All World
Gayatri Pariwar

What was the true meaning of sect/tradition?

What was the meaning of sects and what have they transformed themselves into? If we give a thought to the meaning of sects when they were conceived initially, they were defined as messengers of divine thoughts and empathy. They contained processes that were aimed at making us more empathetic, more humane, and those ritualistic sadhanas that connected us with the divine. Religion is an expanded form of these traditions; while tradition in itself is the essence of religion. But in the present context, the meaning of sect has become quite distorted. Few selfish and malevolent elements have changed these sects into vehicles of disharmony, hatred, violence and killing. When we speak of sect, instead of evoking an emotion of love, hatred is seen; instead of compassion, cruelty is seen.

In recent months we have witnessed the cruel incidents in Muzaffarnagar and Dadri. According to the statistics provided by Home Ministry, between January and May of 2015, about 287 incidents of communal violence have been reported. The year before that, there were 232 such incidents which means that there has been an increase of 24%. The number of people who lost their lives in these instances of violence has increased from 26 to 43. The number of those injured increased from 701 in 2014 to 961 in 2015. During this time, majority of communal riots happened in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Elsewhere in the world, few days ago a person in Bangladesh who expressed his thoughts in a blog was brutally killed. The journalists of French satirical newspaper ‘Charlie Hebdo’ were killed in their office in Paris. In America, the incidents inflicting violence against Sikhs comes up every now and then. Whatever could be these issues, but none of these riots or violence or murder can justify the cause.

The race to return the awards As a mark of protest against communal violence, some writers returned their Sahitya Academy awards. Only they might understand what the true meaning of their act is, but the responsibility of being a writer is much more serious and exemplary. A writer writes to promote humane values and dreams of glorious future for humanity. He creates faith and belief in life and takes emotions to an exalted level.

In reality, a writer wants to create better human beings and establish a social system that is driven by justice. So, what is more important than returning their awards is that they sensitize the entire society. Each and everyone in the country must fight against this trend. The writers should explain to everyone why sect and sectarianism has become so distorted. What are those facts which create this poisonous psychology?

We have to accept some harsh truths. Be it Hindu or Muslim, defect does not lie in the religion, but in the human psyche that gets instigated to create terrorism. When British attacked India, they attacked both Hindus and Muslims. They ruled over both of them. But neither Hindus nor Muslims have any complaint against the British. The first governor general of Independent India was a Britisher and a Christian. Both Hindus and Muslims saluted him. The British do idol-worship. They worship the idols of Jesus and Mother Mary. It is surprising that the Muslims don’t hate these idol worshippers. The Britishers were imperialists. Muslims had become Indians long before the British came here. But an imperialist Hindu does not hate the tyrant British and in fact considers him an ideal. British rule ended but American imperialism has taken its place. The greatest of the great Hindus are devotees of America. What is this contra-indication? What is the logic behind this?

What kind of politics is this?

The Hindu mind when it could not find its focus anywhere else got into the politics of instigating the emotions of people. Instead of putting their efforts for development of the country, they began seeing the dream of establishing a Hindu nation and began showing this dream to others as well. The truth is that they are neither concerned with the Hindus nor the nation nor the beautiful all-inclusive Indian culture. Their only interest is in gaining political power. Something similar is the mindset of Muslims. Owing to their minority complex, whenever they remember the Islamic community they go all the way to the fundamental Islam of 7 th century and begin to dream of Khalifa kingdom. What is the terrifying dream of ISIS? The atrocities done by the Islamic State have gone beyond all the terrifying things that were ever done in the past.

Both Hindu and Muslim political leaders and strategists in reality do not know the intrinsic meaning of any tradition, religion or community. Both of them need a scientific outlook. Let’s ask these people who go around murdering others in the name of religion about how much of the Vedas and Upanishads they have tried to understand? Similarly, those slaughtering the cows, how much of the Holy Quran have they read?

The truth is that those who resort to violence and kill others do not belong to any specific religion, community or sect. They just love divisive politics and power; and are driven by selfish motives. No religion in the world teaches hatred, enmity and violence. Selfless love and harmony is the essence of all religions. The saints, fakirs and founders of various religions have put in lot of efforts and undergone many difficulties to spread the message of love all over the world.

Historians convey half-truths

Initially, people try to trace the source of communal hatred to Middle Ages, but the character of these people is not trustworthy. They tell partial truths about the past history and broadcast these with wrong perspective. British historians Miller and Smith have written the history of the Middle Ages emphasizing the communal and religious hatred. Indian historians copied these blindly.

These people wrote that the only thing that happened in this country for 600-700 years during the Middle Ages was Hindu-Muslim communal clashes. Nothing else is mentioned, including farming and other occupations or even culture. The only task of Muslim Shahs and Sultans was to attack the Hindu kings and plunder their temples, break the idols and loot their kingdoms. The truth about that era was centered on political struggles which have wrongly been given the color of religious clashes. Even if there were wars for economic reasons, those were portrayed in communal light.

Mohammed Ghazni was not a preacher of Islam; he was just a barbaric plunderer. He plundered the Somnath temple not for the love of his religion but to loot the jewels and gold that were present there. Akbar and Shah Jahan were very generous. Akbar has constructed many temples and ghats. Shah Jahan even let his son Dara Shikoh study the Upanishads. Poets of that era like Rahim-Raskhan have written devotional songs praising Lord Krishna. There were so many Hindu army generals in the armies of Akbar and Shah Jahan. Similarly, so many trustworthy leaders in the army of Shivaji Maharaj were Muslims. There was a good mix of both religions amongst the public. They lived in harmony and there was a constant co-mingling of cultures among the people belonging to both religions. Political struggles were only one aspect of life then.

