Dear American Hindu Brothers and Sisters,
Though, in our daily lives, we may not be (we ought to be, but we aren’t in general) fully aware or united about our umbrella identity i.e. Hindu (which includes Bharatiya religious identities like Jain, Sikh, Bouddha and other regional, linguistic, caste-based identities), ironically; the Anti-Hindu elements make no distinction (except strategic and divisive) in dealing with us as one people – the Hindus.
We as Hindus have challenges to face even in our homeland Bharat where we are in majority, so it is quite comprehensible that loads more challenges the American Hindu Community must be having in America – the dreamland where the diaspora families migrated in search of better life, maybe material life, and for realization of dreams. In alien land and climate, we struggle to maintain our identity within and across generations amidst the often encountered hostilities. How do we root in? We may be at a crossroads –about which ought to be the way for us to go.
“Atma Bodh”, “ShatruMitra Bodh” and “VishvaMitraBhav” are seemingly dichotomous and yet quintessential doctrines for our collective life as Hindus. As American Hindus, while we face challenges and make decisions,these three doctrines may help us clear our dilemmas, and may help us root in sustainably.
First – “Atma Bodh”. Who are we? What are our values? How do we contextualize those values with hitherto unknown or emerging issues of life in the adopted land?
Let us exemplify – What can be our take glorification and invasion of ‘transgenderism’, which is invading even tiny tots and schoolgoers, as a new cult in the name of rights and equality? Narratives are at times mind-boggling – transphobia is thrown as a weapon when one talks about the dangers of transgenderism. Isn’t the glorification and invasion of ‘transgenderism’ distinct from ‘transphobia’?
Recently, I asked a relative residing in South US whether her kids ever went to public schools. She said her kids had been in public schools in past. We know how horrendous it is for the kids to be in public schools in some of the states these days where kids are tutored in this new cult- ‘transgenderism’- by overenthusiastic teachers… and it becomes even more dangerous when we come to know that this is done as part of the Leftist or the so called ‘Liberal’ agenda.
We are not against transgender persons, in fact, not only that we have no transphobia, we also respect them as devotees of certain Goddess and certain God in our culture. But we certainly can’t stand for this ‘transgenderism’ as one ideology to pollute the tender minds of our kids as part of the ‘Leftist/Liberal’ agenda.
Since yore, we have stood for family, faith and nation. In our America-based community organizations, we always learn that we should respect the adopted nation,we do so by singing its national anthem as one manifestation. We respect its constitution and rules as much as we used to do for homeland statutes. But in the name of open society, equality, free expression and free speech; how cruel it is to tutor minors and kids to go for chemical castrations and mutilating surgeries… The state has to control the rights (of some) to protect the rights (of others). We as Hindus can take positions – “No to Transphobia” and “No to Transgenderism”.
Another issue is related to affirmative action. Are we okay with misuse of affirmative action? Or should we be against abolition of such counterproductive affirmative action? Particularly when that action is misused by not only less meritorious but also habitual law-breakers and anti-nationals to infiltrate the academia and universities, that too at times in the benefit, and may be at the behest, of IPR pilfering pervasive anti-democratic powers like CCP – the Chinese Communist Party and by leftists for vote bank politics?
Many of us left our homeland to have more merit-based opportunities in US. And now if we think that this affirmative action may be of benefit to couple of us, don’t we sound parochial? Exploitation is bad but selective counter-exploitation in the name of taming “WhiteRacism” is worse. Only because its abolition supposedly benefits the Whites, should we be so extreme to oppose anything howsoever unjust and anti-merit that benefits the Whites?
We will have to understand the nuances of this American nation rather than bracket it blindly as a stereotype with all the North Atlantic Supremacist Whites in one go.
A Sanatani Hindu is always for meritocracy because we believe in “Gun”(Virtue) –“Karma” (Deed)“Vibhag”(Division) (गुणकर्मविभाग) since the inception of our nation, since Vedic times. Lord Krishna in the Gita also propounds that. We earn our future ourselves. That very principle sustained us for millennia and bestowed happiness across generations. Hindus have excelled in America largely because of their virtues and deeds – not due to any affirmative action. If this is true, it is also true that ‘The American Dream’ is substantial despite its flaws. It has provided the ground for our community to be part of the Dream and to be achievers of distinction. So our position could be – “No To Affirmative Action”. “Yes To Merit”. The needy must be helped while maintaining their merit, merit should not be the casualty, needy should be served without depriving the merit. Particularly in a new nation that is evolving based on values.
