23/07/2013

Dear Mr. Guha,

I am writing this email in response to your article in The Hindu today, titled
What Hindus can and should be proud of. At the outset, I would like to say that
I look forward to and have always enjoyed reading your columns in The Hindu.
The insight you offer is pertinent and (unfortunately) unique. My professional
background is in applied physics and mathematics, but I have an amateur
interest in history and sociology (the last sentence is to clarify that I am no
expert in what I am about to say).
Coming back to the subject of this letter, your topic is well chosen and most of
your arguments are, in my view, are spot on. I completely agree that Hinduisms
biggest victory (since Hinduism today is classified as a religion in the same sense
as Christianity, Islam, Sikhism etc.) is its tolerance of other faiths. I also fully
agree that its biggest problem today (and something we should be ashamed of)
is the caste system.
However, I object to your statement that Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru ..did
the most to rid Hindusim of its ills and excesses...
Someone working towards eradication of the ills/ excesses of Hindusim should
first identify the intrinsic good in that religion and then work towards removing
the ills. To that end, Gandhi amply fits into this category and is indeed a standard
bearer. However, I am not sure if Ambedkar and Nehru can be mentioned
alongside him.
From what I know of Nehru, he had a westerndisdain for the caste system, but I
have seen little evidence that he tried to understand the caste system and then
overcome it. In my view, he could have done a lot more, given his unique
position (this in itself is a large topic , so I wont get into it here).
From reading Ambedkars views on Hindusim, the impression I get is that he was
bitter with it (rightly so, as should anyone born in his situation), but this anger
clouds his objectivity when discussing Hindusim, via his writings. Since his views
on Hinduism are not objective, it is safe to conclude it would be difficult to use
them to improve the religion. This was also the reason he eventually disowned
the religion (again, completely justified, in my view). Therefore, while he has
done a lot towards the upliftment of lower castes born into Hinduism, I dont
think he has contributed towards helping Hindus get rid of the ills in their
religion.
In sum, I feel that Ambedkar and Nehru cannot be classified as reformers of
Hinduism. I look forward to your views on this, if and when you have the time.
Regards,
Vineet Dravid
Bangalore

PS: After enjoying your editorial articles, I bought your recent book, Patriots and
Partisans,and loved that as well. However, I felt your chapter on Nehru was
completely out of character with the rest of the book. I have been meaning to
write to you about this and will do so soon. I look forward to reading more of your
work in the meantime.