Sangh Parivar

My blood boils when I see the above photos and I am sure most of the self respecting Hindus feel the same. Today Hindus are persecuted not just in Bangladesh and Pakistan but in our own country. Who would have imagined that a Swami of non-political Ramakrishna Mission will be tied to a tree and beaten like a dog. Who would have imagined that a  Swami Laxmananand Saraswati in Orissa would be shot dead by Christians. Would Sardar Patel have imagied that 60 years after the independence the word "Hindu" in itself and anything related to it would become so despised that all media channels would compete to degrade it. Who would have imagined that Hindus in Kashmir after being driven from their homeland and would even be denied a piece of land allocated to them by court  under the pressure of separatists. And Indian media would justify this injustice and blame Hindus instead. Who would have imagined that in India killers of Hindus like Gilani, Yasin Malik would be treated as celebrities and Hindu liberal and Nationalists leaders like Advani as enemies of state. I am sure if Vivekananda was born today he would have been labeled communal and condemned. Most of the Hindus today are too ashamed to call themselves Hindus they pride themselves as seculars. Sikhs, Tamil Hindus and even Jains do not want to have a Hindu tag on them.

What is the root cause of this, why are we in this state. Most Hindus would say it is because of the propaganda of communists and because of vote bank politics of pseudo-secular parties. But that is not the root cause. Root cause is that Hindus themselves and Hindu organizations like Sangh Parivaar in particular have failed to protect their culture against propaganda. They have done little or nothing to counter the propaganda. They have failed to realize the effect and intensity of propaganda. They have not just failed to understand the sophisticated propaganda machinery of their adversaries but have done little to build a counter-propaganda strategy. On the contrary they have foolishly helped their enemies. When the era of cable channels came even small parties like AIADMK and DMK realized the importance of the electronic media and immediately set up media Channels. Communists and pseudo-seculars also grabbed the chance and quickly and aggressively set up a number of channels and started anti-Hindu propaganda immediately. Surprisingly BJP government went out of its way to give license to NDTV even though it was rabidly and openly anti-Hindu. BJP could have used its position of power as a golden opportunity to build its own channel and promote it.  

Hindu leaders driven mostly by self grandiose never miss a chance to present themselves for debates on these anti-hindu channels where the cards are carefully stacked against them. These leaders never prepare themselves properly to address the topic or counter the propaganda and never realize that they are being used and manipulated by anti-hindus. They just enjoy all the attention they get and believe that their presence in these debate gives them the brownie points needed to rise in the hierarchy of Hindu organizations. They don't realize that their foolishness is causing a grave harm to the Hindu cause.

Years of well coordinated propaganda have weakened the Hindu psyche. Islamic terror may kill a few Hindus but the propaganda poisons the roots of Hindu society and as we are seeing is killing it slowly, making it too weak to face the secondary assaults like in Kashmir, Orissa or in Bengal or Kerala.

How can we fight back. Hindu organizations need to realize the importance of propaganda and set up a counter-propaganda machinery. Spokespersons of Hindu organizations need to be trained in counter propaganda. A well defined strategy needs to be put in place so that we can educate the workers at grass roots on how to counter the propaganda and as well as build a positive image of Hinduism. It is very important to develop our own media channels.

With the dawn of information age the wars will not be fought on battle field but in media to win the hearts and minds of people. Future propaganda wars will be fought im elecronic media like TV and internet and it is important that we don't atleast loose the war on internet like we lost it in elctronic media. 

Hindu organizations  needs to be guided by a group of intellectuals like politburo which can concentrate on propaganda and counter propaganda strategies. This politbuero needs to be elected based on merit not by years in Sangh parivaar. Hindus need to learn from their enemies and realize that riots against civilians are counter productive and by doing this they are playing into the hands of enemies. And ultimately it is more important to win the propaganda war than to win the elections for a few greedy and foolish politicians.

diler_dogra@rediff.com