The same principle applies to the much talked about vexatious issue of visas for legal migrants. Visas by lottery is something we shouldn’t stand for. We should stand for a better merit-based visa system. Let us not get scared when someone talks about visas, the system is at fault and it needs to be made more rational and merit-based.
And the issue of illegal immigration – If illegal immigration is not good for Bharat, how can it be good for the US? Terrorists infiltrate in the disguise of legal, and more so as illegal immigrants and even as so-called refugees (as they did and do in Canada).
Let us be farsighted when we deal with such sensitive issues.
Post 9/11 and post-COVID-19, hardly there is any difference of opinion regarding the two biggest, often in cahoots, threats to the free world – CCP and Jihadis. A weakened NATO together with a weakened Russia weakens Bharat and benefits CCP. Biden led the war in Ukraine and the concomitant dilution of focus on Indo-Pacific and Middle East with its implications on Bharat and Israelis another issue that tests us along with rest of Americans facing indebted economy and porous borders.
Do Pakistan-backed Khalistanis have freedom to attack consulates and openly ask to kill diplomats?
Time for us to take unequivocal positions. Freedom includes freedom to instigate to kill unarmed citizens or to instigate to mutilate children?
These and other such questions must be debated and solutions/positions must be arrived at collectively as Hindus. Our destiny can’t be shaped by double-edged convenient shortcuts, it has to be shaped by visionary principled positions based on our cherished values that resonate with the adopted nation’s national values of National Polity.
So when a fellow Hindu from our community galvanizes the American masses for family, faith and nation; we think that fellow gives voice to our thoughts and our values. The American polity needs to be understood in light of developments in Canada as well as in Europe and Israel, if not in distant Bharat which too is the oldest and biggest democracy. American Polity requires complete overhauling to bring it back to its founders’ humane and merit-based values, one may call it revolution, or whatever.
This brings us to the Second Doctrine – “ShatruMitra Bodh”.
Of all the communities, rather players in US, who can be the friends and who are likely to remain foes no matter whatever you do…
The choice is important. The nuances must be carefully looked into. And stereotypes have to be overcome. Prejudices and Biases, for or against, particularly when we know that we were colonized by the European Whites for two centuries, have to be overcome.
We have no overwhelming affinity for whites and Hispanics or pro bono enmity with blacks or Muslims or the Chinese.We have been trading with Africa and Gulf for millennia and dealing with the Whites since centuries while facing the onslaught of the Muslim invaders and the Chinese Communists.(This holds true for many nations and nationalists.)
But so far as New World Nation America is concerned, and knowing that the same colonizing Whites from Europe colonized here too and even eliminated the natives, we should acknowledge that Modern Day America and its American Dream is largely owing to the hard working Whites who opposed and fought colonial tendencies of their own ancestral brethreni.e. the European Whites, as well as aristocratic tendencies of some of the American Whites to have independent meritocratic America. Merit is the factor that attracts talent to US, and that is the American system and American Dream of American founders who founded the country on certain values. This had made this nation into a nation of nations, into a talented plural pool of peoples.And a nation of lobbying in a way.
American Meritocracy may be flawed to an extent in its journey of 250 years, but it can’t be dismissed so easily. It attracted talent and helped talent to thrive. American Hindu Community itself is the most shining testimony to that dream, though it too had its sufferings but it wisely avoided playing victim. Our people who want to migrate are keen to migrate to the US as their first preference even now. And those who are settled in generally do not intend to leave this nation.
But if we don’t do our politics as part of American polity, a day will come soon we will be forced by the left to leave this nation that they have helped build. (See the malicious efforts like caste bill in leftist California legislature.) Can we ever think of migrating and settling in a Muslim, Communist, Chinese or Antifa strongholds on the planet? Why do we migrate and settle preferably in white-dominated Christian nations be it North Atlantic or Australia or New Zealand?
