Book Review: I Could Not Be Hindu

I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit in RSS by Bhanwar Meghwanshi

Bhanwar Meghwanshi, a Dalit activist and author, currently lives in Bhilwara district of Rajasthan. He has produced various journals and podcasts in order to aware the populace regarding the true intentions of Hinduism.

Meghwanshi has done a great job in presenting a critique on the RSS, Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh, and participation of Dalits, Adivasis, and Other Backward Castes in the madness of religion.

The author talks about religious extremism popularized by the RSS through literature, podcasts, and journals in which the populace is brainwashed into hating Muslims and endorsing Hinduism to be of superior status.

In his youth, the author was a part of RSS and was a staunch believer in Hindutva ideology. He describes the functioning and hierarchies in the organization lucidly. The white shirt, Khaki pants, black belt, and a long stick in hand symbolize as the uniform of RSS. The ‘Karsevaks’ are taught false information and fabricated mythology and thus the fighting machines in the form of humans are manufactured.

RSS, the orthodox Hindu organization has tried to falsify the established literature in order to maintain Hinduism. Apart from that, Meghwanshi has gone into the depths of how Casteism works through religion. He shares his experience of being discriminated because of his Dalit status in RSS as a Karsevak, and at school as a teacher. The RSS which talked about including all the Hindus under one umbrella was not comfortable eating at the house of a Dalit. The author realized the reality of this organization and introduced journals, podcasts, and books to enlighten people regarding the game of religion and to fight against RSS. The text is one such weapon to fight against the existing casteism and is a very crucial piece of work that gives so much insight into the world of ‘real Hinduism.’

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