Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
I will always have the utmost disdain for so-called "progressive" orgs like this one that have weaponized the false specter of "hindutva" to attack diaspora Hindus.
BUT, well-meaning diaspora Hindus are not doing themselves any favors by maintaining links with India-based orgs like the RSS. This is not because, as these progressive orgs insist, the RSS is "extremist" or whatever, but simply because their clumsy attempts to shape Hindu politics in the diaspora are an impediment to us charting our own path.
The RSS chief will no doubt give the crowd the succor they crave by praising their ability to achieve great success in America without losing their "culture," and the attendees-- many of whom are recent immigrants anxious to find their political and cultural footing-- will briefly enjoy the illusion of power.
But it will amount to nothing. The speech will traffic in the idiom of the uncle at the function who insists that our religion is great and ancient, our culture is the best, and yet looks on befuddled as their own American-born children stray further and further away from their "roots." it will betray a total lack of self-awareness and understanding of the particular challenges we face.
But to our detriment, the first-generation attendees will leave even more reassured in their cultural and political myopia, and the second generation (the few that are paying attention at all) will look upon the whole thing as an awkward and embarrassing spectacle. Whatever the RSS's achievements in India, they have nothing to offer us, and the sooner the diaspora understands that our fate is on our hands alone, the better off we will be.
https://x.com/vjgtweets/status/2092396632767885405
That's not what I am advocating. But productive ties are only possible when each side is firmly established in their own perspectives and values. That's not possible when India-based orgs impose their particular understanding of Hindu tradition on to the diaspora, without any consideration of our particular challenges. In any case, this is what they have been doing, and the result is an abject failure.
https://x.com/vjgtweets/status/2092700244559716840
Thank you @avatans for the (rare) thoughtful response:
You say that my argument "precludes the RSS (and its affiliates) from having any legitimate role in diaspora discourse before the conversation has even commenced."
I'm not sure what you. mean here by "legitimate role." These orgs are free to propagate their ideas in the diaspora, as they have been doing so for decades. Their lack of relevance is in fact evidence of their clumsiness, and reflects their total ignorance about the socio-political dynamics of American society. Which is why I think orgs rooted in American society have nothing to gain by affiliating with them.
Next, regarding civilizational continuity. Here I think you elide the actual core point by simply assuming that civilizational continuity requires that the diaspora retain a connection to India. You carelessly through out comparisons to the Jews, Chinese, and Armenians, but never ask yourself whether these comparisons actually work. Are Hindus an ethnic community like the Armenians, Han Chinese, or Jews? No. Are they a "religious" community? I've argued this isn't the case either, since "Hinduism" is not a religion. Do Hindus have a historical sense of "peoplehood" that is even close to comparable with that of the Jews? Also no.I agree that Hindus share a civilizational heritage, but I see this heritage as universal in character, and don't believe continuity requires preserving ties to a particular nation, culture, etc.
On the cause of detachment, here too you misdiagnose the situation. American-born Hindus are alienated from India because, well, they are American. Acculturation is natural and inevitable. Since you brought up the comparison with the Jewish community, it is notable that the history of Jewish denominationalism in America is inextricably linked with this process of acculturation. The emergence of Conservative Judaism, e.g., was a direct response to the alienation of the children of Eastern European immigrants from the orthodox congregations established by their parents. By placing the blame on "longstanding embarrassment" by the second generation, you are shifting the blame, rather than introspecting about the failures of the first gen mode of transmission. I'm not saying this about you personally, but my sense is that is that a lot of first gen immigrants are triggered by this reality, because they are paranoid about losing touch with their roots. Well, I hate to break it to them, but the die has been cast in that regard.
On your final point, what favorable outcomes are you talking about? From my vantage point, all I see is abject failure. For the diaspora to chart its own course, it must be free of ideological and cultural constraints imposed on it by organizations that are fundamentally Indian in their orientation. The second gen has been decades being lectured about their "deracination" and the importance of "culture." To what end? Dialogue is only possible when each party approaches it on their own terms. Articulating those terms for ourselves requires that the diaspora put these orgs at a healthy distance.
https://x.com/vjgtweets/status/2092696886448898421
I think you nailed it. I think for many immigrants who are unclear about what Hindu religiosity means outside of India, the preservation of Indian culture is used as a proxy. This is exacerbated by a sort of ingrained conservatism that is natural to all immigrant communities
https://x.com/vjgtweets/status/2092709110261411933
Archives | At its core, the Hindu supremacist movement, like alt-right movements around the world, is hyper-masculine. Persecution, like all social injustices, falls disproportionately on women; Muslim and Dalit women are doubly victimised. There is now mounting evidence of a robust symbiosis between patriarchy and autocracy. The auctioning of Muslim women—journalists, activists and students who have been vocal critics of the ruling regime—was a case study in how the two evils mutually reinforce each other.
Read Vidya Krishnan's (@VidyaKrishnan) essay from May 2022, Hyper-femininity as resistance to Hindu supremacy: caravanmagazine.in/gender/hyper-f…
https://x.com/thecaravanindia/status/2092635554894774457
Buddhism quietly transformed Western psychology. MBSR, ACT, DBT, MBCT. These are the "third wave" of cognitive behavioral therapies, and every one of them has Buddhist contemplative practice built into its structure. Some of the therapists using these methods have no idea they're teaching something a monk would recognize. x.com/melhpine/stat u…
https://x.com/melhpine/status/2092597935791911039
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