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   From: alt.fan.jai-maharaj@googlegroups.com   
      
   Arindam Banerjee posted:   
   >   
   > . . . Hindutva is a political position and   
   > I am not political.   
      
   What Hindutva seeks   
      
   Ashutosh Varshney's analysis misinterprets Savarkar's own   
   writings.   
      
   Written by Ram Madhav   
   Saturday, March 29, 2014   
      
   Hinduness as a cultural identity that this ancient nation   
   has come to acquire is what Hindu nationalists have   
   always propagated.   
      
   Referring to V.D. Savarkar's Hindutva as the basic work   
   of Hindu nationalists, Ashutosh Varshney highlights what   
   he surmises as the "three ideas" that constitute the   
   "thematic core" of their ideology ('Modi the Moderate',   
   IE, March 27). First, Hindus are the primary, or   
   exclusive, owners of the Indian nation. India is a Hindu   
   rashtra (nation). Second, two minorities -- Christians and   
   especially Muslims -- have a profound, ambivalent   
   relationship with India. Third, caste divisions within   
   Hinduism and caste-based politics need to be minimised,   
   for they undermine Hindu unity. The lower castes should   
   follow the Brahminical model of Hinduism.   
      
   Hinduness as a cultural identity that this ancient nation   
   has come to acquire is what Hindu nationalists have   
   always propagated. In this proposition, Hindu doesn't   
   represent any religion or mode of worship. Instead, it is   
   a set of values that have come to be known as the   
   Sanatana Dharma. Savarkar himself had given a clear   
   definition to the word "Hindu" in his book: Aasindhu   
   sindhu paryantaa Yasya Bharata Bhoomika/ Pitrubhu   
   Punyabhuchaiva Tavai Hinduriti Smritah. Translated,   
   "Those who regard this land of Bharat spread between the   
   river Sindhu (in the north) and the ocean Sindhu (Sindhu   
   Sagar -- Indian Ocean in the south) as their Pitrubhumi   
   (fatherland) and Punyabhumi (holy land) are called   
   Hindus".   
      
   It is more about an emotional bonding with the country in   
   which they were born. But Savarkar never differentiated   
   Hindus and Muslims as superior and inferior. In the   
   manifesto of "Hindu Rashtra", which Varshney had referred   
   to as the basic text, Savarkar states: "Religious   
   minorities will have all the right to practise their   
   religion in a Hindu Rashtra and the state will ensure   
   that; but the Hindu Rashra won't allow creation of a   
   nation within a nation in the name of religious   
   minoritysm." What's wrong with it? This is exactly the   
   situation in the country where Varshney has grown up and   
   prospered, the United States.   
      
   Continues at:   
      
   http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-hindutva-seeks-ram-madhav.html   
      
   Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi   
   Om Shanti   
      
   http://goo.gl/4E3EEQ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)