Hindus Can Relive The Principle: The World In One Family – OpEd

December 17, 2025December 17, 2025 Sudhansu R Das 0 Comments

The ancient religion, Hinduism which enshrines the philosophy, “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam-the World is one family”, is passing through an existential crisis. The Hindus in India are divided and subdivided on the basis of caste, sub caste, sects, social status, region and language etc. A divided Hindu community has become the victim of an aggressive vote bank politics; it has become vulnerable to religious conversion. There has been rapid change in demographic composition in many of the Indian states. Over decades many Hindu religious Gurus have built their spiritual empires but they do not converge on the objective of uniting and reforming Hinduism. India lacks political will to control population explosion when it is urgently needed for the country. Multiple divisions in the Hindu community contribute to growing unemployment, price rise, loss of income, regional disparity, social unrest and violence etc. Language fanatics in some states brand people from other states as outsiders and harass them. How to keep the Hindu community together for peace and prosperity has become a big challenge before the community.

Over decades, India has witnessed aggressive regionalism in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal; the regionalism is spreading its tentacles to other Indian states. Regionalism creates regional imbalance as powerful language lobbies grab a big share in the centre’s development projects, rail connectivity and national level institutions for their states. The social divisions on the basis of region and language create deprivation for talented people. Regionalism has also crept into the national institutions which erodes efficiency and leadership skills. The Hindu people of one state hardly get state government jobs in other states due to language divide. India loses huge potential for growth due to the division on the basis of language, caste and region.

The regional political leaders send their children to quality public schools to learn English and the national language Hindi but they advise people to speak regional languages only. When people of one state do not learn India’s mother tongue Hindi, they find it difficult to market their products and services in other states without the help of middlemen; in the process they lose profit margin. The Supreme Court in India recently expressed concern over this growing regionalism. A bench of Supreme Court Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi reportedly expressed concern over growing regionalism, “regional parties openly promote regionalism and seek votes during elections. Is this not against the unity and integrity of the country?” In fact regionalism adversely affects inter-state trade and cultural exchange and it weakens the Hindu community from within.

Even after 79 years of independence, India is struggling to make its citizens understand the importance of their mother tongue. Unity, integrity and prosperity of the country is not possible without a mother tongue. In ancient India, Sanskrit was spoken by people in most of the states. Today it is limited to Shimoga district of Karnataka. The computer friendly language, Sanskrit which once gave clues to many scientific innovations is most neglected in India. An authentic research on Indian history and culture is not possible without mastery over Sanskrit. Every word of Sanskrit emits grace and dignity of the rich Hindu civilization. Today, the majority of schools in India do not have permanent Sanskrit teachers; children are encouraged to learn foreign languages but not Sanskrit. India’s national language Hindi is not spoken in southern states as the political leaders in many of those states oppose Hindi as national language. But people in the south Indian states adore Sanskrit as many of the south Indian languages originated from Sanskrit. Without a mother tongue, India cannot be united. Democracy, trade, services and culture will perish.

Caste has become a stumbling block before Hindu unity. Reservation in government jobs on the basis of caste for a long time further widens the divide. Today the demand for reservation also comes from progressive Hindu communities like Marathas, Jats, Kapus and Brahmins in some states. In order to cement the caste divide the government should nurture multiple economic sectors and protect the livelihood of people in the natural sectors as it is impossible to create jobs in urban centers for more than 142 crore people. For example, a healthy river may not give huge income to people but it will give people enough to live happily. The river provides fish, water for farming, waterway, healthy climate and it makes the pilgrim places beautiful; it adds spiritual value. Similarly lakes, ponds, forest and hills have immense hidden potential to generate employment and happiness on a sustainable basis. Indian villages have potential to generate per head net income of Rs 25000 per month and prevent migration of a large number of villagers to cities for small jobs. This is better than earning an average Rs 10000.00 per month in a city. It is very urgent to give quality education to backward communities so that they would become equally efficient like others. The unity in Hindu community is not possible without the removal of the caste divides followed by job creation in multiple sectors.

Property dispute divides the Hindu families. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 allows daughters to share the ancestral property equally with sons. It leads to disputes, devorces, divisions and the erosion of age-old family bonds in the Hindu families. A married daughter inherits the property of her husband and in-laws; now she and her children can also claim the share in the property of her own parents. Similarly, the son’s wife can claim her own parent’s property. If the ancestral property consists of huge land and buildings, the daughters can claim it if they wish. It won’t harm both brothers and sisters. If the ancestral house is small it creates difficulties and discomfort to the son who maintains the small ancestral house, performs rituals and carries family responsibility etc. Small ancestral house with a built up area measuring up to 2000 sq feet should not be claimed by married daughters and their children. A destitute daughter should always have the right to live in her parent’s house with brothers as long as she lives. Today, millions of small ancestral houses of the Hindus are being sold or crumbled due to legal disputes. When the house is gone, the culture, family history and the sweet memory of a closely knit Hindu family is erased forever. There is an absolute need for further amendment of the property Act 2005, keeping in view of the culture and family relation in the Hindu family.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest Hindu voluntary organization in the world, has been trying to unite, protect and preserve the Hindu culture for the last 100 years. The Sangh volunteers all over India sing one patriotic song in Sanskrit which brings unity among the Hindus. Their leaders say Hinduism is a way of life in India and people from all religions can become RSS volunteers and work for nation building. RSS over the decades has inculcated strict discipline among its cadres; it has taught them indigenous games, self defense, social work, leadership skills, history and culture of India. The RSS’ method was successful in uniting the Hindus in India. When Janata Party came to power in 1977, many RSS workers became BJP leaders. Since then RSS has been devoting its time and energy to expand the BJP base. RSS provides leaders and ideological inputs to BJP. The task of expanding BJP has an adverse impact on RSS’ day to day Sakhas which was once the nursery of Hindu nationalism.

Over the years hundreds of RSS morning Sakhas have disappeared due to high cost of living and growing unemployment. Consumerism, aggressive monetisation of services and the lifestyle change due to the impact of foreign culture etc reduces the daily attendance in the RSS Shakhas. Today the majority of the middle class Hindus have one child and the parents don’t want their child to become a Pracharak (RSS lifetime worker). The RSS leaders from time to time appeal to people to have two or three children. It has little impact on people as price rise in essential items do not allow the Hindus to take risk. Besides, the Indian youth waste time on smartphones, pubs and malls but have little time to learn discipline, patriotism and develop physical and mental ability in RSS Shakhas. The disappearance of open space and public playgrounds is one of the main reasons for the dwindling morning Sakhas. The survival of Hinduism with its core principle “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”(the world is one family) is a must for world peace and prosperity. But, the multiple divisions in the Hindu community show the unity among the Hindus will take quite a long time.