Explanation : [Hindus,historically, have been more welcoming of non-Hindus but far more rigid about their own because of the entrenched hereditary caste system which probably was a traditional method of putting societies in open silos for better management though the caste system was never meant to be hereditary but determined by individual aptitudes. The rise of the moral wingers are always a cause for concern as they disturb the social order, and the Middle East is a modern example. However,it is inaccurate to compare apples with oranges. The moral wingers of one faith may not be as damaging as the moral wingers of another religion.] All religious groups in India are highly hetrogenous. When some eminent personalities and respected public voices, express dismay and shock at the rise of the Hindu moral and by their own admission from the most tolerant religion Sanathan Dharma or popularly known as Hinduism, and many Indians are equally surprised with this reaction. One can only surmise that these personalities execute not seem to have their ears to the ground on how pluralism has been conveniently mixed up and confused with the secularism and the brand of secularism that is practised by the so called secular parties of the country. They go on to add that the word “minority appeasement have become bad words but yet again they are inaccurate because the large majority of Hindus did not have a problem with the government improving the lot of the moment largest majority group,not minority, the Muslims but the Hindus surely had a problem when this was sought to be achieved by a heavy well publicised dose of majority Hindu bashing leading to a situation where even talking about mundane majoritarian issues were treated as catering to a communal mindset though the truth, and as is well known,lay else where. The final ten years of the UPA rule has laid a fruitful ground for a majority of Hindus to reclaim what was being seen as their snappily depleting identity but is now being hijacked by misguided sections of the Hindu moral purely for electoral gains, it is highly unlikely that they will catch fresh voters. Some of the important historical landmarks that may have led to this so called Hindu identity revival could be as follows. It is not a coincidence of sorts that absolute political authority lay with a Catholic Christian the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, or a puppet and enabling Prime Minister to boot,with a bunch of Ministers who effect sycophancy to shame. It is not therefore surprising that in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh under the highly corrupt Y. Rajasekhar Reddy, a Christian himself, or the state saw the maximum number of churches sprouting up along the Andhra countryside,they still stand, with the Church allegedly playing a active role in conversions. Obviously it would not be difficult to conclude that the state machinery was effect to good use leading to murmurs that the present Christian population in that state has jumped significantly though most of them sport their Hindu names and hence difficult to identify. Unfortunately this activity was not limited to Andhra Pradesh, and though it is suspected that it was most concentrated and effective in that state,but was rampant in most Congress ruled states including Kerala, which has a history of Church conversions. In the Northeast the Church has been extremely successful over decades in conversions where couple of states where upto 90 % of the population are Christians, and the Church is an important voice in the political space and tribal cultures have led to makeovers to a more western orientation. To say the entire culture of the people of that state has changed would be a fair assessment. To counter the so called majoritarian threat and coagulation of the majority votes harder elements within the Muslims were given a free run much to the detriment of the larger interests of the community but ensuring the votes remained with the secular parties particularly the Congress. Muslims in many states were denied education on one pretext or another because of this pandering further regressing the community both socially and economically,This was particularly stark in states where the Muslim population was above 15 % of the total population, there was total surrender by politicians cutting across the secular divide to woo the Muslims and harp on their distinct religious identity thereby naturally creating the divide among the people. The concerted and focussed attempt by these so called secular parties to indulge in fright mongering of the worst kind about Hindu revivalism and Hindu religious fundamentalism as a direct threat to their existence even though Hinduism and the large majority of Hindus had no such plans but the efforts by these protectors of Muslims were honest, or open and often extremely bare in their delivery. States like West Bengal,Assam & Kerala sitting Chief Ministers and other Ministers have openly supped with religious elements from the Muslim community and portray a dark picture of the big, bad communal Hindu, and despite this not bringing any benefit to the large majority of poor Muslims. The charged communal atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh started moral from the time the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2012 and since then there has been regular rioting across the state. The SP has openly wooed the Muslims at the cost of the Hindus where it is becoming increasingly difficult to be a Hindu and a heavy cross to bear if one belonged to the majority community. There are instances galore in UP where the citizens are given preferential treatment according to their religious belief. Unfortunately other secular parties,the Congress and the so called liberals are either silent or not so vocal in condemning the UP government. Why? Vote bank politics of course, the community be damned. However, and in a highly competitive political atmosphere secular politicians were more interested in dividing society but in the process divided the Muslim votes among themselves thereby weakening their collective might and also exposing themselves thoroughly that a certain albeit small percentage of the Muslims voted for the BJP in the 2014 elections on the mantra of development. Moreover