How far can dharmic principles sustain India as a Hindu rashtra?

 If India is to be a ‘Hindu nation’ the only course would arguably be to take advantage of the fact that there is little agreement among Hindus as to what its essential beliefs are

The notion of India as a Hindu nation is gradually gaining ground across the social spectrum. As instances, a judge from the Meghalaya High Court recently declared that India should have been declared a Hindu country. Ex-IPS officer from Gujarat DG Vanzara demanded that “India be declared a Hindu rashtra by establishing dharma satta (reign of religion)”.

British journalist Hasan Suroor has also drawn attention by saying that just as Britain is a Christian country but has government practices that are secular, India could legitimately become a Hindu country but remain secular in practice by treating all citizens as equal and making sure that their religious and civil rights are protected by law.

The act of conflating Hindu-Muslim relations with secularism and suggesting that minorities can be safe only in a constitutionally secular state was a mistake as it led to branding anyone who didn’t buy into the liberals’ definition of secularism as ‘communal’.

Since India has not been wanting for believing Hindus, Nehruvian secularism and especially its opportunistic use in later years — as under Rajiv Gandhi — strengthened Hindutva and made it more aggressive than it might have been. The Congress had accommodated people across the political spectrum – including both leftists and Hindu traditionalists – and it is on record that in 1947-48 there was actually a move through Sardar Vallabhai Patel to merge the Hindu Mahasabha with the Congress since the Hindu right ‘should not imagine that they had a monopoly over Hindu culture and religion.’

But Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and Patel’s death put an end to such a move.

How to define Hindu nation?

With the religious gulf widening in India and a resurgence of Nehruvian values unlikely, Suroor’s viewpoint looks the sanest. But what engages me is a different issue and pertains to the difficulties in defining a ‘Hindu nation’ with Hindu belief as its basis.

There are several theocratic Islamic countries and the Vatican City is also theocratic, with an absolute theocratic elective monarchy guided by the principles of a Christian religious school of thought. All these are theocratic countries and they have laws based on religious belief. The issue is whether Hindu belief can similarly serve as a way of building a nation through appropriate laws. Vanzara’s pronouncements imply that there are Hindus who dream of that eventuality.

The appropriate place to look for ways to constitute a Hindu nation would be through the writings of Hindutva’s political theorists. Of the three principal ones, the earliest, VD Savarkar, was primarily concerned with the Hindu identity and saw Hindus as being “People who live as children of a common motherland” and to whom loyalty towards it was natural; he did not envisage a moment when the constitution of a Hindu nation according to beliefs might be needed.

MS Golwalkar, who tried to propagate dharmic teachings, believed that all the elements required to develop as a great nation were present in Hindu society in their entirety and saw Manu as the lawgiver.

Deendayal’s ‘Integral Humanism’

Deendayal Upadhyaya authored a concept called ‘Integral Humanism’, according to which humankind had four hierarchically organized attributes that corresponded to the four human objectives of dharma (moral duties), artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (salvation). While all of them were pertinent, dharma was the most basic and moksha the ultimate objective.

‘Integral humanism’ uses the word ‘human’ and the natural question here is whether ‘human’ pertains to individual aims or those of society as a whole; and the two are certainly not identical. If one listens to the religious discourses offered by seers and religious leaders, they similarly discuss the way one should lead one’s life but hardly ever do they offer guidance on how humans should deal with each other in social situations. Two ardent followers of the same seer, who understand his/her teaching differently from each other, could come into personal conflict and that might never be resolved.

Religious precepts could lead one to ‘moksha’, but would society as a whole even pursue that? This is where the notion of ‘Paramatma’ in Hinduism is different from the God of the Judaeo-Christian religions. Paramatma is a mystical concept that does not dictate ethics and can therefore not punish in the way that God does. A nation is primarily interested in a just society and free individuals are a corollary to that.

Dharmic principles differ from law in a theocracy

My proposition here is that this ‘inward looking’ tendency of Hinduism, its valorisation of personal salvation as the ultimate goal, makes it difficult for it to become the basis for the constitution of a fair society and a modern nation founded on its precepts. It is the strictness of God and His capability to inflict punishment equally for wrongdoing that is the basis of law in a theocracy, but dharmic principles do not offer us anything like that — since they are relative to one’s station, something that cannot be determined accurately to be acceptable to everyone involved in any conflict.

