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We are in the minority now. Those of us that believe in secularism, who still have faith in our diversity and those of us who still hang on to our Constitution that guarantees freedom of all religions and beliefs.
Those who grew up respecting all faiths and believing that India meant a sovereign democratic republic, are in the minority now.
The recent mass hysteria showed us how people here have succumbed to a herd-mentality. The rabble-rousers lit the match and the troupe set fire all around.
The crowds conformed to a certain group and their ideas being flung around, without using their brain power or showcasing their individuality. Voting, demonstrations, riots, general strikes, sporting events, religious gatherings, everyday decision-making, judgement and opinion-forming, are all forms of human-based herd behavior – and January 22, was an apt example of the same.
A country that cannot afford to spend billions on religious structures, went absolutely berserk in doing the same with a pomposity. Of course we know that the extravaganza and propaganda was politically based.
We saw through it, only those blinded by religion didn’t. Our country is engulfed deep in politics that only represent hatred, when we are riddled with larger than life problems at hand that need to be overcome.
Are you aware of the top 10 social issues in India? In case you have no idea, they are:
- Illiteracy
- Basic education
- Poor sanitation facilities
- Healthcare
- Pollution
- Overpopulation
- Safety of Women
- Poor infrastructure
But hey, how does all this matter when the government here is only out to eradicate the thinking prowess of its people, and silencing those citizens that dare to question the wrong doings?
Jobs are far and few, the prices of daily commodities are increasing all the time, and there is a growing disparity in income levels. I can go on as the list is endless.
India today faces a plethora of challenges that threaten to disrupt the well-being of individuals and communities within it. These challenges range from economic inequality and poverty, to climate change, violence and disorder and political polarisation.
And yet, we succumbed to a phenomenon that was clearly a campaign show for the upcoming elections, which was largely a majoritarian chest thumping exercise. How poorly this has shown us in a bad light.
For me a personal low was to see people from the defence forces attending such a ceremony. It was highly disappointing to see known faces present there when we from the fauj should, and must, remain apolitical and secular without endorsing, supporting or representing.
Rabindranath Tagore wrote a poem, ‘Deeno Daan’, that was about a temple. It is a must read given what is happening. It's a short one.
“‘There is no god in that temple’, said the Saint.
The King was enraged, ‘No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?
On the throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol, And yet, you proclaim that’s empty?’
‘It’s not empty; It’s rather full of Royal pride.
You have bestowed yourself, oh King, not the God of this world’, remarked the saint.
The King frowned, ‘2 million golden coins were showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,
I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,
And you dare claim that in such a grand temple, there is no presence of God’?
The Saint calmly replied, ‘in the very year in which, twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought;
The pauperized masses without any food or shelter,
came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,
they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under roadside foliages, derelict old temples;
and in that very year
when you spent 2 million gold to build that grand temple of your’s,
that was the day when God pronounced:
“My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,
In the midst of an azure sky,
In my home the foundations are built with the values:
Of Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.
The poverty stricken puny miser,
Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless subjects,
Does he really fancy giving me a home?”
That is the day God left that Temple of yours.
And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.
Like emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,
Your mundane temple is as hollow.
It’s just a bubble of wealth and pride.’
The enraged King howled,
‘oh you sham cretin of a person,
Leave my kingdom this instant’.
The Saint replied calmly,
‘The very place where you have exiled the Divine,
Kindly banish the devout too’.”
Those of us who still believe in the idea of India being a secular nation, and wanting it, will need to stand tall against bullying. We have to stop the religious bigots and we must always celebrate and respect the many faiths that exist in our country.
I wish that no community ever repeats this against another. This is a serious dent on humanity.
The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
