परहित सरिस धर्म नहिं भाई
पर पीड़ा सम नहीँ अधमाई
(Sant Tulsidas Ramcharitra Manas: there is no bigger dharma that helping others, and no bigger sin than harming other)
The article by Sanal Edamaruku in the Indian Express got me thinking about another saying that i read recently "We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends". I dont think I can be silent anymore.
Something has changed in the last few years, we are turning into a fractionalized, intolerant and marginalized society. When someone can be shot and killed for having a different opinion then we are truly in the dark ages.
The painful bit is that the custodians of Hinduism don't even know or understand even a fraction of Hinduism (not that I claim to).The basic tenets of Hinduism are about non-violence and tolerance. Hinduism is one of the oldest belief system in existence and it has stayed so because of it flexibility and adaptability. The abolishment of Sati and widow remarriages are the greatest reforms in recent history and challenged the beliefs of the Hindu system. Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra VidyaSagar would probably have been killed in the current environment.
Those that believe that Hinduism is under threat, or that their perception of Hinduism is the only truth need to know that they are nothing but a Hindu version of the ISIS or Taliban. Those that support meat ban, beef ban, ban against public display of affection, Valentine's Day whatever are supporting a dumbed down version of what they believe is Hinduism. There are so many challenges in this country; hunger which makes suicide seem like a better alternative, a water scarcity making women travel miles to fetch any murky filthy water because thats the only water they have, education, sanitation... I can go on and on.
Hinduism is under threat from Hindus, those that believe their version is the only one and everyone else is wrong and also from the moderate voices that chose to keep quiet rather than speak up and out these radicals.Hinduism will do just fine, it does not need protection, humans do!
#hindus #hinduism #radicalisation #intolerence
1 comment:
I could not agree with you more; I found especially resonant your comment that Hinduism's plurality and diversity are under threat from Hindus themselves. Banning meat is not going to bring "better days" to India: We need to focus instead on how to alleviate poverty, the lack of safety and clean water, the loss of agricultural livelihoods, the child labor...
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