Author: Ravindra Rukmini Pandharinath
In the recently concluded (2024) Lok Sabha elections, Modi’s ‘Four Hundred Plus’ victory turned out to be decisive. The defeat of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, especially in Ayodhya, has deeply hurt Modi supporters, which is not surprising. For those who expected the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to be the cornerstone of a Hindu nation, the shattering of their dreams is unsurprising. One of the intense reactions seems representative: many Hindutva supporters said, "Hindus are their own worst enemies!" Hearing these words, I immediately thought of Ram Manohar Lohia. This politician, who laid the foundation of anti-Congress sentiment in the country, is undoubtedly dear to the Sangh-BJP. Even today, Nitish Kumar and others cite Lohia to support the BJP, which says a lot. One of Lohia’s significant principles is "Hindu versus Hindu." In 1950, Lohia stated that the oldest and yet unresolved battle in Indian history is between liberal Hindus and orthodox Hindus.
Lohia made three important observations in this context. First, when liberal Hindus win this battle, social unity strengthens, and comprehensive social progress occurs. Conversely, when orthodox Hindus dominate society, they abort new ideas, internal divisions widen, and society regresses. This can be assessed based on four fundamental criteria: the caste system, gender relations, class relations, and inter-religious tolerance, as liberal and orthodox Hindus hold opposing views on these issues. Second, when liberalism prevails, it fails to decisively eliminate outdated thinking, as orthodox Hindus often pretend to be liberal during such periods. When the right time comes, they use all means to suppress open-mindedness completely. However, Hinduism inherently cannot tolerate confinement, and as society begins to regress, progressive ideas resurface. Yet, failing to completely eliminate outdated thoughts forces society to go through this cycle repeatedly. Third, Hindu versus Muslim has never been the fundamental conflict in India. When suppressed groups among Hindus begin to rise, a scapegoat is presented to divert attention.
It appears that Muslims, communists, secularists, and atheists are the main enemies of Hindutva. But this is a highly deceptive picture. If all Muslims moved to Pakistan tomorrow (which there is no reason for them to do), the basis for their enemy-centric politics would vanish, which they cannot afford. Moreover, they have no real issues with ideological allies like Owaisi in India, the ruling class in Pakistan, or the petro-dollar-rich Arab countries. Since socialists, communists, and atheists in India are numerically insignificant, Hindutva's juggernaut has no reason to fear them. If Hindus have awakened after thousands of years and have the world's largest political party and the largest non-political (?) organization at their service, why are Hindutva proponents perpetually anxious?
The Essence Behind the Restlessness
Why do they fear a journalist asking tough questions, a political leader they’ve labeled as ‘Pappu,’ or even a stand-up comedian or cartoonist? Their real fear is the liberal DNA embedded in Indian Hindus, which, if activated, could spell their end. Despite outward claims, they know that the decisive political battle will be between their ‘Hindutva’ and the ‘ineffective’ liberal Hinduism. Over the past decade, Ambani-Adani's wealth, Modi's image built with hundreds of crores of rupees, and the collapse of the four pillars of Indian democracy without resistance have allowed Hindutva's bulldozer to destroy everything old. They hoped that the openness and tolerance among common Hindus—termed 'virtue anomalies' by Hindutva proponents—had been eradicated. But realizing that hope was futile has made them extremely uneasy. Calls like "Don't go to Ayodhya, don't spend a penny there, let the traitors starve" reveal the essence behind their restlessness.
Religion, Culture, and the Ignorance of Progressives
Ironically, Hindutva's opponents have not grasped this yet. They failed to understand that any political struggle is fundamentally a cultural one, as posited by Hindutva. Hence, they overlooked the infiltration of Hindutva ideology from school education to the Warkari sect over the past 99 years. After Gandhi's assassination, a meeting was held in Wardha on February 12, 1948, to discuss what to do next. Vinoba himself stated that the RSS was a fascist organization whose actions had reached the ashram in Pavanar. Two years later, Lohia declared that the significant upcoming battle would be between Hindutva/Orthodox Hinduism and liberal Hinduism, and to win this, the liberal Hindu faith must be strengthened. He proposed organizing Ramayana festivals across the country, where the diversity of Hinduism should be showcased, and parts like Shambuka's murder and Sita's abandonment should be excluded. However, progressives, lacking awareness of the socio-political power of religion and culture, failed to grasp this, and they broadly opposed religion instead of targeting outdated customs, practices, and superstitions, effectively handing the cultural domain to Hindutva proponents. Fundamentalist Muslims are the role models for Hindutva proponents. Both have no interest in the core values of their religion but aim to entangle people in external rituals and rites while stoking inter-religious hatred. In Pakistan, fundamentalist Muslims first destroyed Sufi shrines symbolizing Hindu-Muslim unity in the name of religious purification. In India, Hindutva proponents are targeting similar ‘regions of harmony’ from Sai Baba to Sheikh Chishti. They never associate themselves with Kabir, Tukaram, Nanak, or the entire Bhakti tradition that promotes unity and equality. They don't even mention Vinoba, who interpreted the Vedas and Upanishads along with the Quran and Bible. They selectively use Vivekananda, who saw India’s image in the spirit of Advaita and the body of Islam. For them, modern saints like Bageshwar Dham Sarkar and Asaram Bapu are more important than the saint tradition from Namdev, Jnaneshwar, Tukaram to Gadge Baba and Tukdoji.
As Lohia stated, the battle between Hindu versus Hindu is not merely about religious concepts. It manifests in social inequality, economic disparity, and gender discrimination. To divert attention from these issues, the false dichotomy of Hindu versus Muslim is brought forth. Temple-mosque, beef, and love jihad are fabricated issues aimed at sidelining the struggles of farmers and laborers, ignoring the plight of millions of unemployed, and denying social equality to women, Dalits, and Adivasis. True Hindus in half of India, who are now genuinely awake, recognize this. Their responsibility now is to heed Lohia’s warning and complete the fight between liberal and orthodox Hindus to save true Hinduism.
Original article is in Marathi.
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