How to Establish a ‘Hindu’ Rajya: 5 Easy Steps

Now, more than ever, one must revisit one’s own understanding of religion and faith.

Yogi Adityanath is now the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. It is important, in such dire straits, to revisit one's own ideas of religion, faith, and development. It is equally important, to counter the loud voices of communal divisiveness, with a deeper understanding of the unity of thought and purpose, which all faiths share.

Here are five steps to establishing a Hindu Rajya, in the true sense of the term.

1. Call Out Divisive Rhetoric

When someone from your religion uses a public forum (or even a private one) to spread divisiveness and communal anger, call out the BS. Such things fester only in the absence of opposition from within the community. There is nothing in the Gita that Jesus has not spoken. There is nothing in Jesus' words that one cannot find in the Quran. If you think this is a tall claim, begin by reading all three. All religions are secular, in that they have no qualms with different faiths. Anyone who interprets their religion as being against another, is paving the way towards violence and terrorism.

2. If it’s Forced, it isn’t Religion - Understand this

Darkness and light cannot coexist. Suppression and freedom do not go hand in hand. Suppressing oneself in the name of religion is as dangerous as wanting to suppress the faith of another. Such situations result in serious psychological ramifications that affect the society as a whole. Putting people through prolonged tension and fear often leads to cognitive dissonance, fatalism, and in extreme cases, fear psychosis.

3. It’s All in a Name

Hindutva is not violent. Saffron is not a hard-ball right-wing Muslim-hating colour. A sanyasi or a sadhu is not an avaricious lech who uses the gerua for his personal whims. Ram Rajya is not a situation where a particular religion reigns supreme. Sanskar is not a set of rigid unbending rules written in a book that one must abide by, regardless of its dissonance with the present. Do not let anyone appropriate these names or what they stand for, to serve their own myopic agendas.

4. There is No ‘Other’

To say that one must accept a Muslim or a Christian with due love and respect is to state the obvious. Across the annals of the history of the subcontinent, various communities, religions and peoples have found a terminus to their wanderlust across the land. From the idlis we eat to the Biryani we boast about, to the pants we wear; everything is a result of an inclusive, all-are-welcome approach. Feeling threatened by a community is a sign of a lack of understanding of one's own beliefs and way of life.

5. Hindu Rajya is Where you...

...don’t ask for one.

The reason India is vibrant is only because its people have never claimed exclusive rights for a particular community. As the typical UP turn of phrase goes; ‘Sab ko lekar chale’.

Read steps one through four. Do.