LET US BE  RATIONALIST’S

 THE INTOLERANCE DEBATE HAS BEEN A LONG STANDING ONE NOW , CONSEQUENTLY I’VE BEEN THINKING OF WRITING THIS BLOG FOR A LONG TIME, BUT  I WAS NEVER SURE OF MY FEELINGS ABOUT IT, LIKE EVERY COMMON MAN, I WAS SWAYED BY THE OPINION OF THE MEDIA WHICH IS SELDOM THEIR OWN BUT DECIDED IN FAVOUR OF  WHAT RAKES IN MONEY AND TRP’S, NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT HURTS THE NATION ,THEY DON’T REALLY CARE, ANYHOW WE ARE A DEMOCRACY AND THE CONSTITUTION PROVIDES THEM A LEGAL RIGHT TO PRACTICE OCCUPATION AS THEY WANT ,OFCOURSE SUBJECT TO SOME REASONABLE RESTRICTIONS .

NOW THIS WHOLE ISSUE HAS RIPENED AND I HAVE CONSIDERED IT IN GREAT DETAIL SO I BELIEVE I AM JUSTIFIED IN PUTTING MY PEN DOWN TO WRITE MY VIEWS ON THE SUBJECT, BUT FIRST I WILL BRING TO YOUR NOTICE SOME EXTRACTS OF AN ESSAY I READ IN THE YEAR 2008 NAMED ‘MAIN AUR MERA DESH’ BY RENOWNED HINDI WRITER AND PADMA SHRI KANHAIYALAL MISHRA ‘PRABHAKAR’  AND THE RELEVANCY OF THIS WRITEUP WILL BE PROVED BY THE WORDS THEMSELVES.

HE WRITES ABOUT A TRIP OF ONE SWAMI RAMTEERTH TO JAPAN -

एक बार स्वामी रामतीर्थ जापान की यात्रा पर गए, जहाँ उन्हें कुछ फल खाने की इच्छा हुई , पर उन्हें  फल कहीं नहीं मिले , इसपर उन्होंने कहा के--

'जापान में शायद अच्छे फल नहीं मिलते ' 

इस बात को पास  खड़े एक स्थानीय युवक ने सुन लिया और तभी  फल से भरी एक  टोकरी खरीद कर लाकर स्वामी जी को भेंट कर  कहा के कृपा करके वह बाहर जाकर यह न कहें की जापान में अच्छे फल नहीं मिलते ,इससे उस व्यक्ति ने जापान की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ाई  तथा देश  का मस्तक ऊँचा किआ ,दूसरे उदाहरण में जापान में पढ़ने आये किसी दूसरे देश के विद्यार्थी ने पुस्तकालय की पुस्तक से कुछ दुर्लभ चित्र निकाल लिए ,एक जापानी विद्यार्थी ने यह देखकर पुस्तकालय को सूचना दी, पुलिस तलाशी में उसके कमरे से चित्र बरामद होने पर विद्यार्थी को जापान से निष्काषित कर दिया गया , 'उस देश का कोई निवासी अब पुस्तकालय में प्रवेश नहीं कर सकता ; एक युवक ने अपने कार्य से अपने पुरे राष्ट्र को कलंकित किआ ,उसके दुष्कृत्य का दंड उसके पुरे देश को भोगना पड़ा, अतः प्रत्येक व्यक्ति अपने देश के साथ के साथ बंधा हुआ है !!

THE STORY OF SWAMI RAMTEERTH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MANY STORIES WHICH PROVE THAT A SINGLE PERSON REPRESENTS HIS NATION, AND HIS OWN ACTIONS MAKE OR DESTROY THE IMAGE OF THE NATION , THIS BRINGS US TO THE BURNING QUESTION –

