People calling themselves ”Hindu Atheists” cite Vir Savarkar as an example. But was Savarkar really an atheist ? Nowhere in his vast writings over several decades has he described himself as one. In many of his books, article, speeches and poems Savarkar evokes God ...(1/n)
Dharma, Divinity, Divine grace, Devi Maa, Puranas, Itihasas etc in a huge number of contexts. Savarkar also mentions the Divine Mother giving him strength during his arrest and imprisionment in Kalapani. Its argued by some that Savarkar was an adherent of the Samkhya .. (2/n)
darshan which is an orthodox Hindu (aastik) philosophical school of thought, but thats another topic. It is true that Savarkar was a critic of Hinduism as it was practiced by the Hindus of his time, rife with what he saw as “superstitious beliefs” and casteism ... (3/n)
Additionally, Savarkar conceptualized Hindutva as nationalistic doctrine to bring together Dharmic religionists throughout India into a political front. Like many of the other political ideologies of that time, Hindutva too had some influences from European nationalisms... (4/n)
Finally, it is irresponsible of “Hindu Atheists” who derive their inspiration from Dawkins & Hitchens and not any Hindu scripture to cite the example of Savarkar and state that Hinduism recognizes Atheism as a valid philosophy... (5/n)
People are free to follow whatever they want, just don’t play fast and loose with the core concepts of Hinduism. (n/n)
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