Politics of Religion

I have always refrained from commenting on any Hindu Muslim issues. One reason is that I am in a Government job and hence must remain impartial and secular in my approach to religious issues. The other more important reason is that no one ever reads an article on Hindu Muslim issue without judging the faith of the author. As my name makes it amply clear, I am a born Hindu and hence my views are bound to be judged by that parameter. Nevertheless, the recent events in Pakistan (killing of school children), controversy over the movie PK, avoiding a Hindu Muslim riot in my subdivision and most lately the killing of Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonists have forced me to pause and ponder on what's going on?

First of all, about the riot that didn't take place in my subdivision. It so happened that a Muslim boy shared a pic on Facebook and whatsapp in which the face of Lord Hanuman was morphed on to the bikini-clad body of some random model in a picture. The Hindu Right in this city were quick to make this a huge issue and with the apprehension that a small mistake might erupt into a big riot, the boy was swiftly arrested by the police and relevant sections of the IPC were imposed on him and he was put in custody. We thought that the issue was over. Nevertheless, the Hindus (specifically the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the local RSS body) informed us of a Bandh that they had decided to call in protest of the actions of the boy. Later in the day, some Muslims, claiming to be family members of the erring boy came to me and begged forgiveness for the act done by their boy. I called both the parties and asked them to end the matter henceforth. However, the Bandh still happened and we were on our toes the whole day fearing that the issue might grow bigger. Thanks to the show of force and the passive reaction of the Muslims, nothing unfortunate happened.

In a similar event, while removing encroachments by shops on roads, we broke 40 shops which were situated in a Kabristan. We had also by then removed about 100 shops of Hindu Shopkeepers. But since the Kabristan belonged to the Waqf board, the issue took a big turn, and our office is busy replying to complaints of using unnecessary force on innocent minorities. Amusingly, a lot of Muslims also appreciated our act of liberating the Kabristaan from shops but there is an active political segment which is sending us legal notices of all possible kinds. 

None of these two issues became violent and so non of these became a news big enough to be read outside this city. But these issues did highlight the significance of the Hindu Muslim issue to me. Recently there have been hot debates on how Aamir Khan has mocked Hindu Gods in the movie PK. This taunt totally ignore the fact that Raju Hirani and the author of the movie are both Hindus. People say that the Pakistani was shown as benign, but they miss pointing out that a bomb blast is shown in the name of protecting Allah. The attack on the schoolkids is so barbarous that even the most devout Muslim is unable to digest it as any form of Jehad. The killing of Charles Hebdo guys is equally disturbing. Then there has also been the news of reverse Conversions and Love Jehads etc.

When Hindu fundamentalists attempt to take an extremist stand, a lot of liberal Hindus protest it quite vociferously. Sadly, when an Islamic Terror attack happens, the liberal Muslims are not so vocal in protesting. Yet, I am not ready to agree that religion is the core of the problem. Once Gandhi when lamented by the RSS for being pro-Muslim replied, "I am a Hindu, and a Muslim, and a Sikh, and a Christian", Mohd Ali Jinnah quickly commented, "Only a Hindu can say that." This, I think, is the essence of Hinduism put most concisely. Hindu, by its very nature and origin, is a secular religion. Here the use of secular is not in the European sense of 'non-religious' but in the Indian sense of Communal Harmony. 

Hindu is not a united community, nor a single religion. The Tamil Dravidians do not get offended when Devi Saraswati is painted by M F Hussain, nor is the Bengali Hindu concerned about the over hyped vegetarianism by Tamil and UP Hindus. My mother does not know what the story of Vaishno Devi is, but she sure does know that Bhagwati, if displeased, can cause chickenpox. My sister, who was born in a Maithil Brahmin Family is married to a Tamil Brahmin. Neither her mother-in-law recognizes the Gauri that my sister worships, nor my Mom knows who Murugan or Balaji is. I am married to a Gurudwara going Hindu, whose grandma finds all Pandits as cheats, while my Mom doesn't have a clue what is worshipped in a Gurudwara. Diversity is the essence of India, or may be its reason to exist. Any other country with so much diversity has not been able to survive without giving birth to new nations.

