Shankaracharyas' Stand: A Great First Step In The Dharmic Sangathan For Global Hindu Safety

The Shankaracharyas of important Sankara Peethams have come together to issue a statement for the protection of Hindus in Bangladesh. This is a welcome step and a much-needed one from Hindu Dharmacharyas.

Though they have spoken in various tones, they all have expressed concern for the honour, lives, and properties of the Hindus in Bangladesh.

For a Sangathanist Hindu, the traditional Acharyas of a branch of Hindu Dharma coming together and raising their voices for all the Hindus, irrespective of sect, is heartening and a sign of hope.

The Shankaracharyas are speaking up for Bangla Hindus, who were mostly the Hindus of depressed sections of the then-undivided India, namely Namashudras.

One should note here that while the affluent sections and mostly upper-caste Hindus could move into India early, they too bore the cruelty and trauma of partition. They too experienced the agony and pain of the orgy of violence that was partition.

But the Namashudras lacked even the ability to cross the border. They were easy targets because their leaders misled them with the false promise of unity between Islamists and the depressed classes. Sadly, even the leaders realised the emptiness of this slogan too late.

Even when Hindus from that side of the border crossed over in the face of extreme persecution in 1971 and became refugees in India, what greeted them were the forests and swamps of 'Marichjhapi'.

Hindus were killed during Partition. Hindus were made sitting ducks awaiting death in East Pakistan. Hindus were killed with daily reporting orders issued by an army to track the number of Hindus killed.

It is in this context that we should realise the importance of the Shankaracharyas speaking up for the rights of these Hindus.

One cannot harbour delusions, though. It is certain that theirs is a voice that would not have even been reported had the Modi government not been at the Centre. Internationally, their voices count for little. But for a Hindu Sangathanist, their voices give hope.

This writer has always been a vocal critic of Dharmacharyas for their silence about the caste injustices that happen in Hindu society. He still remains so. Yet what they have done now is important.

Bangla Hindus have been forsaken by the so-called Dalit organisations. Dr B R Ambedkar raised his voice for Bangla Hindus. He even tried to tell Hindus that their negligence towards Bangla Hindus might be because of their marginalised nature.

He would have realized how the alliance between the Muslim League and the 'depressed' castes had led these Hindu communities into a disastrous situation. He warned against such bonhomie in the future, particularly when some ‘Dalit’ leaders wanted to support the Hyderabad Nizam.

But today, the so-called Dalit leaders are silent. It is the "upper caste" Shankaracharyas who have raised their voices for these forsaken Hindus thrown to the wolves of fundamentalism.

Every Hindu should be thankful to the Shankaracharyas, whatever criticism one might have against them.

Even as this article is being typed, a report comes that in a village in Tamil Nadu, a Hindu temple has been demolished by 'Savarna' Hindus because scheduled communities dared to participate in the village festival. Incidents like these coalesce to create walls that not only alienate scheduled communities from Hindu society emotionally, culturally, socially, and spiritually, but also alienate the righteous among all communities.

In this spiritual vacuum, forces that further divide society ultimately create Pakistan, Bangladesh, or similar zones dominated by a single religious ideology.

Caste injustice anywhere is a threat to Hindu welfare everywhere. Sri Jayendra Saraswati had the vision to see this. He set himself on a mission to offer a healing touch and emancipatory action wherever society needed it. Naturally, during his time, the Kanchi Peeth became the voice of all Hindus, rising above sampradaya differences. Then somehow, there was backtracking and withdrawal.

Today, with the unified voice of all Shankaracharyas calling for justice and the protection of Hindu lives, properties, and honour in Bangladesh, let a new beginning dawn for the Hindu Sangathan movement.

May the Acharyas become the voice of the powerless and marginalised. May their voice become the voice for every Hindu, the Hindu farmer and the Hindu migrant worker, the Hindu trader and the Hindu fisherman, the Hindu sanitary worker and the Hindu priest.

May our Dharmacharyas become the voice of Dharmic protection and benediction for every Hindu.