Subimal Chakraborty asked: In what sense are the Hindus fragmented? And how is it impacting the Indian politics? If Hindus were not "fragmented", how could their influence be wider "in the Indian policy making?" With broader and solid unity would they have more "Hindu agenda" pushed forward? Roy has raised a very serious and thought provoking issue. You should be able to figure it out on your own. Anyway, Indian Hindus are fragmented by caste system, ethnicity, language, culture, economic opportunities, etc. Indian Hindus are more ethnically and culturally bound; they are only loosely bound to their religious affiliations. This is because – Hindu religious philosophy itself has boundless diversity, which cannot unite all Hindus. As a result, Indian Hindu-brotherhood cannot even get across their state boundaries, while Islamic brotherhood can transcend across the continental boundaries. Due to such disunity, Hindus have never been a major political force to sway Indian State policies solely towards their own interests. Even in West Bengal, Muslim voting-bloc decides the winners and losers, even though they are only ~20% of the population there. I think - such condition is a blessing in disguise; it is helping India to maintain her secular political system. Of course - where there is good there is bad also. Secular Indian philosophy has been a fertile ground for religious proselytizers, and Hindus have been the major victim of such activities due to their loose religious affiliation. Yes, it is true - if Hindus were strongly bound by religious united, there would have been more Hindu agenda, which would, obviously, go against the interest of other religious minority communities. The case in point is Pakistan, which had ~15% Hindu population in 1947, now ~1%. Therefore, from the religious minority point of view, secular Indian policy is a blessing. In fact, a secular political policy is the foundation of a true democratic system. My main point was to emphasize that Indian policies are influenced by secular interests of Hindu, Muslim, Shikh, Christian, and other communities. So, when Bangladeshi politicians talk about the influence of Indian "Babus" or "Dadas" on Bangladeshi policies, they mean influence of Indian Hindus on Bangladesh; nothing can be further from the truth. They never look back to see when the last time Hindus ruled India.
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