Hindutva in essence isn’t exclusivist
thought and so a delineation between Muslim and Non-muslim citizens denied equal rights to all. However, in Bharat’s Constitution, keeping with the Hindu view of life, all religions were given equal rights.
Because Pakistan followed Semitic traditions, it introduced the concept of minorities. However Bharat, followed the essence of Hindutva and preserved a tradition of not discriminating among people on the basis of religion. Hence the concept of minority is irrelevant in the context of Bharat.
In post-independence India, opposing Hindutva and appeasing Muslims and Christians for votes became the hallmark of party politics. Hindu society had to counter the aggres- sion of fundamentalist Muslim elements. As a result, anti-muslim sentiment grew in the Hindu’s mind. However, the Muslims and Christians of Bharat have a Hindu origin. Because Hindu society was weak, some were compelled to change their faith.
The Sangh’s second Sarsanghchalak, MS Golwalkar, articulated this in an interview with journalist, Saifuddin Jilani.
“Dr Jilani: Much has been said about Indianisation and a lot of confusion has arisen over it. Could you please tell me how to remove the confusion?
Golwalkar: Indianisation was, of course, the slogan given by Jana Sangh. Why should there be such confusion? Indianisation does not mean converting all people to Hinduism.”
Indianisation is the realisation that we all owe allegiance to this land. It does not mean quitting one religion for another. In fact, we believe that a single religious system for all humans is not suitable.
During his lecture series, Bhagwat said, “As a people, we all have a Hindu identity. Some feel pride in referring to themselves as Hindus while others, due to some material considerations or political compulsions, only say they are Hindus in private. Then there are those who have simply forgotten. All these people are our own and no one is our enemy. There may be those who have declared us their enemies, but whilst we may defend ourselves, we aspire to take them along with us too. This is Hindutva.”
Veer Savarkar had also said, “You are a Muslim, hence I am a Hindu, else I am a Vishwa Manav, a global human.” These lines sum up the essence of Hindutva for me.
Manmohan Vaidya is sah sarkaryavah (joint general secretary), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The views expressed are personal