Hindu Fundamentalist

Some sections of Indian media seem obsessed with comparing Taliban/ISIS to an ‘imaginary’ Hindu extremism.

I often wonder - how will this imaginary Hindu fundamentalist look like? What will s/he want to do?

All the people of a religion do believe in the fundamentals of that religion in varying degrees – but the extremist is on the far end of the continuum.

In other words, a religious fundamentalist is the one who believes in the fundamentals of his/her religion with an extreme intensity.  

So, one has to examine the fundamentals of Hindu faith in order to get that answer.

Following are some of the core fundamentals of Hindu faith:

- There is a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent & transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.

- No religion teaches the ONLY way to salvation above all others, but that ALL genuine paths are facets of God's Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.

- Karma is the law of cause & effect by which each individual creates his/her own destiny by thoughts, words & actions.

- The Soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha (liberation) from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be deprived of this destiny.

- ALL life forms are sacred, to be loved & revered, so you have to follow Ahimsa - non-injury.

- Divinity exists in unseen worlds and temple worship, rituals, sacraments & personal devotions can help in connecting with God. Thus God can be worshiped in many forms - as Krishna, Ganesha, Kaali, Durga, Shiva, or any other form/name.

A Hindu fundamentalist will hold all the above beliefs with an extreme intensity. Well, I still cant see how that person will be dangerous for the world peace.

Moreover, one can clearly note the stark differences between the above mentioned polytheistic fundamentals of Hinduism and the monotheistic fundamentals of religions like Christianity & Islam. 

And for this reason - a fundamentalist/extremist of Sanatana Dharma/Hinduism can NEVER be compared to a fundamentalist/extremist of Islam/Christianity.

Those who still manage to do so, defying all logic and facts – clearly have some vested interests. One has to be either ignorant about the fundamentals of Hindu faith or have a deep-rooted bias against Hindus, in order to compare monotheistic religions (Islam and Christianity) with polytheistic faith of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma).