A good way of understanding one's values is to do a little thought experiment: Ask yourself this question – what if I had infinite power to change things. What would I do to make the world a better place? The actions that one would want to take in such a situation and the outcomes that one dreams of, will tell you what kind of a person he is (assuming the question was answered honestly).
If this question was asked to Nazis in 1930s, they would probably have answered – I would like to make every jew disappear from the face of the earth. If you ask this to a typical believing Muslim, likely answer will be that he would ensure worship of none other than Allah, and a belief by all mankind that Mohammed was his last prophet, and should anyone not believe it still, he should not have any say in community matters and should not be allowed to progress in life.
What if this question was asked of Lincoln and his followers? The likely answer would have been to not only ensure abolition of slavery and unification of the USA, but also that gradually all discrimination based on color of skin disappear. How would Churchill and Churchillians answer this question? Most likely, those white / ‘noble’ races live their free lives in their free nations, create beauty, advance the sciences, and of course, in the pursuit of their glory, if they need anything found in 'colored' lands, they can help themselves to it freely, in the interest of the same “advancement”.
To understand Hindu values, and importantly Hindu nationalist values of today, let us ask this question of ourselves. Assume that we have the power to do a few things -to bring about mega changes in societies, nations and national boundaries. What would we like to do in such a case? Here is my list of what a typical Hindu nationalist would like:
1.Pakistan is debiliated to a point where it cannot dream of launching terror attacks on India. All the accused of past attacks are handed over to India to face trials and punishment.
2.Kashmiri separatism is seen and accepted by the entire world as being based purely on religion and hence an undesirable political movement that must be discouraged, if necessary with use of force. India is free to act in the valley, though we choose to minimize the use of force. Kashmiri Pandits return to the valley and face no more harassment. If any Muslim tries to do so again, he is punished in accordance with the law.
3.Kashmir gets fully integrated into India as the world recognizes that India having treated Muslims fairly, as opposed to Pakistan that cleansed its Hindu minority has the right to integrate Kashmir into India. Article 370 is dropped and over time, Kashmir valley appears no different than rest of India.
4.India progresses to a point where China loses all ability to threaten India, directly, or indirectly through other nations. China realizes this and abandons all efforts to reclaim Arunachal for itself. In fact, China is forced by international opinion to ensure visible autonomy for Tibet, such that Tibetan culture and identity is preserved to the extent desired by the Tibetans themselves.
5.Islam is seen the world over as a problem ideology, and no one debates the point any more. Community of apostates starts appearing all over the Muslim world. The apostates are visible and vocal about Islam, similar to the likes of Wafa Sultan and Nonie Darwish. Muslim world, much as it desires to do so, is unable to harm the communities of apostates. The community grows at the expense of Muslims leading to conflict in which free nations support the apostates and Muslims lose. Eventually, there is a domino effect and Islam collapses as nearly all Muslims give up practice of Islam. Mecca mosque is turned into a sort of tourist spot rather than the religious center of Islam. All great Islamic mosques are slowly turned into tourist attractions as their role as places of worship ends.
6.Indian police and judicial systems are reformed and they become so good that Aam Aadmi knows that no one can commit injustice against him and get away with it. With this feeling also comes a commitment that he himself should not commit any injustice against someone else.
7.Indian society overcomes its differences as “lower” strata achieve a minimum healthy standard of living – good housing, education and a minimal income, so that there is more intermixing of different social classes. Over time, most differences become negligible and an Indian brotherhood emerges.
8.India becomes an increasingly better looking society. In terms of trash disposal, sanitation / hygiene and organization. People are calmer and better behaved. People don't show ugly habits that earned us the “slumdog millionaire” image (even though I believe the ugly behaviors therein were deliberately and maliciously exaggerated).
9.Indians increasingly create products and services that are used the world over. Finding an Indian invented or developed product no more arouses surprise and exaggerated admiration. Indian scientists discover and invent no less than any other society in the world. Indian intelligentsia focuses more on productive work and less on self-indulgent political activity.
10.Finally, as a result of all this, India is at least as good a place to settle down and lead a healthy life, as any other place in the world. There is a steady stream of people from all countries on earth who settle down in India for good. “Tiranga”, a card that India launches to provide permanent citizenship to anyone willing for it, becomes a coveted acquisition by people from other societies. The word “Tiranga” enters all dictionaries and means this sought after card.
Is it all doable? Looking at India's progress, I would say that yes, it is doable. Not that we are in sight of these goals in the next 20 or even 50 years. But in the past 60 odd years, we have made many things happen that were unthinkable when we achieved freedom. So, there is reason to believe that if we really apply ourselves to it, we can achieve that which appears distant dream today.
A better question to ask ourselves would be – which of the above should be immediate focus that will take us to the goal faster than other items on the list.
My vote is for police and judicial reforms and developing counters to Pakistani nukes that protect them from being punished for terrorism. Though the latter appears tough, it should be achievable once the security establishment applies itself to it. The police and judicial reforms are actually worked out and only need implementation. These are not being implemented most probably because the political class won't let go of the power that is inevitable once reforms happen. But someone with sagacity to carry them out is sure to emerge and I am convinced we will see these happen very soon.
