This is with reference to another incident based on communal bigotry which serves not much beyond being a sadist travesty and a practical joke in the name of religion as reported in the Sunday Times. For those not in the knowhow, read the article on the below link and navigate back to this page. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOI&BaseHref=TOIM/2009/03/15&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00101&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T
It’s a fresh new controversy on the construction of a statue of the ‘Christian Charlie Chaplin’ by a film crew for shooting in the land owned by the Someshwara Temple, Bangalore. One of the reasons for objection is that the statue hurts the sentiments of the Hindu locals. This incident follows on the heels of an alleged ‘rave party’ that was busted a few days back by the Bangalore police, with the authorities and the government practicing the same sort of reckless governance in Karnataka yet again.
A vote of thanks to the Times for practicing prudent voicing of opinions in a subtle yet sensible manner in the section Times View which should accompany every such untoward insensible incident acted upon by thick-headed people. I only regret that they didn’t do the same while reporting the crackdown on the so-called Bangalore based ‘rave-party’. Nonetheless, Thank You. Thank You, the Times Group for practicing meaningful journalism this time around. We hope you continue in the same vein.
The only point I wish to make is the self-proclaimed Hindu chauvinists of the BJP need a reality check. The Bhagvad Gita explicitly says ‘Sarva Dharm Samaan.’ I think these so-called Hindu activists of the BJP need to re-read the sacred Gita before launching a charade in the form of their Hindutva campaign only to make a mockery of the holy text. The Gita believes in secularity and so does India. Why implement something that it doesn’t preach under the guise of protecting the Hindu religion. Now, that is what I call utter disregard and disrespect for the Hindu religion by the authorities of the Someshwara Temple and the BJP and not by the film-makers in question. I’m a secular Indian citizen, who despite being a Sikh, has read the Bhagvad Gita. If those leading the above-mentioned campaign are atleast Hindus, if not secular citizens of the country, please, please, please do read the text. That is my earnest request. Try putting into practice atleast half of what it says. Think about it. We are an educated lot. So do not try to mislead the Hindus.
3 comments:
Unfortunately, the article is rich in its language, but has very little content to offer.
India is secular because majority of its population is Hindu. Hinduism is no religion. Its just a way of life. Worshipers of many gods such as Shri Ram, Shri Krishna and many more are regarded as Hindus. Hindus are the most tolerant people, which is evident from the fact that so many religions flourish on this so-called 'saffron land'. Whichever religion a person may believe in, the only thing that he-she expects from a non-believer is respect for his-her belief, nothing more than that. When we start erecting statues of actors (with due respect to Charlie Chaplin) at places of worship, we are making a mockery of the religious sentiments of the people. In the past, we have seen many places of worship becoming tourist destinations and in the process, losing their spiritual essence and sanctity.
I do not associate any artist to his-her religion, but at the same time, i insist that no artist should be paralleled to any god in any possible way.
As someone from another religious minority group, Jains, I strongly empathize with the sentiments of Hindus and if the BJP gives a voice to feelings of the Hindus, there is no need to create ruckus about it.
With no hard feelings for anyone...
you have done it again....Kya baat hai very well written ya . I must say every time when i read any new article of urs i can feelthe true spirit totally involved to prove it....keep it up.
Nice....very nice...:)
Hi Amish,
This is with reference to ur comment on my blog.
