Week 9 - Now Ask Yourself
With two weeks left, I was presented with a unique opportunity to delve into the machinations of the Indian government. My host family has a book club, and this week the author himself came to talk with everyone about his book: Shashi Tharoor, the author of Why I am a Hindu. Confession – I did not read the book, but I am planning to as soon as I finish the fifteen other books I have piled up on my desk. I did plan on sitting in quietly and try to glean some insight into the intersection of government and religion in India, and how these forces are creating a friction similar to other religious political movements across the world.
Currently, Shashi Tharoor is an MP from Kerala, a state in southern India. Prior to that, he was Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Communications and Public Information. He was nominated for the position of Secretary General in 2006, losing out to Ban-Ki Moon in a tightly contested race. Interestingly, the one permanent member nation to veto Tharoor’s nomination was the United States, who viewed him as a stronger Secretary General than Moon, more in the mold of predecessor Kofi Annan. With this winding and eventful career path, I was intrigued to hear his views on the state of Hinduism in today’s polarized climate. He also graduated from Tufts University, so I relished the chance to talk with a fellow Jumbo.
Nationalism is a phenomenon that has appeared in many developed countries and has only gained traction and notoriety in the last few years. You see it in the UK with Brexit, in France with Marie Le Pen and the National Rally Party, and in America with the alt-right, neoconservatives that extended from the Tea Party. Each of these groups have similar foundations: anti-immigrant sentiment, religious overtones, and a feeling that the majority population is in peril and being marginalized. In India, nationalism has emerged through the Hindutva movement.
Hindutva is an ideology seeking to codify Indian culture in terms of Hindu values. Supporters view this as the most correct way of living, since Hinduism is supposedly one of the most open religions. As a result, they do not see it as a rebuke of other religions. The ruling political party in India has even adopted Hindutva as its official position. This has led to widespread changes in the country and a rise of ultra-religious groups dedicated to the “Hindufication” of India. Their sentiments mostly manifest in anti-Muslim rhetoric, which is an issue tied deep into the creation of the country. When India gained independence, a large Muslim coalition sought to simultaneously form a separate nation. This lead to the partition wars that ultimately created Pakistan and Bangladesh. These wars left a strong distrust between India and Pakistan, and their bitter rivalry influenced the way many Indians treat Pakistanis, and Muslims in general.
As we see in our own society, an implicit approval of oppressive and hateful behavior can embolden a slew of people many thought were long gone. Lynching happens more often in the country, usually against Muslims or other sympathizers. The Prime Minister refuses to condemn such violent acts, which only begets more violence. When the country outlawed beef sale and consumption, I thought it was an outrage. Surely, the people would oppose such an obvious attempt to assert religious authority. More than ten years later, the law stands – I have been craving a burger for ages now. India was created to be a secular country – Gandhi took that idea from our Founding Fathers. He believed that India must be accepting of all people if it hoped to be better than the British. It is why there is no national language or religion, and why there are school holidays for Diwali, Christmas, and Eid. Mr. Tharoor received much scrutiny for denouncing Hindu fundamentalism, calling the actions tantamount to creating a “Hindu Pakistan”. That did not go over well with the people.
Mr. Tharoor talked about his own experience with religion, and how the Hinduism he grew up with was one of inclusiveness and flexibility. Unlike most religions, Hinduism does not have a singular doctrine or tome to draw from. Instead, lessons are taught through many books and stories. One line from his book particularly struck me:
“Every Hindu may not be conscious of the finer points of his faith, but he has been raised in the tradition of its assumptions and doctrines, even when these have not been explained to him. His Hinduism may be a Hinduism of habit rather than a Hinduism of learning, but it is a lived Hinduism for all that.”
Religion has been a great struggle for me, the constant skeptic. As a child, Hinduism was taught through the myths of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. My sister and I learned prayers through repetition and under our mother’s watchful eye – but I never learned the meaning of the words. I go to the mandir occasionally, and I have a red thread (‘dhaga’) tied around my wrist. Hinduism for me is truly a religion of habit, but I never thought that my level of learning was inadequate. I am still a Hindu, even though I love a good steak dinner.
I believe there is no one true way of any religion – faith comes in magnitudes. All that these nationalist, fundamentalist groups try to do is undermine that diversity. Diversity is our strength, not our weakness. I will continue to fight for all groups as a lawyer and citizen, to let diversity flourish.