Hindus - In Information warfare.

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>Information Age and Information Wars > >We live in the age of the information

revolution, which has taken a quantum leap since the introduction of computers.

The information flood is changing the nature of the society in which we live in

ways that we do not yet know and for which there is no precedent This

information revolution is in many respects an information war, with different

groups struggling to put their views out to the general public as the truth. It

is often a disinformation war as well, with groups trying to discredit those who

have different views, using the media as their weapon. > >In this contest

whoever puts out information first usually gains credibility by defining the

field. Whoever puts out information in the most sophisticated and high tech

manner has the most audience and generally succeed in promoting their agenda.

In the media realm packaging is more important than content and strong

assertion often takes the role of real proof. People tend to believe what has

been well presented in the media, even if it is otherwise biased or limited.

Billions of dollars are being poured by various vested interest groups into

this information war, with religious and political groups making great efforts

to represent themselves in this new global arena. Advertisement, public

relations, and lobbyists are hard at work, often to the highest bidder, to give

a good image and strong media presence to their clients, if the price is right.

> >We live in a mass media dominated society, with daily exposure to some sort

of radio, television, computer, newspaper or magazine. It has been said that

the media is the message, that the media itself has made itself into the focus

of our lives. The media has thus become our mind. Many of us spend more time

taking in media information than interacting with other people or with the

world of nature. These media images serve to build up our minds down to a

subconscious level. They program our behavior, a fact that advertising has long

known and sought to benefit from (e.g. tobacco companies). > >Now the Western

information and media culture is spreading throughout the entire world,

including what is called the third world, with the globalization of the world

economy. Even villages are now getting television and the other trappings of

Western modernity. India, China, and Asia in general are being brought under

the influence of the media world. Unfortunately, this Western media and

commercial culture continues the same goals and influences as previous colonial

forces, which only fifty years ago lost hold in Asia. This commercial culture

seeks to supplant native and traditional Cultures with a Western model, not

only in terms of practical conveniences but in terms of thought and belief. It

attempts to Americanize or Europeanize the world. Western religious groups,

particularly Christian Evangelical groups, are learning to use the media for

their advantage as well, doing preaching and proselytizing, and broadcasting

their mass rallies through the media. Yet Christians as a whole use the media

in Asia to promote their agenda over native Asian religions, which the media

often stereotypes as primitive. > >However Hindus today have failed perhaps

more than any other group to create a defense for their culture in the media

world. Hindus are routinely portrayed through stereotypes of caste, dowry

deaths, widow burning, strange cults, poverty and superstition. The worship of

Shiva appears in the New York Times as the phallic cult of the God of

destruction. Krishna is portrayed in Western universities as an erotic God with

questionable morals. Brahmins appear in the Western media as >rich landowners

op-pressing their poor slave Shudras, right out of communist propaganda

stories. (Reverend Pat Robertson, while in India, condemned Hindus bathing in

their sacred river as those bathing in the sperm of Shiva) > >Islamic groups

are also realizing the power of the media and spending large sums to influence

public opinion in the Western world, stressing the humanistic side of Islam.