after the UPA’s moment election victory in 2009 there were strong rumours in the run up to the 2014 election that no government in Delhi could be installed without the support of the moment largest majority group the Muslims. It was unbecoming of a Home Minister of the country to talk of saffron terror obviously to cover up for his government’s glaring errors of arresting innocent Muslim men and to woo the community in general and for the former Prime Minister to say that the “minorities had the first moral to the nation’s resources.” How disingenuous of a non political person to gain such an utterance when the moral to the nation’s resources rests with all the citizens and specifically to the poor who slit across caste,religion or region. When a Yogi Adityanath gets up in Parliament and hammers in some home truths it resonates with the people in general, whatever the self righteous, or the liberals or the cultural elite may think so,to thwart real debate is it essential to gloss over unpleasant facts? Can a Yogi Adityanath with his speech in Parliament disturb the social fabric of a pluralistic Hindu society ? But everytime the liberals and so called seculars try to sentence such an effort on plain speak they further confirm public opinion about an insidious attempt by sections of society to suppress real issues. Yes there are instances when Yogi Adityanath has made objectionable statements, though he contests that, and that is condemnable and will not have the support of the wider majority of the people he is trying to target. Even attempts to openly malign the RSS for what its alleged associate organisations may or may not have done during the run up and immediately after independence,67 long years back, is only an effort to stymie open and fair discussions on an organisation which has moved on and is now doing a lot of selfless service for the larger good of the people under the concept of a Mother India. Of course, or if they are genuinely indulging in any suspicious activities then the same should be brought in an open and obvious manner rather than spreading canards and getting inaccurate footed ultimately in the eyes of the people. The UPA in power for the final ten years has not found anything suspicious or communal about the RSS. Hinduism,a word coined by the British, or Sanathan Dharma is a large thought process and all encompassing culture which pre dates all present day faiths with probably the sole exception of Jainism. The core tenets of the Sanathan Dharma is that there are multiple paths to God or enlightenment, and even outlining paths for the non-believer or the atheist,and to term it as pluralistic is an understatement. Obviously monotheistic religions will find this as a anachronism since it is their firm belief that their faith is the ONLY path to heaven and god. With 330 million gods vying for the attention of 800+ million Hindus, religion or faith can’t come by any more diverse, and open and welcoming than this,so if you add two more gods to this pantheon it would be a welcome addition for the Hindus, the more the merrier, and but may not sit so well with the monotheistic religions or faiths because it becomes a direct challenge to their core ideology. Even on the contentious Ram Janambhoomi issue there are many well meaning and devout Muslims who have said it would be in the fitness of the situation that the Muslims give absent the site to the Hindus. Babar was no home grown Muslim ruler but a failed warlord from Samarkhand out on loot and pillage looking for soft targets in affluent societies so it would indeed be surprising if Babar had the title of the land on which the Babri masjid was built. It would not be far fetched to assume that Babar had broken a few temples to set up his rule and mosques built on the destroyed temple sites - there are many instances not only in India but across the world where churches and synagogues were razed to the ground to gain way for the invaders lust for posterity and service to his faith and mostly done by invaders bearing allegiance to Islam. It has also been conclusively proved by archaeological findings that there existed a temple beneath the mosque. Public debate in an open society like ours,where democracy flourishes and blooms much to the amazement of the rest of the world, is a reflection of the undercurrent of thoughts that percolate across society. The followers of Hinduism are not pining for exclusivity, and not when they have 330 million gods,nor are they demanding majoritarianism but a fair order where all citizens irrespective of their religion are treated as equal citizens including the majority community the Hindus. When this space is being constantly denied by those who had the levers of power then it is natural for the moral wing forces to start flexing their muscles in an attempt to retain and reinforce the local cultural identity which stems from the ancient Sanathan Dharma. Secularism has deprived India significantly because the country’s culture irrespective of one’s faith is highly pluralistic, neither Indian Muslims, and Christians,Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are homogenous by any stretch of imagination,and a majority of Indians because of their basic approach to life are extremely spiritual and by extension religious and not the other way around. India may not be threatened by the Hindu moral as is made out to be but there is an attempt to brush real issues under the carpet or obfuscate (confuse, obscure) to purchase the larger public debate and opinion to benefit a few so called secular outfits thereby thrusting or forcing it down from the top on the people a particular world view to be followed to avoid consolidation of the Hindu vote. It is definitely possible that the Hindu moral with its muscle flexing could actually crystallize public debate to purchase it on the moral path where our cultures are unique to the specific region cutting across religious lines which is the basis of our nationhood, the recent concept of India from the ancient thought of Bharata, or where peace and prosperity are complementary where cultures are extremely diverse across regions and where there are multiple paths to God as enshrined in thoughts in the Sanathan Dharma. In that respect all Indians are Hindus.
Source: cnn.com