Hindutva is not to differentiate among humans, it means to embrace cultural amalgamation: Tharoor

Sumit Bhattacharya | NT

Bengaluru: ‘Why I am a Hindu’, a book was launched back in 2018 in English, written by Indian politician Shashi Tharoor.

The book was all about Hindutva and its spirituality so far. On Friday, the Kannada version of the book was launched at the Rotary Club of Bangalore; the translation has been made by Kannada author & Professor KE Radhakrishna.

At the event of the book launch, multiple eminent personalities were present. But among all, Shashi Tharoor was the illuminating point. Hindutva was the crux of the event so far.

This Indian politician took the podium at the end with his twenty-minute speech, focusing on ‘what Hindutva is and how to pursue it.’

By saying “Hindutva is an ideology as well as a sagacious spirituality, where being simple matters the most,” this was the opening statement of Tharoor.

While speaking on Hindutva, he clearly declined to accept the caste theory; his connotation was to delve people into the no bifurcation theory, such as ‘Your Hindutva and My Hindutva’.

Besides, he indirectly indicated to the ruling party at the centre, by saying “Hindutva is not to differentiate between human to human, it means to embrace cultural amalgamation.”

Narrating the aura of culture, Tharoor mentioned to Radhakrishna, that the Gita has helped him to become stronger in terms of inner peace. Besides, the nature Upasana came to his speech while mentioning the multidivinity.

On the other hand, he criticized some political parties in terms of fundamentalism, by saying, “Pure Hindutva does not differentiate.”

Pure Hindu never suppresses anyone, rather it focuses on new ideas for its spiritual well-being, he added. The Kannada translator of the book also gave an input, pointing to a prominent understanding of the religion and practising those in day-to-day life, which would make the mind spiritual indeed.

Apart from Shashi Tharoor, other panelists also addressed the audiences, and the book has sold nearly 230 copies.

In the midst of the 'India versus Bharat' debate, Tharoor said, “It's very ironic when I hear some people in the ruling party objecting to the use of the word 'India' saying that it is not authentic and the same people shout slogans saying ‘Garv Se Kaho Hum Hindu Hain'.”

“Well, ‘India' and ‘Hindu' are derived from the same etymology. If you don't want to use ‘India', you can't use ‘Hindu' either. They both come from the same source, from the river Sindhu,” he explained.

Tharoor said it is still interesting that Hindus call themselves by a label that they did not invent themselves in any of their own languages, but “adopted it cheerfully when others began to refer to them by that word”.

Noting that some Hindus prefer an altogether different term, 'Sanatana Dharma', he said Hinduism is just a name that foreigners gave for what they saw as the indigenous religion of India.

Hinduism, according to the Congress MP, embraces an eclectic range of doctrines and practices, which believes in reincarnation and in the caste system.

“But none of these constitutes an obligatory credo for a Hindu. We have no compulsory dominance. And this is why I'm so comfortable with the tenets of Hinduism, much more than I would be with those of the other faiths that I know,” Tharoor underlined.

The Congress MP said the great sages first came up with the original idea of the divine Brahma, which was very much similar to the Islamic idea of God -- that is a God without shape, without form, without gender.

The rishis or seers then realised that this was not good enough for ordinary people as they found them worshipping mountains, trees and rivers because they needed something to focus on.

Thus was born the idea of worshipping the divine with a form, Tharoor explained. Everybody was free to imagine the divine in whatever form or shape he or she chose, he said.

“You want to imagine God as a 10-handed woman riding a tiger, you're welcome to do that. You want to imagine God as a potbelly figure with an elephant's head, you're welcome to do that.

“If you want to imagine God as a man suffering on the cross, Hinduism has no problem with that. That's why the people of other faiths sometimes find it difficult to understand,” the Congress MP said.

Tharoor said that rigid and censorious beliefs never appealed to his temperament. Hinduism is in many ways predicated on the idea that the eternal wisdom of the sages about divinity cannot be confined to a single set of belief system, he said.

“As