| Hindus are
called fundamentalists for wanting to retake a few of their old holy places, like Ayodhya,
of the many thousands destroyed during centuries of foreign domination. Several Hindu
groups are united around this cause. This, however, is an issue oriented movement, not the
manifestation of a monolithic fundamentalism. It is a unification of diverse groups to
achieve a common end, not the product of a uniform belief system. Even the different groups involved have often been divided as to how
to proceed and have not spoken with any single voice. Whether one considers the action to
be right or wrong, it is not the assertion of any single or exclusive religious
ideology.
If it is fundamentalism, what is the fundamentalist
ideology, belief and practice behind it? Hindus, along of all people, have failed to take
back their holy sites after the end of the colonial era. If they are fundamentalists for
seeking to do so, then what should we call Pakistan or Bangladesh, who have destroyed many
Hindu holy sites and were not simply taking back Islamic sites that the Hindus had
previously usurped? |