So is the case with Muslims. The Arab Muslim hates the Irani Muslim. The Afghan Muslim will never marry his daughter to a Baloch Muslim. The Syed of Lucknow doesn't know the Moplah of Kerela. Shias and Sunnis in Bhopal killed each other more mercilessly than Muslims killed Hindus in any riot. The Benagli Muslim of Bangladesh did not live in harmony with the Punjabi Muslim of Pakistan, while the Bihari Muslim is living in full peace with the Bihari Hindu. 

The point that I am trying to make is that people are bound to form groups, get emotional about it and get in violent conflict in the name of those groups. Hence the issue is not whether the conflict is religious, political or ethnic. The issue is also not of never letting a conflict happen as that is plain impossible. The issue is of tolerance. I saw the picture of Lord Hanuman on a bikini clad movie, and honestly I laughed. I saw PK and so did my religiously devout mom and we both laughed. Point is did some Muslims too did not just laugh at the Charles Hebdo cartoon? I find conversions as well as 'Ghar Wapasi' as worthless and pointless and I laugh at both. The Oraon of Chotanagpur remains an Oraon, whether baptised or wearing a janeu around him. 

Whatever may be the cause of all the terrorism and fundametalism all around, it is not religion for sure. It is politics and like always reliogion is being used to justify politics? Why so? Because Politics can be questioned by logic and reason while Religion can't be challenged by reason or logic. When the Spartans defended against the Persians, they said, 'May the Gods be with us.' When Troy was attacked, Achilles destroyed the temple of Apollo. When armies of Gangetic plain attacked the dravidians, they saw their own Gods as Gods and the Gods of Dravidians as Demons. When Jinnah wanted a Pakistan, he invoked religion. When Dara Shikoh was killed by Aurangzeb, his real brother, it was justified in the name of protecting Islam. When Kashmir burnt, it was in the name of Islam and when Punjab burned, it was in the name of the Akal Takht and Khalistan.

Religion has always been used to legitimize political violence, whether it is the loot of Somnath temple by Mahmud of Ghazni or the fight of territory between Shivaji and Aurangzeb. Same is true for ISIS in Iraq and for the US attacks on Islamic countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Hindi author Kamleshwar, in his classic book 'Kitne Pakistan' beautifully shows how personal political ambitions were justified in the name of religion. The killers of the Charles Hebdo journalists shouted they were avenging the Mohammed. Laughable it is to see men, who claim to protect the Gods, for is it not the God who created them? 

The acts of violence of some people against some other people has always happened in human society and will always happen. And with my little exposure of the field that I have had, I realized that hardly a bunch of few 'religious contractors' are worried about the religion. The guys who protested against the Hanuman obscene cartoon are also the ones who wanted to sabotage the Dussehra festival bacause they were not being given prominence. The people who are protesting the removal of shops from Waqf land are also the same people whose source of personal income was from setting up illegal shops on the 'Pak Kabra' of their ancestors. When I deal with these 'goons' as an officer, I try telling myself that this guy here is a goon, and not a Hindu or a Muslim. His aims are political and not religious. And when I beat up such a guy, neither the Hindu Gods nor Allah gets offended. 

These goons thrive on the innocence with which people adhere to any instruction latched in the garb of religion. The sad part is that while the Hindus in India are not ready to be fooled by these goons, Muslims across the world are not putting up a strong campaign against such goons. If it is said that Although all Muslims are not Terrorists but all Terrorists are Muslims, it is because the liberal Muslims have given up on their extremist brethren. The reason why Hindu fundamentalist have still not been able to totally create a Hindu Terror is that because the liberal Hindus always outnumber and outspeak the extremist Hindus. The ills of polytheism, no-single-book and diversity of language and rituals have been the blessings in disguise for Hinduism as a religion. Somehow the Sufi, Urdu loving poetic Muslim is not speaking up enough against that terrorist holding the gun and submitting to it as if it is holier than Quran. It is high time the Islamic Liberals speak up and show that they can protect their religion from this implosion of terrorism.

