Christians and Muslims from Middle East initially landed in Kerala for trade and commerce and also to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and message of prophet Mohammed (PBH).  Numerous reliable chronicles confirm the socially and culturally productive interface of Christians and Muslims with the elite of Hindu socio-cultural and political hierarchy.  This laid the foundations for a rare communitarianism, as distinct from competitive communalism elsewhere in India, despite the rigors of the caste system.  Over the years, the caste-centric graded inequality crept among the minorities also.  This resulted in their forging camaraderie with respective social groups among Hindus. Notably, the Christian ecclesiastical order and Islamic scholars did not make massive pugnacious and vigorous efforts to lure the lower caste Hindus into their religious order, lest this would jeopardize their solidarity with caste Hindus.
 
This scenario is in total contrast to largely belligerent, intensely hostile and confrontationist nature of Hindu-Muslim relations in rest of India where the message of Islam reached along with invaders, empire-builders and wealth seekers through sword and canons. Islamic preachers and Sufi Saints had enjoyed liberal patronage of rulers from the inception of the Delhi Sultanate in 1206 CE to the decline of the Mughal Empire in 1707 CE, with the death of Aurangazeb.
 
Nevertheless, none of these Muslim rulers did accept the temporal or religious suzerainty of Khalifa or any other politico-religious authority outside India, nor was any tribute paid and recognition sought from Islamic rulers head quartered in Mecca, Madina, Baghdad, Damascus and Istambul.  However, none can deny that a small minority of over-enthusiastic de-spiritualized fundamentalist Mullas, Maulavis and Imams operating in vast hinder land of India, had vigorously pressed down a politico-religious agenda on non-Muslims, banking on patronage of a handful of fanatic rulers.  This posture of a fringe section of the Muslims had alienated the bulk of Hindus, who perceived themselves to be second class subjects. 
 
Imposition of Jazia Tax on non-Muslims, destruction of Hindu temples by a few exclusivist autocratic rulers, like Firoz Shah Tughlaq and Aurangazeb, injected a mind set of hatred against Muslims, in the victims of atrocities. Such alienated Hindus and Islamic fundamentalists were cleverly exploited by the British to further their imperialist agenda of divide and rule, by facilitating the inception of Hindu Maha Sabha, RSS and Muslim League, in the early 20^th Century.
 
Remarkably, the character, tone and tenor of Hindu-Muslim interface in Kerala from 7^th Century CE was cordial and inclusive, exhibiting vibrant mutual trust and complementarity, practically in all arenas of public life.  Metaphysical and doctrinaire obstinacy in religious dogmas took a back seat to the zeal for inclusiveness in socio-religious and cultural affairs.
 
Economic interdependence fostered by the spice trade between Kerala and the Middle East also played a major role in creating this harmony. Islamic preachers accompanying traders never degraded the religious, social and cultural ethos of natives in Kerala.  Practically, all mosques, dargahs, maqams and religious centers till modern times, were built on lands liberally donated by local kings, feudal land-lords and affluent people professing Hindu religion.  No wonder, so far there is no dispute about ownership of land where Muslim religious institutions are built in Kerala.  This is in sharp contrast to the raging conflicts over the property rights of Babri Masjid to Taj Mahal, and to Krishna Jammabhumi in Mathura (UP).  Even today, in annual day celebrations of many Mosques and Churches, the holy offerings are religiously presented to the families of the original land donors. Various reputed books like Tuhafatul Mujahidin by Shaikh Sainuddin-II have also highlighted there traditions of inter-community amiability, ignoring insular socio-cultural practices in the rest of the Islamic World. 
 
Both Hindus and Muslims consciously or as part of local socio-religious conventions practised spiritual secularism, viz.; equal respect to all religious faiths and beliefs, also known as Sarva Dharma Samabhavana.  Thiswas at variance with the post-renaissance European secularism of total separation of religion, its bodies and the State.  Creditably in Kerala, class, caste, social, ethnic, political, gender and regional distinctions and diversity could not damage inter-community synergy, despite many political vicissitude over the years.  Numerous examples abound of Islamic religious gentry declaring holy war (Jehad) against invading Portuguese for protecting a non-believer (Kafir) King Samuthiri, Mappila Muslims participating in Hindu socio-cultural activities and offering prayers during Deeparadhana (propitiation with camphor flame) with folded hands or Islamic scholars praising King Samuthiri and prominent Hindu leaders, whenever they visited Sultans of Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Turkey, which demonstrate this inter-community trust and bonhomie.
 
Unfortunately, since the commencement of Rama Janma Bhumi Liberation Movement, people are increasingly influenced by the toxic indoctrination carried out by sectarian radical elements among Hindus and Muslims.  Raising the bogey of threat to religious identity, these pseudo-religious radicals are advancing their own political agendas through spirituality-deficient, aggravated, competitive communalism.  Retrogression to medieval obscurantism by a minority in both the communities, is a major challenge to the letter, spirit and ethos of the Constitution of India.  Sangh Parivar and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are toiling relentlessly to destroy the long standing communal harmony among the people at the grass-root level.
 
In the name of  “Decontamination and Purification of faith”, Hindu and Islamic radicals are opposing many rituals, conventions and practices of geniality in the religious and cultural centers of both the faiths.  Funds flowing from Hindutva addicted NRIs and those electrified by pan Islamic concepts of Wahabism, Qutabism and Mehudoodism are pushing Hindu-Muslim communities in water-tight compartments and curtailing observance of inter-community camaraderie.  For example, there is a marked reduction in Muslim students joining in institutions like Kerala Kala Mandalam for learning performing arts like Kathakali and Classical Dances, reportedly due to objection from chauvinist groups. (Let us not forget the great doyan of Kathakali Music – the late Haiderali). On the other hand, fundamentalist Hindus are objecting the location of the Mazar of Vavar – the associate of Lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala.  In the golden panels affixed on the outer wall of Sabarimala temple sanctum sanctorum, no panel depicting the fraternity of Vavar and Ayyappa is fixed, reportedly, due to objection from Hindutva supporters.
 