1. This is no debate. So, i'm not taking any sides or trying to prove my point. What i expressed was totally my opinion.
2. Before commenting on anything, you should know the first-hand story.I suppose you didn't follow the story in the Times properly. My article in the blog had nothing to do with likening an artist to a God. It had nothing to do whatsoever with the cult status given to artistes.Nor was the TOI report concerned with that.I had specifically mentioned that one of the grounds of objection was 'religious sentiments of the Hindu locals against the statue of a Christian Charlie Chaplin'. Other objections of the authorities such as valid permission and misuse of temple premises might be justified. I have no qualms against that.There was no discredit to the other objections in my blog or the TOI article. In fact there was no discussion about the other objections at all. You totally misread my version. Both articles were solely dedicated to that one-line that has been quoted in exclamation marks above. That objection had nothing to do with Chaplin being an artist,
but it had an objection to him being a non-Hindu. Also, i don't think u know the meaning of secularism. Secularism as defined in the Constitution of India is harmonious co-existence of all religions and faiths within the Sovereign Consolidated Union of India, equal rights, dignity and respect to all religions with tolerance to every religion. Please look it up in the preamble to the constitution or on the internet. And India is a secular country in those terms. Who told u India has only Hindus? We have Sindhis who have come from Pakistan & Afghanistan, Parsis who have come down from as far as Iran. We have the second largest population of Muslims in the world (higher than the other 21 gulf countries). How can u call India a Hindu State? India is a secular country. And you can choose to believe whatever suits ur fantasy.
I must reiterate "Sarva Dharma Samaan" that I learnt from the Gita as well as the Guru Granth Sahib. If you respect the Hindu religion that very much, try implementing on what the Gita says. Good Luck with that.
3. No hard feelings. I just feel very strongly about political parties in our country raking up communal issues to spark disharmony with the intention to woo their vote-banks during election times. And i didn't expect educated youngsters like you to fall prey to that trap. Sadly, you did. You really think the BJP cares a fuck about Hinduism. Trust me, they dont. All they care about is the 'kursi', the power.
PS: Please dont take it personally. I'm still your good friend and classmate and so are you for me. :-) (apart from all the opinions shared above.)
My Reply:
First of all, sorry for replying after such a long time.
As far as the article is concerned, I did go through it, though only after reading your blog, but before I made a comment to your article. I still do not find anything wrong in denying permission on the basis of 'religious grounds' only, even if that was the case. Sentiments and their expression will definitely vary from individual to individual. You may not feel the sanctity associated with a place of worship and so feel nothing wrong in installing the statue of any artist over there, but I, and many others like me are attached to religious places emotionally and so it hurts our religious sentiments when statues of artists, irrespective of their religion, are installed in temple premises.
Secondly, when you give me technical definitions about Secularism, you conveniently forget that this is the only country in the world with 85% of the population (the majority community), striving extremely hard for the growth and prosperity of the remaining 15% (the 'Minority' - read Muslims). Give me the example of one Muslim or Christian majority nation which does so much for its minorities. We do this, because our very own Bhagwad Gita tells us of 'Sarva Dharma Samabhav'. Does the Quaran or the Bible talk of treating all religions equally? Forget about equal treatment, Islam preaches that non-believers must be converted at any cost or be eliminated. Christians, help the needy, but only after the needy converts to Christianity. This is precisely what Mother Teressa did. And even then you question the secular credentials of the Hindus. When Hindus do not have a problem with others believing in their faith, why everything that a Hindu does or say must satisfy the test of 'secularism' and 'modernity'. Hindus are secular by birth and unfortunately they are the only secular religious community in this world. India is Secular only because majority of its population is Hindu.
Secularism, you quote, "Secularism as defined in the Constitution of India is harmonious co-existence of all religions and faiths within the Sovereign Consolidated Union of India, equal rights, dignity and respect to all religions with tolerance to every religion." This is what we are asking for, uniform rights to all, irrespective of their religion. Then why does our constitution have separate laws for governing the Muslims. This is the best example of double speak of the 'secularists'.
When BJP raises its voice for the Hindus like me, people call it communal. What happens to secularists like you when the Congress or anyother self proclaimed secular party talk for Muslims, whether it is Uniform Civil Code or their first claim on nations resources? In my view, that is the worst kind of communalism that a democratically elected government can display.
BJP is a political party and has a legitimate right to crave for power. People vote only because they want someone to win. BJP, even in the outgoing Loksabha, is the second largest party, securing only 8 seats less than the largest party. BJP got around 35% votes in the last Loksabha elections. I guess everyone who voted for the BJP was illiterate. I suggest that you read the IT vision of the BJP on www.lkadvani.in ( http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/images/stories/it-vision.pdf ) if not anything else. Only when educated like us vote for BJP and vote out Congress, we can experience the true meaning of secularism.
With no hard feelings for anyone...
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