The Word Hindu
The Word “Hindu”
There are many articles that are circulating the internet in regards to how the word "Hindu" should be viewed. To many people when they hear the word Hindu immediate misconceptions begin to manifest with issues such as cow worship, sati, dowry and worst of all untouchables. But who do we blame for people to have such interpretations of the word Hindu. Having examined many texts by western historians or so called historians, it’s not hard to find such vehemently anti Hindu texts. There is a significant historical origin to the present situations that Hindus experience today. During the British Raj in India the western Indologists who were practicing Christians as well as missionaries were the people responsible for the translation of the Hindu texts. It doesn’t take a genius to know the devious and conniving tactics Christians would and still use to make cultures other than theirs as inferior, therefore rendering the translated texts as products of poor quality. It is these reasons that many Hindus will cringe at the word Hindu. Having dwelled deep into the issue a realization dawned within me. The word Hindu is a word that was coined by the Persians who were Muslims when they were invading India. It is well known that there never was any legacy left by the Muslims in India apart from a nation of so called Hindus who are scared, weak and passive.
There should be a new word to denote so called Hindus, to remove the shackles of Muslim association. The word Hindu itself is not even a Sanskrit word and therefore a suitable Sanskrit word should be used to newly identify the people who have been practicing this wonderful philosophy for many many eons. Upon examination of the history of the African-American people, we all know that the word Negro was a termed coined by the European colonialist to depict the people from Africa. The word Negro itself means black and was used in a very condescending manner. Today people of African-American heritage detest the word Negro, nigger or any other racial pejorative. Hindus or so called Hindus as such should adopt a similar movement to remove this word from our vocabulary. The word Hindu indicates that we are still slaves and we still posses that slave mentality. Muslim is a word used to denote the practitioners of Islam while Christian is used to denote the practitioners of Christianity. Similarly a new word should be used for so-called Hindus; Words such as Arya, Bharataya, Santana’s etc. Even the word Hinduism should be changed as it has been stated by scholars of Hinduism that our culture is not categorized to any –isms; therefore a suitable name should reflect our unity is spiritual and cultural diversity. So called Hindus should separate themselves from these two very demoralizing and denigrating words such as Hinduism and Hindus and choose to identify themselves as something more appropriate. These words should be taken to offence just like the words nigger and Negro are.
-Muski
There are many articles that are circulating the internet in regards to how the word "Hindu" should be viewed. To many people when they hear the word Hindu immediate misconceptions begin to manifest with issues such as cow worship, sati, dowry and worst of all untouchables. But who do we blame for people to have such interpretations of the word Hindu. Having examined many texts by western historians or so called historians, it’s not hard to find such vehemently anti Hindu texts. There is a significant historical origin to the present situations that Hindus experience today. During the British Raj in India the western Indologists who were practicing Christians as well as missionaries were the people responsible for the translation of the Hindu texts. It doesn’t take a genius to know the devious and conniving tactics Christians would and still use to make cultures other than theirs as inferior, therefore rendering the translated texts as products of poor quality. It is these reasons that many Hindus will cringe at the word Hindu. Having dwelled deep into the issue a realization dawned within me. The word Hindu is a word that was coined by the Persians who were Muslims when they were invading India. It is well known that there never was any legacy left by the Muslims in India apart from a nation of so called Hindus who are scared, weak and passive.
There should be a new word to denote so called Hindus, to remove the shackles of Muslim association. The word Hindu itself is not even a Sanskrit word and therefore a suitable Sanskrit word should be used to newly identify the people who have been practicing this wonderful philosophy for many many eons. Upon examination of the history of the African-American people, we all know that the word Negro was a termed coined by the European colonialist to depict the people from Africa. The word Negro itself means black and was used in a very condescending manner. Today people of African-American heritage detest the word Negro, nigger or any other racial pejorative. Hindus or so called Hindus as such should adopt a similar movement to remove this word from our vocabulary. The word Hindu indicates that we are still slaves and we still posses that slave mentality. Muslim is a word used to denote the practitioners of Islam while Christian is used to denote the practitioners of Christianity. Similarly a new word should be used for so-called Hindus; Words such as Arya, Bharataya, Santana’s etc. Even the word Hinduism should be changed as it has been stated by scholars of Hinduism that our culture is not categorized to any –isms; therefore a suitable name should reflect our unity is spiritual and cultural diversity. So called Hindus should separate themselves from these two very demoralizing and denigrating words such as Hinduism and Hindus and choose to identify themselves as something more appropriate. These words should be taken to offence just like the words nigger and Negro are.
-Muski
posted by Muski at 11:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home