Author: T. V. R. Shenoy
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 1, 2001
In 1934 the province of Bihar was
shaken by a giant earthquake that left thousands dead in its wake.
Mahatma Gandhi mused aloud that it was the judgement of Heaven for mistreatment
of Harijans. (The term 'Dalit' was not in vogue at the time.)
Congressmen, especially of the agnostic younger generation fumed at this,
but did not dare to debate le point.
One man who took the Mahatma to
task was Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Quakes, he pointed out could be explained
in perfectly earthly terms, without bringing in the supernatural.
And, the annoyed Nobel laureate acidly ended, since the poor were always
the worst affected in any natural calamity it would be at peculiar deity
who chose an earthquake to express his disapproval. Even the Mahatma
did not press the question after this magisterial rebuke.
Great tragedies have always evoked
strange reactions from people. Happily, the most recent disaster has brought
out the best in most people. But there has been the occasional
silly note being struck. Let me begin, however, with a sketch of
the nicer side of humanity.
I was in a hospital in Bangalore
on the morning of January 26, far removed from the epicentre, whether political
or seismic. Yet, I was happy to note that Chief Minister of Karnataka
S. M. Krishna was among the first to respond to the calamity in distant
Gujarat. Karnataka was one of the, first to send cash (about Rs.
2O crore), kind (blankets and medical supplies), and men (a team of doctors).
0rdinary citizens, both in Bangalore and elsewhere, were generous to a
fault.
Of course, that cooperative attitude
was not unique to Karnataka. I believe every state has responded,
as have people from other nations and international aid organisations.
Sadly, this harmony was rocked by some silly remarks.
A member of S.M.Krishna's Council
of Ministers, a Mr. John, allegedly stated that the quake in Gujarat was
God's response for the attacks on Christian missionaries. Sadly,
this bigoted attitude was not unique to the Congress (I) minister.
The first time that I heard something
like this was on a cable television channel in New York run by a sect of
rabid proselytisers. They claimed that the super-cyclone in Orissa
was the result of their God's wrath, following the death of Graham Staines.
It is possible that they shall make the same claims again, although I hope
that wisdom has dawned today!
The pronouncements of Christian
proselytisers in the United States are not really an issue to us in India.
(Or they should not be under normal circumstances!) But it
is very sad to hear the same poison being spread in Bangalore.
That is right, a certain group of Christians- often found evangelising
from door to door-were heard saying much the same on Indian soil.
(Let us not name any names, suffice it to say that even Pope John Paul
II himself has been heard expressing his disapproval of their actions).
Let us stretch a point and say that
they have the right to say what they want. I can live with that,
but surely it is a different matter when a minister, a public servant,
comes out with such statements. It is, frankly, disgusting.
(The minister has resigned in the meantime - Editor).
I can imagine the furore had a member
of the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Shiv Sena said something remotely
similar. If a natural cataclysm on this scale strikes, say the United
States, would it be because of the anti-Hindu 'dot busters'?
And what led to the quakes that devastated Kobe in Japan, or Anatolia in
Turkey, or the valleys of China or the mountains of Iran? Was is it because
there aren't any Hindus in countries?
That is a moronic argument, is it
not? Yet, what would be thought stupid in the goose is considered
free speech for the gander. It would, I think, be a healthy
development if somebody from the hierarchy of the Christian churches spoke
out against John's alleged remarks. They might also remind him that
he is a minister of the state, not a minister of the faith. But I
doubt that anyone is going to have him on the carpet!
The media have been happy to air
stories of various communities coming together in Gujarat. But what
is happing in the western state should not mask an impending tragedy in
the south. Think about it: in India's most computer-sawy state,
it is becoming acceptable to make communal remarks. Coming
from South India as I do, I realise how polarised my part of the country
has become. I fear, however, that the worst is yet to come.
While in Bangalore, I also realised
just how quickly panic could be struck off. Peninsular India experienced
a mild quake on the morning of January 29. Then someone spread the rumour
that there would be a devastating quake later in the day, at noon or shortly
thereafter.
A hospital is supposed to be a templc
to science. But there were enough people even there who believed
rumours, unsubstantiated by any seismologist, who took them seriously.
In blind, unthinking panic, some began moving hospital fittings out into
the open air. Even some stretcher cases were, I believe wheeled
out.
Rumours and communalism are a potent
cocktail. It struck me all too forcibly in Bangalore how desperately
we lack the virtue of skepticism. People returned to their roofs
when the noon hour passed without the earth heaving. Suppose, however,
that it was a different kind of a rumour about, say, a riot. Would enough
people believe it to make it a self-fulfilling tragedy?
There is much that is good in the
human spirit but there is also plenty that is irrational. Heavens
grant us the wisdom to distinguish between the truth and the rumour!
