Why I am a Hindu
By Justice Markandey Katju
I am a Hindu, and will always remain one. That is because I am a confirmed atheist, and believe all religions are false and superstitions.
Only in Hinduism is there a philosophy that is acceptable to me, viz, the Nyaya philosophy, which is one of the 6 classical 'shatdarshanas', and which says there is no God, soul, angels, or other supernatural beings, or the Charvak philosophy, which is one of the non classical ones.
In no other religion except in Hinduism can one say that there is no God, and yet remain in the fold of that religion. One cannot say that there is no God and yet remain a Christian, or say that there is no Allah or farishtas ( angels, like Jibreel ), and yet remain a Muslim. But one can say, like a Nyayik or the Charvakas, that there is no God, angels, soul, etc ( as I do ) and yet remain a Hindu.
I openly say that there is no God, no angels, no thing called soul, and therefore no transmigration of the soul, and yet no 'fatwa' was ever issued against me, not even by die-hard orthodox Hindus. Can one openly say in Pakistan that there is no Allah without being killed?
I have often said that calling a cow 'gomata' is nonsense. How can an animal be a mother of a human being? A cow is just an animal, like a horse or a dog. 90% of the world eats beef. Are all who say this, or eat beef, sinners? I have often said it, and have eaten beef ( wherever legally permitted ), yet no fatwa has ever been issued against me by Hindu organisations.
I believe that the truth lies in science, and that is precisely what the Nyaya system of Hindu philosophy says, viz, that there is nothing acceptable unless it is in accordance with reason and experience.
Although I eat beef ( and pork ) and am an atheist, I am a strong champion of Sanskrit and the Hindu Nyaya philosophy ( see my articles ' Sanskrit as a language of science ', ' Nyaya or Vedanta ? ', ' Indian philosophy ', etc on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in as well as on Facebook and kgfindia.com).
Most Hindus, and most members of organizations and parties who claim to represent Hindus, have little or no idea of the great Hindu intellectualism of the past, and of the real great intellectual achievements of our ancestors, e.g. decimal system in mathematics ( invented by Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Varahamira, Bhaskar, etc ), plastic surgery in medicine ( invented by Sushrut ), a scientific grammar ( created by Panini ) etc, and instead make false boasts e.g. that there were atom bombs, guided missiles, aeroplanes etc in ancient India, or that Hindus discovered head transplant and genetic engineering ( see my blogs ' Making us a laughing stock ', ' Mixing the true with the untrue ', ' A visit to Akshardham ', etc ).
Thus, I am a real Hindu, rather than these so-called Hindus, and organizations and parties which claim to represent Hindus, but really know little or nothing about Hinduism.
This is why I am a staunch Hindu, while being a staunch atheist.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
