‘Boat brahmins’ perpetuating falsehoods

THE EDITOR:  Hindus need to be more resilient in their conviction as Hindus. Like Christians and Mus-lims, secular-liberalists and capitalists, Hindus must see Hinduism as the panacea for man’s problems. It is unfortunate that many of us who call ourselves Hindus cringe in public when the word Hindu is pronounced. We have been conditioned to view Hinduism as something that is worthy in our private sphere — home, Yagnas, village. Outside of that limited setting, we shy away from venturing on anything Hindu.

A Hindu ideology is most necessary if Hindus have to be respected by non-Hindus. While Hindus fuss about so many things, do they have a perspective on the many social issues of the day? For example, both Islam and Christianity are clear on issues such as abortion and alcoholism. What are the Hindu views on these issues? It is no wonder that our “dumb” responses have left many people confused and ignorant, so much so that they have to describe Hindus as “amoral,” that is, not having a sense of moral value. To a lesser or greater extent, many Hindus have internalised such “amoral” ways leaving ourselves to be described as hypocrites.

What is the Hindu concept of equality? Is the Hindu concept of varna ashram or the four-fold “caste” system universal? Or, are we going to sit back and allow a few “boat brahmins” to perpetuate the falsehood that only people born in a particular family are brahmins? By Hindus not articulating  Hinduism as a panacea for many of the social ills in our society, we  are indirectly short-changing human-kind. Hindu-activists must boldly articulate a Hindu perspective which has been the substratum for more than 6,000 years of Indian civilisation. In recent  times we have witnessed a revival and resuscitation of the Indian economy which can only be attributed to the BJP’s proud articulation of a Hindu ideology or Hindutwa. Sanatan Dharma Ki Jai!

DH SINGH
Chaguanas