Pan Islamic organizations are striving for Arabization of socio-cultural life of Kerala Muslims, ignoring the fact that Islam reached Kerala before its spread in many parts of West Asia.  Diversity in various aspects of the life style of Kerala Muslims like dress, cultural conventions (objection to Nila Vilakku), social interactions, artistic articulation, style of mosque architecture etc. is increasingly being curbed and delocalised .  Although the interests of Kerala’s Muslim community are well looked after by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and other parties, the radicals are creatinf an artificial sense of alienation among a section of Muslim youth.  As a result, nearly two dozen youngsters joined ranks of Taliban and ISIS. Just as Sant Jarnail lSingh Binderwal belittled Akaali Dal, who traditionally protected the interests of Sikh community, resulting in the Khalistan movement, SDPI is trying to emerge asa polarizing force among the Muslims by denigrating the mature and sensible leadership role of IUML and Muslim leaders in UDF and LDF.  It is creating disaffection against government authorities and Hindu community through motivated and poisonous propaganda in their publications like ‘Tejas’.  Paradoxically, Islamic radicalization is producing a congenial ambience for Sangh Parivar to attract more Hindus to its fold.
In this context, real believers among Hindus and Muslims, who believe in the core spiritual values of their religion, should take steps to counter radical communal activists, who are trying to claim and monopolize both the religions.  The mission of law-abiding spiritual secularists should be to launch micro and macro level programmes to strengthen the Hindu-Muslim solidarity persisting in Kerala from 8^th Century CE. 
 
Firstly, awareness programmes should be launched to educate people about the centuries old heritage of amity.  Later, these programmes can be extended to sensitive areas outside Kerala also. Short-lived trends of communal conflict like invasion of Tipu Sultan in the 18^th Century and Mappila rebellion in 1921, should be downplayed while the various instances of friendship between Hindus and Muslims should be highlighted. 
 
Secondly, socio-cultural programmes should be actively encouraged. The tradition of participation of all communities in the religious festivals of an area should be revived.  Imaginative social and cultural programmes should be carried out to counter resistance from self-appointed sectarian and exclusivist religious leaders from both communities, who are for political capitalization of religious concepts.    Radicalized Islamic preachers could establish roots in Kerala in the fertile grounds of post-Babri Masjid demolition scenario.  Radicals in both the communities do not have any concrete agenda to improve the quality of life of their supporters or reduce social vices of alcohol, drug addiction, atrocities on women and so on. Programmes towards this end, which directly and jointly benefit people from both the communities, will help in weaning them away from the radical ideology.
 
Thirdly, spiritual scholars and intellectuals should educate people about inherent unity in the ideals of all religions. All the major religions in the world unanimously affirm that their objectives are (1) manifold self-empowerment and enlightenment of the individual, and (2) similar ennoblement of outside world, viz.; fellow human beings and environment in tune with divine order of nature. Actualization of these ideals will nullify the strife among misguided people fighting on peripheral socio-cultural and political issues related to materialistic aspirations of religious establishments.
 
Will the people of Kerala get motivated and energized from centuries long heritage of synergic harmony and take up this historic mission to counter the descent of the Indian society into retrogressive, belligerant medievalism, fast enveloping our motherland?.  Will genuine believers of all communities in Kerala wake up from their slumber and neutralize the activists of pan Islamism and the hierarchically sectarian pseudo-Hinduism of Sangh Parivar?
 
(The writer is former Director General of Police, and author of Gujarat – Behind the Curtain published in 2018)
 

The post Stemming Communalism – the Kerala way appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Gandhinagar: The former DGP of Gujarat, R.B.Sreekumar, I.P.S, (Retd), wrote a letter to the CM of Kerala to offer measures to counter the opposition banning the entry of women in the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.

The letter uses various instances, literature and historical facts as a base to expose the hypocrisy of people banning the entry of women in the temple.  He said that by claiming that Lord Ayappa can be made unpure because of a woman entering the temple is to question his status as a God who has conquered his base desires and attained self realization.

“How can a deity, adhering to the concept of eternal celibacy be tempted by the presence of young women, while Hindu virgin deities (Goddess of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Vaishno Devi in Jammu & Kashmir, have no objection in half naked young men of productive age worshipping in these temples. So, it has to be presumed that apprehension is about the young women devotees becoming objects of erotic allurement to male worshippers due to their feeble will power and inadequate devotion to Lord Ayyappa. The objection cannot be from Lord Ayyappa, who is in a state of Moksha / Nirvana or self realization viz. beyond the tantalizing seduction of five senses, mind, intellect and ego. In case any male devotee is nurturing unholy thoughts in Sabarimala, he is ineligible and unfit to visit Lord Ayyappa’s shrine. Categorically, it is not the women devotees, but those un-pious men to be restrained from nurturing baser thoughts in the blessed premises of Sabarimala,” he wrote.

He argued that Hinduism allows everybody to believe in whichever God the individual chooses at it accepts and includes all paths to divinity. “Misplaced sensitivity displayed by sexist, misogynist Hindu orthodox groups, stressing on self-created, ill-founded unscientific menstrual taboos, for preventing women visiting Sabarimala temple is in total violation of the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita,” he wrote.
 

Full text of the letter below:

Respected Chief Minister Sir,

The ill-motivated and well-contrived agitation spearheaded by retrogressive forces of patriarchy and de-spiritualized Hindu priestocracy have dismayed progressive Keralites everywhere. The image of Kerala society that assimilated and concretized a collective mindset of modernism received an irreparable setback due to the extreme unruly behaviour of those resorting to violence, intimidation and obstruction of young women devotees, who proceeded to Sabarimala Temple, with a faith on the efficacy of the Apex Court verdict and diligence of the State Administration. This scenario displays an existential crisis to the people of Kerala, giving a fillip to those analysts, doubting the depth and impact of Kerala Renaissance of the 19th century.

2.   Champions of Brahminical casteism – varna vyavastha, being disillusioned by LDF government’s decision to appoint eligible Hindus of all castes in priestly assignments in government administered temples, are now endeavouring to divinize all obscurant traditions and practices contrary to the letter, spirit and ethos of the Constitution of India, enshrined in the Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties. This move is prejudicial to the metaphysics of Sanathana Dharma of Vedic Hinduism revealed in the Vedas, Brahmasutra, Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita. Effective counteraction, at the grassroots level, by enlightening and alerting Ayyappa devotees, misled by status-quoist casteist reactionaries, impervious to the ideals of Modern Indian Renaissance of the 18th Century and its Kerala phase, pioneered by Ayyaswami, Ayyankali, Chattambi Swami, Sri Narayana Guru, Vaghbadhananda, so on, is necessary.

3.   The Sangh Parivar and its base body – Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been relentlessly and steadily indoctrinating through disinformation, gullible Hindus reluctant to comprehend cardinal axioms of Hinduism, about the alleged neglect of exclusivist Hindu communal interests in the Constitution of India. Mainstream secular parties have been accused of minority appeasement, for amplifying their political and electoral capital. The myopic move of pan-Islamic forces of Wahabism, Qutabism, Salafism and Mehdoodism, propelled, financed and sustained by western imperialism have launched many micro-level programmes for Arabisation of the Muslim population in India and their alienation from local culture and heritage. These trends had also boosted the morale of the Hindu fundamentalist groups focusing on the re-invigoration of Brahminical casteist order and drive towards the installation of the theocratic Hindu Rashtra in India.

