BV - May 2015 Yr 2 Issue 6 E

colonial rule. The democratic notion of
liberty, equality, human dignity and
citizenship sound western ideas, alien to
Hindu culture.
Usage of the term ‘Hinduism’ in the sense of
religion was popularized during the colonial
rule. Hindu community signified people living
on the southern and eastern banks of river
Sindhu and was inclusive of followers of
diverse religious practices. Religious
consciousness at popular level evolved from
the resistance to the dominant upper castes,
particularly the Brahmins, and their
monopoly over notions of purity and pollution
and structuring society into rigid hierarchies.
The popular resistance was led by many
bhakti saints, including Tuslidas, Kabir,
Ravidas, Mirabai, Gyaneshwar, Namdeo,
Tukaram, Chokha Mela, the Warkari
Sampradaya, Bahinabai, Guru Nanak,
Basveshwara, Narayan Guru, the Bauls in
the Bengal, Shankar Deva in Assam etc.
The popular religious consciousness of the
subalterns developed due to popular
compositions of the bhakti saints who
opposed the notions of purity and pollution
and believed in equality of all before one God.
God was not a power who punished the
deviants with lower status during cycles of
re-births or to be feared. God was benign
compassionate power to whom one should
devote to and derive ecstasy from devotion.
Devotion to God meant loving all God’s
creation – all humans practicing diverse
traditions of worship, from any ethnic
community, belonging to any culture. Loving
and being non-violent towards even animals
and nature. Muslim bhakti poet Salbeg,
credited with numerous compositions in
praise of Lord Jagannath and as tradition
has it, Lord Jagannath’s rath could not be
moved on its annual yatra till Salbeg could
join the yatra. Raskhan similarly composed
on Lord Krishna. Sufi Islam was as inclusive
and contributed to the religious
consciousness of Muslims as well as Hindu
devotees who were attracted to their shrines.
Sufi Islam, like the bhakti saints, emphasizes
on love of compassionate and merciful God
believing in inclusive traditions of worship.
Sufis like Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan believed that
Vedas too were revealed book of Allah and
Nizamuddin Auliya would have recitation of
bhajans in praise of Ram and Krishna every
morning.
The priestly class of Brahmins and Ulemas
aligned with the state seeking state
patronage, blessed coronation ceremonies of
the rulers advised them on “right path” of
shari’at (Muslim Law) and rules of worship,
purity and pollution. The popular religious
consciousness of the subalterns on the other
hand was inclusive, for them all paths
reached God and respected all religions as
true. Religion was more of a path that taught
them to be humble, human, and to live
harmoniously in society with others and with
nature. The priestly class catered to the elite
and were supremacist in their notions of
religion. Subalterns constituted roughly
about 90% of the people. Therefore, the
dominant ethos in India were not defining
religious boundaries, recruiting followers
exclusively and then governing on the basis
of religion of majority or minority. Subalterns
had ambivalent attitude towards religion. To
be Hindu did not exclude them from being a
Muslim or a Christian. Drawing from this
ambivalent attitude, the formulation of sarva
dharma sambhava aptly described the nature
of secularism desirable to Indian people.
Indian experience of secularism did not come
from struggle between the church and the
state where one or the other had to be a
victor and other vanquished.
The HNOs mislead the people of India when
they claim that secularism is a Nehruvian
concept borrowed from the west and in the
same breath claim Hinduism to be a tolerant
religion. The religion of subaltern Hindus is
more than tolerant – it respects all faiths and
for them truth is multi-dimensional.
However, HNOs stoke intolerance. Diverse as
it is, the HNOs realize that Hindus can be
united only if they can be made to disapprove
of something in other religious communities
and therefore are involved in the project of
stigmatizing the minorities.
Reclaiming Secularism
Opportunistic secularism vies for Muslim
votes and in the process gives in to the
demands of fundamentalists and
communalists within the minority
community. That strengthens and empowers
the tiny but well organized fundamentalists
and enables them to impose their hegemony
over the community and redefine the
community on their terms. The
fundamentalist sections appear to be much
larger than their actual strength and often
the only voice within the minority
community. It enables them to victimize
weaker and marginalized sections,
particularly women within the community,
and weed out dissenting/alternative
opinions. Strengthening of hegemony of the
● Year – 2 ● Issue – 6 ● May 2015 ● Buddhist Voice ● www.buddhistvoice.com ● Email: indian.buddhistvoice@gmail.com 32