BHUBANESWAR: A prominent member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, renowned author and thinker Ram Madhav on Sunday explained that there is no difference between Hindutva and Hinduism as Hindu philosophy does not believe in any ‘ism’.
In conversation with Odisha Literary Festival coordinator Kaveree Bamzi on “The Hindutva Paradigm: The Social Shift”, Madhav said confusion has been created by coining two words by some adversaries.
There is a lot of misconception about the term Hindutva. This is an effort to create an artificial distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva and it is largely as a result of motivated propaganda by the adversaries.
“We do not use Hindutva and Hinduism in RSS literature. You may not come across with the word anywhere in RSS literature. If you read the writings of MS Golwalkar, it is Hindu dharma or Sanatana dharma,” he said. In Hindu dharma there is no social discrimination or caste distinction.
“We do not accept the idea of Hinduism as it is a western concept and very closed one. There in no ‘ism’ in Hindu philosophy as it is limited to certain ideology while Hindu dharma or Sanatana dharma is very vast and limitless,” he added.
Explaining the difference between philosophy and ideology, Madhav said ideology is a closed set of ideas while philosophy is enriching. He said Hindutva is the essence of the philosophy of all great sages, saints and scholars like Buddha, Shankarcharya and Swami Vivekananda whose teachings have lived over the millennia.
On secularism, the former general secretary of BJP said a perception has been created that Hindus are not secular.“In India, we don’t talk about one god, but only god. The Muslim and Christian thought is different as they believe their God is the best,” he added.He said that India has a long history of religious conflict due to invasion of foreign forces. “You cannot be living in history. You have to learn history and move on.”
While religion is a way of life for others, in Hindu dharma it is a view of life. “We have to shoulder the responsibility to practice and uphold the values of Hindu dharma without blaming the system, when family values are losing relevance,” he said.