A Review of the Book Hindus in Hindu Rashtra

When India gained independence on the 15th of August, 1947, despite being ripped apart in the name of religion, it adopted for itself a pluralistic outlook. However, that freedom was only in the physical sovereignty of the remainder of the land, but not in the mental attitudes of the people. By not aligning itself explicitly with dharma to guide its polity, Hindus left the door ajar for many mal-intentioned forces to creep in and gain power.

The modus operandi of such forces has been disarmingly simple: Cry persecution, establish street veto, infiltrate administration, gain power and change laws. With each incremental foothold, maligning Hinduism through exaggerated and imagined charges was a must. Thus we had phrases such as Hindu rate of growth, cow vigilantism, evil brahmanism and the like. Being divorced from their own learning, history and understanding of the other, Hindus were/are ill equipped to face these charges confidently and factually.

Of late, with a change of dispensation at the union level, a renewed charge of Hindu Rāṣṭra has been foisted on the Hindus. A Hindu rāṣṭra, its detractors declare, is a mirror image of the fascist, nazi nation-states of erstwhile Europe which sought to eliminate their national minorities in cold blood. Painting the Hindus as supremacist and with absolute hold and sway over their country’s resources, they seek to chalk a narrative of relentless persecution of helpless minorities. It is this charge that has been addressed in its converse by Dr. Anand Ranganathan in his latest book, Hindus in Hindu Rashtra. Using eight instances of malicious biases of the State, he amply demonstrates that let alone being supreme, Hindus have been relegated to 8th class citizenry in their own country.

At the beginning itself, the author draws the crucial distinction between appeasement and apartheid; between the state’s mollycoddling of imperialist ideologies all the while restraining the victim of said ideology from rightful reclamation: of history, memory and identity. Appeasement has been so pervasive since the pre-independence era, the author notes, that Hindus are unconcerned of it any longer and tend to take it in their stride. However, discrimination equivalent to apartheid is what has been the bane of society since long and is detrimental to the Hindu existence itself.

From the pseudo-secular state control of Hindu temples, to the biased formulation of Right To Education Act, from the judiciary which refrains from delivering justice for the victims of Kashmir genocide to the same judiciary willing to interfere with Hindu customs on the fly, one can find scores of such instances listed in the book.

The objective of these measures are not just a blind hit-and-run animus for the Hindu community, but they are meant for a systematic erasure of the sense of identity and pride in the psyche of the modern Hindu, as the author rightfully points out. The inability of the community to perpetuate its worldview due to the state control of the temples is taken forward by the smothering of its (and only its) educational institutions through dumping the state’s responsibility of free schooling on them through RTE.

Any sense of history which still survives despite these restraints is further muffled through Places of Worship Act, which bars the reclamation of any holy site destroyed by foreign invaders, many of whom have been rebranded as freedom fighters. The ultimate nail in the coffin is the Waqf Act, which allows the super legal Waqf Board to lay claim on any land it thinks belongs to the Waqf, and the onus is shifted on the land holder to disprove this claim, in front of the Waqf tribunal.

In his trademark ‘snare the fundamentalists but spare the fundamentals’ style, Ranganathan minces no words in exposing the fundamentals responsible for the spread of terrorism and intolerance. Allowing the facts to speak for themselves, he further asks the brigade crying Hindutva:

In which theocratic state would religious zealots wait for half a millennium and even then, 1 billion people strong, leave it to 5 people to decide the fate of their demand, their yearning, the consecration of their soul itself?

The inversion of facts, selective application of laws, trauma of being made homeless overnight and to look at the landmarks of our civilization from afar, all these have been thrust onto the Hindus of Hindu Rashtra, while being blamed for it as well. Moreover, the treatment meted out has not altered with any change of dispensation, but has now been repackaged with the slogan: Justice for All, Appeasement for None.

To be informed is to be empowered, and for a society facing attacks from all quarters, it is imperative to be aware of the facts as they stand.

In his book Skin in the Game, Nassim Taleb had explained the idea of why the most intolerant wins and how an intolerant minority can control and destroy democracies. Therefore, it becomes incumbent upon the tolerant majority to introspect with an open acceptance of facts. In any endeavor of lasting impact, documentation is critical, and Dr. Ranganathan’s book serves as an important collation of material towards that purpose. Designed as a light read, it succinctly captures the present state of affairs so that readers may arm themselves with facts.

While the book is not an exhaustive list of discriminations and disadvantages encountered by the Hindu community, it does the commendable work of bringing to light those which require the urgent attention of the community at large, and also suggests solutions for some of these problems.

As a cultural Hindu, Dr. Ranganathan presses for the liberation of temples from the control of the secular state. However, this author hopes to take a slight digression from his position of treating the temple as a publicly listed company. While the goal of the temple getting richer and doing more for society is a common and noble one, it must be kept in mind that the temple is the abode of the deity first and foremost, and must be approached only with the bhāva of a bhakta or sādhaka. All transactions and dealings done in its premises, of which the society is encouraged to do as many, must be done with that attitude.

In a premonition of times to come, the identity of Hindus who thought of escaping the identity politics by settling outside the country has also come under attack, in the form of caste discrimination legislations and the like. This clearly suggests that those with whom the identity of Hindus sits ill with, will clearly try to guilt trip Hindus into submission, deracination and ultimately conversion. In such a scenario, not only will humanity lose out on the last standing pre abrahamic spirit of accommodation, but also a vast treasure house of knowledge of the inner sciences.

In the discourses regarding equality, social and historical justice, freedom and identity, this book is a ready reckoner to acquaint people to the true state of affairs in a bite-sized format and put the false narratives about Hindu rāṣṭra at rest. More importantly, it can also serve as an introduction towards deeper research and dissemination on each of the topics covered, so that the Hindu mind is sharpened through the knowledge of śatrubodha.