Who is a Hindu

Who is a Hindu?

A Hindu is an individual who accepts as authoritative the religious guidance of the Vedic scriptures, and who strives to live in accordance with Dharma, God's divine laws as revealed in the Vedic scriptures. if you accept the Vedas (and by extension Bhagavad Gita, Puranas, etc.) as your scriptural authority, and lived your life in accordance with the Dharmic principles of the Vedas, you are then a Hindu. Thus, an Indian who rejects the Veda is obviously not a Hindu. While an American, Russian, Indonesian or Indian who does accept the Veda obviously is a Hindu.

You can’t claim to be Hindu by Birth or Caste

As per Shanti Parva, Maha Bharata (12.188)

janmana jayate sudrah
samskarad bhaved dvijah
veda-pathad bhaved vipro
brahma janatiti brahmanah

By birth one is a sudra (lowest caste), by the purification (Karma/ Samskar) process one becomes a dvija (second birth conferring a higher status), by study of the Vedas one becomes a vipra, and one who knows Brahman is a brahmin.
Thus all of us are born shudra, its our Karma that determines our further status.

What Veda’s really says/command?

As per Shaloka 2.33 of Gita

atha cet tvam imam dharmyam
sangramam na karisyasi
tatah sva-dharmam kirtim ca
hitva papam avapsyasi

If you will not fight this righteous war, then you will fail in your duty, lose your reputation, and incur sin.

So being Hindu to me means standing with the right and fighting against the evil in any form.Also we must seek god's guidance and courage in this fight as Arjuna was guided by Lord Sh Krishna in the battle of Kurukshetra.