Regressive advice

Mohan Bhagwat's advice to Hindus to shun western clothes, travel to places within our own localities and ditch English is most regressive, to say the least. Knowing fully well that India is a land of diverse languages, religions, traditions and customs, not to forget dress habits, Bhagwat expects all Hindus to adhere to a uniform dress code. He claims that Hinduism was founded on truth, kindness, hygiene and meditation. I feel tempted to ask – which religion in the world is not based on these values?

Bhagwat's claim that caste-based hierarchy does not have a place in Hinduism's fundamental framework ought to be taken with a fistful of salt. "We should not speak in English", pontificates the RSS head. This one, in particular, takes the cake. Attempts to teach engineering and medicine in Hindi medium have failed in the state of MP because of the fact that there are no takers for Hindi. To quote the erudite ex- PM Nehru, "English is our major window on the world." This is even more relevant in today's times. Mohan Bhagwat, by airing baseless and impractical suggestions, is going the way of the Ayatollahs of Iran and the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan for whom modernity, freedom and liberty are all "evils" to be fought and kept at bay. One hopes that Hindus will not fall hook, line and sinker for Bhagwat's views. He would do well to read this quote by Wayne Gerard Trotman, a British author and science fiction writer: ‘The sad truth about bigotry is that most bigots either don't realize that they are bigots, or they convince themselves that their bigotry is perfectly justified.’ One only hopes that Bhagwat grounds his speeches on facts, and facts alone, and not ideas that are airy-fairy.

-Avinash Godboley, Dewas (MP)