India is as much a Hindu nation as England and America are Christian nations
Understanding Bharat from a Mimamsa Perspective
A wrong argument: That by virtue of its majority being the deciding factor in a democracy, India is a Hindu nation.
The correction[Mimamsa]: We the people of India have descended from a common Hindu patriarchy and then we adopted multiple ways of prayer system for our salvation and peace. For the administration and management of the wealth pertain the Hindu Rastra(Nation), we commissioned a set of secular rule and judicial system in the country.
For the political unity and emancipation, we adopted from the west the pattern of parliament for Indian State headed by an elected President, to be advised by Prime minister- in- cabinet.
The soul of Nationhood [ Bidhi Bakyam]: We worship Mother India(Bharat Mata) by chanting Vande Mataram and establish equity and justice through Satameva Jayate [ सत्यमेव जयते in Deva Nagari script, taken from Mundaka Upanishad ].
It is said [Salpa vistaram]
“Even a cursory perusal of our history shows that, since times immemorial, Hindus have grown up as the true children of this soil. To them, it is more than a motherland, a holy land. Generation after generation, the flower of their heroic manhood have offered their life-blood in defence of her freedom. They have held aloft the banner of her sacred religion and culture.
They wrote her holy books, the Ramayana and the Maha Bharata, the Gita and the Vedas. They produced great saints and rishis who set up the highest standards in each and every walk of national life. Therefore, without a shadow of doubt, Hindus are the real builders of the national life of this land, its real nationals. In a nutshell, this is Hindu nation.”
Again it can be argued
[Purba Pakshya]
Constitution of India does not recognize any form of nationalism that there should not be any Hindu nation, Muslim nation, Sikh nation, Buddhist nation or Christian nation. These expressions or thoughts are antithesis and abhorrent to the Constitution of India. The Constitution, as already stated, has created one nation called India. In our constitutional philosophy, there is only one ism that is Indianism. All other isms are sworn enemies of Indianism. Any person claiming to be Hindu nationalist, Muslim nationalist, Sikh nationalist, Buddhist nationalist or Christian nationalist is not only working against the Indianism but against the very though of India. In India, there can be forces, which can be bracketed into two groups only, Indians, who are for India and communals/extremists, who are enemies of India. If India, which is created by its Constitution, which we the people have given to ourselves, has to survive, then it is only Indianism, which has to be there and all other isms have to disappear from the firmament of the country called India.
It appears that in terms of Constitution of India, which guarantees all the rights, which include right to practice and profess ones religion and faith, there was no requirement of bringing in expression secularism in the preamble of the Constitution. This expression has evoked sharp reaction from a section of population and divided people of the country into different pigeon holes of different isms. A very serious and potential threat is posed to the very existence of the idea of India by the fringe elements, who take cover under various types of isms other than Indianism. India is not a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist or Christian India. It is India, which is born from the bosom of unrelenting struggle of millions of people, who, as already stated, were subjected to untold sufferings and miseries by external aggressors. India is a land, which is not only inhabited by people belonging to different religions, faiths, colours, castes and creeds but it also has different geographical dimensions and constraints. This heterogeneous conglomerate is and will be held together by one theme and one concept of being one nation called India, which is born from the bosom of Constitution.
The Constitution has created State called India. The State comprises of different organs, viz. Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Each organ of the State has to perform its constitutional duties within the boundaries delineated by the Constitution itself. When the Constitution itself is threatened, which, in turn, poses potential threat to the very existence of State, then the organs thereof cannot display ostrich syndrome but have to stand up and perform their constitutional duties and obligations so as to ensure that the Constitution and the State created by it, does survive. It is this constitutional obligation, which has impelled upon the conscience of constitutional Court to perform its constitutional duties.
The concept of Indianism or Bharatiyata is the soul of the Constitution. All other isms, in essence, pose a potential threat to the soul as well as the conscience of the Constitution. India and Indians are unique in the whole world as they resemble to different colours of a bright rainbow.
The Arbitrator
[Madhyastham ]
The Constitution, which is given by the people to themselves and has created the State called India, which State comprises of three principal organs, viz. Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, the affairs thereof are to be conducted in accordance with the spirit and mandate of the Constitution itself. The discussion made in this order would show that the State has no religion. Thus, no office in the State can be occupied by any person and no Legislative Body can be controlled by any organization by invoking the mandate of the people on the basis of religion. Person/s and organization/s, who does not believe in the Constitution of India, by using extra-constitutional methods, cannot be permitted to occupy the high constitutional/political Offices and/or Legislative Bodies. Article 356 of the Constitution of India provides that the President, on receipt of report from the Governor of a State or otherwise if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen, in which the Government of a State cannot be carried in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, he, by issuance of Proclamation, may assume unto himself all or any function/s of the Government of the State and all or any powers vested in or exercisable by the Governor or anybody or authority in the State other than the Legislature of the State; can declare that the power of Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of the Parliament. The President’s further power is to make such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to him to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, goes a long way to show that the Government, in all circumstances, has to be carried in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, any person/s and organization/s can assume any constitutional Office and/or a secure berth in Legislative Body only when such person/sand organization/s believes in and conducts its affairs strictly in accordance with the mandate contained in the Constitution. If any person/s and organization/s, in the process of securing high constitutional Office or place in the Legislative Bodies, act in cruel disregard to the constitutional mandate, then the constitutional and statutory authorities have to take steps in accordance with the laws of the land to stop the forward progress of such people. Besides these authorities, the Election Commissioner of India, in terms of article 324, is under constitutional obligation to ensure that person/s and organization/s, who, practice and profess their thoughts, which are outside the purview of Constitution and which constitute potential threat to it, are halted in their tracks in the manner which not only secures but safeguards the unity of India. The Election Commissioner of India, besides taking recourse to the provisions of Representation of Peoples Act can also issue administrative instructions in this behalf.
The facts and factors: the issues that Den-e-Islam was given to the Muslim Umma of Arabian Nation and in the same way in the city of Constantinople( CE 325 ) Christianity was delivered through the Emperor Constantine of Roman empire to a group of worshipper ( without any socio-political capacity) headed by local Bishops. Shiks, Buddhist, Jains, Ram Krishna religion of Belur math followers of particular Holy men and they are not aligned to the concept of Hindu Nation. Parishes migrated from Iran due to Muslim persecution and settled in India and protected by the Hindu kings.
Bal Thackeray `s oversimplified version of Hindu Nationalism such as, “According to me all nationalist minded persons are Hindus and the people of all worship would be called Hindus” and “Hindutva is nationalism. All those who are opposed to Hindutva are anti-nationalists” can be tested or denied on the basis of leading more correct appreciation of sense.
There could be several version of Hindu nationhood which can be debated but can on be denied in the core and again it can not be stopped for further inquiry.