Times Kolkata Lit fest Q&A with Pavan Kumar Varma

Four questions to Pavan Kumar Varma, writer-diplomat, former JD(U) Rajya Sabha member.
Q. How do you react to the recent acts of vigilantism in the name of religion?
A. The recent aggression of the self-appointed evangelists is in direct correspondence to their level of ignorance of Hinduism. Hinduism is dialogic, eclectic, inclusive narrative based on the civilized art of discourse as embedded in the shastras.But to counter those who keep asserting a particular way by which one call him a Hindu, one should acquaint himself with the rich edifice of thought that Hinduism stands for.
Q. There is an allegation that followers of Shankaracharya were not very tolerant to other religion or the diverse stream of thoughts within Hinduism. How true is this?
A. This is not at all correct. In fact Adi Shankaracharya in his vashya has addressed all the six prevailing streams of Hinduism namely Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, Charvaka of which have no reference to God. Shankaracharya conjoined elements from all these streams and also took some elements from Buddhism while propounding the Advaita Vedanta philosophy. In fact, some used to call Shankaracharya a crypto-Buddhist. Violence within Hinduism is a distortion.
Q. What makes Hinduism different from other religions?
A. Hinduism, I should say, unlike other religions is a way of life. There is no one Pope, no specific ritual, not an ordained congregation for the followers of Hinduism. It is not a straitjacketed inflexible religion. On the contrary, it is religion and philosophy combined. Its weakness is that you may be a Hindu but get adrift from its philosophy if you don’t know what it is.
Q. How as a politician do you reconcile it when your party JD(U) is having an alliance with BJP?
A. So what? We stand by our view. JD(U) will unrelentingly fight against communalism, violence and corruption. That is is our view and we stick to it no matter the larger numbers BJP may have in the coalition. That is Atalji’s coalition dharma. You may have your view but you should be respectful to the other view as well.