A vacuum that is glaringly obvious in the current sociopolitical context is the utter nonexistence of a conservative movement in India. It must be a bit embarrassing for some to admit but even after all this while, Hindus have been unable to form any coherent organized resistance to the constant liberal onslaught on our traditions and culture.
Such is the dearth that Hindus hardly have any credible representation in the current political spectrum. Of course, some might argue that BJP is representative of the Hindu cause but they have hardly done anything so far to prove that claim. Temples are still under government control, our traditions are still being banned, we are no closer to building the Ram Mandir than we were a decade back, textbooks in our schools are still teaching the liberal version of history and there does not seem to be any presence of Hindu thought in social sciences and universities at all.
For over 70 years, Hindus have huffed and puffed and bitten back at times but the entire time, they have simply bent over backwards and allowed Hinduism to be relegated to merely spirituality without any meaningful resistance.
The strength of a civilization can be effectively gauged from its universities. Universities are meant to act as bulwark against forces that seek to undermine our civilization. But in our country, liberalism has taken over our universities without the least bit of struggle and is merrily subverting the brightest minds of our nation. JNU and Jadavpur University are not the problem, they are merely symptoms of the problem. Once upon a time, our universities used to be great centers of education and learning, now they are merely bastions of degeneracy.
Liberals have become so used to having their way in universities that the smallest of decision that goes against their will is branded as Saffronization and our governments, lacking in conviction and devoid of will, submits to their whims almost every single time. Our Civilization cannot be preserved and nurtured to its former glory without taking control of our education system and despite all the rhetoric, Hindus have been thoroughly unable to achieve any meaningful victory in this regard.
The natural consequence of forfeiting our universities and schools to liberalism is the inevitable decay of our social order. Education that incessantly parades the evils of native culture and traditions inevitably produces individuals with a deep sense of loathing for everything traditional. Then, it becomes natural that most educated individuals would then work religiously towards undermining their own culture and civilization.
Liberalism is a parasite that feeds on the host civilization and can only survive till the host civilization is capable of feeding it. Once the host civilization has been incapacitated, another stronger civilization with greater conviction in their ideology will take over and thus liberalism will pass into hibernation for a while until the newly victorious civilization has lost its initial vigor and become complacent. Thus, a lack of conservative movement may be directly associated with the forfeit of our education system which has led to the subversion of generations of youth.
The lack of a conservative movement was never so apparent as it was during the attack of the secular state on the Sabarimala Temple. The ‘Right to Pray’ brigade mostly comprised of feminists and atheists and secularists who have absolutely no right to interfere in the traditions of our Temples or to impose reforms on our Temples. However, as it was seen, BJP made no effort to remind the Judiciary that it was overstepping its jurisdiction by encroaching on religious rights of institute and some ‘Hindu’ intellectuals like Rahul Easwer even supported the Right to Pray brigade! There was a resistance in this case however. The resistance largely came from people on Twitter with scarce resources who registered a significant protest against the debauchery meted out to our traditions. But the nonexistence of an organized conservative movement strongly made its absence felt.
Another area where Hindu thought is nowhere to be found is the mainstream media. There is not a single conservative news outlet in the country. In the age of information, the lack of foresight that Hindu organizations have exhibited by not investing in any viable manner in news channels is disconcerting to say the least. Yes, one might argue Zee News is one but one should remember that it only highlights the Hindu causes as opposed to Islamic fundamentalism and is more of a nationalist channel than Hindu. Not only the mainstream media, even among online portals, the lack of Hindu thought is startling. Despite a myriad of pages and websites, the overwhelming majority of them primarily focus on Islamic atrocities rather than shed any meaningful light on any other aspect of Hindu thought.
The march of Progressivism and its debauchery of Hindu traditions and culture is most prominent, of course, in our judiciary. Discrimination against Hindus in matters of law continues unabated without any successful resistance for Hindus to boast of. The RTE which makes it impossible for Hindu institutions to compete against minority run institutions effectively is only one such. Then there were the bans on Jallikattu, crackers, and the restriction on the height of Dahi Handi. These are merely the most obvious examples. Another law which is a product of liberal fantasy is sec 498A which has resulted in the destruction of so many families. One should remember there has been no effective resistance by the BJP in any of these matters. In fact, the Ministry of WCD is headed by a woman who’s a feminist herself by all sensible definition of the word.
The debasement of our traditions and culture that has been inflicted on us in the 70 years of independence has achieved what thousand years of foreign invasions could not: The subversion of Hindus against the cause of Dharma. And our Hindu organizations have a lot to answer for. Why is it that Hinduism has invariably come to be associated with the caste system and Sati and Dowry? Why is it that despite their considerable insight, they failed to anticipate such an attack from the enemies of Dharma and develop a concerted resistance against such an onslaught? Why is it that despite their great intellect, our education system has no place for Dharmic thought and principles? Why is it that they failed so miserably against the forces of progressivism? Indian liberalism has always been Western Progressivism with a time lag. And liberalism has progressed to such an extent that there’s hardly anything left to conserve anymore.
Liberalism is an all encompassing ideology that imposes its worldview forcibly on the native population by taking control of institutions of the State Machinery.
To counter it, Hindus must rely on the coherent worldview of our ancestors and apply it innovatively in the current scenario and present solutions within the framework of Dharmic principles. Traditions and Rituals are inexplicably tied to History and Shastras and the former depends on the latter for its survival. A Civilization cannot prosper by selective implementation of only certain aspects of ancestral thought according to ones whims which leads to an incoherence of thought and ideology. Such an incoherence is the root cause of the continued decay of our civilization.
Fortunately, however, there is still light at the end of the tunnel and a silver lining to the dark clouds that loom large over the continued existence of the traditions of our ancestors. And from shadowy regions of the internet, the flower of Dharma is blooming, albeit hesitatingly. Hindus, armed only with deep rooted knowledge of our ancient past and an internet connection, are very efficiently using the blogosphere to spread the principles of Dharma and knowledge of our ancient traditions and long forgotten History. Blogs like Manasataramgini and Vajrin are shedding great light into civilizational issues and Hindu thought on laws and society. Even Twitter has seen a rise in accounts that focus on our long forgotten history and celebrate the achievements of our ancestors.
Online ventures like IndiaFacts are spreading the Hindu outlook quite effectively.
Will this ragtag band of people with many of them running anonymous accounts be successful in sowing the seeds for a Hindu revival? Only time will tell. However, what they lack in resources, they make up for it in enthusiasm. If Hindu organizations are really concerned about the sustained future of our civilization, they must engage in the culture war that is being waged online, in the media and in the political spectrum. By relegating themselves to merely Spirituality, they’ve effectively conceded a wide range of ground to the enemies of Dharma. Hinduism cannot survive on spirituality alone, it is time for Hindu Gurus to engage in worldly affairs again to rescue Dharma from the clutches of oblivion.
