The whole of India is abuzz with religious celebrations currently. Come the month of Margashirsha, the holy of the holiest according to the Bhagwad Geeta, Chapter XI, and our motherland seems to be literally overflowing with ceremonies celebrating faith.
This week began with the "dhwajarohan" at Ayodhya. It signified n dignified the culmination of the centuries old Ram Janma Bhoomi movement. It, moreover, marked the completion of the Ram Mandir project at Ayodhya.
This morning, the P.M. participated in the mass recitation of the Bhagwad Geeta and the Vedas, while towards the evening, he unveiled the seventy-seven feet tall bronze idol of Shri Ram.
Most interesting are the places of these ceremonies, from the North (Ayodhya) to the South (Udupi) to the West (the Gokarna Math in Goa). Literally, the whole of India seems to be full of religious fervour.
Goa is the most significant of the three. In a way, Ayodhya has for centuries been the center of such religious animation (and animosity, too). The South is well-known for its religious observance. Goa, however, has a clear Christian influence due to the Portuguese colonisation. Why, it has the remains of Saint Francis Xavier. The mostly Catholic churches and basilicas there are as famous as the Mangeshi temple.
The tallest statue of Lord Ram in such a place is extremely significant. It shows that the fount of faith flows literally across the length and breadth of India.
Does this exuberance clash with the secular framework of our multi-religious country? I do not think so. Well, look at the swearing in of the "nine mantras" by the P.M at both the ceremonies this Friday. Clearly they have a very democratic progressive inclusive profile.
There is nothing constitutionally wrong in the majority faith being thus celebrated because none of these religious events belittled the minorities' faith in any way. In fact, this week itself, the P.M. attended the three hundred and fiftieth Shaheed Diwas, honouring the martyrdom of the Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur, as well.
As it is, the term "secular" was introduced in the Preamble during the Emergency which, too, has reached its fiftieth anniversary this year. In other words, instead of delimiting religious fervour in to communal framework and casteist terms (the legacy of British colonialism actually), it could be used to awaken the liberal ideals as the "nine mantras" oath proved.
As for the heated debate over the P.M. attending the functions, indeed why not? Why, he attended in the past any number of ceremonies of the minority communities. He even faced backlash for praising a Sufi saint or two
As for the carping about the political advantage thus gained directly and/or indirectly, well, each and every political (and politicking) party tried, and is trying, and will try it, right? Well, the unmatched charisma of an individual is his personal hard-earned achievement.
In brief, continuous criticism simply for the sake/heck of it makes such motives suspicious and hypocritical, right? The battle of opinions/concepts/ideas is never won through propagandist narratives. Rhetoric which chooses to echo itself, in brief, is self-defeating!
Pratima@ Difficult to stop an idea, a concept, a movement whose time has come, to summarise Victor Hugo whom our erstwhile P.M., Dr. Manmohan Singh loved to quote.
Quote of the day: "Faith," they say, "is not belief without proof, but trust without any reservations or doubts."
Word of the day: theology. 'Theology' is made of 'theos' and 'logy'. The first means God and the second refers to a systematic study. Theology, hence, is the systematic study of the nature of God and religious belief(s).
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