Welcome Debate On Hindutva Rashtra: H V Seshadri

For the first time in the history of our General Elections to the Lok Sabha, a new
ideological dimension was added to the election battle. And that is, the attack
launched by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on "Hindu Rashtra" and by
others who had picked up that line. S. G. Sardesai of the Communist Party, for
example, had even called upon Rajiv Gandhi and V. P. Singh not to waste their
energies in minor charges and counter charges against each other but to jointly
face the looming threat of Hindu Rashtra.
From the point of view of the protagonists of Hindu Rashtra, the debate on Hindu
Rashtra becomes an ideological discussion which it welcomes heartily. For,
making it an issue of public debate implies the acceptance of the fact that the
appeal of Hindu Rashtra among the common people is so widespread that it can
no longer be ignored. It also amounts to recognising the fact that Hindu Rashtra
as an ideology has begun to powerfully impinge upon politics also.
Now, coming to the so called charges against the Hindu Rashtra: Rajiv Gandhi for
example, said the cry of Hindu Rashtra will give rise to similar other cries like the
Christian Rashtra in the northeast, Muslim Rashtra in Kashmir, Sikh Rashtra in
Punjab. The CPI too way, it charge coming from the Congress and Communists
only buttress the case for Hindu Rashtra and boomerang upon the decriers. The
public memory is not so short as to forget that it was the Congress that had
issued an entirely Christian election manifesto during the last Assembly Election
to Mizoram. It had openly declared that if elected to the power, the
Government's policies would be based on the principle of Bible which, in fine,
meant establishing a theocratic Christian state or in the words of Rajiv Gandhi, a
Christian Rashtra.
And again, it is the Congress which had been instrumental in introducing and
perpetuating Art 370 and thus enabling Kashmir to virtually convert itself into a
Muslim Rashtra. As for the cry of Khalistan, the propping up of Bhindranwale, the
Sikh holocaust in the wake of Indira Gandhi's murder and unscrupulous political
trickery provoking Sikh - non - Sikh divide in Punjab - all these are the handiwork
of the Congress leaders, past and present, which have continuously fed the fires
of Khalistani separatism.
As for the communists, less said the better. It is they who sought to furnish an
ideological foundation for Pakistan, i.e., separate Muslim Rashtra, prior to
Partition. Even to this day, they argue that Bharat is not one, but 18 Rashtras
based on as many distinct linguo cultural identities.

When such avowed disruptors of national unity try to denounce Hindu Rashtra, it
would only carry the opposite message, i.e., Hindu Rashtra stands for a single
homogeneous national identity of the country and, therefore, they are dead
opposed to it.
Apart from its patently political motivation, the charge also betrays stark
ignorance about the Hindu Rashtra concept. Hindu is not the name of a religious
faith like the Muslim or the Christian. It denotes the national way of life here. All
those who feel firmly committed to the unity and sanctity of our country and our
people, and look upon our great forebears as their national heroes and the
sublime values of our cultural life as their points of veneration and emulation, are
all Hindus. Here, the question of one's personal faith does not come into play at
all.
There are some other opposers who go even so far as say that it was because of
the cry of Hindu Rashtra that Muslim League also raised the counter cry of
Muslim Rashtra, which ultimately let to the Partition. The sheer perversity of this
argument is so transparent that even a casual perusal of the developments of
that period tells us that the very opposite is true. It was the protagonists of Hindu
Rashtra like Savarkar and RSS who bitterly opposed the Partition till the very last.
On the other hand, it was the Congress, the communists who continuously fed
the fires of Muslim separatism which finally resulted in partition.
There is yet one another important fact. No protagonist of Hindu Rashtra ever
said that Hindu would receive preferential treatment and Muslims would be
reduced to second grade citizen in free Bharat. They all clearly affirmed that
Bharat would be ruled under the democratic system of One man, one vote
irrespective of one's faith. So, there was no question of any discrimination
involved in the concept of Hindu Rashtra against Muslims that warranted
separate protection for them as against the Hindus.
At this juncture, a question may naturally crop up : If the modern secular concept
of nation and Hindu Rashtra both accord equal rights to all its citizens, where
does any difference lie at all between the two? Why insist on the word Hindu
Rashtra? The difference is profound indeed as profound as between a living and a
non living body. In short, Hindu Rashtra is essentially cultural and content,
whereas the so called secular concept pertains to state and is limited to the
territorial and political aspects of the Nation. State is just one of the instruments
though a very vital one created by the nation to serve its material needs. The
nation denotes the whole, while the state only a part. State represents functions
of the body part, while the culture represents those of the mind and the intellect.

