How low has Pratap Bhanu Mehta's stock fallen? Very low indeed. The Indian Express now considers TM Krishna an appropriate interlocutor for him. The Princeton scholar is now on a par with a Carnatic warbler.
TM writes-
Mehta rightly highlights the dangers of constructing a dichotomous relationship between Hinduism and Hindutva, where associating with one purifies, the other pollutes. But I will cut Rahul Gandhi a little slack because this positioning is today an electoral necessity.
Nope. Hinduism can be toxic because it is associated with caste. Banging on about how you are a Brahmin is a bad idea coz some soi disant Brahmins were, and are, as arrogant as fuck. That's only okay if you are a Marxist and attended Cambridge. On the other hand saying you are Hindutvadi is fine because you might be either an ecumenical Hindu (which is what we Smarta claim to be) or else an RSS type who actively works to break down caste barriers- in particular, the evil that is untouchability.
Non-BJP parties are struggling to find a vocabulary that allows them to remain connected to the Hindu universe, and they desperately need the vocabulary to convince Hindus to reject the BJP.
The Hindu universe wants good governance and economic growth not endless intrigue punctuated by virtue signaling bullshit.
Whether this strategy will work, I don’t know.
Everybody else does. It isn't a strategy. It is stupidity. Only where one Hindu caste is dominant- e.g. Nairs in Tharoor's Kerala- would it make sense to play up the distinction. But Tharoor is also ingratiating himself with the Communist C.M because he knows Congress can't form a Ministry there and, even if it does, there would be incessant intrigue against the C.M till the administration collapses. The other point is that plenty of Keralite Hindus and Christians live in the Gulf. It makes sense for them to keep Indian Nationalism at arm's length.
There is only one needful strategy for Congress.It needs to stop undercutting its own C.Ms. Also it needs to get Rahul to shut the fuck up. That's it. That's the whole story.
But I would suggest that our present struggle is not a confrontation between the vile Hindutva-vadi and the tolerant Hindu.
TM is from Tamil Nadu. The confrontation there was between Brahmins like himself and everybody else. Thankfully for Tamils everywhere, the Brahmins lost. They needed to get proper jobs earning foreign exchange for the country not swan around talking holier-than-thou nonsense.
Our situation is far more precarious because these two personas exist within each one of us.
Wow! Is this imbecile really saying everybody in India is 'by nature' Hindu and that all other religions are false?
In other words, the Hindu is also the Hindutva-vadi and vice versa.
What about Jains, like Mehta? No doubt the 'tattva', or essence, of Hinduism is something all Hindus would aspire to have. But the devout have to struggle to attain or maintain that essence. It is never the case, with any Religious faith, that it exists spontaneously. There can be 'synderesis'- i.e. an innate turning towards the good- but that isn't enough to establish oneself within a Faith- any Faith.
On the other hand, if 'Hindutvadi' is taken to mean 'BJP supporter', then again it is simply false.
Similarly, within the liberal Muslim lies the bigot and the chauvinist lingers beneath the all-embracing Christian.
That's all very well but the fact is that some old fashioned 'Hindus' believed that caste hierarchy was part of their Faith. This was a delusive and mischievous opinion. Nevertheless, when one says 'I'm a Hindu but not a Hindutvadi' the political meaning is 'I'm proud of my caste but think Hindus belonging to other castes- more particularly those who were discriminated against- are shit. Why can't they just convert to some other religion?'
Rahul's grave error is to bang on about his being High Caste in a country where OBCs hold the balance of power. Essentially he is saying 'Sanskritization isn't enough. Either the thing is in your genes or you are beyond the pale of the 'twice born'.'
This is an utterly false doctrine which, to my best knowledge, has been properly refuted by genuine savants and spiritual preceptors in simple to read books written in every single Indian language. On the other hand, I have to admit that there is no volume written in English which communicated the same message simply and effectively- at least, to me.
The atheist is not immune to this virus; she too is infected and simply uses ideological frameworks to perpetuate hate.
This is nonsense. Either you are saying 'x is hateful' or you aren't. If you aren't then there is no 'infection'.
The frightening part is that this is not hypocritical.
There is nothing frightening about nonsense. It is not the case that there is some inherent vice or original sin in our species.
We are truly both, and have evolved sophisticated ways of rationalising the coexistence of these opposites.
No. Some people may be as shitty as TM but we aren't amongst them.
With every rationalisation, the Hindutva-vadi ascends.
TM thinks his enemy is super-rational. Everybody else thinks he is as stupid as shit.
Decency and morality are twisted to defend the sectarian inside.
TM benefits by shitting on Modi because his State is ruled by a guy named Stalin. This has nothing to do with morality or decency. It is what any greedy whore would do.
Religion survives because of its contradictions.