WHAT SHOULD BE OUR BEHAVIOUR IN LIGHT OF WHAT WE’VE JUST READ ,TO WHICH MR. ‘PRABHAKAR’ PROVIDES THE ANSWER

देश हित की कसौटी --हमारा कोई काम देश हित में हैं या नहीं ,यह जानने की कसौटी क्या है ?इसकी कसौटी है देश का 'सौंदर्य बोध और शक्ति बोध घटना- बढ़ना ! लेखक के अनुसार   जिन कार्यों से देश की शक्ति और सुंदरता बढे वे कार्य देश हित में हैं बाकी नहीं ! सार्वजनिक स्थानों पर देश की अव्यवस्था की चर्चा करना तथा दूसरे देशों की तुलना में अपने देश को हीन सिद्ध करना ,शक्ति बोध को चोट पहुँचाता है !  इसी प्रकार गली मोहल्ले ,सड़क आदि पर कूड़ा फैंकना ,अपशब्दों का इस्तेमाल करना ,उत्सव मेले आदि में धक्का मुक्की करना ,अव्यवस्था फैलाना देश के सौंदर्य बोध को ठेस पहुचाना है ,ऐसा कार्य देश हित में नहीं है !

THE WORDS ‘SHAKTI BODH’ AND ‘SAUNDARYA BODH’ ARE LIKE THE TOOLS WITH WHICH WE CAN MAKE OR BREAK THE NATION, THEY MAY SEEM IRRELEVANT BUT THEY ARE AN ANSWER TO MANY ,MANY OF OUR PROBLEMS .

THERE IS A TREND TODAY ,I MAY SAY IT IS AN ‘IN’ THING TO CRITICISE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE NATION ,WITHOUT PONDERING ON THE REQUIREMENTS OF SUCH AN ACTION OR THE HISTORY BEHIND THE PROBLEMS WE FACE, OR THE LEVEL OF LOSS IT IS CAUSING TO THE ‘SHAKTI BODH OF THE NATION’ WHICH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SINCE WE ARE IN A PHASE OF RAPID GROWTH AND THE WHOLE WORLD IS LOOKING AT US, THE SOCIAL MEDIA IS AS MUCH A CULPRIT AS THE PEOPLE OR ELECTRONIC  MEDIA  IS, WHAT IS REQUIRED IS RATIONAL THINKING BUT WHAT WE ARE GETTING IS ALL NOISE.THE NATION IS CRITICISED ON INTERNATIONAL PLATFORMS, PEOPLE USE IT FOR SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION, BE IT FROM THE RULING PARTIES OR THE OPPOSITION WITHOUT REALISING THE HARM CAUSED TO THE NATION AND ITS COLLECTIVE STRENGTH.

IN FACT WHAT WE REALLY ARE IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE ARE PRESENTED TO THE WORLD, IN THE WORDS OF SREERAM CHULIA (AN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS EXPERT) THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM US, SPECIALLY EUROPE WHICH HAS BEEN REELING WITH THE REFUGEE SITUATION , HE REMARKS---

‘OUR OPENNESS TO REFUGEES AND OUR MORE MATURE ACCEPTANCE OF MULTIPLE FAITHS AND ETHNICITIES HOLDS LESSONS FOR EUROPE,WHICH IS BEING TORN APART BY IDENTITY BASED FRAGMENTATION. SINCE INCEPTION, THE INDIAN REPUBLIC HAS DEFINED ITS SECULARISM NOT AS A DENIALIST TECHNIQUE TO SUPRESS FREEDOM OF FAITH AND BELIEF BUT TO CELEBRATE EXPRESSION OF A BEWILDERING ARRAY OF IDENTITIES.DIVISIONS BASED ON RELIGION, CASTE, RACE, LANGUAGE AND REGION EXIST IN INDIA. BUT WE HAVE BUILT A RELATIVELY HARMONIOUS NATIONAL IDENTITY WHICH GIVES SPACE TO PAROCHIAL LOYALTIES INSTEAD OF TRYING TO SMOTHER THEM, AS IS THE CASE OF EUROPE OF TODAY’

THERE IS NECESSITY OF PEACE FOR DEVELOPMENT, BUT A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE ARE PLAYING DIRTY TRICKS FOR POLITICAL GAINS TO DIVIDE US BY TACTICS BEYOND IMAGINATION, COMMUNALISM IS AN ANCIENT RELIC WHICH MUST BE DISCARDED FOR INDIA TO GROW, WE MUST BE RATIONAL ,IN THE WAY WE THINK AND INTERPRET WHAT HAS BEEN TOLD TO US, LET HINDUS QUESTION THEIR LEADERS, THEIR RELIGIOUS PREACHERS ,AND LET MUSLIMS DO THE SAME WITH THEIRS, LET US NOT FIGHT EACH OTHER BUT BLAME OURSELVES FOR THE MONSTROCITY  AND TAKE RESPONISIBILITY FOR CLEANING THE MESS.

