The Tribune
May 2, 2006
Faith, politics, intolerance
Clash of civilisations a false thesis
by B.G. Verghese
THE Chinese Premier was recently interrupted by a Falung Gong supporter denouncing religious intolerance while being ceremonially received at the White House in Washington. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms Asma Jehangir, earlier expressed concern over a confidential letter circulated in Iran to governmental agencies to identify Bahai’s and monitor their activities. This is ominous. The Bahai’s, a gentle community who have a distinguished record in India as elsewhere, understandably apprehend another hate campaign and further persecution in Iran.
Around the world we see the demonisation of faith, evoking fears in otherwise innocent minds of a clash of civilisations. This is a false thesis as every Indian should know, living in a country that has seen, nurtured and revered the footprints of almost all the major world religions. Amartya Sen brilliantly punctures this thesis in “Identity and Violence”. All people have multiple identities, each relevant to time and circumstance. To pin on them a singular identity for all seasons is to caricature them and the world in which we live.
Alas, India too suffers from religious fault lines that would be easily negotiated by ordinary people who live and work together if they were not exploited by vested interests for narrow partisan or personal gain.
Rajasthan has just enacted an anti-conversion law aimed at Christians and others. It prescribes up to five years imprisonment for the “crime” of conversion (though not of re-conversion). Conversion by and large takes place not by force and fraud, which are punishable, but from genuine conviction or, for most, as an escape from unconscionable caste oppression. The remedy lies in social reform that Hindu religious leaders have not pursued with vigour and perseverance. If BJP leaders were to devote their periodic rath yatras to this task, they would better serve both faith and nation.
Among the more absurd arguments advanced is the allegedly high growth rate of India’s Muslim population. Hence the bizarre advocacy by none other than the RSS chief that Hindu women should each bear 16 children, or at least nine by reference to Krishna’s order of birth! Bangladesh migrants are a problem not necessarily because they are Muslim but because they are illicit entrants. In the past year, more Nepalese migrants have entered India than Bangladeshis on account of disturbed conditions in the Kingdom. Does their faith matter? They come to seek refuge.
Meanwhile, the findings of Prof Roop Rehka Verma’s recently published “Study of Textbooks in Non-Governmental Schools in Uttar Pradesh” are disquieting. Her survey of books used in RSS schools, including the large chain of Saraswati Vidya Mandirs, reveals an uncritical glorification of Brahmanism and associated notions of hierarchy.
Gujarat’s continued mocking of justice reminds us of how much we need to do to promote reconciliation and fraternity. Muslims there continue to suffer ghettoisation and economic boycott among other indignities. A distinguished and totally integrated, secular professor has confessed that he is unable to buy or rent accommodation in a cosmopolitan neighbourhood in Vadodara only because he is a Muslim. How very shameful!
It is a matter for concern that communal violence has been manifest of late with rioting at several places. The Centre introduced a Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill last December, which has some good points but needs improvement. But legislation cannot help where political will is lacking, as demonstrated by the pathetic neglect of the Scheduled Castes Commission and the fate of the Prevention of Atrocities Act and the Places of Worship Protection Act, both of which have virtually remained dead letters.
Equally disconcerting has been the recrudescence of a siege mentality among sections of Muslim Indians. The Muslim Personal Law Board some months back inveighed against the Supreme Court’s order to the Centre and states to frame rules for compulsory registration of marriages within three months. This is intended to protect women’s rights over property and in case of desertion. Likewise, clerical opposition to another more recent court ruling that a triple talaq uttered by an inebriated husband shall be deemed invalid on voluntary retraction is difficult to understand. The continuing opposition to a uniform civil code, which constitutionally and legally would leave personal laws intact, is also inexplicable.
More disturbing is the letter written earlier this month by two highly respected clerics of the Ajmer Dargah and the Dar-ul-Uloom, Deoband, to the Prime Minister. They link Muslim support for the Congress in the on-going general elections and Ms Sonia Gandhi’s byelection to action by the government that goes beyond “cosmetic utterances”. They want Dr Manmohan Singh “to deliver peace to the Valley of Kashmir rather than (pay) lip-service to Indian Muslims”. This they do as secular Muslims who recognise J&K as part of India. They also express “resentment” over the government’s friendly overtures towards the US President.
Both statements are unfortunate and uninformed and constitute an unwarranted even if unintended intrusion of religion into politics. Diplomatic relations are guided by the national interest and not on the basis of religious labels. And when the J&K peace process is slowly gathering momentum, what is the purpose of the electoral ultimatum the clerics wish to deliver?
These are all issues that standing committees of the National Integration Council could discuss and iron out. The Council has been restored but must be put to work.