Hinduism in India has kept radical Islam out says Chinese daily

The piece written by Ding Gang, a senior editor with the People’s Daily and senior fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, cited Hinduism’s ‘moderate influen

Hinduism in India has kept radical Islam under check, The Global Times published a piece praising Hinduism and held it responsible for the lower occurrence of Islamic fundamentalism.

The article asked why Muslims in India have remained largely apart from 'radicalization that has happened to Muslim groups in other parts of the world'. A long time ago, George W Bush had said something along similar lines when introduced former PM Manmohan Singh to Laura Bush saying: "the prime minister of India, a democracy which does not have a single al-Qaida member in a population of 150 million Muslims."

The piece written by Ding Gang, a senior editor with the People's Daily and senior fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, cited Hinduism's 'moderate influence' for the lack of radical Islam in the region and also for holding the country together.

Like many other religions, Hinduism has its extreme side, but for the most part its more moderate side has the strongest influence. Perhaps it is this more moderate influence that has helped establish India's lasting cohesion and is one of the reasons that the country has not separated.

The article went on to give examples of India's syncretic culture, praising how Indians take pride in the Mughal Dynasty which 'was established by Muslims'. The article goes on to explain how Hinduism has gone beyond being a religion and morphed into a lifestyle and social institution.

The article signs off stating: "The world has taken notice. The lack of Islamic extremists in India has helped determine its role in Asia and has been taken into consideration by the US, Japan, Russia and European countries when it comes to their Asia policies. In the future, India is sure to continue to stand out in geopolitical significance when it comes to increasing religious and ethnic conflicts around the world. Where China is concerned, this significance should not be ignored, the article further stated.

OneIndia News