AS HAS BEEN RIGHTLY SAID IN A HINDI IDIOM--

-----हम दूसरे के आँखों में तिनका तो देख लेते हैं पर अपनी आँखों के शहतीर को नहीं देख पाते !

 WHICH MEANS THAT IT IS MUCH EASIER TO CRITICISE OTHERS THAN TO SEE YOUR OWN FAULTS , WE MUST INCULCATE THE CULTURE OF FINDING OUR OWN PROBLEMS AND SEEKING SOLUTIONS THERETO.

THE RELIGION WHICH DOES NOT CHANGE WITH TIME FOSSILISES, HINDU TRADITIONS LIKE SATI, CHILD MARRIAGE, RESTRAINTS ON WIDOW REMMARRIAGE ETC. HAVE BEEN LARGELY ELIMINATED, SO HAS BEEN THE MUTA MARRIAGE CONCEPT (MARRIAGE FOR PLEASURE) UNDER MUSLIM LAW. THIS SHOWS THAT RELIGION CAN ALSO ACCEPT CHANGES, INFACT MOST OF THESE SOCIAL EVILS WERE DEVISED BY PREACHERS AND WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THE RELIGIOUS BOOKS, OR THERE WERE TERMS AND CONDITIONS WHICH WE COULD NOT POSSIBLY DECIPHER THE WAY THEY WERE MEANT TO BE DONE, ALSO NO RELIGIOUS BOOK PREACHES INTOLERANCE OR UNJUST BEHAVIOUR, IT IS HOW THEY HAVE BEEN INTERPRETED  BY MAN THAT CAUSED PROBLEMS. TO PUT IT IN SIMPLE WORDS, MAN IS AT FAULT, NOT GODS !

LET US NOT FOLLOW THE LEADERS BLINDLY, BE THEY FROM THE POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS OR PHILOSOPHICAL SPHERES , LET US ASK FOR PROOF, THE DIRECT ONE ,AND THE PROOF SHOULD TO BE  OF RATIONAL NATURE ..WHAT A PRUDENT MAN OUGHT  TO UNDERSTAND IN NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES ..A SIMPLE ‘WHY’ CAN MAKE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE TO THE WORLD AND CAN BRING PEACE AND STABILITY TO THE NATION.  LET US NOT CREATE HURDLES IN PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT, LET US NOT CREATE RUCKUS FOR NO RHYME OR REASON, UNLESS WE REALLY NEED TO, OR UNLESS OUR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS ARE HARMED .

SECULARISM HAS BEEN THE MOST ABUSED WORD IN OUR COUNTRY , WHAT IS NEEDED TODAY IS THE NEW AVATAR OF THIS BELIEF , 

SECULARISM 2.0.

I READ THIS ARTICLE THE RECENTLY ‘REINVENTING INDIAN SECULARISM’ BY SADANAND DHUME (THE WRITER IS A RESIDENT FELLOW AT THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE ,WASHINGTON DC)  WHERE HE BEAUTIFULLY EXPLAINS WHAT I WISH TO CONVEY BY PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK OF WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO REDEFINE SECULARISM.-

“FOR STARTERS, INDIA SHOULD REPLACE THE SHAKY PILLARS OF THE TRADITIONAL SECULAR CONCENSUS WITH SOMETHING STURDIER .

