The Hindu Responsibility: BJP Should Strive to Bring Democracy and True Religious Equality to India
- India is progressing from a decades-long history of governance by socialist politicians who divided Indians on religion and abandoned the education and development of certain religious communities.
It appears that some would have us believe that the current actions of some Hindus in India follow a paradigm set forth by the English statesman Sir Walter Raleigh when he expressed, “It is the nature of men, having escaped one extreme, which by force they were constrained long to endure, to run headlong into the other extreme, forgetting that virtue doth always consist in the mean.”
Such a narrative suggests that Hindus, having been subjugated to foreign rule for a significant part of the 20th century, and since independence having suffered from minority-appeasement policies due to vote-bank politics, are now resorting to violence against minorities. Though Raleigh’s statement could apply to some Hindus, equating such actions with the core of Hinduism is just as flawed as equating Islamic terrorists with all Indian Muslims, or Naxalite terrorists with Indian democratic socialists.
The tragic murder of the journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017 at the hands of extremists purportedly acting in the name of Hinduism is a well-known example of such an incident. Having obtained a mandate from the Indian people to reverse the inept policies of the previous ruling and socialist-leaning Congress party, the BJP’s job is to bring democracy and true religious equality to India. Since the BJP professes a Hindu-based belief system of values, ethics, and morals, they should use their platform to show acceptance, pluralism, and equality for all people as values inherent to Hinduism.
Hindus who use their religion to justify caste discrimination, sexism, and violence against others would do well to actually read what their scriptures say. The Bhagavad Gita clearly states, “All those who take refuge in Me, whatever their birth, sex, or varna, even those whom society scorns, will attain the supreme destination” (9:32). Furthermore, the Bhagavad Gita also clearly condemns the way the caste system is currently practiced, where one’s social class and social standing are determined by birth.
Instead, Chapter 4, verse 13 clearly states, “The four categories of occupations were created according to people’s qualities and activities”. If the son of a politician shows no leadership skills, whereas a child born into poverty demonstrates leadership abilities, the Bhagavad Gita clearly implies that the child born into poverty would be a better leader. Although later and less important scriptures, such as the Manusmriti, appear to condone casteism, these scriptures were written long after the Bhagavad Gita and are widely considered amongst Hindus to be man-made and written within a specific historical context as opposed to divinely revealed and eternal.
Hindus who use their religion to justify caste discrimination, sexism, and violence against others would do well to actually read what their scriptures say.
The term ‘caste’ is also not accurate in explaining the class system that exists in South Asia. The origin of the word is from the Portuguese and Spanish casta systems in which one’s standing was determined by the percent of European, Indigenous, and African ancestry. Untouchables and upper-caste South Asians are the same race, so comparing the South Asian social class hierarchy to the Latin American social hierarchy is historically inaccurate. Instead, the South Asian social class system is more similar to the European feudal system where both king and serfs were the same race, yet born into different social classes. In some parts of Eastern Europe, serfdom was not abolished until the late 19th century while the descendants of serfs suffered its long-lasting effects for many years.
It is also important to note that other religions, besides Hindus, are also guilty of practicing caste discrimination. According to Pew Research, almost three-quarters of Indian Muslims believe that marrying outside of one’s caste is wrong, a figure higher than the 63% of Indian Hindus who believe the same. While this may be surprising to those who feed off the constant media fury over casteism amongst Hindus, actual practitioners of Hinduism are not surprised by this statistic as we are very well aware of the lack of any religious origin of such a social ill.
The fact that more Muslims in India believe in following caste rules for marriage, and the fact that caste discrimination is still followed within Muslim and Christian religious groups in various societies in India, such as in Kerala, proves that society as a whole, and not one religion in particular, is responsible for creating, as well as removing, barriers to upward mobility between socioeconomic classes.
In conclusion, India is progressing from a decades-long history of governance by socialist politicians who divided Indians on religion, enforced ineffective economic policies, and abandoned the education and development of certain religious communities. While ironically purporting to support the economic and social development of the large minority Muslim community, this leftist intelligentsia supported Islamic Sharia laws based on the notion of freedom of religion that perpetuates social inequities which continue to exacerbate the divide between Muslims and the majority Hindus.
A new political party, the BJP, with a historic electoral mandate, is leading the nation in a different direction by departing from the prejudiced policies pursued by previous governments. India finally has the potential to become a truly secular nation and improve its economy while highlighting the positive aspects of its native traditions. In particular, Hindus must use the opportunity to dispel misconceptions about their religion and utilize the positive aspects of their faith, such as pluralism, equality, and compassion to help propel India forward.
Suraj Raman Pandit is a student at the University of Texas in Austin majoring in the Plan II program and International Relations with a minor in Computational Sciences. Raised in Houston, Texas as a third-generation Indian American dedicated to religious pluralism and social justice, he has volunteered with the non-profit group Hindu-American Foundation since age 12 to help promote mutual respect and understanding in a pluralistic society. He can converse in four languages and looks forward to a career in international relations and public policy.