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Hindu can only be an Indian political leader by this logic if he
ceases to be a Hindu, except in private, and in public goes out of
his way to honor Islam and Christianity, not just the Muslim and
Christian citizens of India but Christ and Mohammed as avatars and
Christian and Islamic beliefs as true, great, and not to be
criticized.
In fact the question arises:
can a major Hindu politician arise who does not feel it necessary to
bow down before Christianity and Islam in order to prove that he is
a true national leader? Cannot a Hindu be a national leader of India
as a good Hindu without having to try to be a good Christian and
Muslim as well? Being a good national leader is not a matter of
respecting one or all religious beliefs. It consists of giving
priority to the nation at a political level, regardless of religious
considerations. In India today nationalism is not defined by
nationalism but by religion, and particularly by honoring
foreign-derived religions, as if that somehow made one more
nationalistic!
Naturally this makes for a weak
country and encourages separatist movements. As
soon as a Hindu politician in India wants to become popular, he
starts speaking of the glory of Islam and the greatness of Christ.
He does not speak of the greatness of the nation going back to
ancient times or of its venerable old Hindu-based traditions. This
does not encourage minority groups to think of themselves as Indians
but gives more weight to their religious identity as overriding any
political identity. A
Hindu can only be an Indian political leader by this logic if he
ceases to be a Hindu, except in private, and in public goes out of
his way to honor Islam and Christianity, not just the Muslim and
Christian citizens of India but Christ and Mohammed as avatars and
Christian and Islamic beliefs as true, great, and not to be
criticized.
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