Modi in Charge, Hindutva in the Ascendancy, Here’s What Must Happen

For 70 years, India has suffered from a lack of scope and definition, particularly to the Western eye and through the nihilism and self hate of largely English speaking and Educated Indians who enjoy seeing their mother country deprived of a clear-cut identity.

This has been a distinctly Nehruvian charted process, dividing those who stand up for the glory of the history, culture and religion of India from those who believe it should continue to be Anglicised, Westernised, and sapped of its nationhood and cultural persona.

For 70 years this elite has got away with their gambit of dividing Indian and Hindu sentiments, sensibilities and susceptibilities.

Now that Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the hierarchy of the BJP is at the helm in India, those days are thankfully numbered.

Modi knows that India cannot be great again if it is divided and polarised along its population faultlines. India is a magnificent and glorious country and it is time the majority Hindu population (80 per cent of it) draws primacy towards its religious, cultural, political and civilizational sustenance.

I have read with interest as Western outlets, and Indians crying wolf, have wept tears at the ascent of Modi, and this scaremongering has largely been centered on the feelings of the 20 per cent in the country. But this minority cannot override what is in the interests of the 80 per cent-and no longer will blackmail, browbeating and bluster override what is natural to India: absolute pride in its glory and cultural history.

Indeed, it is Islam that has given rise to right-wing population in the biggest democracy in the world. It is the stubborn defence of a distinctly Islamist group identity that has led Indians to feel it is somehow unworthy of respect to afford this same standard to its Hindu identity and traditions.

It is time India is steadfast and unapologetic about its identity, the identity that 80 per cent of its population must seek to understand, embody and identify with. It is the scaremongering of this minority, and its mouthpieces that has led the majority to feel as if its cohesive identity has been placed under threat-its culture, tradition, and heritage.

Let us be clear about one matter-Modi’s policies are for all, they do not and will not deprive Muslims. Cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene, moderning the economy through digitalisation, cashless transactions, financial access and self-esteem to the underclass by opening bank accounts, keeping inflation under control and generally creating a climate warm to business, trade, commerce and industry, will benefit everyone in India-not just Hindus.
Yet at the same time it is now the moment to capture the soul of India, its distinctly Hindu character and heritage and that can be achieved in the immediate future through the following steps.

Ayodhya: It is time for the Ram temple to be built. It is not easy given the legislative conundrums that face the administration, but Modi and the BJP should replace the focus on the temple with a wider Hindutva or nationalistic platform. This is not an easy exercise because the Place of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 stipulates that the religious character of any place of worship must be maintained as on 15 August 1947. The idols were installed in the disputed shrine in December 1949, it must be recalled.

Hindu Rashtra: There is nothing wrong in drawing a parallel between Indian culture and Hindu culture, it is not a means to usurp the livelihood of the 20 per cent; but India is fundamentally a Hindu rashtra and the core philosophy of Hindutva is not one cultivated through threat, terror or the hatred of minorities.

Jai Shri Ram: Let us all be eternally proud of the slogan and greeting “Jai Shri Ram”, it is not an eerie chant, but a celebration of how important a deity Ram is considered to the Hindu populace — if it cannot be spoken with pride in India, where will it be spoken thus, in Pakistan? Thankfully the BJP has promised in its own manifesto to construct a mandir celebrating the history and importance of Ram: “We will explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution and all necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.”

Saffron-clad: Saffronisation in order to promote Hindu ideology is not something to be ashamed of. Leaders like Yogi Adityanath or Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and a wide cross-section of politicians in BJP don saffron to prove their point of their authority over religion and politics. Leaders in BJP like Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Sakshi Maharaj, Uma Bharti and Swami Sumedhanand Saraswati have proven that the BJP is proud of promoting more saffron-clad leaders who don saffron and prove their authority in politics and there is nothing wrong in doing this. Would politicans in Pakistan wearing burkhas and hijbas be met with the same level of scrutiny?
There is no ‘Hindu terror’: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied the existence of “Hindu terrorism”, even asserting “In my culture and in my limited knowledge, no Hindu can ever be a terrorist and if he is a terrorist, he can never be a Hindu.”

Asserting such a despicable argument insults Hindus, defames the entire religion by casting such a generalist aspersion about its character. It is a way of defaming Hindus across the world and pride in your own culture and history is not tantamount to terrorism in any shape or form.

Narendra Modi and the BJP now have the mandate to give Hindu identity the wings it deserves, the wings it has itself clipped since its independence. The above steps are a small element of bringing this to reality but they are necessary.