4.   The following therapeutic measures to be initiated at governmental and non-governmental levels, encompassing socio-cultural and educational dimensions are proposed.

a) A massive educational campaign through social media and other means of communication about the concept of equality being imperative to the method of God realisation through devotion, – Bhaktiyoga – elaborated in Narada Bhaktisutra, Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ, Holy Quran and Hadith and Zendavesta of Zoroastrianism be launched.

b) Hindu scriptures grant right to liberation and spiritual enlightenment to all living beings by following the methods of the pursuit of knowledge (gnana), righteous action (karma) and selfless devotion (bhakti). The instance of a kite bird – Jathayu – getting moksha, narrated in Ramayana is illustrative.

c) Bhagavad Gita, the most popular scripture of Hindus asserts, in its Chapter V, Shloka 18 thus, “Men of self-knowledge are same-sighted on a Brahmana imbued with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcast”. Most popular treatise on devotion authored by the father of Malayalam Literature, Thunchat Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, categorically declares, in “Harinama Kirtanam”, 20th Shloka, thus.

“Rithuvaya penninnu mirappavannum dahakannum,
Pathithannum Agni yajanam cheyytha bhoo surannum,
Har nama keerthanam ithoru nalu markku mudan,
Aruthathalla, hari narayanaya nama.”
Salutations to Lord Narayana who is Hari,
The singing of the names of Hari, Is never banned any time,
For the lady who is on her periods, For the one who begs,
For the one who observes an unclean time, For the debased human being, and for the Brahmin doing fire sacrifice.

d) Rig Veda asserts “Earth is upheld by truth, while the heaven is upheld by the Sun” (10-85-1). “May the universe, an abode of truth” (3-30-2-6). Mahatma Gandhi commenced his spiritual life by deeming that God is Truth and matured to the realization that Truth is God. In fact, those opposing entry of women in Sabarimala Temple, are indulging in blind denial of the biological truth about female physiology. How can the occurrence of menstruation be impure and sinful in comparison to wet dreams and night emissions that may be happening to testosterone-propelled young healthy men, during their stay in Sabarimala and anti-natural celibacy period of 41 days restriction (Vratam)? If all phenomenon of nature are expressions of God’s will, so is the menstrual cycle in women that enables her to become Mother. Holding this as a ground for not allowing young women to have the bliss of Ayyappa darshan (direct vision) is an act of gross injustice, perpetuating male dominance over divinity.

e) How can a deity, adhering to the concept of eternal celibacy be tempted by the presence of young women, while Hindu virgin deities (Goddess of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Vaishno Devi in Jammu & Kashmir, have no objection in half-naked young men of productive age worshipping in these temples? So, it has to be presumed that apprehension is about the young women devotees becoming objects of erotic allurement to male worshippers due to their feeble willpower and inadequate devotion to Lord Ayyappa. The objection cannot be from Lord Ayyappa, who is in a state of Moksha / Nirvana or self-realization viz. beyond the tantalizing seduction of five senses, mind, intellect and ego. In case any male devotee is nurturing unholy thoughts in Sabarimala, he is ineligible and unfit to visit Lord Ayyappa’s shrine. Categorically, it is not the women devotees, but those un-pious men to be restrained from nurturing baser thoughts in the blessed premises of Sabarimala.

f) “Tantra Samuchayam” – a monograph and manual of worship (puja) procedure compiled by Chennas Narayanan Nambudiripad (published by Panchagam Pusthakashala, Kunnamkulam) does not stipulate that young women should not attend worship ceremony or have darshan of Lord Dharma Shastha.

g) Are women inferior to men in the eyes of the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God Almighty? History does not testify to such a contention.

h) Pure and ideal Hinduism, as explained in the Vedas and Upanishads, as opposed to the condemnable lop-sided sub-scriptures of Smritis by Manu, Parasara, Yajnavalka, Shankara and so on and the Epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, have no incompatibility with post European Renaissance generated modern values of democracy, liberalism, equality, fraternity, dignity and human rights. Hinduism allows its followers to choose any God and accepts that there could be multiple paths, all equally divine, leading to God. In fact, the brigands who demolished Babri Masjid in 1992 had indulged in a sacrilegious un-Hindu crime.

i) The methodology of the pursuit of knowledge (Gnana Yoga) paths of self–less action (Karma Yoga) and deep devotion by sacrificing ones ego (Bhakti Yoga) are tools for self-realisation. Many women have proved their merit in all these fields. Avvyar (2nd Century BCE in Tamil Nadu), Akka Mahadevi (12th Century CE, Karnataka), Meerabai (Rajasthan) Mata Amrutananda May (Kerala) etc are illustrative instances. The perversions of present-day Hinduism emanates from the exclusivist, pseudo-fundamentalist radical fringe elements, acting as foot-soldiers of the Sangh Parivar and subverting the quintessential Hindus spiritualism, through unethical and even violent means, for achieving their commercial objectives and power politics.

j) The human physico-mental personality, in the ascending order, is categorized by Bhagavad Gita, as. (i) Body, (ii) Five Senses, (iii) Mind-centre of emotions, (iv) Intellect and (v) the Atma (Soul). Bhagavad Gita, Shloka 42 of chapter-3 says “The senses are said to be superior to the body; the mind is superior to the senses, the intellect is superior to the mind, and what is superior to the intellect is Atma.” So the body condition of a devotee is not relevant for his/her seeking self-realisation or divine grace through visits to the temple or any of three yogas.

k) Misplaced sensitivity displayed by sexist, misogynist Hindu orthodox groups, stressing on self-created, ill-founded unscientific menstrual taboos, for preventing women visiting Sabarimala temple is in total violation of the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita.

l) No ban has been imposed on the entry of menstruating animals near the shrine of Sabarimala.

m) In a Mother Goddess temple in Kerala – Chenganoor/ Alleppy District – as well as in Kamakhya temple (Assam), red spots appear once a year on the robes of the Goddess to this date. So when Mother Goddess, in all her physical disposition, is worshipped, by what logic and scriptural or religious authority, can women in a similar condition, be deprived of their inalienable right to worship before the Sabarimala shrine?

n) Significantly in “Tripura Sundari Ashtakam”, an invocation of Mother Goddess, authored by Adi Shankaracharya, the deity is portrayed as a menstruating woman. The website of Sri Kamakoti Mandali ( www.kamakotimandali.com ) interpreted the 6th Shloka of this Ashtakam as follows “The Devi is described as being habituated in a blue sari with red spots, as the first menstrual flow, shows itself when a woman is ready to bear, so on the blue welkin (sky or heaven), Devi’s raiment (clothing), signs appear, heralding creation”.

