Book Reviewed: Rearming Hinduism by Vamsee Juluri

Perceptions of Hinduphobia The anti-Hindu sentiments is a warfare catalyzed by the current trends in the cancel culture, Marxism and wokism that has led to the Critical Race Theory or Caste system in the United States. For the followers of Vedic Dharma, the caste is equated with race. Marginalized communities in India are considered as Blacks and Brahmins as the Whites even though racially they are identical and follow a homogeneous culture. Diametrically opposed groups like Muslims and LGBTQ+ are categorized together, which has weaponized Muslims to play the victim card under the so called “Hindu nationalism.” The media seem to suggest that the caste system is actively practiced in modern India like the Whites treated Black people during civil rights era in the United States, which is untrue. Hinduphobia has become a mission to dismantle Indigenous civilization and its heritage. The colonial rule regraded the Hindu culture as primitive, hedonistic, idol-worshipping focused on animal sacrifices, and the myth of Aryan invasion that brought civilization to the Indian tribes. The anti-Hindu sentiments are fueled in the Western hemisphere by religious intolerance, lack of religious literacy, misrepresentation in the media, woke academic culture and racism. Hinduphobic rhetoric is reducing the entirety of Sanatana Dharma to a rigid, oppressive, and regressive tradition. In this book, the author makes an enthusiastic argument using the wisdom of Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Puranas, the Bhagavadgita and the underlying philosophies of Sankhya and Vedanta that flows in all these sacred scriptures. They are not merely Indology texts, as termed since the colonial rule, but they are perennial metaphysical Ideas that emerged to make connections with the cosmos and the Creating Entity, which is called Brahman or the Pure Consciousness, or the Supreme Being. The richness of the Hindu belief system originated from deep thinking form hundreds of rishis, sages, gurus, emperors, and Hindu leaders which are described in the vast Sanskrit literature. It did not come from One son of God, One Messenger of God, or One Prophet or One sacred text. Intense polarization in the academic world and social media has done much harm to the interests of Hindus and the Vedic belief system.