Is this just another edgy essay trying to use a controversial symbol for attention? Well, maybe it is. With many incidences of bigotry happening in the U.S. recently, there’s been an increasing mention of Nazism and the swastika. The swastika is an unfortunate martyr, a meaningless sacrifice we are making as a knowledgeable society. The status of the swastika in the western world today stands for something critically wrong with how the west is dealing with racism and other forms of bigotry.
From Europe to Asia, and even in the Americas, this symbol has existed at different times over 10,000 years. The very word “swastika” is of Sanskrit origin and is associated with well-being and prosperity in all major Indic religions. The word entered the western vocabulary in the late nineteenth century, and the symbol was rather popular in pre-world-war Europe. From my own Hindu perspective, it is a beautiful symbol, a victim of a horrible case of misappropriation, something that has absolutely no place today in any society which claims to be educated.
I often hear people say that it took only one genocidal megalomaniac to forever ruin the name “Adolf,” the short mustache, and the swastika. But there’s more into this. Truth is, we are all responsible for this. Hitler did his horrible things and died, but we forever maintained the swastika guilty of Hitler’s crimes. An educated society isn’t supposed to let a few decades of horrible misinterpretation tarnish a symbol that is as old as civilization itself. I am responsible for aiding the stigma too, because I am scared to use this ancient, beautiful symbol, one of key importance in my own religion, in the United States, fearing that I might unintentionally offend or hurt someone. Interestingly, India is one of the few major civilizations that has no history of anti-Semitism, historically harboring Jewish refugees when they were being persecuted on the other side of the Indus river.
The Swastika is to the Nazis what the cross was to the KKK. The KKK was made up of American people, who killed fellow Americans on American soil, while Nazi genocides happened in far-off Europe. Yet, we see that Americans are more averse to the swastika while the Christian cross is absolutely free of any racist connotations whatsoever. Of course, there are nuances to this discussion. America is a nation of immigrants, and many now-American families have been victims of the horrors of Nazi ideology, and their pain is genuine and understandable. But at the same time, this nation of immigrants is also home to people from cultures that have held the swastika close to their spirituality for thousands of years. Even today, it is customary among Hindus to adorn their new houses, vehicles and any other prized possession with swastikas to welcome them into their lives.
By shunning the swastika, western society is reinforcing its identity as a racist symbol, and refusing to acknowledge its diverse history and present-day status. Darkness cannot be eliminated by shutting the doors of the room tight with chains and locks. We need to trust ourselves and open the doors, grope in the dark for the window that will let light flood in. Hatred can never be eliminated by shunning its symbols, it needs to be diluted with acceptance and understanding. While we claim to be averse to only the Nazi swastika, the reality is that we actively try to avoid any usage of the swastika at all just to make our lives easier. By accepting the swastika as a positive or at least a neutral symbol, we can weaken the identity of racists who use it with absolutely no regards for its amazing history. In the age of the Internet when information is at our fingertips, it is a grave injustice to call an ancient symbol by its ancient and auspicious name, but identify it with one horrible and recent tragedy.
One Response
Fascinated and looking into Hooked cross of Christianity and a simple holistic symbol of the world Swastika .. How a powerful Lobby of Christian or Jewish or both Punish this sacred symbol for their selfish interest and others like NY times makes me wonder how corrupt we as community of world have become.. Where is our expression of freedom?? and the truth?? Thank you for your insights