From: gowda@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (M.V.Rajeev Gowda)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Let us retake and reform Hinduism
Date: 14 Dec 92 23:16:49 GMT
Article-I.D.: constell.Bz9vC6.IqD
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA



Let me start with a quibble about the notion that the Babri Masjid
was an UNUSED structure and therefore Muslims should have yielded
it voluntarily to Hindus to satisfy majority sentiments (a view
expressed by Satya Prabhakar, for example, in the strange company
of the ever-valiant Alok Vijayvargia).  If my understanding of the
history of this conflict is right, then:

The Babri Masjid was being used until the late 40's/early 50's
when idols of Rama "miraculously" appeared in the mosque.  A
furore ensued after reports of the idols' appearance broke out,
and in the aftermath, the mosque was declared closed by the courts
and kept under lock and key.  The court order keeping it locked
was finally overturned in the late 80's by a local judge and the
Congress-I government of Rajiv Gandhi did not protest this.  Thus,
saying that the mosque was an unused structure does not do justice
to the reason for why it was unused.  It was forcibly kept unused
because of a court order occasioned by controversy arising from
the spurious planting of idols by interested parties.  It was not
unused voluntarily.  It may be an article of faith that the idols
appeared miraculously.  I have a lot of faith in many things
Hindu; yet, skepticism overflows within me when it comes to this.

Asking Muslims to voluntarily yield the masjid in the spirit of
brotherhood would be the thin edge of the wedge.  We are surely
aware of demands for reconversion of mosques in Varanasi and
Mathura, and maybe thousands more.  This can soon lead to Muslims
being asked not to eat beef because go-mata is revered by Hindus
and eating beef would be an insult to the national honor and
culture.  And soon Muslims may be asked to partake of Hindu
festival sweets during Ramzan fasts to prove that they are being
secular! Where will this end?  

Can one not see that minorities have to live amidst a Hindu
majority and that this can leave them feeling somewhat insecure
and uncertain?  How do the same netters who argue that Muslims
should adapt to Indian and indigenous culture feel about things in
the United States?  Do you holier-than-Rama-himself Hindus take
part in Christmas parties in your schools and offices and join
Christmas carol singers and celebrate the majorityUs festivals in
this secular country?  Lots of Muslims celebrate Diwali in India,
after all.  Do you feel totally secure and certain in a land full
of white people?  Do you understand what it means to be a
minority?  Do you understand why people in this country have
holiday parties rather than Christmas parties, because this way,
they are being sensitive to Hindus and others in this country to
whom Christmas may have no meaning.  They are not pandering to us. 
Just being sensitive.

As long as the BJP/VHP asked for the very spot of land on which
the Masjid stood, there seems to me no room for compromise.  I
would be interested in an archaeological study of the area now to
determine whether there really was a temple under the Masjid
structure.  And if it is so determined, then the time is ripe for
us to raze the rest of Ayodhya and restore the grand palaces where
Rama was born and where his early achievements occurred!  And then
to go to Dwaraka and restore Krishna's capital city by raising it
up from the sea bed to which it has sunk!  And then some ...

What the BJP/VHP combine is doing is legitimizing violent
retribution on spiritual and other descendants of dead invaders
for the invaders' misdeeds.  Consider the following extension of
the BJP/VHP historical retribution logic and a hypothetical
scenario of what it could lead to:

HYPOTHETICAL MODE ON>>		
The upper castes have traditionally oppressed the lower castes,
especially the Harijans.  Therefore, for Harijans, this is an
affront to their community honor.  It is their duty, then, to
avenge historical insults, (which predate minor invaders like
Babar and because they resulted in the enslaving of minds and
bodies, are infinitely more perverse than destruction of physical
structures) by wreaking havoc on the upper castes.  Temples, the
very symbols of upper-caste oppression should be destroyed, sacred
threads cut, and the priesthood banned.  The views of the lower
caste MAJORITY should prevail.  Efforts by the upper castes to
rewrite history books should be debunked, e.g., the denial that
the Aryans invaded India and subjugated the existing dark-skinned
population.  The Ramayana, an epic of oppression and conquest
should be banned. etc. etc.
HYPOTHETICAL MODE OFF>>

Does this sound too far fetched?  Well, it is somewhat similar to
what happened in Tamil Nadu in the 60's and 70's.  All it will
take is for a few charismatic Harijan leaders to spring up and use
the same logic and language used by the BJP/VHP to wreak havoc on
the upper castes.  And then where will the BJP/VHP be?