Country to the DOGS?

Most people in my Facebook friend list, whom I know from school or college, are working or studying somewhere in North America or Europe. I assume that they must have made a conscious career choice to go abroad and pursue education or job there because they did not find such interesting opportunities in India. It is not needed to mention that India is far behind US or any European nation and probably cannot absorb all the talent that it produces. I also assume that they must be liking their life out there. I can see pictures of their cycling trips and hikings etc. and also their cars that they bought and the holiday spots that they visited. It does show that they are happy being there.

However, what strikes me is that they often share cynical and skeptic status messages or articles about how India is doomed. They are worried about the depreciation of Indian rupee, but somehow they also find a perverse pleasure in telling their Indian cousins that their package has increased in Indian rupee equivalent. They have an opinion on everything that is happening in India. Whether it is the food security bill, the land acquisition bill, or rapes in the cities or anything that is happening in Indian politics. And if I were to believe my friends staying abroad and the newscasters in India, we are a doomed nation and we have never been worse and the country has gone to dogs.

But it does not skip my attention that elections are coming nearer and in a well-functioning democracy, issues shall start burning when elections come closer and I am fine with it. If government policies are not criticized, how will improvements happen? But to make comments like "Kuch nahi hoga is desh ka" is too simplistic to digest. Most of my friends are children of Liberalization. We were toddlers during the License Raj and know about it only as history. We have grown up in an India where we walk into malls, eat burgers, sip coffee at CCD and feel happy watching cinema in a multiplex. We are also living in an era where a manual worker in some construction project puts on music on his cellphone while he is loading and unloading bricks, to keep him entertained. 

We are also living in an era where we are no longer talking about having schools in every village but talking about the quality of education. Kids of today, when they grow up, will not be able to say that we walked 20 miles to go to school, the way our parents did. But yes, they would crib that their school didn't have computers to study. Ten years down the line, kids won't be able to say that too.

I am living in a district that I had not even heard about before I got posted here and I am still in the process of knowing the place. But when we go to villages and a tribal woman comes and complaints to us that the Aanganwadi worker is not giving food according to the menu, I think that we are moving ahead. She demands it as a right and she wants her kid to get the food that government suggests. When I meet few tribal men and women who have formed a Producer company, got it registered under Companies Act and happily tell me that they have 533 shareholders and 15 members on the Board of the Company and they would like our help in hiring a CEO, I feel that we have moved ahead.

When a village that is so remote that India would not even care that it existed, has a road till its entrance and when we drive there and ask if there is a school there, they say yes, but only till 5th class, we know that we have moved ahead but need to do a lot more.

To all those who think that nothing can happen in India, I want to say that come and see India, go to places by cycling and hiking and trekking. These would be as much fun in India as they are in the forests of Europe or Alaska. Knowing your own country is as much fun as knowing Europe or America. 

I am not saying that there are no problems in India, but then are there no problems in US or France or UK? Or are there no problems in Singapore, Brazil or South Africa? There is nothing wrong in having a country with problems. All countries have problems and in all countries people come on streets and criticize governments and change their governments. And no country changes government as smoothly as India does. But only those countries come out of their problems and become better whose countrymen keep striving to do that. France was made by French and Germany by Germans. India has come this far by the efforts of millions of Indians and shall move further ahead. We will be slow at times and also falter. No one promised a ready-made solution anyways. The anger in people was always this strong and that is what keeps the pressure on the country to move ahead. Let the anger stay but do not let it turn into skepticism, cynicism or hopelessness. The problems were always like this and we have always come out triumphed. Channelize your anger in finding solutions. 

The country has not gone to dogs, it never had. Change your government, if you will. That is the beauty of democracy. But the nation shall keep moving ahead, because there are still millions who believe in it and spend their day and night trying.

Schooling changed

Last December, I was on a short trip to a Bihar village after a gap of 5 years. Landing in my mom's birthplace, I was anxious to see the change that the Nitish Kumar government had brought about in the small village called Gosain Gaon in Bhagalpur District.

