Anirban Choudhury
(eternalflamenew@gmail.com)
The recent surge in reports of alleged religious discrimination, coercion and even atrocities, particularly against members of the Hindu community, from different parts of the country has been quite unsettling. The shocking details that continue to emerge in the infamous “corporate jihad” case at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Nashik, have once again revealed the vulnerability of followers of ancient Indic faiths, particularly Sanatana Dharma, aka Hinduism, as organised faiths with a predatory mindset seemingly target them at will. As if the scourge of mass religious conversion of Hindus by various evangelical groups in different parts of the country wasn’t bad enough, the latest incident has only served as a grim reminder of how followers of the ancient surviving faiths on the planet still continue to be at the receiving end of many radicalised but organised religious groups hell-bent on proselytisation, either through inducement or under threat.
The way in which vulnerable young Hindu girls were reportedly targeted, systematically groomed, harassed, sexually abused, and forced to convert to Islam by their senior colleagues in the BPO Nashik unit of TCS over the past four years has quite rightfully raised the hackles of every right-thinking citizen in this country, particularly the Hindus. For, the entire incident exposed how some indoctrinated youth take advantage of the liberal mindset and lax administrative mechanism to further their sinister plot, while the corporate groups tend to look the other way. And what has made the situation particularly alarming is that there seems to be an entire ecosystem backing such vile and vicious machinations, while the state apparently cares two hoots about this. No wonder the outrage to the TCS case has been largely selective.
Meanwhile, hardly had the public outcry over the TCS case ebbed when reports began to emerge of how leading brand Lenskart restricted Hindu religious symbols like bindis, tilaks, and kalawas among its staff while apparently allowing other religious attire. Similarly, leading domestic and international carrier Air India was faulted for reportedly prohibiting traditional Indian symbols like bindis, sindoor, and tikas in its internal cabin crew grooming guidelines. Then there are frequent reports of how Hindu students appearing for different competitive exams are asked to take out their religious symbols while allowing others’ religious attire. Similarly, reports abound of “love jihad” and how Hindu women in beauty salons and gyms are being increasingly targeted by radicalised Muslim youth, along with attacks during Hindu festivals. All this seemed to have lent credence to a growing perception among the Hindus that they are being increasingly discriminated against and targeted, which has naturally riled a large section of the community of late, particularly the Hindu rightwing groups.
Actually, the roots of the apparent anti-Hindu outlook, evidently still prevalent in various walks of life in the country, can be traced back to the state’s own policy. Since Independence, the Government of India has taken upon itself the task of not only reforming Hindu society but perhaps even laying ownership claim over it, while leaving out other communities, thereby implying that only the former is backward and hence needs to be reformed. Even the education system has been seen to be somewhat condescending towards Hindu belief systems, evident in most school textbooks until recently. Thus, many contend that this has fuelled the tendency among a large section of the populace, especially the educated elites in this country, to look down upon and mock Hindu faith and symbols. The blanket characterisation of Sanatana Dharma has cast a body blow to one of the world’s richest, most diverse, completely non-sectarian, spiritually uplifting and oldest surviving liberal philosophies of life. No wonder, while Bollywood is replete with movies and songs that mock Hindu gods and goddesses and the Hindu belief system, certain politicians equate Sanatana Dharma with “dengue, malaria, COVID-19, and HIV” and even openly call for its “eradication”.
Sadly, the state’s perceptible indifferent (if not discriminatory) approach prevalent to this day isn’t helping matters – manifest in the government’s continued control of thousands of ancient Hindu mandirs across the country and even taxing some of them while providing subsidies to Hajj until a few years back. Not just that. Even certain important pieces of legislation of the country are openly discriminatory. For instance, provisions of the Right to Education Act apply primarily to Hindu-run institutions, while those run by minority communities have been largely left out from the Act’s ambit. Likewise, minority bodies (waqf boards) were given unbridled powers over the years that had enabled them to even lay claim to, if not already usurped, villages and ancient Hindu mandir lands until recently, but the Hindus were not given a similar right. Also, while Hindu laws were codified in 1951, Muslim statutes have not. To cite another instance, bigamy has been banned for members of other religious communities, barring the Muslims who are still governed by their personal laws. So, when a state openly pursues such a policy of discrimination against a vast majority of people who follow an ancient belief system and philosophy of life that have been the bedrock of this ancient civilisation and defined its transition to a modern nation, those with a nefarious agenda would be too happy to pursue theirs with zeal. What is most shocking is that the state has failed to mend its ways and even act decisively against growing reports of attacks on Hindus despite a right-wing party being in power. The Nupur Sharma episode and Kanhaiya Lal murder case bear a mute testimony to this bitter reality.
Needless to say, the value systems of the ancient Indic faiths, particularly Sanatana Dharma, have shaped the ethos of Bharat, where people of diverse faiths, ethnicities and races have not only co-existed but thrived for generations. As former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi once famously remarked, ‘Have no doubt, India is secular because Hindus are secular. The hate discourse, to my mind, is temporary. It comes and goes, but the basic ethos of India is secular, which stays because of the inbuilt liberal and secular Hindu tradition.” But not acknowledging this basic fact could ultimately sound a death knell for one of the most liberal and inclusive ancient living civilisations on the planet, thereby shoving Bharat into the path of another theocratic state dominated by organised faiths, and the ancient land ravaged by religious bloodshed in the not too distant future.