o) At the entrance of Sabarimala temple, the Upanishadic dictum “Tat Twam Asi – That Art Thou – one of the four Mahavakyas of Hinduism – is prominently displayed. These words from Chandogya Upanishad (6-8-7) tells the devotee that “what you are seeking is within yourself” in the form of Atma (Soul). This also would establish the senselessness in giving any importance to the bodily condition of a devotee, though there are no regulations in fixing the standards of physical hygiene, clothing, etc (all within individual control) as a condition for appearing before the deity.

p) Inexorably, the sole imperative attribute of a true devotee is the purity of the heart, as testified by Rig Veda thus, “If the heart is impure and malicious, then the God’s worship will also be unfruitful. Therefore, God’s worship must be carried out with a ‘nishpap’ (sinless) heart. “VIII/61/11) Jesus Christ in his Sermon on the Mount declares” Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God! (Bible, St. Mathew 5-8)

q) The famous Sanskrit aphorism, Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktayae, (True knowledge liberates) was adopted by Mahatma Gandhi, as the motto of the Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad. Kerala temple managers should opt for liberating women from ‘spiritual slavery’ imposed by male chauvinism for the perpetuation of male domination.

r) History recorded that the advocates of traditions (Acharams) due to their incompatibility with modern ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity and dignity of individuals were violently opposed to the abolition of, widow burning in the funeral pyre of their husbands (Sati), widow remarriage, untouchability, dowry, Devadasi system and all reforms towards proper justice delivery to those outside varna vyavasta. Those agitating against the Apex Court order on Sabarimala, represent those Satanic forces.

s) Perhaps, Bhagavad Gita is the only scripture of a major religion (Hinduism) permitting its followers to critically analyze religious wisdom and act as per one’s own choice. In Chapter 18, Shloka-63, Lord Krishna advises “Thus has wisdom more profound than all profundities been declared to you (Arjuna) by Me (Lord Krishna). Reflect upon it and act as you choose”. So those who oppose to the entry of women for worship in Sabarimala have no valid authority in the religious perspective also to prevent women from exercising their religious rights guaranteed both by the Constitution of India and Hindu scriptures.

t) Even a cursory study of 11 major religions of the world confirm that both the God-centric theist religions of Vedic Hinduism, Sikhism, Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Zoroastrianism of Persia and Shintoism of Japan and atheistic persuasions of Jainism, Buddhism, Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism, emphatically exhort their followers to make the best of human life gifted to them by God/ Nature through empowerment of body, enlightenment of mind, creative rejuvenation of intellect and ennoblement of the spirit / self through various means. Simultaneously, they should resort to similar action to enhance the position of others and the outside world. Ethical Code of Conduct of all religions are identical. But in India, today we have the paradox of having the highest number of religious centers – temples, churches, mosques, dargahs, gurudwaras, ashrams, monasteries and religious congregational centers – proportionate to the population in comparison to other nations. But the integrity status of people remains at the lowest levels in comparison to many nations in Sub-Saharan African and highly atheistic Scandinavian countries, who have no lofty civilizational legacy. Have we become skilful hypocrites? Recently a study in Kozhikode city brought out the bitter truth of nearly 4 lakh educated people obtaining BPL ration cards and other facilities by submitting false information about their economic status. The Mathrubhoomi daily had written an editorial in this matter. One may feel that the struggle against the entry of women in Sabarimala is suggestive of the ill-natured duplicity of a few self-appointed elites acting like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (characters in R. L. Stevenson’s novel) at the same time. Is the self-assumed ritualistic purity of ceremonies more superior to achieving honesty and integrity and purity of conscience? The amazingly mainstream leadership of institutionalized religions of India are focusing on peripheral issues like blocking entry of women in temples (Hinduism), retaining of polygamy and halala nikah (Islam), the subordination of women in ecclesiastical church order (Christianity). How could one explain the reduction in the sale of liquor in Muslim dominated areas during Ramadan period and Hindu areas during Sabarimala pilgrimage period in Kerala?

u) Treating sex as a sin is an unscientific dogma of Abrahamite religions. Christianity preaches about original sin and project Jesus Christ as a redeemer. Such a perception is conspicuously absent in Vedic religion, Sikhism and also in logical faiths of Jainism and Buddhism – all originated in India.

v) The gruesome mob violence perpetrated against young women devotees from different places by criminal enthusiasts of Ayyappa cult since 17th October, 2018, will go down in history as an ugly assertion of the Hindu variety of Kerala sub-nationalism, drawing a parallel to the violence in Tamilnadu in support of Jallikettu. This is symptomatic of a counter-revolution against the philosophy, preachings, groundwork and way of life of reformists like Sri Narayana Guru and other masters of Kerala Renaissance. Just like Hindus in general, have drained their claims about heritage of tolerance, with the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and anti-minority violence in Gujarat in 2002, people of Kerala has disinherited the glorious legacy and image of being an enlightened society with high degree of literacy, appreciable modern standard of life, impressive art forms and political enlightenment of conferring power to Communists through the peaceful means of electoral process.

w) The above delineated scriptural ethos does not sanction, support or justify any ban on women of productive age from the worship of Lord Ayyappa in the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple. Further, the Constitution of India in Article 13, declared illegal all laws including Ordinances, customs, usage, rule, regulation, order and notification, which are inconsistent with the provisions of Part III (Fundamental Rights). Article 25 of the Constitution of India has specified “Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion” is subject to other provisions of Part-III – Article 12 to 13.

5.   The self-appointed champions of Hinduism indulging in condemnable violence against women devotees should comprehend the import of concluding part of Rigveda, codified as “Sangathan Sutras” as delineated below.
 “Come together, all of you, speak in one voice, know with one mind, even like the Gods, who, of yore knew with one mind and together had their share of enjoyment”.
“Together may they utter the mantra, may they unite together, may their mind be one and their consciousness mingle. I utter the same mantra with you all, ‘with you all equally I make the offering.”
“May your yearning be one, may your heart be one, may your mind be one, so that your union may be perfect. (Rig Veda X – 191-2-4)

6.   The Sangh Parivar and Hindu orthodoxy hold Manusmriti in high esteem. They should at least recognize, respect and actualize the words of wisdom, in Chapter III, Shloka 56 of this Smriti.

यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः ।
यत्रैतास्तु न पूज्यन्ते सर्वास्तत्राफलाः क्रियाः ॥ ५६ ॥
yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ |
yatraitāstu na pūjyante sarvāstatrāphalāḥ kriyāḥ || 56 ||
“Where women are honoured, there the gods rejoice; where, on the other hand, they are not honoured, there all rites are fruitless.”

