Hope to Live in a Plural Country

The author has proven his point that “For Hindus the enemy is within” with his article itself (“For Hindus the Enemy is within”, Mail Today, page 10 on July 20, 2010 http://epaper.mailtoday.in/Details.aspx?boxid=104296&id=39540&issuedate=2072010). Ironically, the article thereby implies that the other religion faces threat only from outside. It is indeed a fact that Hinduism is the only religion that exists with its enemy within itself. But that is its strength. The author must realize that it is the plurality of the ‘Hindu way of life’ that allows his mainstream opinion to exist along with the minority (in his opinion?) opinions of Modis, Mohans, Togadias and Advanis. It is the Hindu way of life that welcomes the author with a space for reinterpreting the message conveyed by the 'Deva' and 'Asura' conflict existing in Hindu mythology. A similar article will find no space in the “other way of life” if one dares to replace the word ‘Asura’ by ‘Kafira’. The Hindu way of life is clearly absent when Omars, Mehboobas, Yasirs, Afzals and Geelanis give the impression of representing the same face of a coin. It is also not visible when Musharrafs, Zardaris, ISI, Quasabs and Qureshis speak the same language of religion. I agree with the author when he argues that all forms of terror are same however he must realize that it is Hinduism that gives him the strength to condemn the greater threat which is saffron in his opinion. The author derives strength from this Hindu way of life when according to him legitimizing ‘violence to unify humanity’ poses an ignorable threat to our society but legitimization of ‘retaliatory saffron violence’ qualifies for being a much greater threat. I can only pray and hope to continue to live in a society where majority advocates for a way of life that allows authors like Jyotirmay Sharma to freely express his views against the majority.