Spoils of History

Economy is a relevant word. Especially when there is only so long to live. And achieve, and enjoy and hoard. It would make sense to judge the economy of allowing history to impact life. And then of course there would be the hidden cost of profit.
All such apparent and not so apparent factors make the equation a very complicated one. To what extent should history be allowed to change the way we live. Or think, eat, fight and die. From enjoying biriyani, cooked the style Nawab Wazir Ali Shah would have liked. To slitting the throat of that guy, whose forefathers would have built a mosque on a temple few centuries back. Or a temple on a church. Or a church on a mosque. Whatever!
At what point should tradition lose its relevance? The priority of humanism over history is often difficult to grasp in India. A day’s fasting for husband’s health is tradition. But so was burning the widow on her deceased husband’s pyre less than a couple of centuries back. Are they parts of the same spectrum of traditions ? If so, at what point do we draw the line of accepting...................or rather allowing traditional practise in our current life? The answer seemingly obvious, is often complicated by hidden agenda. By opinions manufactured to gain. Votes, political mileage and what not.
Ram is passion. More precious than life. So is Muhammad or Jesus. So is the border around India, the tricolour, the anthem. All precious and worth dying for. It would appear that in the race of martyrship, for what ever the agenda of the day, the least precious is human life.
The Liberhan report should give us an opportunity to look back. Not just at the fateful day, or the event which led to it or followed it. But at the whole idea of justice and accountability. And at the economy of history into our lives. Trying to answer the question which has become fundamental in the maddening crowd of passions – which part of history is worth dying for?
When we look back at that fateful December, what should stand out most is the human cost of the day. Unfortunately instead we still hear endless debates on the evidence for and against birth of Ram, existence of temple underneath the mosque, or whether the mosque was in use. We try pitching one religious passion against another. The time has come to stand back and ask the most relevant question of all...............what is the relevance of all this? Is it not time to say that we have walked far enough to accept the priority of humanism over all. And reject any history which injures humanism as uneconomical, in the present day and age?
India is an unfortunate country. Here common sense is forever held ransom by political parties. Here passion is a weapon, and life dispensible. So when in the light of the Liberhan report we should be assessing accountability – we are busy trying to measure the stature of Vajpayee against Liberhan, or Narasimha Rao against Advani. We are creating demi Gods of humans, so that they remain beyond question. And we are trying to fan the same,shameful, irrelevant passions of that fateful December. And human life is once again a cheap collateral.

Vande mataram - controversy and beyond

The background first.
The song was written by Bonkim Chandra Chatterjee in the late nineteenth century, and is a part of a novel called Anandamoth. The song was a milestone in the Indian nationalist movement. Equating country with father or mother was not a familiar concept to Indians. This way of worshipping and idolizing was essentially European – and the “English educated” Bonkimchandra picked up this clue from them. The song was probably also an alternative to ”God save the King” that the Indians in the pre independence era would have been forced to sing. Later the song was adopted by Congress – and in the post independence era made into National anthem. Credit to Rabindranath Tagore who recognised the central concept in the song to be alien to other religions before independence, and explained this in a letter to Subhas Chandra Bose.
Lets come to the current times now.
To any sensible observer, this shall be clear that the topic has no relevance in today’s age and time. India has far better things to worry about. However this does lead us to face some uncomfortable facts, about our democracy.
It seems that in India patriotism is all about the tricolour, the flag, the charka and the song. Somewhere in this “patriotic” rant the truth that a nation is for its people and not the other way round seems lost. We tend to chose honouring inanimate symbols, because it is the easier option. Put forward the task of making a difference to the biggest asset of a nation, its people - and the majority of our “patriots” will have melted away into the crowd. Be a humanist first – and a patriot will almost certainly follow!
This also proves how easy it is for factions in our diverse country, to hijack issues to prove their point. Religious communities can project compulsions to sing the national song as an example of deliberate attempts to subordinate their faith. Political organisations in turn can use this defiance to brand them as unpatriotic. And we have much ado about nothing..............except, that it unmasks the real lack of will in the country to make an actual difference.
What seems most important actually goes way beyond this issue. It is the issue of establishing parallel authorities in the country. Should any group – religious, political or cultural, whatever their description have powers to dictate choices in our lives. It is this assumption of control, which should make us more uncomfortable.

November, 09

Welcome

Speak
Think. Speak again

Listen
Reflect. Speak again

Beleive
Change. Speak again

Need
Compromise. Speak again

But, do speak.