As we near the general elections of 2024, politically motivated propaganda by the Opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on the rise, only to spread fear, insecurity, unrest and anxiety in the minds of the non-Hindu electorate. The Muslim community, the easiest to be swayed by rumours of the rising Hindu sentiments in a BJP-led country that will be detrimental to their future in India, must know that such rumours need to be ignored since these are authored by political leaders opposed to India’s collective progress.
Such plots and ploys, to cause a division in the Indian minds, so that it can dent the prominence of the BJP in the general elections and destabilise India by making the second largest majority, the Muslim population of India, feel grappled in trepidation and apprehension about an India, must know that they are undermining the intellect of the Muslims of India. There is nothing more ridiculous than their narrative that India is about to become so rabid and committed to its Hindu identity that it will automatically lead to a genocide situation for the Muslims where they will have to flee India, just as the Hindus from the Kashmir Valley had to flee, due to Muslim atrocities towards the Hindus of Kashmir.
A storyline has been created against the backdrop of a fallacy that the Muslims were much more secure and comfortable in the Congress’s political environment and despite the Muslim appeasement by the Congress in all its years in power, the truth is that Narendra Modi has done more for the Muslim community in India than the Congress in all its time. To those who are Hindus and who express their protest against a buoyant Hindu environment, since according to them, a strong Hindu environment equals a weak secular disposition, must be asked if it is a crime for a Hindu to be expressive of his culture and religion in India, the land and home to Hinduism? In fact, India should always have been strong in its expression of Hindu identity as a natural reaction after independence, however, in Nehru’s India, Hindus were not encouraged to do so lest the Muslims felt minimised in an overt Hindu environment. It was the first indication of appeasement politics in India which the Congress continued till they lost glory.
Why is a Hindu’s assertion of his faith and identity in India being seen as a threat to the other faiths that have co-existed on our land since time immemorial? Just like the colourful threads in a Banarasi saree, India’s culture is woven from its diversity of language, religion, dialect and way of life, all of which are based on Indianism whose foundation is Hinduism. We must give credit to the Hindu mind where it deserves. The fact that Hinduism’s speciality is its acceptance of all faiths–a faith that does not give any term to those not from it and which accepts every other religion on its land–is what makes Hinduism the gentlest and large-hearted of all faiths. Here lies the beauty of the philosophy of Hinduism and its patrons that a Hindu does not impose himself or his faith when he settles abroad or goes to work as an expatriate force. It is what makes him accept the unusual increase in the strength and presence of other faiths, post-independence, since his philosophy is all about ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam.’
For any religion to flourish and spread, it can only do so when its environment is mellifluous and open to the acceptance of its presence. Bharat has allowed this, paving way for India to become a melting pot of culture, religion, languages, traditions and practices. Those who are being politically coerced into believing that Islam in India will only be safe when the believers and the non-believers are separated through an agenda through an over-emphasised Muslim identity in India, either through attire or the imposition of Islamic practices or the demand of the Sharia along with the promulgation of ghettos or the over-visualisation of mosques, must review their thoughts. Islam will always be safe in India when it accepts the Hindu environment and respects it. It must also know that Hindu sentiments can no longer be ignored since a Hindu is no longer fearful of expressing his emotions as a Hindu, in a BJP-led India.
Our land has lived with the resonance of the muezzin’s call along with the sound of the conch shell, for centuries together. Saffron is the colour of this land and it belongs to all. Even those not from the Hindu faith must know that saffron is the colour of our culture and identity and that since we are not of mixed heritage, everyone belonging to any other religion in India, was once a Hindu and has emerged from the Hindu seed. This truth and its acceptance can help assuage all doubts and bring in more harmony and empathy amongst communities. The progress of India has been in an atmosphere determined by the tenets of the Sanatan Dharma, and it is this reality that makes us special. Instead of abhorring this reality, the Muslims and other communities of India must feel proud of it and not make it an issue. In the end, whether we like it or not, or throw in the ‘secular’ factor, the fact is that India is Hinduism and Hinduism is India. India does not need to give justifications of its large-heartedness towards other religions. Islam, particularly, has thrived here because it has fine-tuned to India’s social and cultural elements. This blending of rituals or traditions is the reason why we see Muslim women in some parts of India wear the sindoor, an essentially Hindu tradition. This is India’s truth and no one should fear that anything can change here.
The principle of separating the state from its religious institutions and what we call ‘secularism’ is a boon, yet it cannot be above a nation’s social, religious and cultural identity. India’s culture is Hindu and anyone arguing that India’s cultural identity is not an independent one, but a merger of many cultures, and hence cannot be Hindu, is wrong! Different religions have thrived in India because they were able to weave themselves into the land’s culture and combine with its local traditions. It is this that makes the Christians wear Hindu names or Hindus visit dargahs or a Christian from Goa, still wear his Hindu, pre-conversion caste beside his name. This is the India no one can ignore and this is the India, no one can break. This is the reality that Muslims must acknowledge and feel happy and secure about.
Bharat was Hindu much before India came into existence in 1947. The land’s Hindu identity precedes foreign invasions and their rule on entirely Hindu geography. The country is led by a prime minister who has made ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ the motto of his administration. No one can accuse the prime minister or the government of being selective about where their social and economic plans or programmes reach. Their promise of essentials like gas and electricity, bank accounts, ration, shelter, healthcare, toilets etc has reached all without any discrimination and this achievement is what scares the Opposition parties who wonder what the BJP’s next move will be to delight all citizens of this country.
It is in the hands of the Muslim community to reject social media propaganda capable of spreading hate and misinformation through falsified news, that is fabricated and manufactured for political effect. Our Muslims are not foreign imports who must feel that they are aliens and hence, second-class citizens of this country. We are talking of India here, a land that has lived with its past in a seamless manner; with its history of foreign invasions, religious conversions, caste prejudices, political appeasement, vote-bank politics and more, and yet all this has never intervened with the idea of India. No amount of rumours, politics or optics today should affect anyone, neither the Hindus nor the Muslims and make them believe that India has changed. If there has been any change, it is what India has become; a country that the world looks up to today, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
How many Muslims, if given a chance, would opt to live anywhere else? How many Hindus would leave this country because of the perception that Islam’s rising presence in India will one day change India’s cultural identity? We must accept our India in the way that it is – essentially Hindu, practically multi-cultured and minutely, individualistic. All faiths will co-exist here, perhaps sometimes as good and sometimes as bad and seldom as ugly. We Indians are not fools. Deep down in our hearts, we know how to separate politics from day-to-day life. Nothing should ever compel us to think that this India, which is ours, will ever let go of any of us. This is a matter of fact, not an opinion!
The author is a columnist, educationist, social worker, advisor to Indian and foreign organizations and trainer and mentor of senior executives in corporate India. She is also a member of the BJP. Views expressed are personal.
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