“Hindu World” A Hindu digital channel to be launched on Gudi Padwa | Times of India
MUMBAI: Hindu World, a digital channel that will espouse the Hindu philosophy and target the aspirational Hindu youth will be launched on Gudi Padva.
“It will resonate the views and thinking of the ordinary Hindu,” said Seshadri Chari, the channel’s chief editor. The main promoters of the digital channel are Akhilesh Bhargava, a chartered accountant, and Sujit Nair, former executive director of Lintas.
Though Chari stressed that it is not a channel promoted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or the BJP, he pointed out in the same breath that he is an RSS member as well as part of the BJP’s national executive council.
Asked why a digital channel for Hindus, Chari said Hinduism is witnessing a renaissance.
“The youth, who is our focus, is constantly on the mobile, and TV-viewing is becoming increasingly restricted. The 20-40 years age group is very active on social media and it is the digital medium that has maximum viewership,” he said.
While the channel will propagate Hinduism, Chari refused to define Hinduism saying even the Hindu Code Bill does not do so, nor does the RSS. “Hinduism is a conglomeration of different methods of worship. Hinduism cannot be institutionalised,” he said, adding that it is very difficult to distinguish between Indianness and Hinduism. “It is one and the same and all political parties will need to take into consideration the importance of this Indianness and Hinduism.” The staple will not be bhajans and kirtans, rather there will be yoga, and discussions and debates on economics too. “The category of people I am catering to are the real votaries of secularism. You have to have a centrist point of view, extreme left and extreme right will not succeed,” he said.
“I see a metamorphic change in Hindu society–social cohesiveness–and it is this change which will effectively bring about a change in the thinking of political parties.”
Chari said it is wrong to divide people by terming them as national and anti-national. “At the same time those eulogising incidents of terrorism must refrain from doing so. The debate of intolerance is also equally wrong,” he said.