FIRST, THIS MEANS ACCEPTING THAT ALL EXTREMISTS- NOT ONLY THE HINDU VARIETY- THREATEN PLURALISM, SECOND ,IT REQUIRES RECOGNISING THE COMPLEXITY OF INTER-RELIGIOUS CONFLICT. SOMETIMES—SUCH AS IN THE AWFUL MURDER OF MOHAMMAD AKHLAQ IN DADRI- MUSLIM ARE INDEED VICTIMS, AT THE OTHER TIMES, SUCH AS IN MALDA OR THE SRINAGAR VALLEY, THEY ARE THE VICTIMISERS. THIRD, INDIAN POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL ELITES NEED TO START TREATING THE REFORM OF IDEAS ROOTED IN SHARIA- SUCH AS VIOLENCE RESPONSE TO SO- CALLED BLASPHEMY –AS A NATIONAL CONCERN, NOT JUST A NARROWLY MUSLIM CONCERN”

THE BEAUTY OF OUR NATION LIES IN ITS MULTI ETHNICITY AND TO KEEP IT INTACT WE WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE WITH TIMES ,ACCEPT MODERN IDEAS, LET THINGS RATIONALISE, SHUN SOME CUSTOMES IF NEED BE , NOT EVERYTHING WRITTEN IN OUR RELIGIOUS BOOKS BE IMPLEMENTED IN PRACTICE ,WE OUGHT TO UNDERSTAND THIS BASIC FACT.

THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE INTOLERANCE IN THE COUNTRY, EVEN IF IT IS , IT HAS BEEN BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION, THE DAY WE REALISE THE TRUE MEANING OF DEMOCRACY, THE DAY WE READ OUR CONSTITUTION, WOULD WE KNOW THAT DEMOCRACY IS NOT THE FREEDOM TO WHATEVER YOU WISH TO DO,BECAUSE THAT WOULD CAUSE CHAOS, AND THEN NOBODY’S RIGHT MAY BE ENFORCED, TAKE FOR EXAMPLE A PERSON MAY SAY THAT I HAVE A FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION AND I MAY SAY OR PUBLISH EVERYTHING I WISH, I LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY, AND THEN HE MAY PREACH HATRED OR ILL WILL, WHICH IS HARMFUL FOR THE SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, AND THUS HE SHOULD BE ESTOPPED FROM DOING SO, THUS MOST OF OUR FREEDOMS ARE SUBJECT TO REASONABLE RESRTICTIONS WHICH ALLOW FOR SUPERIORITY  OF THE SOCIAL INTERESTS OVER INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS (WHERE THEY CLASH), SOME PEOPLE WILLFULLY OR NEGLIGENTLY OMIT THIS PART AND CRY THAT THE NATION DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO BE ‘FREE’ ,THIS IS A HIGHLY DISTORTED INTERPRETATION OF THE REAL HOLY BOOK- THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA AND THUS HARMS THE ‘SHAKTI BODH’ OF THE NATION.

WHICH PART OF THE WORLD DOES NOT HAVE PROBLEMS, THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST AFFECTED BY THE ISIS ,THE AFRICAN CONTINENT WITH BOKO HARAM GROUP, UNITED STATES HAVE NO GUN CONTROL LAWS LEADING TO HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST EVERY YEAR, EUROPE IS REELING UNDER THE REFUGEE CRISIS AND TERRIORISM , RUSSIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN AFFECTED BY CHEYCHEN FIGHTERS ,THUS THE WHOLE GLOBE IS INFESTED WITH SUCH TROUBLES, AND SO IS INDIA, BUT THE WAY OUT IS BY STRENTHENING THE NATION, BY CONTRIBUTING TO ITS GROWTH AND PROSPERITY AND BEING A SILENT ENGINE IN THIS GREAT STORY .

OUR NATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREAT, FROM KING ASHOKA TO MAHATMA GANDHI ,ALL HAVE PREACHED PEACE AND TOLERANCE, AND OURS IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WHICH HAS NEVER ATTACKED (FIRST) ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, LET US ALL TAKE A PLEDGE TO LIVE IN PEACE ,BE RATIONAL, INCREASE THE ‘SHAKTI BODH’ AND ‘SAUNDARYA BODH’ AND BE A PART OF THE REVOLUTION OF MAKING INDIAN A  ‘VISHWA GURU’ J

WRITTEN BY

RANJAN TOMAR