7.   The following innovative actions are suggested to counter forces adopting the strategy of mobocratic mobilization to reverse, neutralize and nullify the verdict of the Apex Court on Sabarimala.
a) The LDF Government should not go slow or subvert the enforcement of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala. Possibly, masters of electoral strategy would mount pressure on LDF leadership to be in tune with the tone, tenor and mood of those Hindus opposing the court verdict, particularly in the context of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

b) Appointment of eligible women as priests in at least temples of female deities like those in Aatukaal in Thiruvananthapuram, Chotanikkara in Kochi and Kodungallur in Trisshur and so on.

c) A suitable monument should be built to commemorate the brave lady, Nangeli, who severed and thrown her breasts before Travancore State Government officials, who intimidated her for paying breast tax (Mulakaram). She is a pioneer in women liberation movement in Kerala. Reportedly, her husband Cheerukandan, had committed suicide in her funeral pyre, when she died due to haemorrhage. Perhaps, it is the only case of a husband committing Sati. A memorial should be made for the couple.

d) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution of India, had done deeper studies on various facets of the evolution of Indian socio-cultural life. The gist of Ambedkarism containing values of European Enlightenment, Modernism and Indian legacy, particularly the heritage of Buddhism, be included in the school syllabi from 6th to 10th standard.

e) B.A and M.A courses be instituted in Universities. Ambedkar had produced over 5000 pages-long creative material containing his incisive observations and remedial suggestions towards the emancipation of downtrodden marginalized Indians.

f) B.R. Ambedkar’s epoch-making book – Anhillation of Caste – written in 1930s, being still relevant, be introduced as a non-detailed textbook in the SSLC course.

8.   I had submitted a representation captioned, “Actualisation of the vision of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and implementation of Ambedkarism” dated 12th September 2017, to the Chief Minister of Kerala. Further action in this representation may kindly be initiated. (Copy of the representation in enclosed).

9.   A reversal of the Apex Court decision permitting women in Sabarimala Temple would amount to the effacement of advancements made in socio-cultural evolution achieved through sacrifices of great reformists and leftist movement in Kerala, since early years of the 20th Century. I sincerely hope that the LDF Government headed by you will not facilitate such a reversal process and create an existential crisis to the State.

Yours faithfully,
(R.B.Sreekumar)          
Copy with compliments to:
1. Shri. Ramesh Chennithala,
Leader of opposition in Kerala Assembly.
Office Address
Indira Bhavan, Trivandrum-10
Residence Address
“Sargam”, EVRA 226, Krishnavilasom Road, Vazhuthacaud Trivandrum- 695014

2.  Shri. Loknath Behera (IPS),
DGP and State Police Chief
Police Head Quarters
Vazhuthacaud, Sasthamangalam PO,9
Thiruvananthapuram – 695010
NB: Enclosure: –
•          Representation on “Actualisation of the vision of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and implementation of Ambedkarism”

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“With a purified heart, and with proper thinking, go on resolving to do honest work. The only objective of human life is to give up bad deeds and to develop good qualities.”

– Atharvaveda, 5/3/41 

“Oh men! you should not be satisfied with your present situation.
You have to move forward and have to exert with body and soul’s
strength.”                                                                                            

– Atharvaveda, 8/1/42

“Law is King of Kings;
Nothing is superior to law;
The law aided by the power of the King
Enables the weak to prevail over the strong.”

– Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 14-4-2-23

“Even adversity does not prompt men of unswerving purity to do mean things.”                                                                                                                             

– Tirukkural by Thiruvalluvar, 6543

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

– Holy Bible, St Matthew, 6/25

“Oh, ye who believe! be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity and let not hatred of any people seductive that ye deal not justly.
Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah.
Lo! Allah is informed of what ye do.”                                                            

– Holy Quran, Surah-v-84

“Oh my people! Give full measure and full weight in justice, and wrong not people in respect of their goods. And do not evil in the earth, causing corruption.”                 

 – Holy Quran, Surah-xi-855

 “Lo! Allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kins folk and forbideth lewdness and abomination and wickedness.”

– Holy Quran, Surah-xvi-906

 
 
Strife in society is the outcome of inadequate amity and mutual trust among people and the resultant dispute coupled with denial of justice to individuals or groups by the elite wielding power at social, economic, political, religious, cultural and administrative realms. A healthy society is always successful in localising, containing and solving disputes germinated over private or public issues. Modern Nation States have evolved institutions, human resources, tools and procedures for smooth maintenance of the rule of law, prompt delivery of justice to the aggrieved and sound relief, reconciliation, rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of natural or man-made calamities. Segments of any vibrant society like NGOs, local residential groups, professional fraternal associations (including caste-centric groups in India), media, welfare organizations, trade, religious, commercial, political, and cultural bodies and so on, propelled by the consensus of public opinion, do effectively respond to any major threat or danger to social harmony and public order. Simultaneously, structurally organized components of the State – the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, instantly initiate interventionist purposeful action through enabling authority for realization of tasks assigned.
 
Mainstream Gujarati society and wings of the State (Legislature and Executive) did not rise to the level of expectation of citizens, during and after the prolonged communal disturbances, thanks to the impact of majoritarian communal campaigns and government’s covert connivance with inflicters of savagery on their targets.
 
History of communal clashes in Gujarat, particularly in Ahmedabad city had started from AD 1714 and major riots took place in 1969 (600 deaths), 1985, and in 1992 but the prolonged riots in 2002 with the unprecedented highest casualty of nearly 1500 killings (including missing persons), were notorious for the criminal collaborative role of the State functionaries (Neros according to the Supreme Court) in the anti-minority pogrom with pronounced ingredients of a genocide as defined in United Nations Covenant on Genocide 1948. To illustrate, large scale killing of a specific group (761 in riots – 177 Hindus and 584 Muslims; 200 in police firing, 83 Hindus and 117 Muslims and physical destruction of socio-cultural and religious symbols of a targeted group – 302 Dargahs, 209 Mosques, 113 Madrasas, 30 temples and 3 churches; total property lost to Muslims comes to 244 crore and 31 crore to Hindus[1]).
 
The societal movement against riots in general was lukewarm, nominal and that too limited to cities and regional pockets and thus ineffective and directionless, though, some aid has come for organizing relief camps for the displaced, but action to reactivate the subverted Criminal Justice System (CJS), manipulating available channels of grievance redressal to the disadvantage of the riot victims, was grossly inadequate.
 
Except a few NGOs like Citizen for Justice and Peace (CJP), led by Teesta Setalvad and a few others like reputed artist Mallika Sarabhai, no well focused moves to depute advocates to take up major carnage cases were visible. Effective microlevel monitoring of investigation and prosecution of major carnage cases by CJP could get 120 rioters[2] – including a former state minister – (direct perpetrators of violence) convicted with life imprisonment – an unprecedented achievement for human rights activists, in history of anti-minority riots in India since 1947.
 