Swadharma’ (acting according to one’s nature) is hardly reliable and a fair arbiter is evidently needed. The dependency of dharma on station resulted in law like the Manusmriti, which is often grotesque; it can, if followed, break up Hindus into warring caste groups. Here, for instance, is 8: 417: “A Brahmana may confidently seize the goods of (his) Sudra (slave); for, as that (slave) can have no property, his master may take his possessions.”

If India is to be a ‘Hindu nation’ the only course would arguably be to take advantage of the fact that there is little agreement among Hindus as to what its essential beliefs are. This means that the nation would be free to be a modern one that was secular in the actual sense of the term rather than the way it was understood. Its (common) laws could not depend on religious beliefs but on the notions of justice, tolerance and egalitarianism as are understood in the modern world.

MK Raghavendra

Source; The federal, 5/06/22

Quote of the Day June 7, 2022

 

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T.S. Eliot

“केवल वही व्यक्ति जो बहुत दूर तक जाने का जोखिम उठाते हैं, संभवत वही व्यक्ति ही यह जान पाते हैं कि वह कितनी दूर तक जा सकते हैं।”
टी.एस. एलियट

Current Affairs-June 7, 2022

 

INDIA

– Defence Ministry approves procurement of military equipment, platforms worth Rs 76, 000 crores

– Nuclear-capable Agni-IV missile of 4,000 km range successfully test-fired

– ‘Shershaah’ wins Best Picture award at International Indian Film Academy Awards in Abu Dhabi

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– PM launches new series of coins with Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav design

– PM launches ‘Jan Samarth portal’ — a credit-linked portal of 12 government schemes

– Indian Railways increases limit of online booking of tickets through IRCTC website and app; max 12 tickets can be booked by a user ID which is not Aadhaar-linked, 24 by user ID which is Aadhaar-linked

– IIT, Madras launches free course on “Out of the Box Thinking” through mathematics to encourage innovative thinking

WORLD

– 14-day multinational peacekeeping exercise-Ex Khaan Quest 2022- begins in Mongolia

– NATO holds Baltic Sea naval exercise ‘BALTOPS’ with Finland, Sweden, 14 other nations

SPORTS

– Bolat Turlykhanov Cup wrestling in Almaty, Kazakhstan: Aman Sehrawat wins gold in the men’s 57kg

– India beat Poland 6-4 in final to clinch inaugural FIH Hockey 5s championship at Lausanne, Switzerland

Hebrew University of Jerusalem invites applications for MSc Environmental Economics and Management; check details here

 

Interested candidates can apply for the programme through the official website — en.study.agri.huji.ac.il/msc/717 — before October 01, 2022.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is inviting applications for M.Sc. programme in Environmental Economics and Management. Interested candidates can apply for the programme through the official website — en.study.agri.huji.ac.il/msc/717

Interested students should have an undergraduate Economics degree (including Environmental Economics) from any recognised university.  The candidate should also have accounting or business administration degrees from any recognised university.

The M.Sc programme will be taught in English, and the duration of the course will be over two years in both tracks. The study tracks will be: Non-Thesis (44 HUJI credits) / Thesis (32 HUJI credits) / Marketing Thesis (32 HUJI credits). Students should note that even though securing a supervisor in advance is not required, the student should find a supervisor and submit a research plan within the first 10 months of the programme (or switch to the Non-Thesis track).

For this year, the admission cycle for the M.Sc. in Environmental Economics and Management programme is open for all international students with an application deadline of October 01, 2022.

To apply for this programme, interested students will have to visit the official website and apply only. The application fee has to be paid online by credit card in US$. If the students are selected, they will be given an unconditional acceptance letter, after which candidates are required to pay a deposit in order to ensure their place in the programme. After the payment process is completed, candidates will be given a formal acceptance letter.

Source: Indian Express, 3/06/22

Who was Sant Kabir, the extraordinary poet-saint of the Bhakti movement?

 President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar (Uttar Pradesh) Sunday, June 5. According to legends, Kabir is said to have departed from the mortal world in Maghar.

During his address at the Kabir Chaura Dham, Kovind said, “The life of Kabir is an epitome of human virtue and his teachings are relevant today even after 650 years. Kabir’s life was an ideal example of communal solidarity.”

