It is very unfortunate that misguided, dishonest, corrupt, semi or not educated at all Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs that do not understand Hinduism or Islam or Christianity or Sikhism or humanity at all have become top political & religious leaders and are pushing India towards a civil war in the name of religious supremacy.

 Indians can learn from America. It is an open and diverse society; all of its members are equal with the right to identify themselves with America’s “Founding Fathers and Freedom Fight Heroes”. An African-American Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan Muslim immigrant and native white American mother, can speak with pride of George Washington, the father of the nation and Hero of the American Revolution/ War of Independence against the British Rulers. Obama, a Democrat, also has the right to speak with pride about Republican Abraham Lincoln who enacted the Emancipation of Declaration ending Slavery which later paved the way for Equal Rights for Blacks in America.

Iam a Hindu & living in America since 1996 and I always say I am proud to be an American first, then Hindu. When I look at the statistics I find 72% of Americans are proud to be American and in India only 18% are proud to be Indian. In America people understand, respect and honor that America quote unquote is a Christian nation, but at the same time it is a Muslim Nation, a Jewish nation, a Hindu nation, a Buddhist nation, a Sikh nation, a Mormon nation and a nation of non-believers also.”

No one including the state or federal government has forced me or other Americans to be proud of being an American, then why after 70 years of Independence majority Indians are not nationalist and are not proud to be Indians? Why they are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist etc?

Unfortunately, India lacks an identity that supersedes caste, ethnicity, religion and region, which can unify all its citizens as equal members of a shared Nation with a shared destiny reached through common goals. The multi-fractured nature of Indian society goes beyond the healthy human disagreement and debate inherent to a healthy democracy; instead prompting the question whether India’s 1.33 billion citizens; Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian further sub-divided into more factions Punjabi, Gujratis, Maratha, Jat, Ahir, Shia, Suni, Tamil, Kannad, Bhapey, Lubaney, Digambari, Shevetambari – actually want to be “Indians’.

Most pathetic are Hindu’s with 72% of the population; they are Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannad, Bihari, Maratha, Haryanvi, Himachali etc. Then they are Arya Samajis, Vaishnavas, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Dravidians, Jats, Ahirs, Yadavas, Khasi, Dhogra, Kurmi, Dalits etc. None of them want to stand on one platform or have one identity – “Hindu” -and prior to calling themselves Hindu, that they are Indians first. Dalit Hindus that are almost 20% of the total Indian population do not want to be associated with upper caste Hindus or Hinduism as defined by them because for centuries Dalits have been treated inhumanly by upper caste Hindus. Even a great majority of the upper caste Hindus are not with the Hindus that want to redefine Hinduism and its history.

If one combined Muslim, Christian, Sikhs & Buddhist, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together they are 25% of India’s population. On the other hand, upper caste Hindus that believe in Hindutva invented by the likes of Savarkars and Golwalkars are less than 30%. Their numerous religious organizations like RSS, VHP, Hindu Mahasabha, Bajrang Dal, Ram Sena etc. and political wings mainly BJP & Shiv Sena– all believe that they can tolerate Sikhs, Buddhists & Jains because India is the birth place of these religions. But they are not willing to accept followers of, especially Islam and Christianity as Indians because these religions were born outside of India. How these misguided, less than 30% Hindus can dictate that India should be governed under their Hindutva when more than 70% Indians do not agree with them?

The largest minority “Muslims” with 18% of the population, are Shia, Sunni, Wahabi etc and none of them wants to stand on one platform or are Indians first. The worst is they believe in the interpretation of Islam as being done by Muslim feudal lords and dictators of Middle East & other Islamic countries. Then the Savarkar/Golvalkar type Hindus and their religious & political organizations have alienated them more by destroying a disputed Ram Janma Bhumi/ Babri Masjid in 1992 and by killing Muslims in Gujarat under CM Modi in 2002. Now Modi is PM of India and has never shown any remorse for the organized killing of Muslims. The worst is those that did the organized killing were let go free or are on bail and have not been punished even 16 years after the reprehensible crime.