Most gruesome manslaughters took place in Godhra railway station (59 deaths), and places like Naroda Patiya (96) 190 and Gulbarg Society (69) – both in Ahmedabad city, Sardarpura (33) and Deepada Darwaja (11) – both in Mehsana district, Best bakery in Baroda city (14), Ode village (27) in Anand district and Kidiad (23) in Sabarkantha district. Thousands of internally displaced housed in relief camps were brutally driven out by the State administration in June/July 2002, to project a false picture of normalcy before the Central Election Commission, under pressure from Modi government to hold early assembly election, ostensibly to cash on the anti-minority impulse and communal consolidation of Hindus for Sangh Parivar, allegedly the main architect of genocide.
 
Limited protests by socio-religious, cultural and commercial organizations did not create any discernable impact, so Vajpayee government after condemnation of riots initially through public statements, had endorsed the Sangh Parivar’s stand on riots as genuine and legitimate expression of anger by majority community on the community responsible for ‘conspiring and killing Ram Bhaktas’ at Godhra railway station on 27th February 2002. The octogenarian Sanskrit scholar KK Shastri had even eulogized tormentors of Muslims, by calling them Tigers – “waghri wagh thai gai” (Waghiri – Backward community – became tigers). Gandhians also did not resort to Mahatma’s methodology of Satyagraha or fasting to generate
nationwide moral pressure on Central Government to make a leadership change in Gujarat and to correct malady in the State administration.
 
Pertinently most of the religious leaders of the Muslims were paralysed by fear complex and Modiphobia. Deplorably, many of the Hindu religious congregations had exhibited a mind set of deeming the anti-Muslim blood-bath as a spontaneous, uncontrollable upsurge against the community responsible for killing Ram Bhaktas at Godhra Railway Station. Corporate units owned by Muslims also did not come with any decisive, well-directed and consistent measures for ensuring effective justice delivery and substantial relief, reconciliation, rehabilitation and resettlement schemes for the riot victim survivors.
 
A major silver lining is the role of media, both Print and Electronic, particularly the National English Press and channels, who had graphically brought out practically all nuances of the genesis, course and aftermath of the communal holocaust. Another redeeming feature was the initiative by numerous Hindus who offered shelter, security, relief and rehabilitation to Muslims targeted by marauding Hindu brigands, even risking their lives.
 
Most of them are averse to any recognition or publicity for their philanthropic services lest they would incur the wrath of radical Hindus and Sangh Parivar. Society for Promoting Rationality (SPRAT) led by Hassan M Johar, risked his life and moved through rioting areas and distributed food and relief materials. Activists like Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, Shabanam Hashmi, Harsh Mander, Jagen Sethi, have also been doing a lot of ameliorative service to the riot affected.
 
Some miscreants, brain-washed to nurture deep-rooted hatred against Muslims, through prolonged indoctrination had acted like programmed robots butchering and plundering their ‘enemy community’. Extremists among Muslims have also been equally devilish. This was possible due to long inertia of the secular civil population whose socio-religious, political and cultural bodies remained sluggish and unresponsive to the trends of de-spiritualisation and politicisation of Hindu- Muslim religious institutions.
 
This gave fillip to the process of saffronisation and exclusivism of Hindus, Jihadism and Arabisation of Muslims. Through well-designed deliberate actions, areas of cooperation and collective joint activities between Hindus and Muslims were increasingly brought down by radical sectarian activists in both communities. Alienation of Muslims from local culture, conventions, customs and costumes, etc, in the name of assertion of Islamic identity to counter alleged danger to Islamic way of life, has adverse impact on social amity and fraternity between communities. Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Advani’s Rath Yatra, mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley (5 lakh – largest migration from ones native place since Partition), demolition of Babri Masjid and subsequent riots, rise of terrorizing Muslim underworld under the political and police patronage in Gujarat cities like Abdul Latif in Ahmedabad city, etc, have pushed sizable number of traditional secularists to the camp of Hindu majoritarianism.
 
Renaming places with Hindu names, installation of images of Hindu deities in government premises, identification of Muslim trade and commercial establishments for targeted attack during communal riots (exemplified by the destruction of showrooms of Bata, Pantloons, Metro Shoes, hotels bearing Hindu names but owned by Muslims in 2002 riots), government servants participating in Sangh Parivar sponsored programmes for their ‘career advancement’ and so on, became quite prominent since late 1990s. Why did secular sections not take any pro-active, counter active or remedial measures at suitable time and place against the divisive trends in the society? No demonstrative action by secular groups – sociopolitical and cultural – and even Hindu bodies like Ramkrishna Mission with its clear image of equal respect to all religions – Sarva Dharma Samabhavna, took any substantial action against communal movements. Gradually most facets of community life came under the grip of dominant sectarian groups in both communities. Should we learn anything from this suicidal indifference of civil society during the long gestation period in the pre-riot era, duration of riots and post riot days in Gujarat?
 
The secular political elite at national level also did not launch convincing campaigns exposing the Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s grave omissions like,
 
1. Not disassociating his government from VHP sponsored bandh in Gujarat on 28/2/2002,
2. Not warning of strict actions against all bandh enthusiasts,
3. Tasking ruling party leaders (MLA, MP) to initiate action at grass root level to maintain public order and normalcy by touring in their areas of influence,
4. Discouraging bureaucrats and police from implementing government regulations for achieving normalcy, and
5. Slackness to plan and implement meaningful schemes for relief, rehabilitation, reconciliation and resettlement of riot victims in the pre-riots ambience.
 
Significantly, local political leaders who refused to actively support the anti-Muslim agenda of CM like Suresh Mehta of Kutch, Kashiram Rana of Surat, Vallabh Kataria of Rajkot and Haren Pandya of Ahmedabad city (who was later killed in suspicious circumstances), were ill-treated, cold shouldered and all had gradually disappeared into political wilderness.
 
Of the three wings of the State, the Legislature and the Executive had failed to become an effective fortress for the targeted citizens, for saving them from the rioters. No legislator had mobilized their supporters in the party in favour of the Muslims. The Executive component consisting of the police, the executive magistracy and many in statutorily empowered government departments to maintain public order, take ameliorative measures after any disaster, etc, had unabashedly betrayed criminal negligence culpable under Sections 166, 186 and 187 IPC, by not implementing architecture of SOP designed by Central and State Governments. As narrated earlier, most of the facilitators of targeted violence were rewarded and intrinsic law enforcers were punished.
 
Higher judiciary had shown clear indications about their displeasure on Modi administration through many observations and orders.
 
The solution lies in implementation of police reforms in the recommendations of Padmanabhaiah and Ribeiro committees and the Supreme Court orders in Prakash Singh’s case. Creation of bodies suggested by the court could have resulted in their effective intervention to prevent officers from becoming collaborators to rioters, through acts of omission and commission. This would have prevented the democratically elected State Government from carrying out its covert illegal anti-minority agenda through mobocracy. Concept of command responsibility of senior officers up to the Chief Secretary has to be enshrined in the administrative jurisprudence urgently.
 