“He took the initiative to remove the evils, ostentation and discrimination and also lived the household life like a saint,” he added.

Kabir and the Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries. The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages, with many preaching for the abolishing the Varna system and some kind of Hindu-Muslim unity. They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God.

One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it. In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being

Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the ranks of the lower to middle artisanal classes. Kabir was a ‘low caste’ weaver (Julaha), Raidas was a leather worker and Dadu a cotton carder. Their radical dissent against orthodoxy and rejection of caste made these poet-saints extremely popular among the masses and their ideology of egalitarianism spread across India.

Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – dohas (short two liners), ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as padas (verses) and sabdas (words).

Historical and legendary accounts of Kabir

Most historians agree on the following facts about Kabir. He was born in Varanasi and lived between the years 1398 and 1448, or till the year 1518 according to popular belief. He was from a community of ‘lower caste’ weavers of the Julaha caste, a group that had recently converted to Islam.

He learned the art of weaving, likely studied meditative and devotional practices under the guidance of a Hindu guru and grew to become an eminent teacher and poet-singer. Kabir’s beliefs were deeply radical, and he was known for his intense and outspoken voice which he used to attack the dominant religions and entrenched caste systems of the time. He composed his verses orally and is generally assumed to be illiterate.

There are myriad legendary accounts on the other hand, for which there exists less of a factual historical basis. However, they play a more crucial role in forming the shared identity of Kabir’s followers and their social, moral and religious values.

According to one, Kabir was born to a Brahmin widow, who placed him in a basket and set him afloat on a pond, after which he was rescued and adopted by a Muslim couple. In another myth, he was immaculately conceived by his mother and emerged from the palm of her hand.

He is also believed to be (but not on strong historical grounds) a disciple of the famous guru Ramananda, a 14th century Vaishnava poet-saint. Kabir knew that the saint would visit a certain ghat in Varanasi before the break of dawn. When Kabir saw him approaching, he lay down on the stairs which led to the river. Ramananda tripped over him and exclaimed his own mantra, ‘Ram, Ram!’. Kabir then claimed that the saint’s mantra had been transferred to him and therefore he must accept him as his disciple.

Kabir’s critique of religion and caste

Kabir is in modern times portrayed as a figure that synthesized Islam and Hinduism. In many of the popular bhajans associated with him today, his strong dissent towards religion is somewhat muted, according to religious studies scholar David Lorenzen. While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he very forcefully proclaimed his independence from them.

He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books, the Vedas and the Quran. Kabir did use the name Rama in his poems, but he clarified that he was not referring to the avatar of Vishnu, but a formless and general Hindu name for the divine. Author Manu S Pillai writes that he even combined Allah and Ram.

“Every man and woman born are forms of you, so says Kabir: I’m Ram and Allah’s foolish baby, he’s my guru and my pir,” he wrote.

Instead of God being an external entity that resided in temples or mosques, Kabir argued that God existed inside everyone.

“Why look for Me anywhere else, my friend, When I’m here, in your possession?…He is the very breath of our breaths.”

Kabir’s revolt against the caste system also sought to do away with the complex rituals and ceremonies performed by the Brahmins. He, like the other prominent saints of his time, argued that it was only through bhakti, intense love or devotion to God could one attain salvation.

In many of his verses, Kabir proclaimed that people of all castes have the right to salvation through the bhakti tradition.

He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.

Kabir’s legacy

Kabir’s own humble origins and his radical message of egalitarianism fostered a community of his followers called the Kabir Panth. A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community. Historians estimate that it was established in India between 1600 and 1650, one or two centuries after his death.

Today, the sect exists as a large and distinct community, with various sects under different spiritual leaders. However, all regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture. The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir and is argued by historians to have been written in the 17th century. Today, most of the followers continue to reject idol worship and are discouraged from praying at Hindu temples, according to the historian David Lorenzen. The main festival of most branches is Kabir Jayanti, the birthday of Kabir which is celebrated every summer with collective feasts at the maths.

Among the 5,00,000 indentured labourers that were taken to Trinidad, Mauritius, Fiji and Guyana by the British in the 19th to 20th centuries, many were and continue to be members of the Kabir Panth.

Several of Kabir’s verses and songs form a vital part of the Guru Granth Sahib. Compiled in 1604, the text is the oldest written collection of Kabir’s work, according to Linda Hess, expert on Kabir studies.

