Truth, Good, Beauty
Essence of a universal religion
In an article recently published in the Indian Express, Rahul Gandhi described his understanding of Hinduism as a religion that allows its followers to overcome fears.
Rahul Gandhi, for quite some time now, has been articulating his religious philosophy in uncertain terms. He has been criticized in the past for doing exactly that by political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta. What P.B. Mehta did not consider is that if you do not philosophize for yourself, someone else will. This is exactly what has been happening for many years in Indian politics, where the BJP/RSS combine has defined religion in atheistic and materialistic terms of one language, region, and culture. One should also note that the views expressed by its ideologues, V.D. Savarkar in his short book 'Hindutva' and subsequently elaborated by RSS’s M.S. Golwalkar in his 'Bunch of Thoughts', continue to be the guiding philosophy as RSS approaches the centenary year of its foundation in 2025.
Undeterred by his critics, Rahul Gandhi continues to define the broad contours of this debate, not shying away from getting into the puddle and fighting a good fight. While L.K. Advani chided Congress as a “pseudo-secular” party, there is an element of truth in that.
Congress, since its inception during pre-independence days, was seen as a predominantly Hindu party. Mahatma Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress in 1915 after his return from South Africa and became a prominent leader, making attempts to bring people of all faiths, denominations, and castes under its umbrella. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad joined INC in 1920 and served as its president from 1940 to 1946, until the year before independence when Pandit Nehru was elected as its president.
Mahatma Gandhi inspired Indians towards political nationalism by weaving together different strands of religious, cultural, and caste differences. He was an ardent advocate of non-violence, referred to Scheduled Castes as 'Harijan' (people of God), and appealed for communal harmony during the tumultuous period. He also had his critics during his lifetime, with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar refusing to call him Mahatma due to his views on caste, and, of course, the Hindu Mahasabha, formed by a more radical and extremist splinter group of INC, which considered him to be too “soft” with the Muslims.
Post-partition of independent India, INC has paid only lip service to the values of inclusive secularism, i.e. pluralism. Muslims have suffered systemic marginalization, segregation, and ghettoization. All this happened under the watch of Congress, which Muslims mostly voted for, until the 1990s when they were disillusioned by the brazen display of Hindutva militancy that resulted in the Babri Masjid debacle, while P.V. Narsimha Rao, who was the Prime Minister of India.
As of today, after 75 years of Indian independence, Congress now stands at the periphery of politics, only ruling in 4 of the 28 states and sharing power in another 3 with its coalition partners. Since losing power at the center in 2014, Congress, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, has lost successive state and general assembly elections, and victories have been few and far between. In this context, it is imperative that any leader worth their salt would go back to the drawing board to introspect, brainstorm, and investigate.
Mahatma Gandhi redefined Hinduism during the independence struggle by emphasizing Satya (Truth) and Ahimsa (non-violence) to awaken the national conscience. In this turbo-charged environment of hate that is exacerbated online and offline by vast digital armies and foot soldiers, where does one start? Well, you talk to the people. Rahul Gandhi traversed 4000 kilometres in India by foot, meeting and listening to the people, spreading the message of 'Muhabbat' (Love) along with Truth and Courage (Daro Mat!).
In his recent article, Rahul Gandhi defines not only what Hinduism is, but also what it is not. Hindutva defines nationalism in terms of cultural ethnicity and confines it by geographical bounds. It plays on ephemeral responses of fight and flight, exploiting the masses by triggering the emotions of fear and selfish base desires to rule the world, and by all means, justifying the ends.
Hence, in this context, it’s important to distinctly identify what religion is, i.e. protecting the weak, and more so, what universal religions are. In essence, they carry the message of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty! Anyone saying otherwise is lying.