A religion perishes when invaders destroy its Holy Places and massacre or forcibly convert its adherents. Contradictions don't matter. That is the plain fact revealed by Indian, Iranian- or any other- History.
On the one side it recommends compassion even as it promotes hegemonic consolidation.
It can recommend any shit it likes but it will surely perish unless it can defend itself- which entails making its adherents more productive and capable of concerted action.
The implied understanding is that to share love within the community, we need to hate the “outsider”.
There is no such understanding. It is not the case that Mummy tells baby to hate the neighbor so as to feel more affection for Daddy.
The faithful are participants in this constant philosophical tug of war.
Nonsense! Faith has nothing to do with philosophy. It is a gift of Grace- at least for Hindus.
In the past, to some extent, the spiritual ethic subsumed our hatefulness;
But being as weak as shit subsumed that spiritual ethic.
today, intoxicated as we are with fear and anger, there is no space for such sublimation.
Fuck has this guy been drinking? What is he so afraid off? TM ko gussa kyoun aaata hai?
Maybe harping on a better past is also unsubstantiated nostalgia.
Either it is substantiated- i.e. it actually happens- or there is no nostalgia.
Religion has always been weaponised, but there is a difference in what we are witnessing today: Othering as a nationally accepted action plan.
Clearly the guy never heard of Partition. But then, as Gandhi said in 1939, Congress was a Hindu party. Nehru presided over the biggest ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Indian history.
The resentments of the past were constantly fanned,
Sadly, there are plenty of resentments of the present.
a simmering volcano just below the surface. When, on occasion, it erupted, it was quickly suppressed; the genesis ignored
Not in Modi's Gujarat. The guy ended the cycle of communal rioting which began in 1969. Locking up bad guys is the sine qua non.
And as silent onlookers who inhabit shared cultural spaces
We might well wish that TM would keep silent in 'shared cultural spaces'- e.g. Concert Halls- we get dragged to, by Mummy or Aunty, from time to time.
and perpetuate the foundational negative values that lead to violence, we too are culpable.
TM is culpable for writing this hate-mongering shite. But since he is doing it in a State ruled by a guy named Stalin, he profits by it.
Through all this, the powerful who lived outside the realm of faith have refused to engage with religion with respect.
Unless it increased their power to do so.
If we seek conversation with, and a change of heart among, Hindutva-vadis, we must find a way to begin these sincere conversations within our hearts.
If that fails, TM will begin talking to his belly button before finally settling for a cozy chat with his own flatulent asshole.
We have always been afflicted by the disease that idealises both the good and the evil, and hence we paint characters monochromatically. Mehta is right about Ravana; he was dharmic and adharmic.
Ravana gained the boon of death at the hand of the Supreme Lord.
Do we have the courage to say the same of Rama?
TM mistakes courage for stupidity. Ram is an unconscious incarnation of the Supreme Lord. However, by 'maryada bhakti' onomatodoxy, a superior soteriological property attaches to his name.
The separation of the Hindu and Hindutva also comes from our inability to critically perceive the one we worship.
Hindus, Christians and Muslims agree that one can't 'perceive' the one we worship save by a gratuitous gift of Divine Grace. Remember the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Our eyes and faces would melt right off if theophany occurred.
When faith is just a metaphysical illusion for affirmation and internal gratification,
which it can't be without ceasing to be faith.
Hindutva is a necessary antithesis.
Oh dear! Has TM been reading Hegel?
Hindutva was necessary to get rid of superstitious and casteist practices and thus enable Hindus to get rid of their British protectors without fearing a Muslim knife at the throat. Later it became the one bastion against the hereditary claims of a Brahmin dynasty which, sadly, is now represented by a moon-calf.
But if faith is a challenging space for reflection,
It can't be that because the object of faith is invisible to it.
we don’t need a separated identity for our ugliness.
Which is why people don't go to their plastic surgeon and say 'my nose is real ugly. Kindly create a really ugly body and graft my nose onto it so it can have a separate identity as a Carnatic singer.' We may wish to cover over or remove a blemish. We don't wish for that blemish to go off and have a life of its own.
Even if some of Rama’s actions are unacceptable to me, my bhakti does not diminish.
Because it was bullshit, not bhakti, to begin with.
If anything, Rama becomes the truth, reality.
To a liar and fantasist.
Similarly, Rama Rajya must not be paraded as a flawless archetype, because it opens the door to the Hindu/Hindutva separation.
So Mahatma Gandhi was an evil bastard who opened the door to some shite only Rahul and TM believe exists.
The other problem with Islamophobia being seen as synonymous with Hindutva is that it allows for the evasion of any discourse on casteism and gender discrimination.