Kabir’s combative positions and vehement critiques of established religions did not sit well with the elites of those communities, and Linda Hess suggests that there is evidence that both Hindus and Muslims were ready to assault him during his lifetime.

After his death, however, both communities almost came to blows over the right to claim his body. According to legend, Kabir’s Hindu and Muslim followers got ready to battle, but before they could strike someone removed the shroud to find a stack of flowers that replaced his corpse. The two communities then divided the flowers and buried or burned them according to their rituals.Kabir’s teachings continue to shape various religious discourses in India today. In the Sikh tradition he is seen to have influenced Guru Nanak, for Hindus he is a Vaishnavite (devotees of Vishnu), and is revered by Muslims as a Sufi saint.

Written by Raghu Malhotra

Source: Indian Express, 6/06/22

The judiciary should have annual performance reports, too

 In a rare exhibition of transparency, at least by the standards of the Indian judiciary, the Orissa High Court has published an annual report taking stock of its performance in a difficult year that was punctuated by the resurgence of the pandemic. By subjecting itself to the scrutiny of the common citizen, the court has shown exceptional humility.

The report provides a district-wise breakup of cases and availability of judges. It contains a section explaining the reasons for delays and backlog at the level of the district judiciary. The tendency of higher courts to “stay” proceedings, the uneven distribution of cases amongst judges in trial courts and the non-availability of witnesses due to transfers are among the major reasons cited by it for delays. This is a notable public introspection exercise by the judiciary which, at most times, is content with blaming delays on insufficient funds and shortage of judges.

The report also sheds light on the administrative functioning of the court. Such disclosures are welcome because much of the judicial administration at the level of the state judiciary, lies in the hands of high court judges who execute these functions through small committees of judges. In addition to listing the judges on each administrative committee, the report acknowledges the work done by them. For instance, the committee that deals with the appeals by the employees of the district judiciary against orders passed by disciplinary authorities had 40 appeals, out of which it disposed of only 13 appeals. This is useful information if one wishes to assess the administrative workload of judges and the efficiency with which they discharge their tasks. Most HCs do not share this information with ordinary citizens even if requests are made for the same under the Right to Information Act. The Bombay High Court, for instance, recently ruled that its “file notings” on administrative matters are not required to be disclosed under the RTI Act.

Annual reports have traditionally been an important way of ensuring accountability of public bodies to Parliament and citizens. Each Union ministry is required to supply copies of these reports to the Lok Sabha Secretariat a week before the Demand for Grants of the ministries is taken up. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has detailed instructions on the expectations regarding the timeline and content of such reports. These reports are examined by the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committees and the Parliamentary Committee on “Papers Laid on the Table”, which regularly takes to task ministries for delays in tabling reports of the government companies and autonomous bodies under their control.

Unlike the executive, the judiciary is not under any legal obligation to prepare annual reports or table them before Parliament or the state legislature. A survey of the websites of the 25 high courts in the country revealed that only the high courts of Madras, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura had published an annual report in the last two years. The high courts at Punjab and Haryana and Gujarat had annual reports available till the year 2018 and 2019 respectively. Websites of the Delhi and Jharkhand high courts host a very dated report while other websites have nothing available on them. At most, all high courts submit short reports to the Supreme Court which compiles all the information into one annual report on the judiciary. But unlike the Orissa High Court’s report, the SC’s annual report is largely a self-congratulatory exercise, which does little to introspect on the challenges facing the institution.

It would, of course, be naive to expect that the courts will have a sudden change of heart in favour of even elementary transparency measures such as publication of an annual report. It’s up to Parliament to enact a law that mandates high courts to publish an annual report not just on their performance but also on the performance of the district judiciary under their administrative control. This law should clearly outline the expected content of the report (the Supreme Court’s annual report spends 35 pages on portraits of the hon’ble judges) and establish a clear timeline for its publication.

Written by Chitrakshi Jain , Prashant Reddy T

Source: Indian Express, 7/06/22

Quote of the Day June 6, 2022

 

“Your problem is never really your problem; your reaction to your problem is your problem.”
Brian Kinsey

“आपकी समस्या वास्तविकता में कभी भी आपकी समस्या नहीं होती है, आपकी समस्या के प्रति आपकी प्रतिक्रिया आपकी समस्या होती है।”
ब्राइन किन्से