Living in a multi-religious India today

 Pranprathistha is done at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22^nd;  the BAPS Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi  will be inaugurated on 14^th February. Elections could be anticipated then, while the Lotus 2.0 project continues to poach MLAs and destabilize the elected non-BJP governments! The PM  with the “aura of raja and rishi” — avatar of Indian political, religious and economic development– is all set for electorate gain, and  for Hindu Rashtra (Ram Rajya). Ache din, assurance of job and  benefit for  those socio-economically poor, are all gone! Now it is all about realizing the Hindutva ideology of the RSS. With a majoritarian political pressure and campaign  on centralising Hinduism, there is hype to instigate the religious sentiments of people, which has terrible psychological impact.  It is an irony, that in a secular country, democracy is measured by a majoritarian religious faith and practice. A nation where Schedule Caste, Dalits and other lower-caste people who converted to Islam, Sikhism and Christianity to escape the Brahminical caste-based oppression, are now treated as outsiders. The persecution of minorities is on the rise, and the perpetrators of oppressive offences go scot-free. And all this is done with “a discreet variant on strident saffron, a spiritual hue glowing with political purpose.”  The intention is not to improve the citizens’ living conditions, but to control their minds and actions on the pretext of ‘Ram Rajya’ based on a pseudo-‘dharma’. Beyond all else, the Hindutva spirit is forcefully hovering  all around.

 In short, Hindu religion is amalgamated with Indian nationalism – a fascist Hindutva consciousness, with ‘improvised’ ethics and ethos. Contrary to Gandhi’s inclusive common mission, the seeds of discord and division have already been sown in the secular nation’s lives, changing the core of belief systems of Indian society and politics. India with its past democratic,  inclusive and pluralist credentials beyond  caste or creed appears to be fragile today. The polarising  political currents with Hindutva dominance, afflict the Indian Republic.  The minorities are in need of protection from the formidable socio-religious and political ferment, with “signs of the triumph” of a particular faith. Today,  a cultural consciousness is embedded with  explicit and particular religious sensibilities, ingrained in  inequality and injustices.

 

The ruling dispensation is making mockery of democracy, by making mythically based idol-worship a primary political issue. It is a forceful move to make India a Hindu nation, trying to revive the ‘Sanatan Dharma’s, “Hindu social ethics of intrinsic inequity of castes.”  As Vishal Mangalwadi, in his open letter to Modi, writes about him, promoting the worship of  “mythical gods” instead of praying to “the sovereign Creator, the shaper of India’s destiny (Bharat Bhagya Vidhata)”.[1]  The national motto, Satyameva Jayate (Truth Alone Triumphs) has been overturned with myths and lies.  According to Gandhiji only truth liberates, myths enslave.

 

The invisible God who is pure Spirit without shape or form, cannot be turned into an image. Man-made gods, says Mangalwadi, are false gods, out of human imagination. Instead, we are created to seek truth and wisdom to understand the divine in us. Human civilization is built on this search for the truth, seeking God’s kingdom here on earth, based on social, moral and ethical values. Religion helps in righteous living with justice and equality. The present dominant political culture, on the contrary,  twists and turns, to fabricate false gods by ‘abusing’ religion for electoral gain. Infected with corruption, the Indian leadership has lost credibility. Human dignity must be protected, for the divine in the human is sacred.

 

We the people of a multi-faith India, along with the civil society activists, thinkers, writers, journalists, artists and other like-minded people need to work together to stop the fascist forces from misrule through different means. Unconditionally, without any selfish motives, we need to oppose strongly and forcefully, such arbitrary governance, and work towards rebuilding the federal, democratic and secular Indian Republic that guarantees a free dignified life of the common people. These bodies need to take a positive direction to ensure the same, through inter-faith dialogues and socio-cultural programs.

 

Together we need to demand that all anti-people Policies, and Acts be scrapped, and replace  them with the “People First” Policy, that ensures a stable, dignified and peaceful life of all Indians living in harmony with each other. The government is to be set at the centre that takes stringent action to curb the forces that indulge in spreading communal hatred; caste discrimination; violence against minorities and women; oppression of the weaker sections; and against those who destroy the environment.

 

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[1] Cf. A letter "Idolatry: Essence and Consequences" written to Mr. Arun Shourie in 1994 (30th Aug) was published in Vishal Mangalwadi, Missionary Conspiracy: Letters to a Postmodern Hindu, Nivedit Good Books Distributors 1998.