Where I disagree is that BJP is equally deracinated as the Communists.
If Cong-Com were in power they’d bring the Communal Violence Bill for legal Hindu slaughter.
But yes, there is a danger in replicating Protestant critiques of “empty rituals” and being enamored of Scientism.
Cultivation of Hindu hate comes from the needs of colonialism and evangelism, which seeded the academic memes to study India in the last 150 years.
Colonialism fashioned a "Sikh identity" in opposition to "Hindu" to serve the needs of the British army.
To control a Hindu civilizational state, different groups had to be split to regard the Hindu as the "other." "Sikh" creation was literally done via the army, which excluded non-keshadharis and even non-jats.
This is Macauliffe on the British Army fashioning the "Sikh religion."
Similarly, for the conversion of Indian, the evangelicals had to set up different groups in opposition. People were rooted in their own traditions. To cut roots, hate was necessary.
So you say: 1. "Tribals" were never Hindu 2. Hindus oppressed you 3. "Hinduism" is for Brahmins
Hindu society was organized so that everyone thought they were "on top." It was a heterarchy not hierarchy. Brahmins assented to this colonial meme because *like everyone else* they also think they were "on top." So they went with the colonial narrative.
What about the vast majority of farmers who are happy with the laws and not protesting? You want a few anarchists to hold them to ransom? Elections are the way to decide if people and farmers support the laws.
Marco Polo's observation about India. From Venice, he travelled extensively in the Middle East and China. Of course, take accounts with a grain of salt.
But of India, likely Tanjore, "it is the richest and most splendid province in the world." This from the Court of Kublai Khan.
Also observed by other ancient travellers. That people in India do not drink alcohol. Another traveller (I forget which) said that this is considered "low" because it causes loss of awareness. At the same time sexual pleasure is not "sinful." (Sex as sin comes from Christianity).
This quote that led me to the book—in India dark skin is a sign of beauty. "God and saints are black, devils are all white."
He is using a Christian lens, but this is certainly true as deities go. Vishnu, Rama. Krishna, are all dark. White-preference happens after colonialism.
The persecution of Greek philosophers by Christians led to them fleeing to the Middle East. From the 8th to 14th c there was a flourishing of knowledge in Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate, building on pagan knowledge.
As @MeruPrastara documents, the flourishing of knowledge during this period had little to do with Islam per se but was a continuation of earlier pagan knowledge built up by the Arab & Persians, from Greek sources and knowledge from India and China. 2/