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Hindu fundamentals under attack
Written By murali772 - 4 October, 2008
Bangalore Religion Analysis Language and Culture
As a believing Hindu, I am ashamed of what is being done by people claiming to be acting in the name of my faith. I have always prided myself on belonging to a religion of astonishing breadth and range of belief; a religion that acknowledges all ways of worshipping God as equally valid - indeed, the only major religion in the world that does not claim to be the only true religion. Hindu fundamentalism is a contradiction in terms, since Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals; there is no such thing as a Hindu heresy. How dare a bunch of goondas shrink the soaring majesty of the Vedas and the Upanishads to the petty bigotry of their brand of identity politics? Why should any Hindu allow them to diminish Hinduism to the raucous self-glorification of the football hooligan, to take a religion of awe-inspiring tolerance and reduce it to a chauvinist rampage? For more, click on
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Hindu_fundamentals_are_under_attack/articleshow/3535323.cms
The Bajrang Dal chief, Mahendra Singh, had admitted to the attacks being mis-directed, adding along-with that the mainstream Christianity was doing a lot of good work, particularly in the fields of education and healthcare. Even L K Advani admitted to the wrongs, and between the Parivar chiefs, they decided to ease out Mahendra Singh also. Now, as a gesture of atonement, why don't they undertake 'kar-seva' and repair/ re-build the damaged/ demolished churches? That would be the best way to re-build the harmony that had flourished between the followers of the two religions since ages.
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS

narayan82 - 4 October, 2008 - 13:16

kbsyed61 - 4 October, 2008 - 14:51

Hindu fundamentalism is reactionary
mcadambi - 4 October, 2008 - 15:31

s_yajaman - 4 October, 2008 - 16:24

fundamentalism + law and order
silkboard - 4 October, 2008 - 09:15
Thanks for starting this, because let me admit, I didn't have the guts to start one such thread myself. Past few days, it seems like certain liberties are under attack. Orissa, Karnataka, The bomb blasts have religious color on them. Other similar events may not have religious color. But one thing in common is that the notion that law and order has to be above all else is growing weak.
- A CEO getting lynched to death by a mob is crime. Whether there was justification or provocation or not doesn't matter.
- A nun getting gang raped in Orissa is perhaps a crime worst than murder. Provocations don't matter.
- Vandalising churches is goondagiri, forced conversions may too be branded as polished goondagiri. But tit for tat is not the way to deal with things in civilized setups.
- Blasts killing innocents are just that, crimes of worst order. If any past events were provocations, those too were crimes. Step a notch down from all these events.
Take the religious cover off for a moment and read some other experiences I can share.
- A grocery shop-keeper decides to sell milk one day. The 'self professed' authorized milk dealer of the area doesn't like that and beats the shop's attendants black and blue.
- A friend calls BBMP to complain about an illegal structure coming up on a main road without any provision for parking. Forget privacy and all, goons show up next day to remind that one should only mind his own business.
- Owner of a property refuses to sell out to a builder who wants to build a private layout in the area. He then gets slapped with frivolous notices after notices, gets his water and electricity connections cut on regular basis. All this, till he relents and sells out.
- A sundry traffic cop beats up a young well-meaning guy for he could't lodge his complaint in kannada, and then locks him up. And that young guy's father has no help, nowhere to go to complain.
- A new shop shows up with a lot of glass to show, and the owner is not a native kannadiga. Folks show up asking for money or .... Next day, a red/gold flag shows up on the commercial building's front facade, and its business as usual.
The basic fabric of law and order has grown too weak. And since a majority of us don't get to deal with all this (except small business owners) on daily basis, we have been living in ignorance.
Police reforms are long pending. The 'last mile' setup of our law and order infrastructure (eyes and ears of police) are just too weak and inefficient. Everything I refer to above (blasts to riot to goondagiri), at some level or other is a result of that. However, we get to see the symptoms in religious or regional fundamentalist or whatever colors.
Its time. Its long pending, and something that just needs to be done, and needs to be done now. Law has to rule and rule firm, everything else comes later.
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