Achiever Mighty America attracted vicious forces too along with talent and it is eyed by the CCP, Jihadis, anarchists, leftists, libs together. Apart from many ‘secular’ Whites, large section of Muslims and Blacks are in cahoots with the left as one consolidated anti-democratic force in the name of democracy to execute a sinister plot to defeat American Dream and to defeat free world, it is clear. And they have done the same experiment ‘successfully’ in Canada to transform it into a haven for Pakistan backed Khalistanisunder LeftLibadministration led by Trudeau. Biden, barring his age, matches with Trudeau with even more open borders or no borders allowing mass illegal immigration.“What happens with even tightly guarded borders in Israel”must open our eyes to vulnerabilitieswhen the borders are widely open.Democracies are misused wherever they are by CCP and Jihadis as well as globalists, ‘Right’ acts as balancing factor to calibrate democracies.
Well, that apart –
We as American Hindus have legitimately utilized this meritocracy as envisagedby American Dream. And that is why we have a common ground here with the proponents of this dream – the White Right – Likes ofGeorge Washington and Thomas Jefferson who had commitments to democracy and equality. Likes of – Abraham Lincoln who abolished slavery despite civil war.We shall have to explore and steer well our position based on common values with the Right, we may be considerate for Nixon and Reagan and we may have certain concerns of its editions like Trump.
We know there are no easy rides, but the direction to have a dialogue with the Right is right to explore if we take integrated view of the situation.Nations and nationalists rise and fall together, everywhere.Nationalists of the world must come together to counter the anti-national trans-national globalist communist leftist Jihadi anti-human forces. American Right – Republicans too have the RINOs – “Republican In Name Only” as well as a section of racists.Uniparty is there with allegiance to ideologies, it consists of such elements present in both the parties,CCP is bipartisan in its infiltration of parties. CCP is the invisible yet omnipresent omnipotent tentacles having nexus everywhere including the deep state. We shall have to strategize on this, one strategy is to deal with infiltration as we move on with the Right.
But at this juncture, all right whites and right non-whites including Blacks and Hispanics committed to merit could be the natural allies.SylavatoreBabones to Mary Millben. The left doesn’t allow room for meritorious people with values based in cultures and faiths. If there is room initially, then at the end there will be blocks. Likes of Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Aisha Wahaband some of our secular fraternity like PramilaJayapaland Kamala Harris thrive in the Left. And Tulsi Gabbard had to leave the left, though she isa White Hindu. In contrast, VivekRamaswamy is carving noteworthy space in the Right, though he is a non-White Hindu. The focus should be on merit based American identity.
Bracketing right and left with the same stick – “All Americans are untrustworthy – All Whites are exploiters – None is good for Bharat and Hindus” – is a notion or a stereotype and at times a tactic similar to rhetoric like -“All political parties are same, Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin.” This rhetoric is a lie propagated to confuse people.”Hindus and Muslims – all religions are equal.” This rhetoric is to show Muslims minus their bigotry which is a rarity in many parts of the world. Let us not fall prey to such predator ‘Rhetorics’ propelled by refined leftist agenda.
We can and we shall contribute to the right political discourse with our specific values over and above the common values if we are clear-headed at our end, when we attain the position of talking eye to eye – Global Good, world as one family, Yoga, Ayurveda, World Peace, Environment-friendly lifestyle, Solar Energy, unifying technology and enlightening research. We can prevail on these principles as soft power. That would be the real communion of the East and the West – for a just global order for free world.
That is where the anchoring by Swami Vivekananda comes and the role of people like us who follow him. (Please read an article in the link hereto have detailed views on what I mean when I say this about following celebrated Hindu Monk Swami Vivekananda. There is a historical divine reference.
https://www.swamivivekananda.guru/2018/05/31/vivekananda-the-bridge-between-the-east-and-the-west/)
This also brings us to the third Doctrine – VishvaMitraBhav. If we are in a strong position and able to steer the values in American polity, the entire human race and the comity of nations and the global order would fall in place – one earth, one family, one future. UN would be reformed and a free world would be able to survive and thrive. Whites, Colored, and Blacks all are the sons and daughters of the Supreme Divine. May Peace prevail on the Mother Earth in its truest sense!
Disclaimer: The article reflects the personal opinion of the Author. Newsroompost doesn’t approve or authenticate his findings & analysis.
