23. Conclusion
In spite of Hinduism's
nominal magnitude, the chance that Hinduism gets wiped out by its
enemies can no longer be discounted. More than ever, fortunes are spent
on the war to destroy Hinduism in favour of Islam or some suitably
adapted variety of Christianity or Marxism. The hostile activities of
Islamic and Christian agitators and the attempts at Hindu demoralization
and loss of Hindu self-respect by the secularists are now compounded by
a fast-spreading loss of Hindu memory at the mass level by consumerism
and Western pulp media. I have seen with my own eyes how local cultures
within European civilization are being as good as wiped out in a few
decades by the onslaught of mindless "Americanism", and this loss of
cultural roots is a major factor in the current defencelessness of the
affected populations vis-à-vis the rising threat of Islam. Hindus would
be mistaken to think that this cannot happen to their old civilization;
most civilizations at the time of their demise were old and venerable.
For Hinduism too, time is running out.
The seriousness of the
situation should first of all concern the Hindus themselves. Come to
think of it, I have very little personal stake in the political success
of Hindu revivalism and the continued existence of Hinduism. Of course,
there is an invaluable heritage contained in the Upanishads and other
Hindu books; but they are available in Western libraries, we can take
from them what we like without needing the help of a living Hindu. It
was a comforting idea to know that at least one ancient society had
managed to preserve its traditions down to the present, but if that
society fails to defend itself and disappears, I am confident that we
can find our way without it. If Sanskrit scholarship or yogic expertise
dies in India, I am sure some aficianados in the West will keep it alive
as a matter of antiquarian hobbyism, somewhat like the thriving clubs
for amateurs long-dead Pharaonic lore. It is always deplorable when a
dinosaur dies, but we can survive the demise of really-existing Hinduism
without serious losses. Whether Hinduism will survive as a living
civilization in control of its own territory, or merely as a museum
piece, is a vital concern only for the Hindus themselves.
The issue is the survival
of the besieged Hindu civilization. The stakes are high, and the
question is whether Hindus intend to go for the big one or settle for
less. A general rule for this type of situation is that if you aim high
and put in an effort commensurate with the calibre of your goal, you may
achieve it. Even if you don't achieve it, you may still achieve a
number of lesser objectives as a spin-off of your effort. But if you
aim low, your enthusiasm and hence your effort will be proportionately
limited, so the chance is a priori small that you will achieve
anything more than your limited goal. Further, your enemies will try to
thwart your little efforts with as much zeal as they would your big
efforts, so you may still fail to achieve what you intended to. If the
Hindu movement continues to aim for petty gains and peripheral
achievements, it will continue to fail in its real task, and even the
hoped-for petty successes may continue to elude it.
If the Hindutva
politicians and activists want to spare themselves the prospect of going
down in history as a bunch of buffoons, who stood by and worked on
inconsequential things while their country was taken over by their
mortal enemies, they will have to get their act together quickly.
Instead of wasting energy on petty politicking and limited goals such as
the reconversion of sacred sites, all eyes should be set on the major
goal, which is the liberation of fellow Indians from the predatory
religions which have alienated them from their ancestral culture. The
goal could in fact be set even higher, so as to include among other
things the emancipation of the West-Asians and the liberation of the
Kaaba (a temple to Hubal, the Arab Shiva) from Islam; but it will
already be good if the self-styled vanguard of Hindu society can save
its own people and country.
There is nothing
"fundamentalist" or "fascist" about this. The emancipation of fellow
Indian from closed creeds is a very humane and responsible project. It
could best be summed up in the motto with which the Muslim-born humanist
Ibn Warraq opens his book Why I Am Not a Muslim: "The best thing
we can do for Muslims is to free them from Islam." More concretely, it
is the only way to avoid the extremely bloody conflagrations which are
sure to break out if the Muslim and Christian agitators smell victory in
ever-larger sections of the country. As they smell blood, they will
become more openly and more fiercely aggressive and Hindus will not go
down without a fight; the subsequent loss of life should not be
minimized as just one more of those inevitables in history. The
ideologies which pit believer against unbeliever should be neutralized
before they can add some more achievements to their ugly record.
As part of this great
project, smaller projects such as a Common Civil Code or the restoration
of some Hindu sacred sites may be legitimate steps on the way, depending
on the circumstances, and even temporary compromises with the hostile
forces may be justified in certain cases; but the final goal should be
kept uppermost in everyone's mind. In the case of the organized
Hindutva movement, there is reason to fear that amid all its campaigns
for limited demands it has lost the awareness of the larger challenge.
Today, when you question Hindutva leaders and ideologues about their
puzzling policy of kowtowing before Mohammed and Nehru, the typical
answer is that this is all part of a very very clever strategy which you
unfortunately haven't understood yet. Admittedly, victorious
strategists have often started out with seemingly self-defeating moves
which their underlings didn't understand but which produced the desired
results in the long run. Let the Hindutva spokesmen ask themselves if
their own clever tricks have this calibre, and whether they are really
outwitting their enemies rather than themselves.
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