9/11. A Date Revisited.

How ironic could it get in reality? The day when Gandhi launched his Satyagraha movement against Colonialism he wouldn’t in his weirdest thoughts have dreamt that the same day would also be the landmark day for violence! 2006, 9/11 marked the centenary of the launch of Satyagraha movement (and the fifth anniversary of the Twin Tower bombing by al Qaida). But, I am not talking about these two events here. Something else caught my attention. The protests against the Loreto Convent in Lucknow. It couldn’t have happened on a more historic or a memorable day! It was in a way the most twisted (and yet a most appropriate) tribute to mark the centenary of Gandhi’s movement.

What the Convent authorities did – the spiritual session invoking Jesus and involving all children – is gruesome. How could they do it in this era and with children present, without the consent of their parents? What is it that they’re teaching in school? And, the retaliation of the Hindu activists is condemnable too. I really wonder if there was any protests by the parents (if they didn’t, why again?).

I think the government should do some serious rethinking on the running of schools by religious denominations. Not just Christian but any religion. Do we need religious education and propaganda at schools aimed at children of an extremely impressionable age? Is it not corruption of the minds?

Convents are very popular places for education and sought after by parents. They thrive on the discipline they inculcate in the children that attend them and on the hefty donations paid (in turn for a seat) by the parents of these children. It’s a win-win situation for these convents. One, you get huge funds to run schools; two, you carry out religious propaganda.

If the authorities want to impart education on religion, then regardless of what religious authority is running the school, it must teach the salient and benevolent features of every religion that is practised in India (and the world). Propagating either Christianity in convents or Hinduism in Gurukuls in the name of Moral Science must be made a culpable offence.

But again my ramble isn’t about this school incident either. It goes beyond that.

Hindu activists have been vocal and ebullient in their protests against the Christian missionary activists in the past decade. It has seen some extremely unsavoury incidents too, including the murder of Staines, the rape of a nun in MP. It also led to the ugly comment by a minister who declared with all his religious piety that the Gujarat earthquake was a punishment meted out by God to those attacking the Christians!

It’s fashionable – thanks to our Hindi movies – to go to a church. You’ll find young lovers going to the church and praying a la Shah Rukh and Kajol! It has nothing to do with religion though. Christmas gets more media attention than a Diwali or a Ramadan.

Where is Hinduism headed? To my mind, the only place is ‘oblivion’. Is it headed to its doom because of conversions, the onslaught of other, richer religions (read, Islam and Christianity)? My answer to that is no. Are the fears of mass-conversions of the Hindu brigade real, justified and true? Again, the answer to anyone who does a little soul-searching, is no! If so, then why is Hinduism staring at its dark end?

Hindu activists who protest against the conversions are looking at the reasons outside the religion for its troubles. But, what’s wrong with conversions? I see no wrong; at least not in practical terms. Regardless of the motives of the missionaries (I don’t know what are they called if they belonged to Islam) they are doing a yeoman service. They are definitely removing poverty from the tribal areas, bringing in funds, educating the people, providing them with health care, occupation and other benefits that are MORE important to survival than religion itself. In the bargain if these less-privileged people convert themselves into a new faith, who’s to blame? The missionaries? That’s stretching anyone’s logic beyond the surreal too! I am not talking of the ethics of the missionaries. I have my grouses against them. I despise the pressure tactics that they use. I don’t approve of their pushy ways. But, I don’t find fault with conversions per se.

The answer to Hinduism’s slide lies in the practice of the religion itself. Hinduism is the only large Pantheistic faith left in the world (despite the adaptations that Jainism and Buddhism have made to include many Gods and Goddesses as part of their religions). Every other major religion is Monotheistic. But this again isn’t the reason for the downhill movement of Hinduism. The answer lies in its caste structure – the Achilles’ heal. We probably have more castes in Hinduism than the number of countries in the world. We have more differences among castes (and more caste-related violent incidents) than the differences between any two religions. We always identify ourselves by the caste we belong to than by the religion or by the country. The discrimination based on caste is more evident, real and disgusting than that based on religion. Whenever anything goes wrong, it’s always ‘the other caste’ that did the damage. Be it in case of a candidate losing election, a reservation episode or a colleague’s harassment.

Some castes feel superior to the rest and many other people belonging to the ‘lower castes’ think that they are inferior to the higher castes – a sense ingrained in them thanks to the 3 millennia long oppression. None other than a Brahman is eligible to offer prayers at a Hindu temple. Sanskrit is still their language (that it’s long dead is another thing; but it’s the language of the Gods who soon might be dead like the Greek and the Roman Gods). These aren’t just advocated by Brahmans alone but also most other castes! And, the caste distinction is understood by a child even before he understands what puberty is!

With our internal affairs such, would there be a lifeline for the survival of the religion that we follow? I believe not. Nor do I think it should survive – at least not in the way it exists, if there’s any chance of it. Would there be any soul-searching by those that carry the torch of Hindu pride? I think not. That’s only for armchair thinkers like you and I. Damn the religion; what matters is personal gain at the end of the day!

So, would there be a 9/11 in the history of Hinduism too?