Musings of an Unknown Indian


 
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Musings of an Un-initiated Indian

- Inderjit Sehrawat

The concept of God to me is only to instill in the minds of people, the being of someone who is above all mortal powers. It is something omnipotent, omniscient, but has no physical existence and thus it’s authority cannot be questioned or examined. It could serve to bring some sort of discipline in the society.

Where does religion fit in? To my mind, it is a tool to implement a set of rules framed to live a healthy, unobtrusive life - a constitutional framework of the Kingdom of God. Why should there be different religions? To my mind, they are like different parties in the political scenario fighting for a common cause - to administer in their own way.

Human mind is a very complex object. No two human beings think alike. There is bound to be a difference in opinion of two identities engaged in any pursuit and when the two are equally dominant, the split occurs. So there are different and several dominions even in the kingdom of our God. The differences of opinion become so severe that the very purpose starts getting defeated. The way of life rather becomes obtrusive.

It is like people engaged in some sort of a brawl in an inebriated condition. To a person who is not drunk, ( a situation akin to religious indoctrination ) all of them seem to be at fault. But, those engaged in the act are convinced about pursuing it because of their state of mind. To a person who is not in this state of mind, any place of worship has the same symbolic importance and the presence of one does not preclude the absence of the other. To a person whose mind has not been conditioned for the tenets of a particular religion, all the religious places, whatever religion they may have been related to evoke an equal amount of humility. He sees the people indulging in the religious fundamentalism in a stage of religious intoxication and cannot relate with them. For communal harmony to prevail in this world, the number of such people must out number the rest. The people who are at the brink will then leave the bigots and join them.

Wrongs have been done against all kinds of religious communities of the world at some point or other and the same is going on. What is the need of this religion when it brings so much of misery to the ordinary people. All religious communities have had their share of misfortune. Jews had to go through travails of Diaspora first and the exodus eventually. Palestinians had to live through the ignonimity of their leader being a hostage from where he rules. Muslims suffered to no end in Bosnia. In India the Ayodhya, Godhra and Ahmedabad happened and are continuing. Even the Sikhs and Hindus which were one in the very recent past have found the co- existence difficult. What is the difference between the Sikh and the Hindu living in Punjab - religion? Are the Sikh and the Hindu not part of the same womb? Why did the need arise for separatism? Why were the Sikhs persecuted in 1982? Why did the Hindus find them alien ? In a nation which takes pride in calling itself secular, these were the same sikhs who were created to save this very community, when it was on logger heads with the third one.

The religion is becoming a rallying point for the countries to clash with each other. We and the Pakistanis have been living together for ages as part of one country, one state, one city, one village, one street and at time one house also. Our pleasures and pangs are similar. We speak the same language across the borders and have huge cultural similarities. What is it that is forcing the two countries to spend money on missiles and nukes, the money which could have been used to feed the have nots on both sides of the border? There is continuous battle between Israel and Palestine. The ordinary citizens on both sides are living under the shadow of death. Even the mighty USA has to face the reality of 11th September.

For me, someone who never got initiated to any particular religion, this is inexplicable. All the religions as they say observe tolerance as the rule for the game. But from the place where I sit, I see all the rules being flouted by everybody. Why blame the petty UP assembly, when the similar theatrics are taking place on the bigger stage in the Kingdom of God !


 
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