Considering my own education, many young kids of my family were forcefully sent to me to get some "gyaan" on career and life. As always, the craze for government jobs is tremendous in Bihar and especially in upper caste families. While talking to the kids, most of them in class 10, 11 and 12, I realized that a lot had changed when I had last met these kids in their primary school days. All the kids studied in Convent schools despite the fact that one of my uncles is a government school teacher himself. Most of them were quite aware about JEE etc and some were also taking coaching in the nearby town of Naugachhia, solving problems from H.C.Verma's "Concept of Physics". This was heartening. One of the girls (my niece) who was in Class 11th, asked me some difficult calculus sums and I was amazed at her knowledge. She appeared to be the most intelligent of all and I have a hunch that she will get through some good engineering college next year.

What was also noteworthy was the change in attitude of the parents. Parents were ready to send their kids to Kota or other big cities to do coaching for JEE. People knew about various other engineering entrance exams as well and for some weird reason Kalinga Institute of Engineering was quite popular after IITs and NITs. However, these were parents and kids of Brahmins and hence were the first in the village to grab the benefits of any new initiative taken in the education sector. 

Just behind our place in Gosain Gaon (i.e., the Brahmin Tola), there lies another community (tola) of Haadis. They are an ex-untouchable caste and I vividly remember how one of its adults was badly beaten by one of my uncles about ten years ago when he had not stopped my elder brother from drinking water at his aangan's handpump. The adults, as well as the kids, used to come to our houses during ceremonies to clean floors and clothes and do other sundry manual labour and would get leftovers of the ceremonial meals. This time, however, the kids were reluctant to do such jobs. The adults did come to clean up but demanded cash in lieu of the work and denied food being given. I could see my aunties swearing at the Hadini for being so shameless in asking for money from a Brahmin family, but the rustic lady insisted she wouldn't accept anything but cash. Finally, the uncles loosened their pockets to avoid a lady brawl.

Some of my cousins, who were themselves preparing for JEE type exams, joked about how the Haadi kid wouldn't agree to come to work in their houses. "These rascals now even go to school. Look at their smugness and attitude." It was weird to see 16-year old Brahmin kids being so aware and arrogantly proud of being upper caste and swearing at a Dalit kid. There was also the frustration that the Haadis had got pucca houses built from the finds gained through Indira Awas Yojana. I tried talking to my Teacher Uncle and understand why the caste attitudes hadn't changed but he didn't have any convincing answers. My questions were seen as an urban outsider's awkward reactions to something that was quite normal.

Nevertheless, in one of the evenings. I took a stroll alongside the pucca houses of the Haadis, making sure that my mom and uncles do not know about it. I saw the kids playing the typical rural games, but at the same time there were kids playing cricket (more of a gully-cricket). It was probably some serious match and one of the kids had a notebook in hand where he was scribbling the scores- runs, overs and wickets.

After our short stay in the village, me and mom headed back to Bokaro. We walked to the village chowk, where we would get the rickshaw to go the auto-stand. It was early morning. I saw some kids studying in a big hall. My uncle told me that it was Maths and Physics coaching center. Few steps away, I saw a thatched hut with about 50 kids where one kid was reciting the table of 8 and other kids repeating after them. This was also a privately run primary school by a unemployed graduate of the village. While we were waiting for the rickshaw, we heard that the rickshaw-puller was having his breakfast. He arrived shortly. He must have been from a Dalit caste, as was clear by his reactions on seeing Brahmin clients waiting to board his vehicle. Me and mom sat on the rickshaw. He asked for few minutes. He took out 5 rupees from his pocket and gave to a young girl standing there in her school uniform with the bag on her back. The rickshaw-puller told her,"buy some toffees while going to school" in a loving tone and then with a stern voice continued,"and finish your english and maths homework before I come back in the evening; don't play too much in the afternoon." The girl, the rickshaw-puller's daughter smiled and sat on another rickshaw that was carrying other kids in the same uniform to probably another English medium school.

The girl didn't care if there were Brahmin customers waiting for her dad, and I think she wouldn't even know what a Brahmin is (at least I hope so). But what caught my attention was that I did not find anybody going to a government school, irrespective of caste or class, yet I saw all kids going to school, nevertheless.