The Islamic lobby in the United States is one of the largest lobby groups in

the country. In Islamic countries the power of the media is recognized both for

good and ill. The media is strictly controlled by the state to project an

Islamic image, and portray Islam only in a positive light, while striving to

keep the Western media and its views out > >In the context of India the

question arises where are Hindus (or Sanatanis) in this information war and

media presentation? The answer is that, with a few notable exceptions, Hindus

generally are not present or only feebly present, apologetic or half-hearted in

their self-presentation in the information field. The image of Hindus and of

Hinduism that prevails in the information age is created by non-Hindus and by

anti-Hindu forces, not only by intention but also by default because Hindus

themselves seldom challenge wrong views or provide an alternative. In this way

Sanatana Dharma is being eroded, particularly in the minds of young Hindus, who

seldom find their Dharma represented, or who find it denigrated in the media. >

> >Sanatana Dharma Under Siege - Hindus a Persecuted Majority in India > >Since

independence India has been dominated by Marxist and socialist thinking that has

viewed Hinduism, with its spiritual and religious values, as its main enemy. Now

gradually a more commercial influence is arising with economic liberalization,

but it similarly is trying to undermine and replace Hindu culture, as the

latter's self-sufficiency and spirituality are incompatible with its material

commercial culture. Hindu culture, which managed to survive as the predominant

model in India even through a thousand years of domination by first Islamic and

then European Christian influences, finds itself under a new threat, less overt

but perhaps for that very reason more dangerous. > >The world mass media seldom

considers any Hindu point of view. Though Hindus are the third largest religion

in the world, and the largest non-biblical tradition, in many presentations of

world religions Hindus are left out or denigrated as polytheists, idolaters and

animists. Some >universities in the West teach that Hinduism is not a religion

at all but a collection of cults mainly of a primitive nature. Such schools

also teach that India as a nation was created by the British and was otherwise

just a collection of warring states with little in common. > >Though India is

the largest democracy in the world and the second most populated country, it

has no permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. In events of global

importance neither an Indian nor a Hindu point of view are given much

consideration. In Bangladesh Hindus are under siege and frequently have their

property taken from them. In Pakistan Hindus have been almost entirely

eliminated. In neither country has there ever been any Prominent Hindu leaders

or government officials. In Fiji Hindus are routinely oppressed. In Malaysia

they have to accept an inferior position, where Hindus can be converted to

Islam but no Muslims can become Hindus. When Hindus work in Islamic Gulf

countries Hindus have to hide their religion. Saudi Arabia requires that India

send only a Muslim ambassador and India has always meekly complied, bowing down

to a nation with 1/20 its population! Could Saudis dare to insist on a Muslim

ambassador from USA, France or China? > >In India itself foreign missionary

activity is perhaps at its highest point in history, particularly targeting

tribal groups, even to the extent of encouraging them to secede from the nation

and form Christian states. In South India Catholic priests routinely dress up

like Hindu Swamis and go to the villages speaking of Yoga and Vedanta in order

to convert Hindus to Christianity. Yet Hindus seldom raise a voice and the

world hardly knows of these facts. And, most strangely, it is the media of

India that works probably the hardest to suppress knowledge of these goings on.

> >In America the large Islamic lobbyist money works to promote a positive image

of Islam and does not hesitate to denigrate Hindus or India. In England

Pakistanis organize to create a political influence and bend their politicians

to criticize India on Kashmir, while Hindus in the same country, in perhaps

larger numbers and affluence, do little to counter this. There are many other

examples of the same phenomenon, a Hindu indifference to the media that puts

them at a disadvantage even in their own country. > >The intelligentsia of

India since independence has been often self-righteously anti-Hindu and naively

accepting Western ideologies, often merely echoing or imitating the old colonial

and missionary propaganda against their own venerable complex religion that

appears alien to these disenfranchised souls. The result is that the ruling

political parties of India have done little to protect the dominant culture of

the country from media distortions but have in fact often encouraged these.

They have used anti-Hindu propaganda projected through the media both in the

West and in India to try to keep Hindus suppressed and afraid of asserting

themselves, so that there is no Hindu challenge to their power. The result is

that Hinduism continues under siege and often with little defense, particularly

in this new battleground. Even Hindu religious groups and leaders are often more

concerned about their own particular faction and seldom willing to come to the

defense of the Dharma as a whole. > >Clearly unless this situation is corrected

the future of Hinduism is threatened or at least diminished. While several Hindu

groups have noticed this problem, it still has yet to be faced and addressed in

a complete manner. Hindu society is becoming aware of their difficulty but it

has yet to really awaken and deal with it in the real world. > >The front line

of the battle in the world today is no longer on any particular battlefield

with the exchange of bullets or bombs. It lies now in the media and in the

information field, which can be quite as deadly and poisoning in its results as

any battlefield. Even the battles that are fought with weapons gain much more

importance if the media is there. A few people killed in Israel can become

world news and shape global strategies because of the media. Dozens of people

killed in Sudan or China, where there is no media, will have no effect. > >In

this information war a different kind of warrior is necessary and a different

strategy is required. This is not an entirely new issue because there has

always been something of an information war in the clash of cultures, nations

and religions that has occurred throughout history. But today it has much more

importance in the information age and has become the central Issue. >

>Intellectual Kshatriya > >Each culture has its intellectual defenders. These

are its great thinkers who articulate its cultural values. These intellectual

defenders serve to challenge negative views of the culture. They also serve to

present a more favorable image of the culture and define its culture. Hindus

traditionally had their Kshatriya (Varna) or warrior class to defend them.

