I think I caught why there is a confusion. The scholar is not talking about "Hindus", he is talking about "Vedic religion", a difference I have stressed several times above. Hindu philosophy is way broader than the Vedic religion. I do not know how much you know about Hinduism, but several gods of Hinduism find no mention in any Veda at all. Some forms of Shaivism such as Kashmir Shaivism have beliefs and practices older than the Vedas.