“The Hindu may have failed to carry out all his plans, but if there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite like the God, it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike; which will not be Brahminic or Buddhistic, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all these, and still have infinite space for development; which in its catholicity will embrace in its infinite arms, and find a place for, every human being, from the lowest grovelling savage not far removed from the brute, to the highest man towering by the virtues of his head and heart almost above humanity, making society stand in awe of him and doubt his human nature. It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognise divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be created in aiding humanity to realise its own true, divine nature” — Swami Vivekananda, PAPER ON HINDUISM, Read at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, on September 19, 1893
Just 2500 Hindus came together in Chicago to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic speech there in the Parliament of Religions. Many Hindu sects and service organisations represented there. They were only discussing Hindu issues and how the message of Universal Brotherhood articulated by Vivekananda can be conveyed to the larger audience. Still, this confluence rattled many, not just in Bharat but even in the US. Why do these people oppose anything that is to do with the word ‘Hindu’? The success of World Hindu Congress, 2018 provides the answer.
Whatever may be the discourse outside, in reality, all the plenary sessions and parallel conferences connect, share and inspire each other for the common cause through various platforms. Come what may, it was meant for proudly cherishing the Hindu Dharma and working in our own spheres of life with the universal principles. The concerns about Hindu persecution or anti-Hindu narrative were certainly raised, but nowhere any other religion or organisation was targeted. In fact, each time, every key-speaker insisted on being the best Hindu to serve the humanity.
Hindus coming from non-Bharatiya origin sharing notes and experiences with the Bharatiya Hindus and taking confidence along the Hindu heritage is another positive outcome of the conference. The message of Dharma is for humanity, and wherever we are, while remaining loyal citizens of the respective countries, we can carry forward the proud Hindu Heritage resonated throughout the conference.
The parallel conferences, on seven key areas, allowed the brainstorming and deliberations on key issues and challenges about the Hindu Perspective of universal acceptance. From education, women, youth, media to the issues of Hindu organisations, economic perspectives and political activities were deliberated upon with the outcome of the action-oriented programme.
These objectives were specifically mentioned while outlining the conference and conveyed to the speakers in advance. Therefore, Congressman Bill Foster, a scientist and businessman representing the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, did not just issue a welcome message to the delegates and dignitaries but recognised September 11, 2018, as Swami Vivekananda Day in the State of Illinois.
Essentially, the people are intolerant towards anything that is Hindu and deny proud Hindus even right to exist, term Hindus as the intolerant. As they try to apply Anglo-Saxon intellectual categories to the ancient Dharmik tradition, anything to do with the idea of Rashtra (which is nationalism for them) is a fascist according to them. They stretch themselves to the extent of targetting the US for taking action against Osama bin Laden.
The likes of Swami Vivekananda are real villains for them as it was Swamiji’s clarion call that awakened the nation and aroused its youth to fight for the country’s freedom. He taught them the elementary lessons of taking pride in the ancient culture and patriotism. For their misfortune, these so-called liberal-leftist-intellectuals cannot openly say so. Therefore, whoever by taking inspiration from Swami Vivekananda is involved in bringing Hindus together for the cause of humanity, they are rattled. Fortunately, Hindu Resurgence is a reality and the fight for restoration of Dharma continues. This is the sole message of the World Hindu Congress held in Chicago from September 7 to 9, 2018.
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