What an ancient Hindu text has to say about genocide

(RNS) — Threats of genocide and collective violence are not memories of a bygone age. In Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar and elsewhere, civilians are being killed, displaced, starved and deprived of the necessities of life. Although these conflicts have different histories, they confront us with the same urgent moral question: Can the wrongdoing of some ever justify violence against an entire people?

India presents a related danger. The ideology of Hindu nationalism associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) increasingly defines national belonging in ways that marginalize Muslims and Christians and creates conditions in which discrimination and violence against religious minorities may be normalized. One of its most dangerous strategies is to hold Muslims living today responsible for atrocities committed centuries ago by some Muslim rulers. History is thereby turned into a ledger of inherited guilt: People are judged not for anything they have done, but for sharing a religious identity with those who acted in the past.

The recent protests in New York during the visit of RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat brought renewed attention to these concerns. For Hindus, this moment requires…