The Challenge of the South for Hindutva.

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A north Indian coming to the south, especially to Kerala and Tamil Nadu is awestruck at the grand temples and the religious fervor among the local Hindus.

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And then during elections, the Hindutva ideology gains no traction in these two states.

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The votaries of Hindutva then call the south Indians names and blame them of the betrayal of Hinduism, or rather a betrayal of India!

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This name-calling does not endear them to the South Indians.

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There are a few fundamental truths that the followers of Hindutva need to realize.

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All Hindus do not equate Hindutva with Hinduism. Especially in the more literate South, they recognise that their faith is separate from a political ideology.

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Hinduism is a collection of beliefs and traditions. There is no single book or organization that can talk for all Hindus or control all Hindus. Unlike highly organized and controlled Abrahamic religions Hinduism is unfettered and a free-for-all-all faith. Hindutva is an attempt to organize this freedom and curb it.  And that will raise hackles.

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The North of India has faced the brunt of Islamic invasions. And the horrors of partition. The survivors and their descendants have therefore a deep mistrust built into them.

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If you travel in the north you will find that houses are clustered together to form villages. But in the South, especially Kerala, you will find that the houses are spread out. This is another indication of the turbulent times in North India.

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Both Islam and Christianity came to the South by way of missionary work and trade. Christianity came to the South of India much before Europe embraced it. You had Christian and Jewish traders dealing with Europe from ports in Kerala more than 1000 years back. In TN they traded with South East Asia and China.

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These trade links not only brought wealth but also new ideas and a sense of trust and accommodation. Irrespective of religion people built trust. This was not true in the North of India.

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The religious beliefs of the South were also more syncretic and each borrowed some elements from the other. The dress and language were common so were many cultural practices.

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In Hinduism itself there are differences. Sri Ram is revered universally in the North, but not so in the South. You had Vedic Hinduism which was similar to what was prevalent in the North. However, the influence of tribal and other older practices is there even today in the South. The worship of the Mother Goddess or practices like Theyyam or Bootha Kola is still strong.

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The North evolved into the Bhakti cult which dominated the religious sphere. In the South, the Philosophy of Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Basaveshwara, and many others questioned the establishment.

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The South is used to raising questions rather than blind obedience.

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The destruction of temples was widespread in the North. It was not only Islamic rulers who destroyed temples but many Hindu Kings would remove the idol, destroy the temple, and carry the idol back to his capital and set up a temple there. This was a political victory to show his power.

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The South does not have much of a history of temple destruction and thus the building of a Ram temple would not resonate much over here.

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The BJP is seen as a North Indian party with most of its big leaders being from the north. Also, the terminology used by the BJP like “Atmanirbhar” etc is mostly in Hindi and there is a genuine sense of injustice in the south, especially in TN, that they would lose out due to this Hindi imposition.

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Sadly many in the BJP seem to have little sensitivity to the feelings of the South. That’s where their problems begin.

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