If this question was asked to Nazis in 1930s, they would probably have answered – I would like to make every jew disappear from the face of the earth. If you ask this to a typical believing Muslim, likely answer will be that he would ensure worship of none other than Allah, and a belief by all mankind that Mohammed was his last prophet, and should anyone not believe it still, he should not have any say in community matters and should not be allowed to progress in life.
What if this question was asked of Lincoln and his followers? The likely answer would have been to not only ensure abolition of slavery and unification of the USA, but also that gradually all discrimination based on color of skin disappear. How would Churchill and Churchillians answer this question? Most likely, those white / ‘noble’ races live their free lives in their free nations, create beauty, advance the sciences, and of course, in the pursuit of their glory, if they need anything found in 'colored' lands, they can help themselves to it freely, in the interest of the same “advancement”.
To understand Hindu values, and importantly Hindu nationalist values of today, let us ask this question of ourselves. Assume that we have the power to do a few things -to bring about mega changes in societies, nations and national boundaries. What would we like to do in such a case? Here is my list of what a typical Hindu nationalist would like:
1.Pakistan is debiliated to a point where it cannot dream of launching terror attacks on India. All the accused of past attacks are handed over to India to face trials and punishment.
2.Kashmiri separatism is seen and accepted by the entire world as being based purely on religion and hence an undesirable political movement that must be discouraged, if necessary with use of force. India is free to act in the valley, though we choose to minimize the use of force. Kashmiri Pandits return to the valley and face no more harassment. If any Muslim tries to do so again, he is punished in accordance with the law.
3.Kashmir gets fully integrated into India as the world recognizes that India having treated Muslims fairly, as opposed to Pakistan that cleansed its Hindu minority has the right to integrate Kashmir into India. Article 370 is dropped and over time, Kashmir valley appears no different than rest of India.
4.India progresses to a point where China loses all ability to threaten India, directly, or indirectly through other nations. China realizes this and abandons all efforts to reclaim Arunachal for itself. In fact, China is forced by international opinion to ensure visible autonomy for Tibet, such that Tibetan culture and identity is preserved to the extent desired by the Tibetans themselves.
5.Islam is seen the world over as a problem ideology, and no one debates the point any more. Community of apostates starts appearing all over the Muslim world. The apostates are visible and vocal about Islam, similar to the likes of Wafa Sultan and Nonie Darwish. Muslim world, much as it desires to do so, is unable to harm the communities of apostates. The community grows at the expense of Muslims leading to conflict in which free nations support the apostates and Muslims lose. Eventually, there is a domino effect and Islam collapses as nearly all Muslims give up practice of Islam. Mecca mosque is turned into a sort of tourist spot rather than the religious center of Islam. All great Islamic mosques are slowly turned into tourist attractions as their role as places of worship ends.
6.Indian police and judicial systems are reformed and they become so good that Aam Aadmi knows that no one can commit injustice against him and get away with it. With this feeling also comes a commitment that he himself should not commit any injustice against someone else.
7.Indian society overcomes its differences as “lower” strata achieve a minimum healthy standard of living – good housing, education and a minimal income, so that there is more intermixing of different social classes. Over time, most differences become negligible and an Indian brotherhood emerges.
8.India becomes an increasingly better looking society. In terms of trash disposal, sanitation / hygiene and organization. People are calmer and better behaved. People don't show ugly habits that earned us the “slumdog millionaire” image (even though I believe the ugly behaviors therein were deliberately and maliciously exaggerated).
9.Indians increasingly create products and services that are used the world over. Finding an Indian invented or developed product no more arouses surprise and exaggerated admiration. Indian scientists discover and invent no less than any other society in the world. Indian intelligentsia focuses more on productive work and less on self-indulgent political activity.
10.Finally, as a result of all this, India is at least as good a place to settle down and lead a healthy life, as any other place in the world. There is a steady stream of people from all countries on earth who settle down in India for good. “Tiranga”, a card that India launches to provide permanent citizenship to anyone willing for it, becomes a coveted acquisition by people from other societies. The word “Tiranga” enters all dictionaries and means this sought after card.
Is it all doable? Looking at India's progress, I would say that yes, it is doable. Not that we are in sight of these goals in the next 20 or even 50 years. But in the past 60 odd years, we have made many things happen that were unthinkable when we achieved freedom. So, there is reason to believe that if we really apply ourselves to it, we can achieve that which appears distant dream today.
A better question to ask ourselves would be – which of the above should be immediate focus that will take us to the goal faster than other items on the list.
My vote is for police and judicial reforms and developing counters to Pakistani nukes that protect them from being punished for terrorism. Though the latter appears tough, it should be achievable once the security establishment applies itself to it. The police and judicial reforms are actually worked out and only need implementation. These are not being implemented most probably because the political class won't let go of the power that is inevitable once reforms happen. But someone with sagacity to carry them out is sure to emerge and I am convinced we will see these happen very soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment