Reply to a fanatic

Dear Chaitanya,

Just for the record, I am a Christian. I appreciate your voice standing up to the rights of Hindus. And I think it was rather deplorable that nobody spoke the "other" side of the Gujarat story, and I think the press (at least the English press) was unnecessarily biased.

I would have preferred to write to you personally, but that seems kind of difficult. Anyways, in your writings, you seem to give the impression that India stands as a country, because Hindus, in general, (and since they are the majority) are a tolerant society that will take a lot of abuse just so that the country will not split. I know I am oversimplifying, but only a wee bit. Also that Hindus have always been preached to and so have become pliant.

Was it always so? I am not a know-all and would love to be genuinely answered. The Indian tradition / civilisation dates back to many centuries. Did the Hindu religious culture get anywhere in history, to be a spent force? History would seem to say no. And if so, does it say anything about the Hindu religion/culture? I hope you will read me out patiently.

The vedic culture is supposed to be one of the most powerful incentives of goodly/godly living. And history is witness that wherever and whenever the vedic culture was prevalent, there was peace and prosperity in the land. Why is it not propogated, at least among the Hindus now?

But your statement that India is a tolerant country, (Who, BTW, is being tolerated and why?) because of Hindus and for that fabric to be maintained, the Muslims and the Westerners (I hope that is your euphimism for Christians) need to be watched and careful "reactions" engineered, I am afraid, is laughable, but not funny. Ah, that is what the real Hindu religion/culture is all about, eh? Suffer everything and then when things seem to be getting out of hand, REACT. Hello, at least I react whenever it pains me, and not be tolerant of the pain and react when things have gone beyond a point. That is called hypocrisy. And I refuse to believe that this great country was steeped in that, as you would have me believe. This country has produced some of the most outstanding persons throughout history. Right from vedic periods down to the modern day, this country has been blessed with an abundance of spirit that has manifested itself in varied triumphs in myriad disciplines. Sure the country has gone bonkers, less often than not, but to blame it, oh-so-easily on Muslims and Westerners is, to take a dim view of the intelligence of your readers.

It is so easy to talk of minority bashing when you are in the majority mob. I will appreciate even your ham-handed attempts at "saving" the Hindu religion/culture the moment you appreciate the courage of living as a minority in a country where the likes of you espouse the need to use "engineered reactions".

Hinduism will survive, not because of you, but in spite of you.

Jai Hind!