Sopan Vidyalaya and Hope...

I enter the gates of the school and today being a Saturday, children are having Drawing classes. Some students dressed in their blue uniforms and blue sweaters are sitting in ordered rows on the verandah of the sopan vidyalaya, drawing their favourite stuff on their drawing books. As I arrive there, even before the teacher could introduce me, all students uniformly stand up, fold their hands together and in a very disciplined manner greet me in their semi-musical style, "Namaasteee Sir". Having taught this type of kids years ago, I am surprised and amused at their discipline.

The Principal and teachers introduced me as an IAS officer and am sure no kid knew anything about what or who is an IAS. I did not even correct the teachers that I am actually not an IAS per se. I just cleared the exams and in fact might be into some other service. But that didn't matter right now. The kids sitting in the verandah were class 5 and class 6 students. Soon Class 7 and 8 students were called from their classrooms and asked to sit as my audience. I was supposed to say something to the kids. Trust me, I have given as many speeches as a 28 year old man can possibly make and yet every new audience is a challenge. And in fact, school kids are the most difficult audience. First of all, because they are always forced to listen when they would like to talk and play. And mostly, because they don't make a sense out of the unnecessary complicated adult non-sense that you talk.

I was a little perplexed as to what should I say these kids. Few days back I was giving Marketing gyaan to MBA students in Delhi and I was so much more comfortable there. Nevertheless, I ask the kids if they know who I was. They nodded their heads in the negative. Surely the teachers used a very complicated terminology to introduce me. I smiled and aksed kids if they felt disturbed in their drawing classes by an outsider. Thankfully some older kids knew that I have been coming to the school earlier also. I begin my talk by asking why do they come to schools. A Class 7 students says, "शिक्षा पाने के लिए" (to gain education). I ask what shall they do with that education. Another kid says, "इस से हमें अपने आस पास कि सारी चीजों कि समझ होती है. (we are able to understand the various things around us). ''Is that all?'', I ask. ''Does school teach us only about ourselves? What's the purpose of such an education? just to take care of ourselves?''. "NO", the entire audience shouts in unison. A smart girl says, "शिक्षा का उद्देश्य यह है कि हम न सिर्फ अपनी बल्कि दूसरों की भी समस्याओं का हल प्राप्त कर सकें." (The objective of education is not only that we solve our problems but also solve the problem of others.)

By this time, I am surprised by not only the clear, crisp hindi of the students but also their sharp minds and well articulated speech. I now get into a long chat with them. I tell them who an administrator is. They guy who is invisibly responsible for running the country, who ensures that trains run, roads are made, schools are built and electricity reaches homes. Kids are excited. I tell them what exam did I just pass and why passing this exam is such a big deal. I ask them if they have ever seen their principal giving so much respect to somebody, the way their principal was showing respect to me right now. They laugh and say "No".  Don't they also want that their principal should give them such respect? "Yes", they shyly say. I tell them how I also thought so when an IAS officer came to our school. "Our deadly ferocious Principal was giving him so much respect, I wanted to be like him." A small kid asks, "तो आपने क्या किया इसके लिए?" (what did you do for this?).

''You all can all become IAS officers. But for that you will have to study very hard. As of now, try to remember everything you study because you will need to know all the school knowledge when you take this exam.'' "पर सब कुछ याद थोड़े ही रहता है? (but one can't remember everything)'', a cute kid questions. The teachers smile. I ask how many kids remember our country's name. "BHAARAT" shout all kids. "And how many of you know which city do we live in?" "KANPUR" again a common shout. ''So how come you have not forgotten these?'' Kids are a bit puzzled.

''When you read or listen to something again and again, you start remembering it. Do you all remember your names?" The kids laugh at such a stupid question from me. ''How come you never forget your names? Because you listen to it again and again. In fact even a pet dog starts remembering its name and responds to it.'' The kids find my gyaan revealing. ''Would you like to listen to a story?''. Vibrant affirmative nods from the kids.