There has always been an intellectual Kshatriya as well, those who defend the

culture from attack in the realm of ideas, which usually precedes or

accompanies physical attack. > >What Hindus need today, in fact what the whole

world needs is an intellectual Kshatriya or intellectual warrior class

(bauddhika kshatriya). It needs a group of dedicated workers and activists who

uphold the Dharma against this media and information onslaught. Such

individuals must be above commercial manipulation and self-promotion, working

tirelessly to counter this disinformation flood. > >Yet this movement must

start in India and in the Hindu community itself to be really credible. For

example, when Hindus in America complained against media distortions of Hindu

groups in India to the New York times they were told that the information came

from Delhi itself. Clearly the change must start in India to have any real

effect, but this can be aided by the activities of Hindus all over the world. >

>In India the English language media is generally anti-Hindu and often

pro-Marxist. The universities in India are frequently dominated by professors

whose heart is not in the Dharma of their country but in Western materialism.

Kerala and Bengal today remain under the yoke of communist governments. In

Kerala and in Bengal, Hindu sadhus are commonly attacked. It is no wonder that

Hindus outside of India are subjected to oppression, when Hindus in India

itself are under siege. > >The Vedas say that Brahma (or spiritual power) and

Kshatra (or political power) must go together. When spiritual power develops it

creates an appropriate Kshatra or social power to extend its influence into

society. It provides a dharmic order to our human relations, both individual

and collective. If spiritual power fails to impact the social order and raise

the social Dharma, then it is a sign that this spiritual power itself has

failed, that it is not legitimate or real. > >Sri Krishna, the great Avatar,

worked throughout his life to create a dharmic Kshatriya, an order of noble

souls who could establish and sustain a dharmic social order. He was willing to

promote a great battle, a civil war among the Kshatriya themselves, to allow his

handpicked dharmic Kshatriya followers to gain power. He purified the Indian

Kshatriya with the blood of a dharmic war. Because of his great achievement a

Kshatriya order was established that maintained a dharmic society for many

centuries. This example should not be lost on us today. The Kshatriya of India

today, its social and political leaders, require a similar dharmic

purification, perhaps not a Kurukshetra in the literal sense but a purification

from false values and corrupt money-hungry cultures that are dominant today. >

>Let us also look at the example of the great Swami Vidyarananya of Sringeri,

an Advaitin and a Mayavadin, who yet inspired two Hindu Kshatriyas who became

Muslims to reconvert to Hinduism and found the great Hindu kingdom of

Vijayanagar to protect the Dharma. Would not one say that if all is Maya (or

illusion), why would a great Swami start a kingdom? Such a question shows a

profound misunderstanding of Hindu Dharma. One can only transcend the world by

fulfilling one's dharma and one's karma, and even if one has done so for

oneself, one still has the duty to others to teach, guide and raise the world.

Let us also look at the example of Samartha Ramdas, who inspired the great King

Shivaji. > >Unfortunately so far modern India has not created a Prime Minister

of this sort of inspiration. Many modern Hindus, taking up an excessive view of

non-violence, have rejected the idea of any Hindu Kshatriya altogether. They

have felt that Hindus should not have an army and should not defend themselves

against violence, but should rather offer themselves meekly to their enemies.

This false attitude may have led to the idea that Hindus should not even

challenge media distortions of them. > >However in the Vedic view a country

cannot exist without a Kshatriya order, which is the pillar of the society. The

Mahabharata states that if there is not a righteous Kshatriya rulership that

employs the danda or is willing to punish adharma, then the people will end up

eating each other. In the information age we could say that if Hindus do not

create an intellectual Kshatriya then the people will end up destroying

themselves with false beliefs and propaganda. > >If a dharmic Kshatriya is not

created through the force of Brahmic or spiritual knowledge, then the law is

that an adharmic Kshatriya will come to fill in the vacuum. This is exactly

what occurred not only in modern India but throughout the rest of the world.

