SECULARISM

Its 3 in the morning and I am watching ‘how to be different on the discovery channel. Its showing how scientist can now alter the genes and can pre-determine gene set for future offspring. I just thought to myself wouldn’t be great if we could just do the same with the BJP. Just Invent something which can either wipe-out the ‘Sangh- Parivar’s ideologies or just wipe them out altogether. I am not ‘hinsak’ and truly believe in Ghandhi’s 'Ahinsawad'. Also I, being a part of a civilised society, am tolerant to other people’s views. But this whole VHP, BHP and Shiv Sena trilogy is out of bound of comprehension. My every logic is defied when I see top party officials making irresponsible moves in one of the world’s most volatile and explosive regions, J&K. Why will a ‘PM in waiting’ will play with several lives just because he needs to prove his point. Why will a party, which opposed the Emergency and played the most important role in India’s history of democracy, not stand up and listen to logic. I am no political analyst, but even my Nepali domestic help understand that J&K isn’t an ordinary state with easy history. It has demographics which mirrors Israel and Palestine (I don’t which to draw such parallels but it seems highly probable). Recent calls for more agitation in Jammu by the opposition seems a cowardly act to play on Hindu votes of the region. BJP well knows it has lost everything elsewhere and there is no one who supports them except for Hindu fanatics.

Sovereign Constitution of this country allows Freedom of association and gives full political freedom. It also says in the preamble that WE ARE A SECULAR NATION. There is an obvious question how do we balance the two. It becomes problematic when religion fuses with politics and is used to secure political gain for a particular community. This has been characterised by some scientists (political scientists off course) as a first step towards communalism. The whole idea of securing political power is to uphold not just the articles of the Constitution but the ethical and moral glue which binds it. None of our founding fathers thought we will have Babri-Masjid or Godhra just because a ruling government of the day wanted to uphold not the Constitution or the oath it took, but its abstract religious party ideologies. This should have been a warning sign for the Supreme Court to ban such organisations as extremists or should have given warning signs. Turkey represents a fabulous example of how a secular Constitution should be upheld. When a Muslim majority party wanted to impose strict communal Muslims law in a country which has 70% or more Muslim population, its people took it to the streets. Why we are so dormant when it comes to us. Why do not we stand up against VHP or Shive sena which calls for Hindu terrorist squads or call for a nuclear strikes against our neighbours. Is this the freedom our founding fathers envisaged. Perhaps there is one person who stood up, Amar Singh, may be for an edge over his political opponents or to gain advantage over BSP for the next general elections. But he stood up and fought to keep communal forces away from the power. May be he is not a good example on how to be secular but he stood up for what was right (after much of a heated discussion with various other political parties).

Omar Abdullah has again done it. Adored by my female friends as a hotty with brains, he has again made his point loud and clear. He has again stepped out and counted out the bugs (BJP). He has again restored my faith in our democracy when he delivered his 5 minutes long passionate speech in the Lok Sabha amongst the whole Cash for Vote scam. He outlined the true nature of ‘what it should be all about’. No organisation of political parties for religious furtherance but for a cause that affects every religion. Although I shall not rule out use of religious groups for lobbying the high corridors of power and some divine intervention.

I am not an academic or a policy maker but an ‘Aam Aadmi’ looking for a job and trying to fight a double digit inflation. I can only hope for our leaders to return to their senses before we destroy this secular nation’s fabric and return to middle ages.