Hinduism, in its essence- i.e free of historical accidents- has no type of discrimination. That is why Hindutva is preferable- even for purely practical reasons- to any particular sect which, no doubt, some other sect has denounced in the recent past. This type of ecumenism needs no alterity. On the other hand, Islamophobia has indeed greatly increased in recent decades. But that has nothing to do with any other religion or ideology- though, no doubt, some are now fighting back.
As for discourse produced by cretins like TM, the best way to evade it is by telling him to go fuck himself. The guy is a Carnatic Vocalist not a fucking Black Cat commando.
Where will they be placed: Under Hinduism or Hindutva? There can be no honest solidarity with Muslim citizens without the recognition of caste and gender discrimination of Hindu citizens.
Why not recognize caste and gender discrimination amongst Muslims? Should we ban the burqa like the French?
Many who speak of the evils of Hindutva are often casually casteist and misogynistic.
TM should know.
There also exists the anti-caste Islamophobe who wants to do away with casteism so that Muslims can be cornered more effectively. Is such a person a Hindu or Hindutva-vadi?
She may be a Christian or a Communist. However, a sensible Hindu will know that doing sensible things is sensible in itself. Islam has survived because Muslims do sensible things to avoid being cornered.
It must be said that Hindus are very happy to live in well run Muslim countries. All we ask is that the Hindu majority in India take responsibility for improving Governance and State Capacity in India. Muslims- including the Saudis, etc.- want to see that happen
There is another point of contention, and this comes from a different quarter: Ambedkarites. The argument is that Hinduism and Hindutva are one and the same, and there is only one possible solution to the problem they pose: Demolition of the Hindu faith.
By converting to Buddhism which spread untouchability to Japan where there are no Brahmins. By contrast, Bali has Brahmins but no Dalits. Still, the Hindutvadis are happy because they consider Buddha an incarnation of Vishnu. Mayawati's grand pilgrimage complexes in U.P have turned Boddhisattva Ambedkar into an, albeit minor & irascible, pukka Hindu god.
While I understand this point of view, I do not see it as a solution. This stance shuts the door on any conversation with the savarna Hindu.
Nonsense! Savarnas have a soft spot for Buddhism which, after all, broadcast Sanskrit all the way to Mongolia and Japan.
For our society to change, this thorny conversation has to happen over a sustained period of time.
But who wants to talk to this cretin?
The savarna bhakta has to undergo socio-spiritual realisation, for which he has to listen to Dalit voices.
Like that of, former speaker, Meira Kumar. Why pretend Dalit voices aren't already listened to by smart people precisely because Dalits have to be smarter than average to achieve an equal outcome?
But if that voice brands every savarna Hindu as beyond redemption until he rejects his faith, it terminates all possibility of creative transformation.
I have never met an Ambedkarite who demands that non-Dalit Hindus give up Hinduism. This actually makes Buddhism more attractive because clearly these guys want their own kin to convert and thus get ahead.
The faithful are part of a structural design that is inherently hierarchical and many unthinkingly participate in oppressive group action.TM unthinkingly participates in a boring group action.
Ambedkar gifted us Navayana Buddhism, but we also need Navayana Hinduism.That was the Arya Samaj which, like Ambedkar, rejects worship of Ganesha, Hanuman etc. The joke is that Mayawati's plentiful statues of Elephants has associated Boddhisattva Ambedkar with Ganesha in the popular mind.
There are many who have been indoctrinated into believing that the aggressive, vicious and bullying Hindu is the need of the hour.
But none who have been indoctrinated into believing TM has a brain.
We need a discourse that acknowledges the existence of Hindutva within every one of us and convincingly points to the dangers it poses to our very existence.
In other words, we need a paranoid discourse about Original Sin or some shite like that. Hindutva exists within every member of the RSS- including Muslims, Christians, Atheists etc. This poses no danger whatsoever to my existence or the existence of anyone I care about. On the contrary, some of those khaki chaddi wallahs- like Modi- are clearly playing a highly beneficial role.
Our country stands at the edge of a cliff.
No it doesn't. It stands next to Pakistan and China against both of which it needs to be vigilant.
We cannot afford to tip over, remain stationary or step back.
Fuck is wrong with this cretin? Does he not understand that it is sensible to step back from the edge of a precipice? Perhaps he thinks he doesn't have enough money to pay the 'stepping backwards' tax. But no such tax exists.
We need to build bridges that take us across to the hills and valleys that surround us.
So if you are standing on the edge of a cliff, instead of stepping back, you should start building a bridge to Australia or Antarctica or whatever is at the other side of the ocean. That's T.M's big idea. Is he stupider than Pratap Bhanu Mehta? Yes. But the Indian Express has decided that he is the only man in India who can properly pay back that once vaunted scholar in his own cretinous coin.
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