After the excessive non-violence in the Indian independence movement no genuine

Kshatriya could or was created in the country. This left the country prey to a

false Kshatriya, based mainly upon Marxist ideals, mixed with war lord

temperaments, such as we have found in communist countries, who similarly have

misled the people and prevented the real growth of the nation. > >One must

remember the example of the Sikhs in India Originally a purely spiritual

movement, they were forced to take up arms and to adapt a Kshatriya order by

the cruel oppression perpetrated against them by the Muslim rulers of the time,

in which torture and genocide was the rule of the day. Under that order they

grew and flourished and became a force to be reckoned with. > >Unfortunately

India as a whole at that time did not take up the call of Sikh Dharma, which

was the call for a real Kshatriya revival. The resurgent voice of Hindu Dharma

that both Brahma and Kshatra are required, that spiritual knowledge must create

a strong social order and discipline, was muffled. This movement of a new

spiritual Kshatriya of modern Hindus, which the Sikhs began, needs to be

completed today, not only for the resurgence of Hindu society but for the

revival of Sanatana Dharma or the universal tradition of truth throughout the

world. But it must be completed not so much in the field of arms as in the

field of ideas. The only Kshatriya that can carry the day today is the

intellectual Kshatriya. > >Hindus must create a new intelligentsia that has the

power to overcome and absorb the alienated and Western dominated intellectuals

of India. Hindus must project an Intellectual view that is articulate and

compelling. They must bring the influence of Sanatana Dharma to the

intelligentsia of the world. For a culture that has produced such thinkers as

the Vedic seers, Upanishadic sages, Kapila, Buddha, Patanjali and Shankara, and

in the modern times Sri Aurobindo, J. Krishnamorthy, and Ramana Maharshi, this

is certainly possible. In fact we can find in such great modem figures of India

as Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda good models of intellectual Kshatriya as

well as spiritual masters. Clearly the success of Hindus in such intellectual

fields as science, computers, engineering and medicine shows that they have the

capacity. What is lacking is the motivation, the guidance, and perhaps the

inspiration. > >Another mistake Hindus have made is being too accommodating

under the guise of synthesis, which erodes clear thinking. Under the guise that

all religions are one Hindus hesitate to develop a proper criticism, however

justified, of the exclusivist creeds working to convert them, and of other

adharmic actions done in the name of religion in the world. There is also the

danger that in trying to attract minorities into their fold Hindu groups in

India will seek to appease minorities rather than to help them in a dharmic

way. The true Kshatriya will help and lead, giving a positive direction for

others to follow, not merely appease and accommodate in order to gain

popularity. A true Kshatriya is devoted to dharma and cannot be won over by

fame, influence or money. > >The youth in particular need to be awakened to

this call for an intellectual Kshatriya. They have the idealism and the vision

of the future, as well as the vitality, but this needs to be directed not only

by a spiritual urge but one that addresses the problems of society as well. To

be truly relevant, particularly to the youth, this intellectual voice must

address not only the social issues of today but environmental problems, the

role of science, and the future evolution of humanity. > >Conclusion, A Code

for Intellectual Kshatriya > >An intellectual Kshatriya must not merely be

defensive but creative and expansive. It must project a positive view of Hindu

Dharma, and give it a futuristic vision. Its purpose is not merely to adjust

present or historical wrongs but chart out a new direction for all to follow.

