Recently Delhi witnessed the shocking murder of Dr Pankaj Narang by a mob in a fit of senseless rage. As if the incident itself was not gruesome enough, deliberate attempts were made by some to give it a communal angle by spreading false rumours that the murderers were illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh. When additional DCP Monika Bhardwaj tried to clarify the issue through a tweet, that five out of the nine accused are Hindus, and the rest four are Muslim residents of Uttar Pradesh, not Bangladesh, she was viciously trolled on social media.
This is not an isolated incident. In the past one and a half years, India has been plagued with rising incidents of communal violence, many of which started in reaction to rumours. Dadri killing was preceded by the false rumour of a Muslim family storing beef. Recently, two Muslim cowherds were lynched in Jharkhand on the assumption that the cows were being led to slaughter. Burning of churches, riots, pre-mediated attacks on members of minority communities, irresponsible and inflammatory statements by senior leaders of the ruling party, including some members of Parliament and Central ministers, have become commonplace.
Multiple faiths, diverse and occasionally diametrically opposite ideologies have been nurtured and flourished in the fertile intellectual and spiritual ground of Indian civilisation. Tolerance of differences, peaceful coexistence of diversity and celebration of plurality reflects India’s core civilisational values.
Indian civilisation has never been static. It has been a melting pot of different cultures and faiths since time immemorial. Alexander came in 3rd century BC, leaving behind the legacy of Gandhara Art, a fusion of Indo-Bactrian art forms. Christianity came in 1st century AD, followed by Islam a few centuries later. The almost extinct faith of Zoroastrianism, that came in from ancient Persia, survives only in India now. Jews found a welcome home here. This potpourri of different culture and influences are reflected in our art, language, literature, philosophy and cuisine. This ability to assimilate, absorb and harmonise diverse elements and translate it into a common code, a common cultural ethos is the key to India’s rich and vibrant culture.
This code is enshrined in the Upanishadic philosophy of oneness of all. This code was embraced by Gautama Buddha whose message of compassion is taking new meaning in the contemporary world. It was reflected in emperor Ashoka’s “Dhamma” through which ethics were incorporated into governance and state policies. The same values were illuminated through Akbar’s “Din-i-Ilahi”, a medieval emperor’s quest to find truth and commonality in all religions. A new path was shown by Mahatma Gandhi, whose unique form of peaceful resistance — Satyagraha — through the duel arsenals of truth and non-violence, challenged and defeated the mightiest imperialist power of the time.
The sub-texts of India’s socio-cultural history have always resisted orthodoxy and hegemony of religious puritanism of any kind. The Bhakti and Sufi movements are testimonials to this. They were part of our society’s inherent internal mechanism to discard radicalism and intolerance of any kind. The 15th century saint-poet Kabir was born a Muslim, was influenced by the Bhakti Movement and his verses are now part of the Sikh scripture Adi Granth. He wrote, “Kabir is the child of Allah and Ram.” He was persecuted by the authorities but was immensely popular among the masses. In late 19th-early 20th century, Lalan Fakir, a famous baul poet from Bengal, wrote, “People ask me, Lalan what’s your caste/religion I do not know what is the colour of religion.” Popularity of mystic saints discarding the path of conventional religion, as represented by Kabir and Lalan, indicates a rejection of religious orthodoxy and puritanism at a subaltern level.
The current political regime and its ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, take pride in speaking the “voice of majority”. This is hugely misleading. Their bigoted “Hindutva” is vastly different from Hinduism that is far more liberal and accepting, even having a place for an atheist school of thought in Charvaka’s Lokayat Darshan. These self-proclaimed custodians of “Indian culture” and “Hinduism” with their brand of Hindutva are the complete antithesis of Indian ethos. In any case, which majority do they talk about Though the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to form a majority government, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections it could garner just 31 per cent of the votes polled, the lowest so far for any majority government. That means 69 per cent of Indian electorate did not vote for them. Out of those 31 per cent, many primarily voted for “Modinomics”, for the development agenda, not for the RSS’ “Hindutva”.
But since coming to power, the BJP-led government has been relentlessly pursuing the RSS’ agenda to divide and polarise the country for narrow, short-term political gains. It is creating strife, deliberately fanning fanaticism and trying to create communal divides. People are being lynched and persecuted on rumours and presumptions. Anyone daring to raise their voice against the government or the RSS is being termed anti-national. Spokespersons of the ruling party are shouting shrill trying to defend these acts. Social media is being used to unleash virtual terror on any voice of dissent.
There have been instances of communal and ethnic violence in the past, but never before have the senior leaders of the ruling party and ministers in government instigated them through irresponsible, venomous comments. Many BJP leaders and ministers seem to be in unison with the sentiments of RSS ideologue M.S. Golwalkar, its longest serving Sarsanghchalak, who stated that non-Hindus have no right to live in Bharat and should be treated as second class citizens; and V.D. Savarkar, another ultra-Right ideologue who believed in the two-nation theory, thus echoing the views of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
People indulging in divisive politics don’t realise that the bond that unites India is not Hindutva, but Bharatiyata. A multi-cultural, multi-faith pluralistic India is not only our greatest strength, but the very essence of our existence.
The writer is chief spokesperson, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, and national media panelist, AICC
