A belated wry Independance day wish. This was ‘Kuffir’ Nalgundwar’s Facebook status message about the increasing incidence of Hindutva ideas among people, and my guess is that he refers especially to a section of people who are net savvy and middle class.His message reflects my apocalyptic terror and visions of a darkening horizon;I share his sense of dejection.But I couldn’t help mention that it is an impossible idea.People are far more unclassifiable than governments can ever fathom.
But on the other hand I don’t think any of is un ‘Hindu’ when you leave out a certain reactionary idea of what ‘Hindu’ is.The term ‘Hindu’ itself is a watershed term that was used by the British to classify a diverse people with varying traditions who lived in and around the Indus river,and was later co-opted as a political identity by pre-independance revivalists and has been abused time and again, as is seen in it’s use today by fascist demagogues.But philosophically if being Hindu means drawing from the wealth of India’s cultural heritage then how can you not be?
k a u n t e x t 
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