Author: Varsha Bhosle
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: June 29, 2000
Seems like a lot of you guys agreed; I was surprised to see the many
kilobytes of mail pointing out successful Muslims I had missed mentioning
in my last article. Two of them I kick myself for overlooking: Dr
Abdul Kalam of ISRO - "The whole country's defence rests with a Muslim.
Now if that is not giving Muslims a fair deal, what else is?" - and Azim
Premji of WIPRO - "Forget India, he is one of the most successful and richest
man in the world!" How could I have missed them! Simple: only trophies
stare at you from walls and shelves...
Today, I wanted to give you my precious opinion about Bill Gates and
the DoJ fix. However, the Indian variety of secularism won't let
me budge from religion. No sooner than I'd started fingering Judge
Jackson, there was this pasty-faced fatty in saffron beckoning at me from
the front page: "'The central government should not impose any conditions
while offering a dialogue with the separatists,' Jagadguru Shankaracharya
Swami Adhokshjanand Tirathji Maharaj of Govardhan Peetham told reporters
in Srinagar." And there he was, seated in a wholly green room, discoursing
politics with Javed Mir, Yasin Malik and Bashir Bhat of the JKLF...
Ok, what I want to know is: If an ascetic is one who "practices severe
self-discipline and abstains from all forms of pleasure, esp. for
religious and spiritual reasons" ( OED), is he allowed to overeat...? If
a seer is "a person of supposed supernatural insight esp. as regards
the future" ( OED), why do the ToI, Indian Express and Pioneer insist on
calling Chubby "the Puri seer"? What had/has he correctly prophesied...?
If Chubby is, as stated in nearly all the newspapers, the Shankaracharya
of Puri, who is Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Puri Swami Nishchchalanand
Saraswati...? If this country is, indeed, secular, then how does it put
up with religious heads butting into politics...?
Truth, I know little about these latter-day Shankaracharyas, save that
they are from the Advait Vedanta school of philosophy and regarded by many
as leaders of Hinduism in a way in which the Pope is the leader of Christianity.
Which perception I reject. For there are no religious commandments
that a Hindu can brandish to dictate what's done and not. Interpretation
does not a Pope make, and the concept of infallibility does not exist in
Hinduism. Besides, "acharya" means "teacher," not "leader." Too,
there are only four peeths - Puri in Orissa, Dwarka in Gujarat, Joshimath
in no-clue and Sringeri in Karnataka - each headed by a Shankaracharya
and established by the first, Adi Shankaracharya, over a thousand years
ago. So I can't be bothered to keep track of every "leader" who crawls
out of the religious woodwork.
I'm not sure if you've read Chubby's divine utterances vis--vis Kashmir;
here's my pick: "The government should perform its role of governance and
start talking to Hurriyat and no condition should be placed for such talks...
I will awaken the masses about the ground realities in Kashmir...
I will perform my religious duty but I also warn politicians not to further
their politics of hatred and communalism. If they do not stop, the
people would throw them out... I have visited Kashmir as part of
religious duty. The religious heads should rise when the politicians
fail to mitigate sufferings of the people..."
Cool, baby-o, well said. But, how about performing your role of
religious instruction and travelling to Bihar, Gujarat and, well, every
state, and talking to Hindus about the evils of the caste system...? How
about doing your mite by awakening the masses to the fact that caste differences
- as they exist now - were never a part of Hinduism and should be eradicated
pronto? Is that too tough on your wee brain? Or have you gauged that such
exertions won't bring you the masthead publicity in "secular" publications
that railing against the so-called Hindutvawadis will...?
What religious duties have you performed so far? Have we heard you speak
out on the caste-driven massacres by the Ranvir Sena? Did you utter a word
after the last instance of sati...? Have you - and your cozy saffron set
- anything to say about the devdasi system...? Barely adolescent girls
are "married" off to deities, with each carrying a price that's given to
her parents; meaning, sold to the temples. Priests persuade the illiterate
parents to gift their daughters to the deity, which they do, little realising
that the girls will end up as prostitutes in the brothels of big cities.
