[nukkad] Nationalism, patriotism, and religion

["Pankaj Gupta" <>]

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Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all
evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still
savages. -Thomas Edison, inventor (1847-1931) 
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Dear all,

Someone raised the question, why should Hinduism be used as a synonym for
Nationalism or patriotism. Firstly, on nationalism and patriotism--both
terms have slightly different meanings as taught by my Sociology course in
the fourth year at my college. However, the bigger difference it taught was
to be discerned between the various meanings of a nation. Similarly,
Hinduism is also available for different interpretations.

Personally, I don't believe, if we take out Gods and passion out of the
isms, we would bring more rationality and, perhaps, greater understanding of
the religions. To me, minus the Gods, Hinduism has a number of interesting
and stirring theories. Some of them touch the core of every Indian. Till we
started defining the religion as an ism, Hinduism grew throughout the
country. And then, sometime in middle-ages, the most woeful times of Indian
history--we defined Hinduism. I am certain, had we not started defining the
religion in India at that time, had we not named it as Hinduism, it would be
the culture that covers India. I think, one reason we have the infinite
number of Gods in India is that Hinduism wasn't based on spirituality, but
on culture. So, everyone had the right to chose his/her own religion--only
giving to certain local restrictions. The major problem came up when the
people of India were forced to believe that their culture was in fact a
religion--that their texts such as the Gita and the Vedas, the sources of
deep knowledge about humanity, were in fact religious texts. Then, they
became the part of a particular section of India, there came up a divide.

If someone asks me, what is my religion, I would say: I don't know. Religion
is made up of culture as well as spirituality. I am not certain, unless this
means touching my inner core, I belong to a particular sect or religion. On
the other hand, I do know that Hinduism is the culture I can relate with. Oh
no, I relate very well with the Indian culture. Coming back to the theories
about nation--there are widely accepted theories which suggest that Nation
can be defined beyond the boundaries of land. The pravasis, the NRI's, these
days are increasingly being persuaded to agree to this theory--come
greenbacks. Hinduism, has in fact, only been a tool to define a culture, and
at some times, the nation. I know, this is the same culture that we call
India--where the Shaiviks, the Vaishnavas, the Muslims, the Christians, the
Sikhs, the Parsis, and the numerous other religious sects belong. It is only
unfortunate that while the Shaiviks and Vaishnavas had found their peace
before the middle ages, the Muslims, the Christians, the Parsis, and the
Sikhs of the nation are made to feel as if they don't know or own the
culture. This is the most unfortunate part in the history of Hindu culture,
the Hindu Nation. When someone asks me if I feel sorry that Hindus are
massacring the Muslims in Gujarat, I say--I feel ashamed as a Human that we
have started to take such narrow views. However, I do feel sorry as a Hindu
that we never welcomed the Muslims and the others in this wonderful culture.
I read this interesting comment by Gulzar in his interview where he mentions
most of the language we speak is Urdu, but we tend to identify it with only
a particular community. The same way, most of our culture, be it a Muslim, a
Shaivik, or a Vishnav is strongly linked to Hinduism--we just find it easy
to identify it with a particular community.


Best regards,

Pankaj Gupta


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