The area of discretion to the field officers in implementing statutory directives on prevention, control and containment of riots should be reduced to the minimum. The exact operational role of each police officer and the Executive Magistrate at different rungs of hierarchy, viz DGP to
Constable and Home Secretary to Mamlatdar, in handling disturbances, have to be standardized and compiled on the pattern of the much admired ‘Blue Book’ on VIP security. This should contain unambiguous Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for each officer and specific drill manuals, with situation wise directives. Intentional non-implementation and serious acts of omission and commission vis-a-vis SOP be made punishable acts of crime as in the case of Civil rights Act and Prevention of Atrocity on SC/ST Act.
 
India is yet to establish sacrosanct conventions of ethical norms like political executive demitting office whenever serious allegations are made against him, as in matured western democracies. The danger of crookish Indian elite at the helm of affairs devising ingenious contrivances to bypass any well-designed legal and administrative structures cannot be discounted.
 
Strangely, many in the State administration, since 1990s have deviated from their constitutional obligations and acted as part of the collateral wing of the Sangh Parivar to get favours from the government and for career advancement. Thus during 2002 riots in areas of genocidal mass violence, government officers did not adequately respond to distress calls from the minorities under brutal assault by armed Hindu communal gangs.
 
Finally, the civil society has to plan and implement area-specific and issue based schemes to arrest the debilitating trends of de-spiritualisation and politicisation of religious bodies, and the communalisation of all facets of public life. Any act of government functionary going against the
requirements of the rule of law, democracy and secularism, from the highest to the grass root level, be checked and corrected through legal channels and collective public action. All available fora – administrative, legal, political, social and cultural – be moved to make persons in authority, accountable, perform and deliver, as per the concept of command responsibility. Indian civilization, having a heritage of 5,000 years, has vitality, inner strength to withstand any crisis. Many would be unobtrusively endeavouring for achieving the ideals in the inspiring last hymn from the Rigveda,7 burning high with flame of a unified and collective aspiration.
 
“Come together, all of you, speak in one voice, know with one mind, even like the Gods, who, of yore, knew with one mind and together had their share of enjoyment.
 
 “Together may they utter the mantra, may they unite together, may their mind be one, their consciousness mingle. I utter the same mantra with you all, with you all equally I make the offering:.
 
“May your yearning be one, may your hearts be one, may your mind be one, so that your union may be perfect.”
 
Lessons of Gujarat riots are quite loud and clear. Will we go down in history as people endowed with knowledge but bereft of wisdom and will power to correct our course of action?
Panchatantra, the ancient compendium of aphorisms exhorted thus –
 
“Wisdom shows herself in actions;
A Minister’s in forging friendships;
A physician’s in heeling life threatening illness.
Who is not wise when everything goes right.”
– Panchatantra, Chapter 1, 968
 
Rigveda (1500 BC) is the most enlighteningly ennobling component of earliest Indian heritage. Let us hope that God Almighty will respond to the following Rigvedic Prayer:
 
“Resplendent God, let the deceitful and tyrannous people be defeated by honest people through their clever strategy. May they (virtuous and honest) be rewarded by you with abundant wealth and food.” – Rigveda, 1-11-79
 
 
(This appears as CHAPTER 12, Lessons of 2002 Gujarat Riots, Gujarat, Behind the Curtain https://sabrangindia.in/readings/gujarat-behind-curtain)
 
 
Notes
1. Vedamurti Taponishtha Pandit Sreeram Sharma Acharya, Divine Message of Vedas, published by Yug Nirman Yojna (Mathura), p 270.
2. Ibid, p 72.
3. VR Ramachandra Dikshitar (Eng trans), Tirukkural by Thiruvalluvar, Adayar Library, Chennai, p 135.
4. Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall (trans), The Holy Quran, Madhur Sandesh Sangam, p 97.
5. Ibid, p 171.
6. Ibid, p 201.
7. Sampat and Vijay (eds), The Wonder that is Sanskrit, Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad, p 118.
8. Chandra Rajan (trans), Panchatantra, Penguin Books, p 37.
9. Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyam Vidyalankra (Eng trans), Rigveda Samhita, Veda Pratishthana, New Delhi, p 31.
 

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Former DGP, Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, in a letter to Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel calls for an end to the criteria of born Brahmins alone being appointed as priests in government managed temples in Gujarat..

In a detailed letter addressed to Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel, the former DGP, RB Sreekumar has pointed out that by appointing Brahmins only in nearly 80 state-managed temples as staff engaged in ceremonial, ritualistic and religious functions, the government is violating the Indian Constitution and making a mockery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of being “A torch bearer to carry on the work and principles of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar”.

Making references to Dr BR Ambedkar’s writings (’Annihilation of Caste’, ’Riddles of Hinduism’, The Untouchables’, ’Buddha and Karl Marx’) the letter points out that, “Ambedkarism is not a set of metaphysical concepts or dogmatic socio-political theories. It is a product of application of lofty Indian spiritual ethos of Buddhism, and liberal western political ideas from the days of the French Revolution (1789), the anti-colonial struggles and upheavals for establishment of representative democracy guaranteeing fundamental human rights, inclusive distributive justice and equitable service delivery to the people by the State”.
 
The letter notes with regret that “those engaged in performing ritualistic worship and ceremonial duties along with temple staff employed for auxiliary services like providing articles of worship, preparation of prasad etc, are appointed to those posts exclusively from certain families from the caste of Brahmins”. What’s more, “Many devotees complain that some priests do not know and comprehend the conceptual, metaphysical and spiritual import of many Vedic Suktas and Slokas from Tantra Samucchaya of Parashurama, chanted during pooja (worship)”.

Citing slokas from the Vedas , Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagwat Gita and other Hindu scriptures, the letter argues that no one is born a Brahmin but becomes one through acquiring education and culture.

Maintaining that “the present system of illegal monopoly of one caste in temple worship service is obnoxiously obscurantist, besides being repugnant of basic structure of the Indian Constitution and pre eminent Hindu scriptures”, the letter urges the Gujarat chief minister to “constitute a Gujarat Temple Service (GTS), on the pattern of any self-contained government service cadre” and to ensure that “qualified women should also be inducted as priests in GTS”.

 The full text of the former DGP’s letter may be read here.

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Society is defined in the Random House Dictionary of English Language as “a highly structured system of human organisation for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security and a national identity”. The state’s emergence ended the prevalent jungle law, or matsya nyaya, of the strong dominating the weak. The state endeavours for the creation and maintenance of secure conditions for community living that enables each person in society to be at his best self for the benefit of all.

