VHP'S NEW BETE NOIRE: VALENTINE'S DAY
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THE DATE: FEB 15, 2000
THE PLACE: THE TIMES OF INDIA, FRONT PAGE CENTRE
THE HEADING: VHP WARNS AGAINST "VALENTINE MANIA"
THE REPORT: EXCERPTS:
"THIS VALENTINE MANIA IS THE SECOND ATTACK ON HINDU CULTURE, COMING SOON AFTER DEEPA MEHTA'S FILM, "WATER", VHP GENERAL SECRETARY ACHARYA GIRIRAJ KISHORE SAID HERE ON MONDAY".
"THE VHP LEADER SAID HIS ORGANISATION WOULD CALL ON HINDUS TO STAND UP AGAINST SUCH ATTEMPTS TO "SMUGGLE IN WESTERN CULTURE IN VARIOUS FORMS". HE SAID THE VHP WOULD DISCUSS THE MATTER AT ITS NEXT MEETING AND WORK OUT AN ACTION PLAN TO PROTECT HINDU SOCIETY AGAINST VARIOUS FORMS OF "CULTURAL IMPERIALISM OF THE WEST".."WE ARE EXTREMELY CONCERNED OVER THE VALENTINE'S DAY CULTURE, WHICH HAS NO ROOTS IN INDIAN SOIL," THE ACHARYA SAID." -END OF REPORT.

Shall we, as Hindus, laugh or cry? No, I am serious. Is this Acharya for real? The VHP will have "an action plan to fight Valentine's day"! I mean, the fact that he has taken this so seriously, and he IS the general secretary of the VHP, no less, forces us to take seriously the matter of the leadership of the VHP. Is this the depth and extent of the VHP's strategy to "protect" Hindus and Hinduism?

What is so terribly offensive about Valentine's Day? The fact that people who love each other( which includes lovers, parents, friends, neighbours etc)express their feelings for them by sending them a card, a gift or by taking them out for a meal, is that such a terrible thing for Hindu culture to digest? Is Hindu culture anti-love, by any chance?

I would like to think not, Hindu culture being somewhat dominated by a God called Krishna, who loved to flirt and play holi with gopis and other men's wives. Shall we ban the festival of holi then? After all, the VHP headed by such Acharyas will be happy to make us compliant robots, reading only the Mahabharata( no, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Will Durant, won't do) reading only Hindu poetry( no Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Browning or Yeats) watching only bhajans and kathas of Muraribapu and Asaramjibapu,(no, no CNN, CNBC, no Jay Leno, no Oprah),no foreign visits to Eurpoe and USA( travel in Indian hill-stations, they are good for culture); see songs of Lata Mangeshkar and Kumar Sanu( definitely not Mohammed Rafi, Michael Jackson or Celine Dion), see only Anjoli Ela Menon's paintings(no Leonardo da Vinci, no Mona Lisa). Excuse us please, we are Hindus, we are learning lessons from the Taliban book:"HOW TO CONTROL THE POPULATION BY RESTRICTING THEIR EXPOSURE TO OUTSIDE INFLUENCES".

Am I being too hard? Yes, I guess I am a bit alarmed by this paranoid reaction of the Acharya. Is Valentine's Day an "ATTACK" on Hinduism? Does Hinduism get attacked by a celebration of love? Is it that fragile? It doesn't even need a huff and a puff to bring the Hindu house down, just a valentine greeting card will do the trick!

If a religion cannot accept love and it's expression, I surely cannot accept such a religion. However, thankfully, we know that love between parents and children, between man and woman, between host and guest are all part of Hindu culture and so we cannot really take this Acharya Giriraj seriously. But in one sense we have to sit up and take notice: is this the kind of leadership the VHP has? If so, then Hindus that put their faith in the VHP better do a double take. This is nothing but an adoption of fanatic Islamic practices that are intolerant of anything western, not because it is bad, per se, but merely because it was not born in this soil and it sadly comes from the West.

I believe that a good faith is not so weak as to crumble as soon as Christmas or Valentine's day are celebrated: in fact, it only gets strengthened. If we are celebrating the triumph of love over hate, of good over evil, of righteousness over injustice then all power to Valentine's Day. And it is love that we see too little of and it is more love and goodness that this world needs, to hell with where Valentine was born.

This matter of seeing red the moment the occasion is not born on the Indian soil would have us eliminate a lot of NRIs living abroad who love India but were not born here; just because something or somebody was not born on the Indian soil doesn't make its arrival into India an attack.

It is a sad fact that small men are occupying big jobs these days. They possess neither seriousness nor vision and with them at the helm of affairs we are in trouble. Rather than focus on the real problems we have with our aggressive and belligerent neighbours, the VHP has picked on a non-issue to raise another bogey. The NRIs are pouring in money only to discover one day that the VHP will brand them foreigners.

India needs real leaders, leaders that are statesmen, not bullies; leaders with strategy and vision, with strength in their gentleness. To prevent the celebration of Valentine's Day in India is playing bully: here Hindus are 85 percent so we will not allow this celebration. How is this any different from my not being able to celebrate Divali in Dubai? How is it any different from my not being allowed to eat food in public because Muslims are fasting during Ramadan? I don't see the difference. Might is right, this is what the VHP is saying. India with such leaders is doomed.

