Himanta Biswa Sarma’s clear talk on Hinduism and Hindu values is exactly the kind of attitude we must have

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is perhaps one of the boldest leaders in India today. He has quite simple opinions, which are at times politically incorrect, but which are nevertheless true to the very core. Himanta Biswa Sarma has been making frequent headlines, and his latest remarks show the shift in the psyche of the Assam government – which is increasingly wearing its ideology on its sleeves. On Saturday, for instance, the Assam chief minister said that Hindutva is a way of life and claimed that adherents of most religions are descendants of Hindus.

While holding a press conference to mark the completion of two months in office, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Hindutva began 5,000 years ago and it cannot be stopped, while also remarking that Indian Christians and Muslims have also descended from Hindus at some point in time. He added, “How can we leave Assamese from Hinduism? We all are children of Hindus. Even the Muslims in India were children of Hindus six or twelve or twenty generations ago. Even a Christian in India was a Hindu at one point of time. Hinduism is a continuous flow. How will you leave Hinduism from Indian history? Doing so will mean disconnecting me from the soil where I was born. While writing history, you have to write about Ganga, Kamakhya or Navagraga temple.” 

This was in response to serial anarchist Akhil Gogoi’s claims that the BJP government of Assam, led by Himanta Biswa Sarma was surrendering Assamese identity to the ideology of the Sangh parivaar. Speaking on the subject of Love Jihad, the Assam chief minister said, “The government will not tolerate any woman being cheated by anyone — whether Hindu or Muslim. Appropriate action will be taken against such offenders to ensure the safety and security of our sisters.” 

This is perhaps the very first time that a sitting chief minister has so openly spoken the truth. The fact that all Indians have Hindu ancestry cannot be denied as Muslims and Christians of India are all converts. Those beliefs too, by the way, were closely related to Hindu practices. As such, Himanta Biswa Sarma is proudly stating the facts when he says that cutting out Hinduism from Indian history is like cutting someone from the soil they belong to. 

It was about time that mainstream Indian leaders started speaking the truth about who Indians are. If anybody believes that he or she is not a cultural Hindu in India, then they are gravely mistaken. One may have converted to various faiths – but the essence of being Indian remains recognising and admitting one’s Hindu ancestry. In fact, RSS sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat had pointed to the same direction a week ago, when he said that all Indians, irrespective of their faiths, shared the same DNA. What Bhagwat meant was that all Indians have a common Hindu ancestry. 

Most Indian leaders sidestep this very critical issue. Himanta Biswa Sarma, however, is cut from a different cloth, and does not shy away from speaking the truth – no matter how uncomfortable it may be. Those who deny their Hindu lineage must remember that them claiming to be non-Hindu does not make them Arabs or Italians who happen to be Muslims and Christians in India. One can deny the facts till eternity like a fool, but cannot change their genetic makeup.