Dhimmitude

Dhimmitude in the Hindu context

Establishing an analytical framework for reassessment of historical and contemporary Hindu attitude towards Islam

Dhimmitude generally refers to attitude among the Christians, denoting concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islamic demands. The Arabic term Dhimmi refers to “the people of the book” viz. Christians and Jews, who are accorded a second-class status in an Islamic state. There has been a long tradition of similar attitude among Hindus. The status of Hindus (including Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and practitioners of other sampradayas) who are ‘Kafirs’ in Islamic terms, is much lower to that of Dhimmis in Islam. However, this social behaviour has not been studied and theorized in a structured and systematic manner. Hindus have traditionally accepted Islam as “just another way of reaching the Supreme Being” and never analyzed its theological parameters juxtaposed against the civilizational parameters of Hinduism. Consequently, a debilitating state of public and collective social policy formulation vis-a-vis Islam and its derivatives has come into being. This lacuna is easily seen in many instances - be it terrorism, or Kashmir issue / Article 370, or reservations for muslims. Historically, India has paid a heavy price in the form of partition due to the same lacuna in understanding the true nature of Islam and formulating an appropriate public policy and collective Hindu social response.

Islam’s intervention in India and its impact on the Hindu society and the Indian state need to be reassessed in light of 13 centuries of past experience, and the continuing disability to resolve some of the most intractable issues that are a product thereof. The Indian state post-1947, and the Hindu society since time immemorial have conceded unilateral concessions to Islam in view of its own harmonious existentialist framework, and yet no practical assurance of peaceful existence has been obtained from the other side. A few Hindu leaders had hoped that after giving up such a great amount of land in 1947 would quench the hunger and thirst of Islam, but the disharmony continues today even as large parts of residual India are on the verge of same depravity that other parts, now lost, were during past years.

Therefore, it is important to take a second look at the Hindu approach towards Islam, and thus the veritable need to establish a new analytical framework to reassess past history and build a new narrative for the present public discourse. The purpose of this endeavour is to build necessary intellectual framework that can re-interpret Hindu attitude towards Islam based on the principle of reciprocity, to see Hindu-Muslim relations in a new light, to empower the Hindu society and the Indian state to discern a more realistic nature of Islam, and thereupon formulate policy accordingly.