archive: Fundie, and proud of it
Fundie, and proud of it
Varsha Bhosle
Rediff on Net,
October 26, 1999
Title: Fundie, and proud of it
Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net,
Date: October 26, 1999
"More than 900 million people are lost in the hopeless darkness of
Hinduism. Pray that Hindus who celebrate the festival of lights would
become aware of the darkness in their hearts that no lamp can
dispel... Mumbai is a city of spiritual darkness. Eight out of every
10 people are Hindu, slaves bound by fear and tradition to false
gods... Satan has retained his hold on Calcutta through Kali. It's
time for Christ's salvation to come to Calcutta." ~ From the Southern
Baptists International Missionary Board's prayer book.
What an illuminating period the run-up to this Diwali has been. Now
that, the omigawd, The Washington Post itself has published the
Southern Baptists' guidelines aimed at converting Hindus to
Christianity and called it "an aggressive new proselytising campaign"
to boot, perhaps, Indian secularists will see in its proper
perspective what we fundies have been fretting over all along. Even
so, I know it's too much to ask of the great and the good; from a type
whose very aim seems to be to "de-Hinduise" Hindustan, this latest
Christian crusade will provoke no more than, "So what."
The Post story was broken by Hanna Rosin -- a Jewish name, if I'm not
mistaken -- and follows nation-wide Jewish wrath at the Southern
Baptists' distribution of pamphlets urging its members to evangelise
Jews during their 10 holy days of Rosh Hashana last month. I can
guarantee that there would have been no such taking note of the
Christian battle against Hinduism -- if there had been none against
Judaism... Furthermore, Rosin writes, "Compared with the Jewish guide,
this one uses far less tactful tones to describe Hindus." Now why
doesn't that surprise me? The goddamn Americans know the ground
realities in India: With all our secular energies directed against
those who seek to protect the religion of this land, Christians need
not worry about how much offence they cause to how many millions.
After all, Hindus are hardly a lobby to respect!
One illustration of Hindu self-esteem: According to the venerable
Times of India, the Southern Baptists' calling Mumbaikars "slaves
bound by fear and tradition to false gods" -- ie, Hindu gods -- and
their equating Bengal's Kali Ma to Satan, is merely "eccentric." This,
from the newspaper which Hindus have made the country's most widely
circulated... Can't remember what this defender of the freedom of
expression had said about the ban on Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.
Muslims, you see, are A Lobby. And Hinduism isn't a religion, anyway.
The Southern Baptists are NOT a fringe group. Established in 1845,
this subgroup of Baptists claims a following of more than 15 million
in the United States alone and is its second-largest religious
denomination. They sponsor about 5,000 missionaries serving the US,
Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, in addition to over 4,000 foreign
missionaries in 126 nations around the world. They also count
President Bill Clinton, from the southern state of Arkansas, among
their followers... Secondly, Baptists form one of the largest
Protestant bodies, to be found in every continent. Meaning, Hinduism
is targeted not just by Roman Catholics -- another crew which
proclaims that Diwali is based on "an ancient mythology" and won't
take Hindu scriptures as such. What's it about Diwali that so frazzles
these dweebs...?
At which point, I'd like to shove aside these abhorable
particularities and reveal my fundie soul to you. Over the last three
weeks, my mailbox has been swamped by messages and articles concerning
the Dharm Jagaran Yatra; the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's call for a Papal
apology; the Bajrang Dal's demands to the Vatican; the responses from
various men of the cloth; the Communist Party of India-Marxist's order
that Atalji "take immediate steps to curb the anti-Christian
propaganda" etc. I'd scan all, file them away -- and return to the
Catholic widow who gave my Indian self-image such a bloody fright...
Truth: I am not at all provoked by how Christians, or Muslims,
perceive or project Hinduism. My personal reaction to the non-Hindu's
trifling with my persuasion has always been along the lines of: How
ludicrous, but what else can one expect from ignorant, bachcha creeds?
If you notice, I didn't even allude to those Great Insults that shook
Non-Resident Indians -- Madonna's video and the shlok in Kubrick's
Eyes Wide Shut. I tend to take heed when secularists and non-Hindus
gang up and make a religious issue into a political stick with which
to beat the Sangh Parivar. Above all, I am a political animal, and I
became one mainly because certain rotters refused to even consider the
Uniform Civil Code.
>From my anger over the UCC, support for Ram Janmabhoomi was a hop
away. Even so, it's not a religious issue for me. Eh...? Well, like
all Hindus, I was taught that God is one but his avatars are many; my
mother took us to Ajmer Sharief and Mount Mary with as much enthusiasm
as to Saptashrungi. Later, when I reached the awkward age,
Buddha-like, I mused: there's so much sorrow in the world, ergo God is
a myth. And so I embraced Marxism -- which creed quickly reveals its
"internal contradictions" to those with a modicum of intellect, and
even as a teen, I had plenty. Next, the search for an identity began
and it led me to review sanskars and examine Hinduism. Result: Wow!
What laissez-faire! What a studied, practical and guilt-free
foundation to live life! What a fabulous way to look at all the
peoples of the world! I can be anything I want! I'm my own master! And
so on...