It is the distorted history of the middle ages that has made sectarianism to be synonymous with hatred and enmity. History is a science and not a fiction. Truth, logic, facts and proofs are analyzed. Until and unless we have history that is scientific or one that is devoid of religious intolerance, it will continue to be the root cause of all clashes and riots. Shivaji Maharaj won many wars, captured many forts, but he never desecrated any mosque. He respected Muslim woman Gauhar Bano as his own mother. It is a devious political agenda that creates an army in the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji and creates new clashes each day.

Another reason for these is financial. Whenever there is a competition between a Hindu and a Muslim in matters related to business, job or property, it is given the color of religion. Riots also initially start off for political and financial reasons and not in the name of religion. Many riots in Aligarh were due to land and property issues or due to competing lock makers. Similarly, many clashes in Moradabad have been caused due to utensil business. Utensils worth more than 10 million rupees are sold to Arab countries. These utensils have verses from Quran and Arabic art etched on them. Many clashes in Firozabad are related to the bangle business. The riots begin as financial clashes in business and they are slowly given the color of religion and portrayed as communal clashes.

Politics is the reason behind discord and discrimination

Apart from all the reasons listed above, there are political reasons as well. There is increasing inflation on one end and there is a scenario where middle and lower classes are facing financial difficulties on the other. All the promises made by those in power are proving false. People are living in deep frustration and darkness. The political parties are taking advantage of these people. In fact, it is politics that is communal, not the people. For general public, religion and tradition refer to their modes of worship. It is those who politicize religion, who create Hindu madness sometimes and Muslim madness at other times. These people are neither concerned with Hindus nor Muslims. They are only interested in wielding political power and nothing more. These days, it is not just one party that is politicizing religion. All the political parties are playing this game in one way or another. Those who claim to be secular are also part of this game.

Intellectuals, the writer community, who are supposed to be illuminating the young minds in the universities, are spreading darkness; while the journalists are focused on increasing their status and business. We, the writers have also not discharged our responsibilities. Through our writings, we have not made persistent efforts to wipe away the communal hatred and spread goodwill amongst people. We have not tried to find a solution to this problem through our writings. Irrespective of how many literary celebrities return their awards, I am not even a bit hesitant to say that in our country, the pen has become ignorant, irresponsible and cowardly. If we peek into the universities, from the palatial rooms with glittering nameplates, we can only see the infrastructure for creating people wanting to gain status and wealth.

In the lure for fellowship in foreign countries, these intellectuals do everything possible to make it happen and even sometimes end up in vicious circle of foreign spy agencies. Behind their lofty talks and glorified names lies the conspiracy that will bring doom to our country. These intellectuals and writers should ask this question to themselves – ‘What have I done to remove communal hatred?’ When is it that they have tried to transform poison into nectar? It is not enough to just speak of great ideals; you should feel the agony and have the restlessness propelled by deep concern for the well-being of our country. You should have tears in your eyes and fire in your mind.

The entire community of journalists also needs to think about their responsibilities. Articles, essays, stories and books get printed once in a while. Newspapers are read every day and news is watched on television every moment. It is the journalists who form the public opinion. Irresponsible, thoughtless, and negative news are served on a platter very attractively. But there are no efforts to contain the frenzy of communalism. How many Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthis and Makhanlal Chaturvedis can the present generation of journalists find amongst themselves? If not, why are they not able to? Isn’t it their responsibility to tell the truth to public? It is also their duty to positively enlighten the minds of the people. It is very important to let the journalists know that it is not just sufficient to sell the news; it is of utmost importance to show the right direction to the public.

Who will show the right path to those who have gone astray?

Intellectuals and teachers of any group love to indulge in discussions and debates. Their acrimonious battles of words happen across the table while having tea and snacks. Whatever be their topic, it is bound to be conservative, old-fashioned and based on blind faiths. Their understanding of politics and social affairs is not noteworthy. They teach history but do not recognize the power of history. They teach science but do not nurture a scientific outlook. No wonder we see batches of students who come out of universities lacking political knowledge, social knowhow or interest in the progress of the nation.

What can be said about those people linked to religion and communities? They are not clear about the philosophy they are preaching. They are merely interested in traveling in luxury cars and staying in 5-star ashrams. One does not become a saint by coloring one’s robes. There are responsibilities associated to with the sainthood. They have to teach their followers about the true knowledge and wisdom present in spiritual texts. They should first understand the secrets of sadhana and empathy and communicate the same to the people. We are again looking out for a saint-patriot like Swami Vivekananda who can teach the lessons of positivity and empathy.

All of us should ponder together whether in this age of rapid civilizational changes, have we become more civilized or less? Have we become empathetic or not? Have we become kind and generous or become violent and selfish? Has our respect for human values increased or are we on our way to trample them? Are we propelled by thoughts of societal peace and harmony or filled with emotions of mutual hatred and enmity? After all, as human beings, where are we headed for and where have we reached?

We have to ask these questions to ourselves. We have to look into ourselves, introspect and decide what our responsibilities are. We should fight with adverse circumstances and not accept defeat. After all, we have taken birth to transform the era. We have to realize our goal of infusing divinity in man and thus making heaven descend on Earth. We all have to come together and do away with the folly of the ‘wise’. We all have to live together in harmony and revive the definition of sect/tradition to mean empathy and amity.