Hinduism - Indian Laws - General

Hinduism The meaning of the term Hinduism as commonly understood is stated thus :-- ...It is a matter of common knowledge, that Hinduism embraces within self so many diverse forms of beliefs, faiths, practices and worship that it is difficult to define the term Hindu with precision. The historical and etymological genesis of the word Hindu has been succinctly explained by Gajendragadkar, C. J. in Shastri Yagnapurushdasji v. Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya [1966] 3 SCR 242 . In Unabridged Edition of Webster s Third New International Dictionary of the English language, the term Hinduism has been defined as meaning A complex body of social, cultural and religious beliefs and practices evolved in and largely confined to the Indian subcontinent and marked by a caste system, an outlook tending to view all forms and theories as aspects of one eternal being and truth, a belief in ahimsa, karma, dharma, sansara and moksha, and the practice of the way of works, the way of knowledge, or the way of devotion as the means of release from the bound of rebirths; the way of life and form of thought of a Hindu . In Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th Eidition), the term Hindusim has been defined as meaning the civilization of Hindus (originally, the inhabitants of the land of the Indus River). It properly denotes the Indian civilization of approximately the last 2,000 years, which gradually evolved from Vedism, the religion of the ancient Indo-European who settled in India in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. Because it integrates a large variety of heterogeneous elements, Hinduism constitutes a very complex but largely continuous whole, and since it covers the whole of life, it has religious social, economic literary, and artistic aspects. As a religion, Hinduism is an utterly diverse conglomerate of doctrines, cults, and way of life....In principle, Hinduism incorporates all forms of belief and worship without necessitating the selection or elimination of any. The Hindu is inclined to revere the divine in every manifestation, whatever it may be, and is doctrinally tolerant, leaving others ir eluding both Hindus and non-Hindus -- whatever creed and worships practices suit them best. A Hindu may embrace a non-Hindu religion without ceasing to be Hindu, and since the Hindu is disposed to think synthetically and to regard other forms of worship, strange gods, and divergent doctrines as inadequate rather than wrong or objectionable, he tends to believe that the highest divine powers complement each other for the well-being of the world and mankind. Few religious ideas are considered to be finally irreconcilable. The core of religion does not even depend on the existence or non-existence of God or on whether there is one god or many. Since religious truth is said to transcend all verbal definition, it is not conceived in dogmatic terms. Hinduism is then both a civilization and a conglomerate of religions with neither a beginning, a founder, nor a central authority, hierarchy, or organization. Every attempt at a specific definition of Hinduism has proved unsatisfactory in one way or another, the more so because the finest Indian scholars of Hinduism, including Hindus themselves, have emphasized different aspects of the whole. In his celebrated treatise Gitarahasya , B.G. Tilak has given the following broad description of the Hindu religion :-- Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence; recognition of the fact that the means or ways of salvation or diverse; and realisation of the truth that the number of gods to be worshipped is large, that indeed is the distinguishing feature of Hindu religion. In Bhagwan Koer v. J.C. Bose ILR 1904 Cal 11, it was held that; Hindu religion is Marvelously catholic and elastic. Its theology is marked by eclecticism and tolerance and almost unlimited freedom of private worship.... This being the scope and nature of the religion, it is not strange that it holds within its fold men of divergent views and traditions which have very little in common except a vague faith in what may be called the fundasnentals of the Hindu religion. [Constitution Bench decision in Commissioner of Wealth tax, Madras v. Late R. Sridharan by L.Rs. - (1976) Supp SCR 478] These Constitution Bench decisions, after a detailed discussion, indicate that no precise meaning can be ascribed to the terms Hindu , Hindutva and Hinduism ; and no meaning in the abstract can confine it to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage. It is also indicated that the term Hindutva is related more to the way of life of the people in the subcontinent. It is difficult to appreciate how in the face of these decisions the term Hindutva or Hinduism per se, in the abstract, can be assumed to mean and be equated with narrow fundamentalist Hindu religious bigotry, or be construed to fall within the prohibition in sub-sections 3 and/or (3A) of Section 123 of the R. P. Act. Bharucha, J. in Dr. M. Ismali Faruqui v. Union of India AIR 1995 SC 605 , (Ayodhya case), in the separate opinion for himself and Ahmadi, J. (as he then was), observed as under: ... Hinduism is a tolerant faith. It is that tolerance that has enabled Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism to find shelter and support upon this land.... In Indian Muslims -- The Need For A Positive Outlook by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (1994), it is said: The strategy worked out to solve the minorities problem was, although differently worded, that of Hindutva or Indianisation. This strategy, briefly stated Aims at developing a uniform culture by obliterating the differences between all the cultures co-existing in the country. This was felt to be the way of communal harmony and national unity. It was thought that this would put an end once and for all to the minorities problem. The above opinion indicates that the word Hindutva is used and understood as a synonym of Indianisation , i.e. development of uniform culture by obliterating the differences between all the cultures co-existing in the country. RAMESH YESHWANT PRABHOO AND ORS. VERSUS PRABHAKAR KASHINATH KUNTE AND ORS. - 1995 (12) TMI 422 - SUPREME COURT