Some ‘communal’ talk would be in order this week. It is no secret that in India that is not Bharat, it is deemed secular to put down Hindu religion and deride its beliefs. And this secularism gets even more shine if the other faiths are indulged simultaneously. Three recent events come as telling pointers to the fact that this twin-track secularism is not just official state policy but has also been perfected as a political ploy.
We will begin at home, TN, which is ruled by the ultimate rationalist whose hobbies include, besides starting TV channels, attending felicitation functions and watching movie premieres, Hindu-baiting. The CM at a recent function in Mahabalipuram had discovered and declared that ‘this Ganapathy is not a native of our place. He was born in Vatapi and was brought here’. K’s pathological sadism is evident from the timing of his sarcastic remarks, which have come on the eve of Ganesha Chathurthi, but we will take it in our stride as being better than a greeting from him. K is no believer in Ganapathy, or for that matter, any God.
Correction. Any ‘Hindu’ God. Again, he hails from a movement whose leader made a career out of garlanding Gods –Hindu Gods — particularly Ganapathy and Rama, with slippers. Now how does it matter to K if Ganapathy came from Vatapi or Vatican? Of course, many historians and archaeologists have since proved that Ganapathy worship prevailed in TN much before Vatapi Ganapathy was brought as a victory trophy by the Pallavas in 7th century AD. Again, Periyar himself hailed from Karnataka where Vatapi, now Badami, lies. So why does K single out Pillaiyar even while sparing Periyar? And what coincidence — Kalaignar TV is set for launch on Ganesh Chathurthi, though the world is told that it is timed for the birth anniversaries of Periyar and Anna. Aah, how Ganapathy blesses even rationalists who revile Him!
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Sethu Project case that there is no evidence that Rama and the characters in Ramayana ever existed. The ASI, besides other things, is vested with the job of protecting and preserving monuments. There is no stipulation that a monument’s history should be certified or established beyond all ‘reasonable doubt’ before it is entitled to ASI cover. If that were the case, several monuments that are currently under ASI auspices would fail the test by virtue of having multiple histories . Therefore, the mere existence of a monument is enough. And in cases where the history is in dispute, the people’s faith should suffice. Ancient monuments, having gone through the rigours of time, are almost sure to have their histories obliterated and in such cases, it is all the more vital that faith and folklore are respected.
By those yardsticks, Ramar Sethu, believed to be built by Lord Rama and his parivar en route to Lanka, should have been declared a monument long back. The ASI had committed the original sin in not doing so. And it has added insult to injury by claiming in court that not just the bridge, but Lord Rama and the characters in Ramayana themselves never existed. The fact that it has since withdrawn the affidavit does not alter its intent. Now how can the ASI which is only an arm of a secular government make such a sweeping and outrageous declaration? Has the last and final layer of soil been dug out? But is the shovel the sole judge of history? First, Rama as a godhead is a matter of abiding faith for millions of Hindus over several millenia. Second, there are tell-tale evidences of the life, times and movements of Rama as a ruler and an exiled prince, littered all over this sprawling country from Ayodhya to Prayag to Dandakarunya to Rameshwaram, all of which jell perfectly with the Ramayanas written by scores of savants and scholars over centuries.From Egypt to Mecca to Jerusalem to Greece to Rome, monuments are preserved not just for their historicity but also their sentimental significance. And even in cases where history had run against popular beliefs, monuments have survived in due respect to those beliefs. But in secular India, Lord Rama needs judicial sanction and secular certification, not just to enter Ayodhya, but even to reside in devotees’ hearts! For Lord R, the exile never seems to end.
Again, all secular hell has broken loose with an Allahabad HC judge observing in a ruling that the Bhagavad Gita should be made the national dharma shastra. Naturally, imams and mullahs are agitated because they would prefer the Shariat court instead of the Supreme Court itself and so cannot surely countenance the suggested ‘dharma’ court. But the real rub has come from the Union law minister H R Bharadwaj who has claimed post haste, and quite officially at that, that the Gita cannot be for the entire nation. One wonders what the response would have been if a judge were to quote from the Quran. Of course, the Sangh Parivar would have hit the roof while Imams would have stroked their beards in smug satisfaction. And the law minister himself, in his official capacity and in all secular zeal, would have advised the nation to take the judicial observation in the right spirit and would have even offered his own quotes from the Q! But since it is Gita it has to be communal and in any case, it, according to the learned law minister, ‘does not belong to ‘this entire nation’. So if Gita does not belong here, to where does it belong?
Officially downgraded and disowned thus the Gita too has now joined the list of unsecular objects like Saraswati Vandana and Vande mataram. This when the Gita actually says people can attain god in whatever form or mode they wish and worship. This is what the Constitution and common sense deem as real secularism. And we know what other Books say: If you are not here, you are doomed! At a time when such rabid injunctions have attained practical and political manifestations, a responsible Government ruling over a country with a hoary past and vast treasures of wisdom should actually be falling back on its core values and leverage on those gems. Instead we are busy dumping them. This can happen only in a nation which is morally and mortally dead!
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