A common western critique of Hindus

Hindus are not "humanists". They don't value equality of all human life. Hindus view society as comprising of many human species (jAtis)

Reality

This "narrow-minded" country has seen FAR less ethnic cleansing than most parts of the West!

It is one thing to declare -

"All men are equal"
"Hum sab allah ke bande hain" etc

Do you live up to it?

The history of the West and Middle East is one of ethnic cleansing / pogroms. Decimation of numerous cultures

I don't mean that as a blanket critique. There is much to learn from the West too

But clearly the history of the West is not one of continuity. But numerous discontinuities

Caused by state-sponsored violence.

E.g. The language of Middle East today bears no connection to the tongues / scripts used in the region 2500 yrs ago

Total disconnect

We've no clue about Akkadians, Babylonians, Sumerians. Total break from the past

Unlike India which is a genuine palimpsest!

So "humanism" / "universal religions" have not preserved diversity in the West

In India, diversity is preserved to the extent that every village is a 3000 year old palimpsest

There's racial, cultural, religious, lingual diversity in every nook of this country

The new does not erase the old

Instead it co-exists with the old. At best modifying it.

E.g. a modern Hindu may chant Purusha Suktam in the morning (1000 BCE), Alwar Pasuram in the evening (800CE), and visit a Sai temple at night (1900 CE)

So there is no cultural cleansing. But preservation of every layer.

If this isn't respect for humanity, I don't know what is.

The issue with modernity (as it has developed in the West) -

It places a very high premium on what you say. Not as much on what you do.

This results in lip-service to many ideals concealing an uglier reality

It's all very well to pay lip-service to "equality" of all humans

But the outcomes reveal diversity

As different groups have different geniuses.