Lesson 15: Ram ji ki jai ho… (nahin to?)

aka Holier Than Thou, contributed by Citizen Ikaros

Question: How many Indians does it take to stop a bull-dozer from going over the Yamuna river bed and making the games village?
Answer: ONE. The rest can stand and cheer.
But who will be that one? And a different one every day?

J Bo's Note: This post is AS MUCH to the media as to the so-called upholders of Faith. Why is it that Everything in our country becomes a matter of religion? Take the nation-wide chakka-jam/strike alled by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). On the face of it, it is a stand-off between developers and conservers. The developers are those who want to build the canal that would reduce sea-time for ships plying between India and Sri Lanka. The conservers say the bridge (setu) would dislodge many fishermen from those areas in both countries and will also cause severe, irreparable damage to the environment. However, now comes chakka jamkahani main twist. What are scientifically said to be shoals formed due to sedimentation (the gradual settling of soil) are also supposed to be the remains of the bridge the vanar-sena made for Bhagwan Ram to go to Lanka. So basically, and of course the saffron brigade is up protesting, “save the setu”. What I personally find exceedingly funny in the situation is that the Government, which should know that there are some who WILL be emotional about anything to do with Ram… CHOSE to have ‘setu’ in their project name. Very sensitive to the country, must say. And what’s with people? At the time when everyone is busy worrying about tax returns, mediclaims, vacations during Diwali-Dussehra, movie releases etc – there are people who are burning cars and creating mayhem for Ram. Definitely only a vanar sena. But not a loyalist to Ram, he never preached mob violence. And definitely not on the property and possessions of those who had not done anything. He represented a right cause, good versus evil. You are being neither, just ridiculous. If you have to fight: Use LOGIC…in the name of Ram! I mean c’mon VHP, oppose the setu, but do it FOR the fishermen there, BE Ram’s true followers: Ram helped Shabri, he helped his followers. He didn’t go around burning things to prove his point. If you are such Ram-bhakts (devotees), how is it that ALL your actions are only towards vague ideas but NEVER about real people, the people of Ram? This is not Dharm, this is dhong.

Citizen Ikaros’ take on things: Holier Than Thou?

People blame A particular section of society for an act of terror and the dissent has and will run deep for years to come.

In India, there was a certain haplessly opportunist of a President back in 1947 whose ugly move we still have to bear through. People are divided upon religion because of the relics or so called 'beholders of faith' like the Maulanas from SIMI (a Muslim students’ body) and Sudarshan who heads RSS (a totally tyrannical Hindu outfit with regressive and outdated principles).

Islam and Vedanta are two profound studies, which preach of God and the ways to attain godliness. Still how can it be that they engage people towards fanaticism?

Christianity has the vaguest and yet simplest of all doctrines. Buddhism is mistakenly thought as the religion of peace and compassion. Ask the Neo-Buddhist and you will know. The very lunacy of religion lies in the fact that one man's god is another's devil.

It is not hard to follow a religion of convenience. And if you are a clergyman, it is not hard to turn a well-found religion into a religion of convenience as well. So all the lawlessness, acts of terror, brutality against animals, are accounted for people who are godless. But not following any religion, according to many would be blasphemous and makes one an outlaw.

But does everyone go about terrorizing and rampaging daily peace? On the contrary, most acts of ghastly deeds have been performed by believers of religion. The Spanish Inquisition and witch hunts by the Christians, the forceful conversions by Muslims through the centuries, and recent fanatical acts by the Hindu Right wing.

With the advent of a flurry of spiritual channels featuring 'godmen' and clergymen giving away religious discourses with divine confidence, it makes me sit, watch and wonder. How necessary it is to have FAITH! It is the only Hope and Shelter. It's the provider of Solace. Take away FAITH from your life and everything is lost. We have been programmed in such a way.

And I try to believe.

PS: At the mention of ‘channel: from the videos I had seen on TV, the situation seemed really bad. However, there was no evidence on anything, anywhere. Are we needlessly creating mountains out of molehills? What happens if the Press were to boycott an event and NOT give it publicity?