By Biswaraj Pattnaik, October 14, 2015 : The wise men of yesterday did emphatically say that anyone who lived on the east side of the ancient Sindhu river is a Hindu no matter what faith he followed, including General Musharaf and Nawaz Sharif of lately born Pakistan.

One Chandrashekhar Gaur of Neemuch in MP got madly curious and sought to know the exact definition of the expression ’Hindu’. In reply to the RTI query, the Central Public Information Officer of the Home Ministry replied on July 31this year “Absolutely NO information. We have nothing on the word Hindu.”

‘Hindu’ has been liberally used in the Constitution and law books of India. Gaur is confused as to how ‘Hindu Marriage Act’, ‘Undivided Hindu family’ and so many other ‘Hindu things’ do exist officially.

A simple research makes it clear that Hinduism has neither a specific moment of origin nor a founder. The faith or way of life seems to be timeless, having always existed. Collectively, the sacred texts – particularly the ‘Vedas’ indicate the faith to be known as ‘Sanatana Dharma’ meaning ‘The Eternal Order ‘. The expression ‘Hindu’ does not figure in any ancient Sanskrit scripture, any language or dialect of India.

The word “Hindu” and “India” indisputably is of foreign origin that has nothing to do with religion or faith. The ancient Greeks pronounced the river Sindhu as ‘Indos’. When Alexander invaded India around 326 BC, the Macedonian army referred to the land east of Indos as Inde. Much later, the Persians too recognised any land through which the Sindhu flows as ‘Hindusthan’.Today Pakistan should be called Hindustan.
The Supreme Court of India defined the key features of a Hindu in its 1995 ruling of the “Bramchari Sidheswar Shai and others Versus State of West Bengal” case:

* Acceptance of the Vedas as the highest authority in religious and philosophical matters.
* Spirit of tolerance and willingness to appreciate the opponent’s point of view.
* Acceptance of the theory of the great world rhythm, vast period of creation, maintenance and dissolution following each other in endless succession.
* Acceptance of the philosophy of respect for all human faiths.
* The belief in rebirth and pre-existence.
* Recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation are multiple.
* Realization of the fact that God is formless despite popular idol worship.
* Absolutely no rigidity in practices which differ as per geography and economic conditions.

More interestingly, Sanjeev Sabhlok, a former IAS officer who got disgusted with the pretentious state systems after vainly trying to reform all worthless and anti-people machinery in place,eventually migrated to Australia after resigning the glamorous IAS job. He became an academic and did a great deal of serious research to come up with several startling facts. His findings on Hindu practices are now subjects of debate across the Hindu community of the world. Sabhlok has compiled evidence of beef eating by ancient Indians. Between 2011 and 2014 he studied countless historical accounts and came up with one CONCLUSIVE VIEW on the contentious issue of ‘beef eating’:

* meat of barren cows (no longer able to give milk) was legal and eaten – as documented in the ‘Arthashastra’;
* male calves and bulls were regularly eaten ;
* any cattle that died naturally was eaten, its meat dried and sold.

Bhakt Jayadeva, while depicting the love between Radha and Krishna in the ‘Geeta Govindam’, spontaneously composed a line, “dehi pada pallava mudharam” or “Krishna asked Radha to place her lotus-like feet on his head.” Appalled by this thought that had come to his head, Jayadeva left the house to bathe and clear his thoughts. A few minutes later, much to his wife’s surprise, he came back and sat down and wrote and left again. A few minutes later he came back again. He sat down and then with great anger asked his wife how she could have written the words that were such an insult to God. His wife, most puzzled, said that he himself had just come back and written them and that’s when Jayadeva knew it was Krishna himself who had done so. God was saying that in the presence of love, even God Himself is the lesser one. Yet, today, we hate so much. That is not my Hinduism.

We will ignore that ‘Charvaka’ an ancient Hindu philosophy that embraces philosophical skepticism and rejects the

Vedas, Vedic ritualism and super naturalism
. It encourages questions and arguments. Yet we murder professors and social workers who subscribe to it. Our Gayatri mantra, asks for the benevolent light of the Sun, the life giver, to inspire our intelligence, understanding and banish ignorance by bathing us in enlightenment. Where is any of that now? Most meat was consumed by Hindus in the Vedic times. We may like to erase that part of history.
You can call me a pseudo sickular liberal prostitute. I will just bow and say ‘Namaste’, which means “I greet the divine in you”.

It hurts as to why no knowing saint or sage amid the Hindu community comes forward to clarify the truth about ‘beef eating’ considered a blasphemous act by the Hindus of today.

The ‘Spirit of tolerance and willingness to understand and appreciate the opponent’s point of view’ as made clear by the Supreme Court is being grossly trashed by the Hindu fanatics.

Modi, a true Hindu, claims to be rabidly secular. He should be aware of the basics of how a so called ‘Hindu’ should conduct himself. The Home Ministry has every reason to have sleepless nights for having failed to satisfy an ordinary man on the most commonly used Indian expression. No wonder, if should be trembling round the clock in panic of losing his job any moment for being criminally ignorant. Modi will never spare him or any other official who failed to define the mere word ‘Hindu’.