The devdasi tradition is thriving in Karnataka despite the Karnataka Devdasi
Prohibition Act of 1982. Does this not fall more within the purview
of a Shankaracharya than secession does...? I'll tell you what: It's time
that we, the Hindu people, rose and threw YOU buggers out for failing to
mitigate our suffering!
And lo! The Hurriyat has developed so much confidence in the dork (who
went on a "fact-finding mission" to the Valley a second time, if you please),
that it has authorised him to take up the issue of human rights violations...
So, referring to Hajibal which had witnessed a fierce fight between terrorists
and the army and where two officers and three soldiers were killed, the
Swami quoth, "We worship the cow. But I have seen even she being
fired upon and killed. We have met orphans, widows and even seen
the plight of trees which have been set ablaze," and is about to set sail
against "gross human rights violations by security forces." He has asked
his sidekick, NK Sharma, to be in touch with the US-endorsed party of terrorists
for an assessment of custodial killings and rights violations...
If that weren't enough, the dork regrets that the impression created
is that everyone living in Kashmir is a terrorist "but after visiting the
place I have come to the conclusion that nobody here is a terrorist.
It is actually a misnomer created by politicians to further their own nefarious
designs."
Words fail me... and what does leap to my mind, the sainted editor
will never permit. Therefore, I reproduce my friend Gopal's disgust-filled
lines: "This is wonderful. We have a clown complaining to the Muslims
about Indian security forces killing cows and accusing the BJP of being
communal. And then we have the BJP tripping all over itself trying
to prove that it is secular, while pointing to us as the real communal
fanatics. Is Hinduism in India a lost cause?" Then there's my favourite
colonel, a veteran of too many close battles: "It angers and pains me that
this buffoon is giving respectability to terrorists. Where was he
when Pandits were being massacred? Where was he when Sikhs were murdered
in Chithi Singhpura? I feel very let down by my countrymen."
I haven't mentioned the dork's axe against the Sangh Parivar, have I?
Since the time he took charge of his math, on February 2, 1995, he's been
going hammer and tongs at them - with ne'er a blink at religious or social
problems. It's just been politics, politics and more politics: 5
April, 1997: "The nexus between fake dharmacharyas and political bigwigs
has infected the very roots of our social system and the country has been
brought to point of destruction." 30 August, 1998: LK Advani is "the greatest
blight on the face of Hinduism... I prefer the terrorists of Kashmir
to Advani and Singhal. At least they do not have a hidden agenda.
They are misguided but, unlike this duo who has misled an entire nation
in the name of religion, they pursue their objectives openly." The RSS
"is an organisation which never participated in the freedom movement.
It put its boys into khaki chaddis but prevented them from fighting for
the nation. It is as anti-national now as it was ever before." 26
October, 1998: "The Ram Janmabhoomi issue is purely religious in nature
and should be left to religious leaders. The VHP wants to serve its
own ends by taking up the issue, which was why it wants to keep religious
leaders out of the affair." 3 March, 1999: "The so-called self-made saviours
of Hinduism have tried to pressurise genuine saints to toe their line.
But the genuine saints had so far and would in future also, resist all
such attempts. Even during Indira Gandhi's rule, sadhus were not
subjected to such controversies, threats and harassment."
Did you notice that " khaki chaddis"? Apart from it being a dead give-away
as to who his political mentors are - his sidekick used to be the political
secretary to PV Narasimha Rao - would you like another example of the kind
of decorum this "genuine saint" espouses? "This government has become a
nautanki. Advani is no leader, he is merely a naach-gaanewala.
Such people should be given their own entertainment arena and not allowed
to occupy such high positions in office." Nice...
For those of you who, despite his calling murdering terrorists merely
"misguided" souls, are feeling trs benevolent towards the dork for his
anti-Parivar salvo, here's one to make you mull: "The Shankaracharya expressed
himself in favour of a benevolent dictatorship for India which would safeguard
the interests of the people..."
Well, if you think the dork is even faintly concerned about India or
keeping the faith, you must be nuts! His neeyat stood naked when he asked
the VHP to keep away from the Ram Mandir because: "We have been building
temples for generations since the days of Adi Shankaracharya. This
job should be left to us." This is a territory war - not over Ram or Kashmir,
but of ego and over temporal power. The more I think, the more I'm
convinced: It is high time that India becomes a truly secular nation.