Hind, Hindi, Hindustan, Hindu and Indian nation
Are we Hindu nation
Guru Golwalkar a former RSS chief in 'Bunch of thoughts' explained that Indian nation is in fact 'Hindu Nation' or 'Hindu Rashtra'. The minorities are aggressors and alien to the Hindu nation. Normally, if you ask somebody about foreign rule in India, he will just say- two hundred years.of British. But for the followers of Guru Golwalkar, the 'Hindus' (meaning true Indians) have been enslaved for more than one thousand years. This one thousand years of slavery or foreign rule includes the rule by Muslim dynasties including Mughals. Here is an interesting fact. The first war of independence in 1857 was fought under leadership of Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar- also a foreignor as perceived by . the Golwalkar disciples.
Enemies of Nation as defined by 'Hindu nationalists'
Guru Golwalkar is clear about 'enemies of nation' According to him, Muslims, Christians and Communists are the enemies. He does not spare even the sober elements in minority community. To him, anyone not born as Hindu is a traitor or potential traitor- enemy of nation- defined as 'Hindu Rashtra'. He even ridicules the secularism as well as 'socialist' policy of Indian leadership, as according to him, even the 'socialism' of Pt Nehru was another name for 'communism'.
Sudden interest in defining our nationhood
Now there is sudden and renewed interest in 'Hindu identity' or 'Hindu nationalism'. Some body said that India is already a Hindu nation or Hindu Rashtra. As the term.'Hindu Rashtra' was too bitter to swallow, they modified this as 'Hindustan'- which literally means- "Hindu Land'. There is nothing wrong in the term 'Hindustan' as such. This has been quite often used to describe India. However our constitution uses only 'India' or 'Bharat' to describe the nation. Needless to say, founding fathers of Indian constitution used 'India' and 'Bharat' the only terms for identifying our nationality to rebuff any misunderstanding. Moreover, 'Hindu' was never the identity of Indian nation. We were either 'Arya Vrata' or 'Bharat'. The term 'Hindu' was first used by foreignors to describe our nation. This is just a variation of 'Sindhu valley'. It is surprising that the ultra nationalists wish to use the term coined and used by foreignors. Our constitution could also use the term 'Arya Vrata' but then there would be difficulty with South India, where Dravida identity and not Aryan is acceptable. 'India' as well as 'Bharat' are acceptable to all segments of the nation. Now 'Hindustan' is an old concept. Nobody would object to this term. Any one would gladly accept that he is a Hindustani. The term 'Hindustani' has been often used by may to describe India. The famous poet Iqbal also known as 'Poet of the East' wrote a patriotic song- "sare jahan se Achha Hindustan hamaara', which is incidentally our national song. But nowhere the inhabitants of 'Hindustan' are identified as 'Hindu' There is a stanza in the song, which reads- 'Hindi hai hum humvatan hain hindustan hamaara". So the inhabitants of India are 'Hindi' and not 'Hindu', which is a religious and not national identity. Once we had very cordial relations with China. Then the slogan- 'Hindi Cheeni Bhai Bhai' was coined. So if our nation is Hindustan, we are 'Hindi' or 'Hindustani' and not 'Hindu'. Neta ji Subhash Chandra Bose formed Azad Hind Fauz'. Obviously, he did not mean 'Army of Hindus'. There is a patriotic song in pre independence movie- "Door hato door hato dunia valo Hindustan hamaara hai'. .
Our nationhood is composite- Indian or Bhartiya
Though irrelevant today, let us have clear view of meaning of phrases and words similar to Hind or Hindi:'Hind' and 'Hindustan' mean India (Bharat). 'Hindi' means the language spoken in some north Indian states, also recognized as official language of the union. 'Hindi' and 'Hindustani' may also mean 'Indian (Bhartiya). But the term 'Hindu' relates to religion of the majority community. It is outrageous to describe every Indian as 'Hindu'. It is most unlikely that Muslims and Christians will accept the 'Hindu' tag. Many years ago, the Akali Dal leaders made a strong protest against a provision in the constitution that clubs Sikhs also along with Budddhists and Jains with Hindus. The Jains also insist on seperate identity. When provoked by the statement by a Hindu leader that 'Sikhs are keshdhaari (unshaven) Hindus", Prakash Singh Badal retorted: Then will you say that Muslims are sunnatdhaari Hindus.
Conclusion
There are certain groups who intend to identify the Indian nation with Hindu religion or tradition in name of 'cultural entity'. Strangely, some advance the plea that one may be non Hindu but his culture is Hindu. Such arguments are perverse and designed to sabotage the composite culture of India. We should concentrate on well bing and prosperity of people and refrain from indulging in notions like 'Hindu nationhod' that can only play havoc with our real nationhood that represents all that is fine in Aryan, Dravadian and Islamic traditions- which togther shape our nationshood. In fact 'Hindu Nationalism' and two nation theory of Jinnah and Iqbal are similar ad two sides of the same coin. we need to maintain national unity. we need to preserve unity in diversity. For this, we need to use only India or Bharat- the authentic words used for our nation. The talk of 'Hindu nation' is simply a diversion frm real issue of people and desidned to disturb the peace and tranquility. Let the term 'Hindu' be used for majority religous community and 'Hindi' for major language spoken in most parts of country.
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