[With respect to Aryan influence being indigenous, the popular
names of two major Harijan groups in Karnataka should be an
indicator.  These groups are called the Adi Karnatakas and the Adi
Dravidas, which mean simply, the original inhabitants of Karnataka
and the original inhabitants of the south.  The BJP/VHP efforts at
historical fraud are extraordinarily outrageous!]

The BJP/VHP, with their forked tongues, argue that the Supreme
Court has no basis to decide on matters of faith when it comes to
the issue of Rama being born at the very spot where the Masjid
stood.  Yet they argue that the Supreme CourtUs interpretation of
the precedence of Islamic law in the Shah Bano case was wrong. 
Both are matters of faith.  The same BJP/VHP logic could be used
to term efforts by an Indian government trying to bring about a
uniform civil code to be an affront to another faith.  Yet many
thoughtful Muslims have the sense to argue against and to fight to
overturn the Shah Bano decision.  But our BJP/VHP pandits have a
direct line to God!

The BJP/VHP sort of historical retributionist politics will take
us nowhere.  Action is no doubt needed to correct injustices of
history, for example, to create a level playing field for all
Indians in terms of educational and employment opportunities.  But
such actions should be affirmatively and positively oriented, not
borne of vengeance.  What historical millstone did the Masjid's
existence hang around the necks of all Hindus, most of whom were
blissfully unaware of the existence of modern Ayodhya?  Will the
BJP/VHP allow a trained Harijan to perform priestly duties in a
rebuilt Rama temple.  Isn't Rama Rajya's enlightened monarchy
antithetical to modern democratic ideals?  Wasn't the caste system
entrenched under Rama Rajya?

No, what I see the BJP/VHP doing is merely creating a vote bank by
using "us vs. them" tactics against a minority. The minority
communities of India, battered and bloodied, can feel even more
insecure now. Citing misdeeds of religious governments in other
countries as evincing a need for us to turn our country into a
theocracy misses the point that it is precisely because those
other countries are premised on religion that we find the sort of
atrocities and oppression there.  No sane person would want to
imitate an insane one.

The timing of the BJP rath-yatra was clearly intended to avert the
split amongst the minority upper-caste Hindus  and the majority
lower-caste Hindus over the Mandal commission report's
implementation.  Well, the BJP's subsequent rise to power was in
part occasioned by the split in the ranks of the secular parties
committed to social justice.  Now that the BJP's fangs have been
truly revealed, even shortsighted secular politicians will
overcome their disarray and make common cause for a united,
secular India.  The selling point of the BJP/VHP politicians seems
to be there selfless devotion to a cause, however misguided it may
be.  If only our secular politicians had not let us down by
betraying the ideals of secularism and the legacy of Gandhiji and
the freedom struggle by turning corrupt.  If only more of them
were honest, committed, and sincere.  If only more of us who can
stay clean enter politics.

In the immediate future, the time seems ripe for the creation of a
"Reform Hinduism" on the lines of "Reform Judaism" which rejects
orthodoxy.  Moderate and secular Hindus, like me, have generally
found it natural not to flaunt  religion or to make a big deal of
it.  Our Hinduism is in no way inferior for being respectful and
tolerant of other faiths.  Now that the BJP/VHP combine have
hijacked our religion and claimed to speak for us it is time for
us to unite and show that the BJP/VHP combine speak for a small,
misguided, perverse, minority of wretches born into Hindu
families, and that they are a disgrace to our religion.  Let us
create a simplified Hinduism, where Bhakti and Shanti, devotion
and peace, are the vital components, not meaningless rituals, not
perverse caste practices, not rath yatras which take our country
back many millenia.  Who will join me in this endevour?

In the immortal words of Kabir:

Moko kahaan dhoonde re bandhey, main to tere paas mein
Na main deval, na main masjid, na Kaabe Kailaas mein
Nahi koi kriya karm mein, na yog bairaag mein
Sodhi hoi to turtai milhon, pal bhar ki talaas mein
Kahath Kabir, suno bhai Sadho, sab saanson ke saans mein

Loose translation:

Where are you looking for me my friends, I am in your midst
Not in a temple, not in a masjid, nor at the Kaaba or in Kailaas
Not in worldly deeds, nor yoga, nor ascetic renunciation
If you're ready, you can join me, if you search for a moment
Listen to Kabir, I am within your every breath, in your very heart

******************
M. V. Rajeev Gowda
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian