nitish government started the caste census in Bihar, there were those who supported and opposed it within the BJP. In Hindu societies, inter-caste marriages are grounds for death penalty for the spouses. Even as efforts to seize and demolish the places of worship of other religious communities and build temples in their place are gaining strength with the support of the powers that be, there are more than enough temples in the country where lower castes are denied entry. But then there are actions to hunt the Muslim and Christian religious minorities in various ways to divert attention from all this.But, perhaps because of the feeling that its goal cannot be achieved and other means must be adopted to establish the greatness of Hindu culture, the government has had to hold up ridiculous things in front of the world. One of them is the now-withdrawn Central Animal Welfare Board's directive that on Valentine's Day on February 14, show of love should not be between humans, but with cows. The aim is to defend against the invasion of western culture by highlighting Indian culture. The Central Animal Welfare Board had also discovered that hugging a cow can bring prosperity to homes and happiness to people. This call for cow hugging came even when it emerged that VD Savarkar, the founder of the Hindu Mahasabha, the controversial figure in Gandhi's assassination case, and whose idol is installed in Parliament, himself had rejected cow-worship. He wrote, " Hindutva, if it has to sustain itself on a cow’s legs, will come crashing down at the slightest sign of a crisis". He also said in effect that in his eyes it is a mockery of humanity and divinity. Savarkar continued to write to those who thought that his view was blasphemous. Had this been written by a Muslim or a Christian, tridents would have been raised not only against those who wrote so but against the entire community. Whether it was after reading Savarkar, or being subject to harsh criticism and ridicule about its order, the Central government has finally withdrawn the directive. The country however looks set to suffer the frenzied pranks of the ideological bankruptcy borne out of inability to present a clear and precise vision of sanatana dharma to the masses!