Hindu Youth for Unity, Virtues, and Action (YUVA) at UC Berkeley organized a successful dialogue on the evolution of the Indian (Bharatiya) Civilization and its significance for Hindu Americans on Mar. 3. J Sai Deepak, a prominent lawyer from the Supreme Court of India and a bestselling author, delivered a presentation highlighting the significance of Bharat’s cultural renaissance, the prejudice against indigenous scholars, and the role of Hindu Americans as advocates for a decolonized Hindu Dharma.
“As long as you choose to see Hindutva as a political movement, you forget the social undercurrents,” Deepak said. “And what you’re saying is that all the people who subscribe to Hindutva are zombies who are being led by a certain pied piper in a particular direction and they are not capable of individual thinking. That we have no urge to free ourselves from the shackles of colonial thought. Or, we don’t have the right to do so. The fact that we are agency to say that I don’t want to subscribe to this anymore, I have seen the destruction it has brought on my people and I want to change it, that agency is not being deprived from you. That is the central problem.”
More than 200 students from UC Berkeley and members of Hindu YUVA participated in the dialogue, engaging in a meaningful and enlightening discussion. Topics covered included the history of Hindus as a civilization, the role of Hindutva in India's current socio-political landscape, and the relationship between India as a postcolonial nation-state and Bharat, the ancient birthplace of Hindu civilization, which serves as inspiration for the Indian diaspora in the US.
I can't stop laughing! Khlistani clwns were raising slogans "IDF KKK RSS all are the same" and trying to interrupt talk about @jsaideepak ji at UC Berkeley Hindu YUVA’s “Bharatam” event, but he casually walked out with a smile and decided to own the whole crowd pic.twitter.com/YTk6ymlDB3
— Āryā_Anvikṣā
“The survival of Hindu dharma, in the mothership and outside, will serve as an inspiration for all other indigenous cultures that are struggling to regain themselves and revive themselves. The existence of Hindu dharma will make it possible for everybody else to exist,” Deepak added.
“Why is it okay for people to use ethnocentric stereotypes in the context of Bharat where it's accommodated races of all kinds? Because Hinduism is not an ethnocentric religion. It is a consciousness-centric religion.” Speaking on the “controversial” topic of Jati Varna he said, “The Jati Varna complex has been Bharat’s way of accommodating different tribes as part of the Hindu faith system, depending on their collective consciousness, which is to say, if it's a warlike tribe, let's sort it under the Marshall category. If it happens to have a mercantile tendency, let's put it in a different category. If it happens to be a tribe, that thinks that the pursuit of knowledge, is its go-to instinct, then put it under a different category.”
@jsaideepak addresses Hinduphobia, Decolonial Hinduism, and Hindutva at “Bharatam” event hosted by Hindu YUVA at @UCBerkeley pic.twitter.com/5ZEKVOWYgP
— Hindu YUVA (@HinduYUVAUSA) March 5, 2024Hindu YUVA is dedicated to upholding, safeguarding, advancing, and embodying Hindu Dharma on university campuses throughout North America.
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