I became a diehard Hindu. However, I'd be lying if I say that I
believe in Parmeshwar. There were some damn great human beings who
became idols and ideals to follow -- is how I see religion. As for our
scriptures, they are so darn scientific that they couldn't possibly
have risen from mere faith. For faith is blind. And Hinduism is
anything but blind. And so I developed an arrogance about my religion.
Next thing, I wanted to protect *my* way of life as based on my
religion. Naturally, Hindutva -- the political shield of Hinduism -
soon entered the picture. And here came a major block -- diehard
Hindus themselves...
I cannot, do not and will not accept all the views of the Sangh
Parivar, since too many of those have little to do with Hinduism as I
understand it. And so we fight, bitterly at times. And so I fight with
even dear Rajeev, who's so "acceptable," so non-offensive -- and so
much more entitled to the tag "fundamentalist" than I. You see, Raj
believes in God and quickly takes offence by a shlok stuck in a movie.
I don't. I believe in Hinduism. Go figure.
It took me a long time to resolve how to deal with the VHP and with
Raj. The crux was this: Vis-...-vis Hindutva, are they my enemies or
friends...? For they do threaten my lifestyle and beliefs, and often
annoy the shucks out of me. Right, I was doing exactly what every
fundamentalist does -- expecting others to stay within my personal
belief system. Because I don't believe in God, I sneered at the
temple-going Raj and scoffed at the saffron-clad MPs in Parliament...
Right, I was behaving exactly contrary to whatever I'd absorbed from
the Gita...
The point is, no one is ever hundred percent correct: Not I, not the
Pope, not Atalji, not Rajjubhaiya, not Mao, not Bukhari -- and
certainly not the media. Which brought me to a shattering realisation:
NO ONE is ever hundred percent dispensable: Not the pinkos, not the
secularists, not the minorities commission, not the human rights
activists -- and certainly not the media. All these arms of
socio-political life are *essential* to act as checks and balances on
the others: If I, a fundie, want Hussain's Saraswati to be exhibited,
I should be able to enlist Communalism Combat to wage such a war... A
strong opposition is required to keep a democracy healthy. And
Hinduism is democratic -- which is why there always will be dissension
among Hindutvawadi entities. We're very unlike Communists and
Congresswallahs, you see.
Which brought me to another realisation: Right from the dawn of free
India to date, the Congress and the Left have systematically tried
everything to snuffle out ALL opposition to their schemes. The
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, falsely accused of instigating and
abetting the execution of Gandhiji banned. The Hindu Mahasabha --
banned. The VHP -- banned. The BJP -- untouchable. The "secular"
establishment's hunger for power-brokering has reached such a stage
that Sikhism is touted as a swayambhu religion, as are Buddhism and
Jainism; tribals are being persuaded that they are "animists"; and
Dalits are told that unless they form a common platform with Muslims,
Brahmins will keep them enslaved... All in all: Hinduism is evil, and
the rest of you must dissociate yourselves from it.
The story of post-Independence India is the story of Propaganda -- set
to serve the "secular" establishment -- and this is the numero uno
reason why there is religious and caste strife in this country.
However, any group that is repressed, springs up with a vengeance, and
the voice of the disgruntled Hindu had always been stifled. Which now
explains the rising graph of the BJP's fortunes...
With that, I come to the atrocities against Christians and the rape of
nuns and the murders of foreign missionaries and the Pope's visit and
the VHP's agitation against evangelists and their conversion
activities... There is a part of me that ridicules our silly obsession
with religion. But, a larger part is occupied by the Hindu vigilante,
one who FULLY supports the VHP and the Bajrang Dal in their aversion
-- yes, forget the euphemisms, I detest anybody who seeks to make less
powerful my community -- to Christian propagandists.
Look at it this way: If past governments had heeded the fears of
reactionary Hindus and implemented measures to safeguard the
Constitution -- which forbids conversion through allurement and force
-- would there have been a Graham Staines? Why wasn't the Orissa
Freedom of Religions Act, 1967, under which missionaries have to
inform the authorities of their conversion efforts, strictly enforced?
Orissa's Director General of Police, Dilip Mahapatra, has said that he
had received a "number of complaints and evidence" that Arul Doss was
involved in "illegal conversions." What was the Congress state
government doing...?
Today, because there is a VHP, the media, even if to mock and
criticise it, publicises its demands and thus propagates its line of
thought. The VHP is a foil, a check, a balance to all those for whom
it is profitable to make Hindus an impotent political group. The Sangh
Parivar -- until such a time that another national Hindu organisation
emerges -- is just as cardinal for Hindus' future in this country as
is the Supreme Court for litigants. It would be extremely asinine,
arrogant and self-defeating of me to deny the VHP its plaudits just
because I do not accept some of their madcap schemes. I solve my
duvidha in mixed metaphors: I will fight the madcap battle when I get
to that bridge. But as of now: Rah, rah, VHP!
We're witnessing the results of the changes in the demography of the
Northeast, in Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur... Like Raj says: "The
meek don't inherit the earth, they get sent to concentration camps.
Hindus need to learn to push back and fuss." So sue me, but when the
end is the preservation of Hinduism in its homeland, ALL means stand
justified. Bajrang Dal, rah, rah!
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