In this regard Hindu intellectuals must go to the universal roots of their

tradition and find a compelling vision that can gather people of all

backgrounds, helping them break through limited and unspiritual beliefs, toward

a yogic vision of humanity. This is not to water down Hindu Dharma but to

revitalize it in the world today. This new Kshatriya must be willing to spread

Hindu Dharma in a dynamic way along the lines of the old Vedic impulse,

'krinvanto vishvam aryam', make all the world noble. > >Such an intellectual

Kshatriya must be based upon deep thought. It cannot be developed through mere

rhetoric, character assassination, or slogans. It requires not only a well

thought out critique but a positive program of action. It requires not only a

Hindu examination of religion, science and politics, but the creation of a

Hindu alternative to existing systems. It also requires a model for

revitalizing Hindu society itself. > >Challenge Media Distortions! > >For those

who wish to take up the role of intellectual Kshatriya there is much that can be

done. An intellectual Kshatriya must challenge media distortions, whether in

schools, books, newspapers, or in the media or the internet. It must also

produce genuine information expressing the truth of Sanatana Dharma, whether

relative to history, art, politics, religion or philosophy. This means a new

revival in the field of Hindu education, which is perhaps the key factor. >

>This Hindu intelligentsia must be willing to debate with other groups,

including exposing their distortions and wrongs beliefs. It must resurrect the

tradition of tarka or intellectual debate that makes the darshanas or

philosophies of Hinduism so significant It must create a forum in which

everything is critically examined so only truth prevails. In short, it must

wield the sword of viveka or discrimination, discerning the true from the

false, and not bowing down to ignorance >anywhere. > >Raise Ethical Challenge!

> >This new intellectual Kshatriya must also throw up an ethical challenge,

which the challenge of dharma, exposing the danger of exclusivist religious

cults, materialistic political philosophies, and unchecked commercialism. The

West throws its ethical challenge to the world, criticizing other countries,

including India, for a lack of human rights. This requires a Hindu response.

Let us take an obvious example, the same America that tries to speak for human

fights and democracy all over the world is also the biggest weapons seller and

arms supplier in the world. The biggest buyers of these weapons are the Gulf

oil producing Islamic states, none of which are democracies and none of which

have good human rights records, yet none of which are under any American

imposed sanctions. Clearly the Western voice of human rights is not truly

dharmic but motivated by commercial and nationalistic interests. Hindus need to

create an ethical alternative to such >questionable Western humanitarianism. >

>Honor and Support Truth! > >For it to truly develop Hindu groups must

cultivate and honor their intellectual Kshatriya, which not only includes

listening to them but promoting their views, and funding their work if

necessary. They must stop hiding in the veil of spirituality and allowing the

forces of adharma to rule the world and even pontificate over their religion,

telling them what it is and what it is worth. > >Fight for New World Order! >

>In Western Intellectual circles the talk today is of a "clash of

civilizations." This is mainly spoken of as a clash between the West and Islam,

or a clash between the West and Chinese culture. In this clash of world

civilizations the Hindu has been recognized as one of the players but has

already been written off as minor. Why is this the case? Because the Hindu

voice has only a small place in the world sphere whether politically,

economically or Intellectually. Clearly without an >intellectual Kshatriya,

Hindus will not likely be part of this churning out of a new world order. >

>Find True Spirituality! > >Should we rather not speak of Rama and Krishna and

forget this turmoil of Kali Yuga, some might say? True spirituality is not an

escape but a transcendence. A truly spiritual person can face the facts of the

world, however unpleasant without having to turn away or without losing inner

>composure. This is also the message of Rama and Krishna, if we really look at

their lives ad actions. > >Uphold Dharma! > >There are those who may fear that

an intellectual Hindu Kshatriya may promote a new Hindu fundamentalism or

oppression of minorities in India. The Hindu Kshatriya tradition is not one of

aggression but of protection, not of forcing conversion to a religion but

upholding the Dharma. It is a tradition of holding to truth and creating a

culture in which freedom to pursue truth, not only in the outer world, but in

the religious realm, is preserved. Is this not what the global age really

requires? It is time for that Kshatriya to arise again. The extent that it does

will be the measure of the future of India and perhaps of any dharmic revival in

this generally adharmic world. Let us hope that this call is heeded! Who is

there to answer it? > >- David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri) >American Institute

of Vedic Studies, Santa Fe, NM > >- T.R.N. Rao >University of Southwestern

Louisiana, Lafayette, LA > >May 19, 200 > MSN Photos is the easiest way to

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