WHAT IS INDIAN SECULARISM?
BY KRISHEN KAK
VICHARAMALA no.20
Sunday, October 05, 2003
These are thoughts on issues of current interest [my comments - as an Indian citizen - within square brackets], including instances of some double standards of our public figures, especially in the construction of Indian identity (all those Macaulayan myths, and the hypocrisy that is Nehruvian secularism) - Krishen Kak
[There are different recipes for Indian secularism. However, the proof of a pudding is in its eating, and here is the rasa of that Indian secularism that has been our main course in the last half-century and more. I have adapted it from an anonymous contribution dt.15/9/2003 at http://www.saag.org/BB/view.asp?msgID=1815, and with due thanks to its originator]:
THE NEHRU-GANDHI SECULAR CREED:
1. There is no God but Mahatma Gandhi, and Pandit Nehru is his Prophet.
2. Secularism is the greatest good, to which all other goods are subordinate.
3. Marxists, mullahs, and missionaries are the clergy of Secularism.
4. Those who are not secular are communal. To question Secularism is to be a Hindu fundamentalist.
5. Hinduism is the opiate of the Indian masses.
6. Jihads and crusades against Hindus are secular. To convert Hindus is a secular right. Winning converts back into Hinduism is communalism.
7. Falsification of history and negationism are necessary for the sake of Secularism. Children should be indoctrinated in Secularism from an early age.
8. Hinduism is the construct and preserve of invading Aryan barbarians and their descendants. The autochthons are not Hindus. However, when any of the autochthons assault Christians or Muslims (who, by definition, are Secularists), they are to be termed Hindus.
9. Hindu beliefs are myths. Christian and Muslim beliefs are religion.
10. Only Hindus are communal; others fight for their human, secular and minority rights.
11. Hindus have no human rights; others have both human rights and special privileges.
12. Secularists cannot be Hindu. They can call themselves of "Hindu descent", or "good Muslims", or "good Christians", or "good humans", but never, never "good Hindus".
13. Christian and Muslim acts of assertion are Secularism. Hindu acts of assertion are fanaticism. Hindus who do not say all religions are equal, or are equally good, or who do not subscribe to sarvadharma samabhava are Hindu Nazis.
14. Hindu lives are cheap. According to the Sharia, they are worth 1/16 the life of a Muslim. According to Secularism, they are worth-less.
15. NGOs and other organizations that do not cater to Muslim or Christian relief needs are fascist. To cater to their needs preferentially is Secularism.
16. India will be a fully secular state only when all Hindus are converted to Secularism.
[I use "Hindu" as "being derived from the name of the South-Asian land mass, the term `Hindu' simply happens to connote India and all religions native to India" - Koenraad Elst, "Who is a Hindu?" (2002:321), available from Voice of India, 2/18 Ansari Road, New Delhi 110002, tel 2327-8034, fax 2328-2047. Examples for and elaborations of the Nehru-Gandhi Secular Creed are in other numbers of Vicharamala.]
VICHARAMALA no.20
Sunday, October 05, 2003
These are thoughts on issues of current interest [my comments - as an Indian citizen - within square brackets], including instances of some double standards of our public figures, especially in the construction of Indian identity (all those Macaulayan myths, and the hypocrisy that is Nehruvian secularism) - Krishen Kak
[There are different recipes for Indian secularism. However, the proof of a pudding is in its eating, and here is the rasa of that Indian secularism that has been our main course in the last half-century and more. I have adapted it from an anonymous contribution dt.15/9/2003 at http://www.saag.org/BB/view.asp?msgID=1815, and with due thanks to its originator]:
THE NEHRU-GANDHI SECULAR CREED:
1. There is no God but Mahatma Gandhi, and Pandit Nehru is his Prophet.
2. Secularism is the greatest good, to which all other goods are subordinate.
3. Marxists, mullahs, and missionaries are the clergy of Secularism.
4. Those who are not secular are communal. To question Secularism is to be a Hindu fundamentalist.
5. Hinduism is the opiate of the Indian masses.
6. Jihads and crusades against Hindus are secular. To convert Hindus is a secular right. Winning converts back into Hinduism is communalism.
7. Falsification of history and negationism are necessary for the sake of Secularism. Children should be indoctrinated in Secularism from an early age.
8. Hinduism is the construct and preserve of invading Aryan barbarians and their descendants. The autochthons are not Hindus. However, when any of the autochthons assault Christians or Muslims (who, by definition, are Secularists), they are to be termed Hindus.
9. Hindu beliefs are myths. Christian and Muslim beliefs are religion.
10. Only Hindus are communal; others fight for their human, secular and minority rights.
11. Hindus have no human rights; others have both human rights and special privileges.
12. Secularists cannot be Hindu. They can call themselves of "Hindu descent", or "good Muslims", or "good Christians", or "good humans", but never, never "good Hindus".
13. Christian and Muslim acts of assertion are Secularism. Hindu acts of assertion are fanaticism. Hindus who do not say all religions are equal, or are equally good, or who do not subscribe to sarvadharma samabhava are Hindu Nazis.
14. Hindu lives are cheap. According to the Sharia, they are worth 1/16 the life of a Muslim. According to Secularism, they are worth-less.
15. NGOs and other organizations that do not cater to Muslim or Christian relief needs are fascist. To cater to their needs preferentially is Secularism.
16. India will be a fully secular state only when all Hindus are converted to Secularism.
[I use "Hindu" as "being derived from the name of the South-Asian land mass, the term `Hindu' simply happens to connote India and all religions native to India" - Koenraad Elst, "Who is a Hindu?" (2002:321), available from Voice of India, 2/18 Ansari Road, New Delhi 110002, tel 2327-8034, fax 2328-2047. Examples for and elaborations of the Nehru-Gandhi Secular Creed are in other numbers of Vicharamala.]
Labels: Hindu Human Rights
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