An Open Letter to Mahesh Murthy on the finer points of History & Hinduism…

Dear Mahesh: We have not met before so pardon the impertinence (& the presumptuous nature) of this open letter. I was prompted to write this after reading your recent post on Why do so many of us love Modi?.

You began your post with “some hygiene issues”. In that vein, here are mine: Like you,  I’m not getting paid to do this. And like you, I’d love to be paid to blog! More importantly, I am not associated with the BJP, nor with the Sangh (although I am a supporter of both). My specific concern are a few remarks in point #6 of your post. These are not only inaccurate but also misleading and possibly insulting/ demeaning (e.g. reference to a certain “idiot” and a “silly chant“).

Let me reproduce the bits that I felt were off the mark:

…Maybe Modi-love is really about Hindus taking revenge centuries after the Mughals screwed us over.

…Being gay is a crime. So forget about Section 377 being repealed in the BJP tenure.

Women being equal to men cannot be tolerated, because that idiot Manu said so in his Smriti. The country can’t eat beef, because of some silly chant like “gaai hamaari maata hai”, even though were were traditionally a beef-eating country.

…Modi’s rise started only after the direct support, shielding and protection of the Hindus who killed over a 1,000 innocent Muslims in Gujarat.

…as though being secular is sick. Dude, it’s in our constitution.

Allow me to dissect these lines one by one. The first about, “..Hindus taking revenge centuries after the Mughals screwed us over.” is not quite true. Neither the bit about “revenge” nor the bit about “Mughals screwed us over“.  I would recommend this short piece to you, “The Myth of 1000 years of Hindu Slavery“, from which this excerpt is worth reproducing:

“When examining our history I saw a spirit of defiance stretching over a thousand years in the face of implacable and merciless enemies, who put an end to many other cultures and civilisations. The same forces which had overcome virtually every indigenous civilisation in the world had thrown their entire might against India – and failed.

Attack after attack was defeated. Horrific massacres did not force the people to abandon their religion and identity. The destruction of holy places did not see dharma die but rise again and overcome their opponents with the power of truth. The banner of freedom was raised generation after generation…

…Ancient faiths like Buddhism and Zoroasterism were almost obliterated from the Middle East, Central Asia and India but the Hindus rose in defiance to emerge even stronger at the end of the blood soaked millennia.”

Next the bit about “..Being gay is a crime. So forget about Section 377 being repealed in the BJP tenure.”  As I mentioned before, I am neither a member of BJP nor in any position to advise them on what they should – or should not – do. But I felt I should share with you the fact that Hinduism has a long history of not only tolerance but even acceptance of homosexuality. In this context, pl do have a look at this post, “Homosexuality, Hinduism and Section 377” when you have a few minutes.

As for “Women being equal to men cannot be tolerated, because that idiot Manu said so in his Smriti.”, I would request you to read the 2-part series on “Women in Hinduism” and “Re-examining Manusmriti“. These are long posts but they might make you change your mind.

On the matter of “…some silly chant like “gaai hamaari maata hai””, can I please ask you to read this post on cow slaughter? It may help you understand why so many of us have such strong feelings about something that is after all, just another “animal”.

On “..killed over a 1,000 innocent Muslims in Gujarat.”, not sure where you got the figure for  “1,000 innocent Muslims“. In May 2005, MoS (Home), Sriprakash Jaiswal mentioned in Rajya Sabha that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed in the riots in Gujarat in 2002 that followed the burning of a train coach killing 59 “innocent Hindus” . I would like to think that each one of them – Hindu and Muslim – was innocent.

As for “secular” being  “in our constitution”, you are right but I am not sure whether you (& your readers) realise this was actually pushed down our throats during the Emergency by Smt Indira Gandhi. This does not make it a redundant concept but I think it is important to be clear about this. It may surprise you that the term has not been defined in the Constitution.

Finally, you make a reference to “Hindu Sharia” in your post which is odd since I am sure you realise it can never exist (and is an oxymoron). Unlike Abrahamic religions, “Hindus” do not share/have a common “God” (or “Goddess”) or a single/common “Holy Book” or a single/common set of “Dos and Don’ts”.  Any talk of Hindu Sharia is therefore at best irresponsible, at worst, a deliberate attempt at scare-mongering.

I am happy to be corrected & challenged on any/all the points mentioned above and I do hope you take this response in the right spirit. I shall look forward to your comments & thoughts.  With best regards,

जय हिंद, जय भारत! – शांतनु