Open Forum
New Delhi, 18
August 2015
De-Radicalizing
Religion
COUNTERACT
DISTORTIONS
By Dhurjati
Mukherjee
The Union Home Ministry recently
sent an advisory to States to treat youths radicalized by the Islamic State
with extreme sensitivity and that efforts are made to involve the whole
community in trying to de-radicalize them. The advisory, sent to 12 sensitive
States, including Bengal, is highly significant as the standard procedure of
arrest and prolonged detention have not yielded the desired results till date.
This shift in strategy has been
rightly formulated by the Centre as involvement of community elders and genuine
religious leaders may well go a long way in de-radicalizing and weaning them
away from terror and violence. Let us be clear, no religion talks of violence
or terror rather instils among the people a sense of brotherhood,
fellow-feeling and mutual trust.
With rise of terrorism and violence,
there is an urgent need to counter it by reaching out to the youth. The
strategy of sensitizing the States should have been initiated earlier and
efforts towards its success need to be made. This indeed is a difficult task as
involvement of people from various facets of life would be necessary in
spreading the proper message of religion.
It is no coincidence that
Jamaat-e-Islami along with Egypt’s
Muslim Brotherhood – two conveyor belts of Sunni extremism -- gave birth to
Students Islamic Movement of India which, in turn, spawned Indian Mujahideen.
These groups may differ in tactics but are bound by a common belief that Islam
is not merely a religion but a strategy to influence the life and action of
youth and establish its dominance here. But apart from these dominant and
aggressive forces, the Left parties refuse to acknowledge the Islamic threat
even after these elements have struck terror in various parts of the country.
The youth fall prey to mischievous
campaigns by fundamentalist groups as they do not have adequate knowledge about
the ideological stance of the religion they follow. There are distortions of
religious teachings by various interested groups, not to speak of these
fundamentalists. The talk about revenge, hatred and violence runs counter to
the real purpose of religious leaders, a message which needs the strategy
should address.
It is generally agreed that
religions are different roads to the same destination and this has been the
basic approach of the Hindu faith over centuries. The motto of Parliament of
Religions is: “To unite all religions against irreligion; to make the Golden
Rule the basis of this union; to present to the world the substantial unity of
many religions in the good deeds of the Religious Life…” However, not all
practitioners of the scientific study of religion were prepared to make such
concessions to the Parliament’s religious raison d’etre.
The greatest political leader of the
last century, Mahatma Gandhi, believed that various religious approaches could
be synthesized and this is manifest in his understanding of God. He preached and practised the virtues of
secularism and religious tolerance. But much before Gandhi, it was Ramakrishna
and Vivekananda who advocated unity and equality of all religions in coming
closer to the almighty.
The direction given by the two to
Hinduism essentially became a faith of unification, love and brotherhood. There
is no scope of animosity and hatred. Moreover, those belonging to the Hindu
faith have never tried, over the years, to bring to their fold people from
other religions and extending their spheres of influence, except a very few and
that too only recently.
Sadly, this is possibly not the case
with other religions. Even the Pope some years back stated that in the first
thousand years, Christianity had conquered Europe, in the last millennium had
established its hold over America and in the present millennium it was set to
leaving its imprint on Asia. Similarly, the Muslims have over the years tried
to convert people to their fold in various ways and in many countries.
While there is talk of Islamic
fundamentalism, one is reminded of Christian fundamentalism when the Archbishop
of Canterbury refused to attend the Parliament of Religions in 1893 saying
there could not be a parliament of religions when there was but one religion –
Christianity. The tradition of increasing religious influences in the world and
not focusing on inter-religious understanding has also had its effect in India. The
Hindutva philosophy, as propounded by Savarkar in 1923, is being advocated by a
section for some years, emphasizing the view that this land belongs only to the
Hindus! He excludes Muslims from his “Hindu race” since they originally did not
belong to this part of the country during the Vedic period.
The message of Vivekananda can expose
quite convincingly the stupidity of this line of thinking. He stated: “The word
Hindu, by which it is fashion nowadays to style ourselves, has lost its meaning
for the word meant those who live on the other side of the Indus…for
all people living on the other side of the river Sindhu were called by them
(Persians) Hindus. Thus the word has come down to us …but it has lost its
significance…you may mark that all who live on this side of the Indus in modern
times do not follow the same religion as they did in ancient times. The word,
therefore, covers not only Hindus but Mohammedans, Christians, Jains and other
people who live in India”.
It is well known that he used the
word ‘Hindu’ for historical reasons but always preached the unity of all
religions. Vedantism, according to him, was the essence of the Hindu religion
and could eventually lead to a united path for convergence of all religions.
The tradition and history of India,
Vivekananda used to say, its real inner strength and spirit can be understood
by understanding the brief utterances of the Rig Veda--Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti, “truth is one, sages call it by
various names”. Referring to Ramakrishna’s message, he stated: “To proclaim and
make clear the fundamental unity underlying religions was the mission of the
Master. He left every religion undisturbed because he had realized that, in
reality, they are all part and parcel of the one eternal religion” – the
religion of unity.
Vivekananda spoke of the need of a
universal religion which will have no location, place or time and “whose sun
will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners
alike; which “will not be Brahminic or Buddhistic, Christian or Mohammedan but
the sum total of all these and still have infinite space for development; which
in its catholicity would embrace in its infinite arms and formulate a place for
every human being, from the lowest grovelling man who is scarcely removed in
intellectuality from the brute to the highest mind, towering almost above
humanity…”
It is critical at this juncture to
inculcate the true secular spirit among the masses. It may well bring about
communal harmony and strengthen fellow feeling among different religions. It is
also necessary that religious leaders should not meddle in politics or use
State power to mobilize people. The true spirit of ahimsa, dedication and
sacrifice should be the cornerstone of their teachings geared towards social
uplift and welfare of the underprivileged. As embodied in all religions, the
moving spirit should be of selfless sacrifice – far away from violence, hatred
and intolerance. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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