I tell them the story of a small kid many years ago who wanted to study but the Guru denied him admission because he didn't have a line of education in his palm. "The kid sat down beside a well crying. There he saw that the rope that passed over the rim of the well had created a mark on the stone. He was surprised how a rope can put a mark on a hard stone. He sat there the whole day and observed how everytime the ropes were pulled, the stone was rubbed and he realized that only after several repetitive efforts could the rope cut through the stone. The kid went back to the guru and made a line of education on his palm and pleaded that he would work very hard. The guru gave him admission. That kid later became one of the most accomplished grammarians of Sanskrit named Varadraj.  You would read this story in some books someday. The doha रसरी आवत जात ते सिल पर परत निसान (the continuous rub of the rope makes a mark on the stone) comes from this story."



The kids were smart. They got the moral of the story without explaining. They understood that I was asking them to do the same thing again and again if they can't get it right the first time. Isn't that what I did? I cleared my JEE in my 2nd attempt and my Civil Services in my 3rd attempt. The kids showed their understanding of my story with an applause. A few sparkling eyes of girls and boys looked at me in awe as if saying that we shall also become great someday. Not to mention that they were not bogged down by the fact that they came from poor and disadvantaged families. It is such sparkle in those little eyes that gives me hope. The hope that change is very much possible. And not only that change is possible, we are very much capable of directing and accelerating change. A small centre that Dr. H.C. Verma and some IITK students started on an abandoned compound of a government school is today a full-fledged school from class 1 to class 8. Our students over the past ten years have achieved a lot. In fact, one of the teachers at Sopan Vidyalaya is an ex-student of ours. Some of our students have also gone to do MCA, BE (electronics) and Computer Hardware maintenance.

I was told that we are coaching some kids for NTSE scholarships and Sopan hopes that someday its students would crack JEE and Civil Services as well. I came back to my room, but before leaving, the Principal told me that the kids have made something for me and that it would be delivered to me by the evening. In the evening, one of our ex-students came to my room and gifted me a pen-stand, made by the students. Beautifully packed in a golden wrap and silver ribbon, it is a pen-stand made of cardboard. The kids have used a blue velvet paper for base covering. One side has the Shiksha Sopan logo, two sides are decorated with beads etc and the fourth side has a tri-color stitched to it. The kids believe in the idea of India and the significance of the national flag. This is what they are taught. This is also what was taught to us, but we seem to have forgotten the tri-color. For many of us, an IAS is about power, about easy money, about access to politics. For those school kids, it is still about their country which they are taught is their motherland. In those kids eyes and hearts, India still thrives. In their eyes, there is still hope.

Learnings from Tamil Nadu

I can't forget my three day visit to Tamil Nadu a few months back. I was working on a project with the Government of Maharashtra to upgrade aanganwadi centres in the state. (An aanganwadi is village level public facility with a room and playing place for kids of age below six to receive supplementary nutrition and pre-school education). During our project we came to know that Tamil Nadu has constantly been the leader in the implementation of anti-malnutrition campaigns and to understand the details, the team headed for Coimbatore.

We were received at the Coimbatore airport by Miss Smitha, District Officer for ICDS (Integrated Child Development Service), Coimbatore. After a little freshening up in the district's circuit house and a tamil lunch, we moved on to aanganwadi visits. After about three hours of road journey, we reached a small village with average monthly income of Rs.2500. But the aanganwadi said a different story. There were no kids with grade 3 and 4 malnutrition and 80% children had normal body weight. Kids came every morning to have meal, play, learn and enjoy. There were innovative play-items prepared by the aanganwadi sevika which helped her teach the little kids lessons without books. The enthusiasm in the village about our visit spoke of the significance of aanganwadis in their lives.

We moved on to see ten more such villages in the next three days and every village taught us several lessons. Villages that had no stable occupations, tribal villages, villages remote from towns, all of them had fantastically run aanganwadis. Tribal villages had only 20% malnourished children as opposed to a national average of 42%. There was water supply and electricity at every home that we went. Government functions seemed to have worked.

I think there is a lot that I have learnt from tamil nadu, but it would take me enough pondering to pen them down in a systematic manner.