It is to denote this whole of our national entity that the word Hindu is used.
In fact, all those who pioneered, including those in Congress too, the national
renaissance

in

general

and

the

freedom

movement

in

particular,

had

unreservedly used the word Hindu wherever they referred to our nation. They
also never made any distinction between Hindu nation and Indian nation. Right
from Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo upto the famous Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat
Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal) and Annie Besant, all of them had
invoked the highest cultural and spiritual Hindu values as the points of
inspiration for the freedom struggle.
It was only later on, when the Congress started parleys with the Muslim League
on sharing of power that this national cum cultural content was given a go by
and the territorial concept began ruling the roost. Thus was started by the
Congress the wild goose chase of winning over the fanatical Muslim leadership to
its finally ending in Partition.
Further, the mere political cum territorial concept divorced from its cultural
essence can never be expected to impart any sanctity to the country's unity. The
emotional binding of the people can be furnished only by culture and once that is
snapped then there remains no logical argument against the demand by any part
to separate itself from the rest of the country.
And again, once we accept politics as the basis, then also there is no argument
against the will of the people expressed democratically for their separation from
the main body of the country. That is why when Jinnah argued that areas having
a Muslim majority wanted to separate themselves, Congress had no reply on the
basis of principle. In fact, Congress has even earlier adopted a resolution
upholding the dictum of self determination for any part of the country. So,
ideologically Congress was left with neither any emotional appeal nor any logic
or argument to counter the demand for Pakistan.
During the 1945-46 General Elections also, even while assuring the Hindu voter
of its resolve to maintain nation's unity at all costs, Congress had declared in the
same resolution its commitment to the principle of self determination. It was the
same mentality that made Pt. Nehru accept the mischievous for plebiscite to
decide the future of Kashmir.
If the principle of one single common motherland and one common culture
binding all the people of Bharat into one single unbreakable nationhood which is
what Hindu Rashtra means - had been shared by Congress as a matter of

conviction, then the Congress would never have accepted to partitioning the
country.
Then remains the question of the so called fears of Muslims and Christians in the
event of Hindu Rashtra coming into its own. Would not the minorities be
suppressed by the majority Hindus? As such, should not the minorities be
afforded special rights by way of protection against the majority domination?
This argument should stand automatically demolished when we remember that it
was precisely this argument that led to the partition of the country. It was the
British who planted the vicious seed of majority and minority complex in the
body politic of our country and also went ahead with affording special rights and
privileges to the Muslims with the specious argument of protecting their interests
from the domination of majority. The Congress fell into the trap and started
competing with the British in according greater and still greater rights to the
Muslims finally acceding to Partition as well.
It is this Congress legacy that has perverted our political system during the last
four decades and more of our freedom. The present day aggravation of Muslim
fed by Congress and similar other groups including the Communists is entirely
due to their distortion of our genuine national concept.
As regards the so called fears of the minorities, it is just a phantom propped up
by interested politicians and religious fanatics to maintain their separatist grip
upon their faithfuls. History tells us that even when Hindu kingdoms like
Vijayanagar, the Hindu pad pad shahi under the Marathas and the Sikh rule
under Ranjit Singh came up fighting out the Muslim oppression, the Muslims
were never discriminated against. They had even risen to high position of power
and prestige in administration.
On the contrary, the history of recent and present times tells us that it is
opponents of Hindu Rashtra who have been aggravating and appeasing the
minority complex. That is how, the various north eastern states like Nagaland,
Mizoram, Meghalaya were sliced off from Assam to from separate states. It was
because the pernicious theory of distinct tribal identities as being separate from
the main Hindu body, set afloat by the British imperialists and nurtured by
foreign