Will the boys please sit down. Where are the real men?

Namaskar Lataji,

Interesting article. I will reserve my rights to comments on it later

However, the following statement does need clarification :

In reply to:

---

It is a sad fact that small men are occupying big jobs these days. They possess neither seriousness nor vision and with them at the helm of affairs we are in trouble. Rather than focus on the real problems we have with our aggressive and belligerent neighbours, the VHP has picked on a non-issue to raise another bogey. The NRIs are pouring in money only to discover one day that the VHP will brand them foreigners.

---

Please note that NRIs are not pouring money into VHP-Bharat. VHPs from around the world are independently incorporated bodies and they do not send money to India. You may be surprised to know that in 1993, when VHP-America did Global Vision 2000 conference to commemorate the 100 th. anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's address to the parliament of religion, VHP-Bharat sent some books etc. to USA as gifts to participants, and not the other way around.

Members of VHP-A send money to Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and other designated charity organizations, but not to VHP-Bharat. Every news account, that mentions VHP-Bharat getting NRI money for its operation is incorrect and misleading.

regards,

ajay


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Visit Bharat Daily. Visit <a href="http://www.bharatdaily.org">BharatDaily.Org</a>

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, I see that the two VHPs are functioning more or less independently, and I guess that is very healthy. The two remain under one umbrella, however, and I am sure there is some common ground both cover. I am sure the NRIs need to make a note of the VHP-Bharat's stand on Valentine's Day and also, make its own stand on the issue clear: does it see the issue in the same manner or not?

A healthy debate on this subject would be welcome. I am all for it. But let us not try to say "ekam sat..." and then in the same breath say, sorry, love and expressions of love if they are born in a foreign soil are not acceptable to us. You really can't have the cake and eat it too: either you believe in might is right and impose only Hinduism on all people on the Indian soil, or you believe in the eternal principles and accept goodness from whichever direction it comes, even if it is not born on the Indian soil.
Fundamentalists believe only their religion is good; but spiritual believers accepts goodness from all religions, and even reject the bad which is in their own religion.


The best index to a person's character is
(a) how he treats people who can't do him any good and
(b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

Namaskar,

While once again reserving my rights to comment upon the issue at hand at a later day, I would like to comment upon the following for now :

In reply to:

---

But let us not try to say "ekam sat..." and then in the same breath say, sorry, love and expressions of love if they are born in a foreign soil are not acceptable to us.

---

and

In reply to:

---

Fundamentalists believe only their religion is good; but spiritual believers accepts goodness from all religions, and even reject the bad which is in their own religion

---

I fully understand the sentiments you are expressing. However emotional the reaction to the statements by one VHP associated individual is - a rational response must by necessity be intellectual rather than emotional.

First, Ekam Sataha... :

This is a guiding principle of Hindu dharma, it is not really in any way under dispute. The comments on Valentine's Day I believe are more against cultural aspects in nature rather than philosophical. So, personally I don't think that "Ekam Sataha.." is in any way under threat.

Again, please note that I have not endorsed or opposed Acharyaji's statement at this time.

Second, as Hindus, all Hindus must be absolutely clear that there cannot be such a thing as a Fundamentalist Hindu, at least not in a way fundamentalism is commonly defined.

Hindu dharma, its religious leaders, its adherents, and no mainstream Hindu I know professes the defining criteria of fundamentalism. As I understand it, fundamentalism or belief in fundamentals of religion requires :

1. belief in only one form of God
2. belief in a single book (revelation of God)
3. Only strict interpretation of scriptures - as written, with no room for intellectual interpretation (Shree Adi. Shankara would be out of business)
4. Only one way to worship.
etc. etc.

Now please tell me which Hindu organization, leader, sadhu, commoner has advocated above? So you may label the Valentine's Day statements any other way you like, but, IMHO, you cannot call them (or any Hindu or any Hindu organization) fundamentalist.

Bottom line is, one can be either a Hindu or a fundamentalist, but never both.

regards,

ajay



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Visit Bharat Daily. Visit <a href="http://www.bharatdaily.org">BharatDaily.Org</a>

In that case I, too, reserve my right to offer you my detailed rejoinder once I know your position on Valentine's Day. This is essential to the subject at hand, since we are discussing the issue from the Valentine's Day perspective.
I await your honest comments with enthusiasm.

The best index to a person's character is
(a) how he treats people who can't do him any good and
(b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

So now valentines day, which was created by madison avenue advertisers, has a bad name in india. I suppose that next american soft drinks and fast food will be banned. What a world where some people think they can stop the change of cultures by political moves.

Vinaire,
Well the issue is alive and kicking in India with these champions of their brand of Hindutva shouting themselves horase come January and February. They meet with success at most places because they bully people into accepting their dictates.

Willie,
Yes, these are signs of a xenophobic mentality. To be nationalistic is great but it doesn't necessarily demand that we reject all the good that other nations might have to offer. We want our goods to be imported by other countries but we don't want to import their goods. Now why on earth would they deal with us if they know we are so closed and unfair?
Short term gains will destroy India in the long term.

Countries destroy themselves and short to long term doesn't make much of a difference.