Christians, the 2^ndminority with 6% population are also divided in different sects and hardly feel that they are Indians first. The reason being the believers of Hindutva, not Hinduism, and their leaders keeps on reminding Christians that they don’t belong here; they are foreigners.

The 3^rdminority- Sikhs with 2% population are constantly reminded by Hindutvawadis that they can tolerate them because Hindus and Sikhs share some common ancestry, and for Sikhism being born in India. Though caste system is forbidden in Sikh Holy Scripture “Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji”, Sikhs are known as Sainis (Kshatriyas), Rajputs, Ramgarhiyas (artisans), Ahluwalias (formerly brewers), Kambojs (rural caste), Lubana (merchants), Kumhars and the 2 Dalit castes- Majhabis and Ravidasias. Of the nearly 27 million Sikhsworldwide, approximately 83 percent live in India. Majority of the Sikhs living outside India, and a substantial population living in India, do not consider themselves as Indians and want their own sovereign nation- Khalistan- to be carved out of India. The blame for this squarely lies with the preachers of Savarkar / Golwalkar Hindutva that instigated Sikh genocide in 1984 when Indian PM Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards. Till today, 34 years after the people responsible for this genocide have not been punished and Sikhs are still waiting for justice.

It is very unfortunate that misguided, dishonest, corrupt, semi or not educated at all Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs that do not understand Hinduism or Islam or Christianity or Sikhism or humanity at all have become top political & religious leaders and are pushing India towards a civil war in the name of religious supremacy.

The current ruling party BJP, and the followers of Savarkar/Golvalkar should be aptly named” Bharat Jalao Party” (Burn India Party) for spreading misinformation, fabricating history, inciting hate for minorities including Dalit Hindus. The Hindutva they want to impose has nothing to do with Hindu religion. Its top leaders mostly uneducated are telling especially Hindu women what to wear, how many children to produce, they cannot marry a non-Hindu and a marriage for them is a contract of slavery with husband controlling their life. For vote politics they are inciting violence in the name of Cow in majority of the states of India, killing people or instigating mob lynching of suspects of eating or carrying beef. In north eastern states & Goa they are assuring the residents cheap and steady supply of beef! They are also denying the fact that today India is the number one beef exporter in the world and 95% of the slaughter houses for export are owned by upper caste Hindus.

Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh leadership representing the largest, second largest, third & 4^thlargest sections of the society; must understands that all the religions of India are the two wings of the same bird called “Indian Public”. Why don’t they stop killing this bird in the name of Ram or Allah or Christ or Waheguru whatever they believe in? Why they want to impose ill-defined radical Hinduism or Islam or Christianity or Sikhism on India when majority of the Indians do not want that? None of them has ever thought about integrating all individuals of different religions, regions and factions of Indian origin on one Indian platform as “Nationalist Indians”?

Indians can learn from America. It is an open and diverse society; all of its members are equal with the right to identify themselves with America’s “Founding Fathers and Freedom Fight Heroes”. An African-American Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan Muslim immigrant and native white American mother, can speak with pride of George Washington, the father of the nation and Hero of the American Revolution/ War of Independence against the British Rulers. Obama, a Democrat, also has the right to speak with pride about Republican Abraham Lincoln who enacted the Emancipation of Declaration ending Slavery which later paved the way for Equal Rights for Blacks in America. The people of America elected Obama as its first African-American President by ignoring the race factor. This is the definition of a Democratic nation; multi-cultural and multi-racial. Here a person joins it by acquiring citizenship by birth or naturalization and from that moment on is the heir to all its cultural and social history. May be, Indians can learn something from American experience.

Every Indian Leader Religious, Political and Business and the intelligentsia must unite to put an end to human sufferings of the millions of Indians rather than spreading hatred in the name of religion invented or misinterpreted by them. Theymust pay attention to the vast majority of Indians whose voice they are ignoring. They are the sane and rational Indians with their hopes for better future, looking for progress, prosperity along with peace and harmony among all citizens.

(Dave Makkar is a community activist and author, based in New Jersey. He can be reached at davemakkar@yahoo.com)