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Hindutva Evolution And Politics:
Part 1b: Current State and Near Future

Note: Part 1a is here

This is not intended as a 'preaching' nor a comprehensive study, but just some thoughts. Since background is already set, without much of an intro to this, let me get to it straight, point by point

I) Sustenance of Power: The big question in 2019 was if BJP will be able to retain power. Apart from the political deft needed for that, there was also the challenge that, for centuries now, Hindus have not been thinking as rulers, as conquerers - at best, we (Hindus) think, behave and act as "defenders", more often as the sufferers, the defeated, the attacked. Even a few months before the election, there were voices among some 'right wingers' that "Not pro Hindu enough, so NOTA" etc. Modi may have retained power in 2019, but it is yet to be seen as to when will even a tenth of the 1 billion strong Hindus behave as "We rule India", much less "We are here to rule the world", not in an oppressive way, but spiritually, intellectually and economically as we once did (see % of world GDP)

At the micro level, there are some concerns of dishonesty/bickering/rivalry among Nationalists, but at the same time, it is also rather remarkable that BJP as a party, in its 40 years did not have a major split. CongressMuktBharat efforts seems to be yielding results, but India is far from being ready for  Unipolar politics. Time has come to think "Can hindutva control/determine who will occupy the space of the Congress?". In a multi-party democracy of our kind, it is lack of maturity on the part of some of so called liberals to cry "Only 45% voted for NDA, 55% voted against" only when BJP comes to power (The left govt in Kerala-2016, for example came to power with 43.5%, but the same ilk will never mention that), however, it does raise a point for the Nationalists that there is 55% (of those who voted) yet to be convinced, and another >30% of the eligible who did not even vote

II) Ideology and Activism: For a 1billion Hindu population with such geographic and cultural diversity, it is difficult to say if there has been unform "trends", or even "change of trends" from generation to generation. Still, I think it is reasonably safe to say that there has been renewed awareness of history (and the dangers that Hindus went through) and our heritage in the currently 25 to 55 age group. However, one must pause and think if that is true in the 15-25 also. It will vary from family to family, but one thing is for sure. There is no guarantee that a Nationalist's or even a swayamsevak's son/daughter will grow up so. In fact too much of activism neglecting their welfare, any amount of hypocrisy (preach something but not do it oneself) can all lead up to potential backfire

That leads me to the topic of activism. Without going into a detailed analysis, I shall simply ask the Nationalistic reader to ask oneself these following questions. For how many of you "Hindu Activism" means only forwarding whatsapp messages and videos to a group which has only people of your own ideology ? How many of you ask your children to learn Yoga or Sanskrit while you yourself dont ?

III) Demography and Self-Confidence: So far I mainly wrote about the 100 crore Hindus in India. What about the 30crore or so who are not ? This sort of goes back to the point raised in I above. Why is it that the 100 crore Hindus are on the defensive about the 5 crore or so Christians, of which perhaps not even 10% are the proselytising kind ? Muslims are many more, agreed, but even a 5% of their population in your neighbourhood makes you (the so called "hard core Hindu") nervous, Why ?

While I repeat that I dont intend to preach, it is my opinion that Hindus should a) Learn about our own religion well, including Sanskrit b) Read and understand Christianity and Islam and finally c) each one should turn a Dayananda . Aurobindo couldn't have been clearer when he said "Fulfilment of Sanatana Dharma is India's only Swaraj" or Vivekananda who said "Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death". To do that, one is our own self-confidence and conviction. The other is the particality, as a former RSS sangchalak once put it "Roti-Beti ka sawaal hein", reader is free to draw your conclusion

IV) Beyond India: Extending the logic above, there is no doubt the ultimate goal of all this should be to make India the Viswa Guru once again. Time and again India has produced spiritual masters - be it Vivekananda or Prabhupada or Amritanandamayi or Sri Sri or Sadhguru. One may differ with them in methods, but as long as they are not fakes or work against Hinduism, every Hindu should at least not get into "I dont like this particular Guru/Method" mode. Remember, there are Hindu namdharis themselves across the world waiting and wanting to prevent their growth. But it is also important that at some point the golden ratio mentioned in Bhagavad Gita 7.3 is surpassed -- that is, out of 1000 people who come seeing the surface level glitter of spiritual movements, 10-20 should go deep

Some times I feel, Oh how nice it would have been if all these threats were not there -- the interested could spend all his/her time in learning (scriptures) and seeking. However, our sages long back realised that such a scenario is never to be. Currently a Hindu activist typically "spreads thin" into two or more hats out of the Brahmana (learning), Kshatriya (defenders, for the modern age it is also intellectual Kshatriyas), Vaisya (earning, donating, charity) and Sudra (the foot soldier, campaigns, ground work) - do we need more volunteers dedicated and focused on each areas ?

I will end this part with my oft repeated statement. Hinduism can be considered on the path to revival, only when hitherto unearthed knowledge from our existing scriptures/manuscripts can be brought out in modern terms and perhaps patented.