christian

missionaries,

was

blindly

gulped

down

by

our

post

independence rulers that the separatist elements were puffed up and various
north eastern states created.
In fact, the granting of special provision of Art 370 to Kashmir has paved the way
fir similar other demands like the cry for Khalistan. What answer does Congress
have to the query if Kashmir can have special status, why not Punjab? So, we

find that these are all the creations of Congress itself and not of Hindu
Rashtrawalas. In fact, none of these separatist elements have ever spoken of
Hindu Rashtra as a threat to their identity and that they were demanding
separate status because of that.
On the positive side also, it can be safely stated that the most potent factor still
binding the people in all insurrection infested parts with the rest of the country is
the Hindu ethos. The experience of Hindu workers engaged in various social and
cultural activities in all such areas also bears out the fact that Hindu appeal
alone can successfully dissolve the separatist pulls and strengthen the spirit of
their oneness and harmony with the rest of the country. Even in Punjab, we find
the RSS and other Hindu oriented organisations standing as an impregnable
bulwark against separatist propaganda. It is they who have by their profession
and practice, come to command implicit confidence in the eyes of both Sikhs and
non Sikh Hindus alike as a firm guarantee of our national unity and integrity.
Besides this emotive principle of national unity and integrity Hindu Rashtra
furnishes the most practical mode for the country's development in all the
various diverse fields as the economic, educational, social, labour, agriculture,
etc. Indeed the raison d'etre for the acceptance of Hindu Rashtra lies precisely in
this; no aspect of human life is excluded from its encompass. It is a total
philosophy of life. Already, the RSS men working in various fields of national life
have come up with unique applications of Hindu though in fields such as labour,
agriculture, education, social reforms, etc. Any impartial critic would readily
concede that these indeed offer a highly positive, constructive and holistic
approach for these fields. The wholesome impact of this approach is already in
ample evidence in all areas where such organisations are forging ahead. The
people too have come to recognise their activities and achievements as islands
of hope and confidence in the otherwise enveloping gloom of failures and
frustrations.
Finally, a word regarding the emerging trends vis a vis the Hindu Rashtra. If we
have to assess it correctly, we have to first realise that Hindu Rashtra is neither a
mere political ideology or much less an ism. It is the supreme fact of this soil and
what the advocates of Hindu Rashtra are trying to do is just to make our people
realize this inmost reality of our national life and live in tune with it. After all a
nation, just as an individual, can evolve itself only when it attunes itself to its
inborn genius. It will also strive its utmost to throw off any obstacles imposed
upon it that might thwart its natural evolution.
It will reject such imposed theory or plan or project than is foreign to its native
genius and ethos. That is how we find that several theories and plans imported

from either the democratic west or the Communist bloc have miserable failed to
click here. Since independence, socialism, socialistic pattern of society,
democratic socialism and all such slogans had a field day at one time or another.
They shone like meteors for a moment and then vanished from the horizon of
Indian politics. Communism, which at one time fascinated the youth as the
panacea for all the human ills has already found its graveyard in its fatherland
and holylands. Country after country, projected till yesterday as Communist
heavens, are unceremoniously throwing their prophets and pioneers overboard
decrying their heaven as hell.
Even the non political movements like Sarvodaya, Bhoodan, Gramadan and total
Revolution have also almost faded out of the public memory. On the other hand,
it is only the philosophy of Hindu Rashtra which is steadily gaining ground all the
time and has been expanding its philosophical horizon and its organisational
network among the people continuously and consistently. No wonder, in days to
come, the Hindu Rashtra philosophy certainly promises to fill the ideological
vacuum in the nation's mind in a most effective and inspiring manner.