The Temple Going Indian

India has been a target of attacks in the Western media and press. If one picks up Reuters, Bloomberg, BBC, The Economist, DW, or Al Jazeera, it would appear that nothing good is happening in India and that it is doomed to fail. 

Most Indians have started to notice this slanted coverage. Previously, what was brushed aside as the white man's view of India or worse, was indulged to reduce our self-esteem, is now being actively questioned. 

The change happened during operation Sindoor. India was aghast at the massacre of 26 Indians at Pahalgam. Nearly all were killed because they followed Hinduism. Women witnessed the cold-blooded murder of their fathers/ sons/ husbands by Pakistani barbarians directed by the murderous Pakistani Military. The western press called it an incident where civilians were murdered by a gunman in a " disputed" region. They did not place any blame on Pakistan, but rather asked questions of the Indian government to prove the allegations. ( For those who want to ask for proof - please Google Operation Mahadev.)

When India hit back at terror targets, Pakistan decided to hit Indian cities, temples, gurudwaras and military stations. India then took the fight to Pakistan. By the end of the conflict, Pakistani air force stations were hit with impunity throughout its entire length. No damage was seen on the Indian side. The Western press, however, ran with the Pakistani narrative of shooting down some planes. It appeared that India was on the back foot while it had completely deterred the Pakistani Air Force from operating in its own territory and hit targets in Pakistan at will. 

This incident made me question closely how India's reporting in western media has always been biased. Magnifying and highlighting the negative aspects while downplaying the positive. The most sinister part, though, is the systematic dehumanising of the Hindu religion. 

It starts with stories that downplay the injustices and setbacks faced by Hindus while playing up disputes involving other communities. Stories lead by trying to link Hindus to fascism and terrorism. All of which fall flat if anyone tries to dig a little deeper and do some research. Of handed comments based on statements made in the 1930s or personal disputes are played up to malign the religion. While established facts like the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus are downplayed as propaganda. 

However, the most vicious vector is used to play up divisions over the caste system. To be fair, the caste system is a reality, and there have been historical cases of people being discriminated against on the basis of caste. Over the years, with increasing urbanisation, reservations and strengthened laws, it has been reducing. But there is still some ways to go. However, there has been a campaign to move the people away from Hinduism and wipe out their Hindu identity. This is done by using terms like Brahmanism or Brahmanvaad. 

NGOs and pressure groups are funded to move people away from their Hindu identity. For other religions closely associated with Hinduism, like Sikhism, there is a way to give sound bites to individuals who want to define a distinct identity. All of it fails if one applies a simple yardstick. Get the names of the people of these communities two or three generations back, and get the origin stories of why they were named the same way. Nearly all of them were based on some of the other myths of the large Hindu pantheon. 

But why does this happen? For the longest time, there was debate as to what India is. Was there ever an entity called India? What was Bharat? There were multiple kingdoms that came up in the Indian subcontinent ( stretching from the frontiers of the Indus to the Frontiers of the Brahmaputra, from the Tibetan plateau in the north to the Indian Ocean in the south). How could the people get with the "idea of India" if they were not under the same ruler through large parts of the time?

The answer was provided by V.S Naipaul - The idea of India resided with the temple going Indian - From Hinglaj Mata temple and Somnath mandir in West to Sharda peeth and Vaishno Devi in North to Badrinath, Kedarnath to Khamkhaya devi in East to Tirupati and Rameshwaram temples in the south. The temple-going Indian had an idea of India or Bharat. To attack the very basis of its identity and make people feel inferior is to weaken India at its foundations. 

As we grow, the attacks will rise. Every fault line will be explored and tried to exploited. Confusion would be created and deception would be the key. It is the price on pays if one wants to sit at the big table. The only way to fight it is to understand our roots, our origin, our history and our culture. Go back to the origin books, understand them and connect with them.