Tuesday, January 23, 2018

What Hindus can & should be proud of - RAMACHANDRA GUHA

https://www.facebook.com/vallury.sarma/posts/553249021379182

The Hindu – OPINION - July 23, 2013 - 

1. Guha preaches this about his grand view of Sanatana Dharma –
Those who care for the future of the religion should valorise the work of reformers who rid an ancient, ossified faith of its divisions, prejudices, and closed-mindedness.
Comment – I learnt only today that there are missionaries and evangelists for Nehruvian secularism, the disease afflicting many who consider themselves liberal intellectuals. From his posture in his newspaper articles and TV debates, our media of The Hindu, NDTV variety, consider him a Mr.Know-All, who has an opinion on everything under the sun, a mini-sarvajna. Now he assumes the role of a reformer advising Hindus on what they can and should be proud of post - July, 23, 2013. The single line which sets the tone of the article is adequate to know his understanding of Hinduism. I do not know whether he has any religion or he understands what is meant by the two words Sanatana and Dharma. Probably he is a follower or disciple of the celebrated Osmania Professor Kencha Ilaiah, whose Magnum Opus is “How I am a Hindu?”
2. Guha says -
I was reading about the posters in Mumbai recently put up by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party. These carry portraits of a prominent BJP leader, with two accompanying slogans: ‘I AM A HINDU NATIONALIST,’ in English, and ‘Garv sé Kaho Ham Hindu Hain’, in Hindi. The latter slogan needs perhaps to be translated for south Indian readers, and set in context for younger ones. ‘Proudly Proclaim Our Hindu-Ness’, would be a faithful rendition.
Comment – Not only Hindu-ness of Guha, but his Hindi is also suspect. The translation is “ Proudly Say We are Hindus.” Guha probably would like to say “I am non-Hindu, non-nationallist” patriot of India.
3. Guha remembers suddenly the dilapidated Babri structure in the Ramjanmabhumi holy site of Ayodhya (He surely knows about the Allahabad High Court judgment about the site in dispute). The slogan originates in the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign of the 1980s and 1990s, when it was used by the VHP, RSS, BJP, and Bajrang Dal cadres to mobilise men and materials in the drive to demolish a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya believed by many to be sited on the birthplace of the (mythical) God Ram.
As a Historian, he calls it a 16th century mosque ( he does not call it by its traditional name Masjid-i-Janmasthan) and forgets that it was not built by Indian resident Muslims of Ayodhya, but by an army commander Mir Baqi of the Moghul (Mongol) invader Babur, a descendent of the notorious Timur and Zenghizkhan. For emphasis, he calls God Ram mythical but Baqi built the mosque after destroying a temple to pray to the well-known true and real world God of the invaders. But it is surprising that Guha’s own father names him after the mythical God but not by the Dravidian favourite God – Ravana.
This is the beginning of his article. Let us explore the remaining part, at some other time.

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