India’s democratic polity, constituted and sustained by the Constitution, seeks to concretise the vision of Indian citizens – we the people – as expressed in the Preamble. Jurists unanimously confirm that the concepts of sovereignty, national integrity, democracy, socialism and secularism embody the unalterable basic foundations of the Constitution. Ultimately, individual citizens, as members of Indian society, are the custodians of these statutorily designed imperatives for the health and vibrancy of the nation.

A government assuming power on electoral mandate has no legal, political or moral sanction to violate, subvert or alter the intrinsic and elementary constitutional principles that encapsulate the quintessential and long cherished values of Indian people. Society, being the reservoir of voters, has to be ever vigilant to check and contain deviations, aberrations and violations from the laid down framework by organs of the government intoxicated with power obtained through the ballot box or otherwise.

An alert and agile society performs its role of watchdog through an array of institutions, formal or amorphous, traditional or ad hoc, long-standing or temporary. Societal response, often diverse or even confrontationist to governmental action or events, expresses itself through identities like media, NGOs, conscious citizens’ forums, bodies of class, region, gender, professionals, caste, etc.

A performing and lively democracy needs the services of the upright bureaucrat, the social activist, the bold dissenter, the courageous media person, and so on. Such persons often play the role of the protester and the whistle-blower with a loftier vision than the self-contained power hungry politician successfully manipulating sentiments of short-sighted voters.

The response of segments of Gujarat society to the Godhra incident and the subsequent universally condemned anti-minority violence falls into three distinct patterns in tune with their real or contrived vested interests and spheres of influence.

The protracted Gujarat riots in 2002 are comparable to the disrobing of Maharani Draupadi at the very altar of justice viz. the royal courts of the Kauravas, meant for the redressal of subjects’ grievances and the delivery of justice. Here, the holy maiden of the rule of law, the dearest daughter of the Constitution of India, has undergone and is still suffering prolonged molestation since 2002, as hundreds of citizens became prey to the depredations of armed mobs and subsequently have been experiencing near total apathy from organs of the criminal justice system.

The much published pictures of a “Vibrant Gujarat” and the reality of thousands of its citizens dwelling in pathetic conditions are as sickening as they are contradictory. Do these images paint pictures of stagnancy and destabilisation or that of dynamic advancement?

A faint silver living to the cloud of abnormal societal callousness is visible in the sterling performance by a handful of bureaucrats (all of them had to face and continue to face the wrath of the powers that be), the media (particularly the English press) and a few courageous social activists and lawyers. Referring to these well meaning champions of humanism and sanity, Prof Shiv Vishvanathan, in his essay titled “The Wages of Dissent”, (Seminar, Monthly, January 2007) observed, “Each through his/her performance transformed Modi’s regime into a mosaic of unsettled and unsettling questions. Each of these encounters with a Zahira Shaikh, Teesta Setalvad, Cedric Prakash, Mukul Sinha, was stark, public and commanded huge audiences.”

Next, one can find another category of people from the bureaucracy, police, professionals, etc, who ignored the call of their conscience and duty and acted like Duryodhana and his cohorts, who though aware of righteousness did not remain sincere to it. Instead, they pursued evil despite full knowledge of its consequence – “Gnanami Dharmam na cha me Pravruthi, Gnanami Adharmam na cha me Nivruthi” (“I was aware of righteousness but did nothing in pursuit of it; I knew about evil, still did not abstain from it”). They facilitated the masterly manipulation of public opinion and generation of apathy by the powers that be towards riot victims among the bulk of the electorate for achieving political mobilisation of the majority community and consequential electoral dividends in the 2002 assembly polls.

A third group of citizens took the posture of Maharathis like Bhishma, Draunacharya, Kulguru Krupacharya, Vidura, etc. They allowed the disrobing of Draupadi lest their judicious intervention result in the loss of their position, chairs and aristocratic privileges. The ongoing sacrilegious insensitivity and criminal negligence to the just and minimum needs of the riot affected is the net outcome of such an attitude.

The 2002 riots have many disquieting unparalleled and unprecedented features:

• A seemingly well-planned strategy and ground level tactics were set in motion after the gruesome, inhuman Godhra train fire incident, to incite communal sentiments among those belonging to the majority community with the obvious intention of political mobilisation and electoral advantage. This was achieved through rumours and motivated media projections about the non-existent current atrocities on the majority community, whisper campaigns through word of mouth and the circulation of handbills and pamphlets. To illustrate, the story of breasts of Hindu women being cut and thrown, temple desecration by descendants of Aurangzeb, etc. (No police or governmental action has been taken against the perpetrators of these falsehoods so far.)
• Non-initiation of statutorily stipulated measures contained in the Riot Schemes and particularly in the 1997 order of the then director general of police, KV Joseph. Titled, “Instructions to deal with Communal Riots (Strategy and Approach)”, it was circulated to all superintendents and commissioners of police. These measures should have been promptly taken from the afternoon of February 27, 2002 onwards. To illustrate, there was no arrest of those figuring in police records as persons to be taken into custody in the event of any communal tension.
• Parading of the dead bodies of Godhra fire victims, including those unidentified and even those belonging to places outside Ahmedabad, through communally sensitive areas of Ahmedabad city, resulting in the ignition of high voltage hatred against the minority community.
• There were media reports that no effective action was initiated by the authorities in the early hours of the bandh day, February 28, 2002, when miscreants started indulging in petty crimes like burning of tyres on the roads, forcible closure of shops, etc, largely to test the mood and approach of the police. Hence the slogan: “Yeh andar ki baat hai, Police hamare saath hai” (“The inside story is, The police are with us in this”).
• The 2002 Gujarat violence was assailed by national leaders of all political dispensations, including the then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
• Delay in the imposition of curfew in certain sensitive areas and slackness in the enforcement of curfew resulted in crowds committing wanton crimes against minorities. For example, the Best Bakery in Vadodara was burnt during curfew hours.
• No videography of the riots was recorded by the authorities despite regulations to this effect. It is ironical that the electronic media could easily record and telecast the riots while the authorities could not collect evidence through electronic gadgets.
• Prime Minister Vajpayee, in a public speech in Gujarat, directed the state government to perform its assigned duties – Raj Dharma. Never before in the history of independent India has the country’s prime minister been forced to issue such public instructions to any state government.
• The response to complaints by riot victims was deplorably irresponsible and often even hostile. This stratagem of functionaries of the criminal justice system manifested itself in the form of:

a. Refusal to register cases by riot victims against supporters of communal organisations.

b. Minimisation of intensity of offences.

c. Treating different offences as single transactions.

d. Refusal to take the accused on remand for recovery of looted property.

e. Not opposing, effectively, the bail applications of the accused persons.

f. Appointments of even office bearers of communal organisations as public prosecutors, etc.

It is relevant to note that these major lapses and such motivated dereliction of legally entrusted duties by the bureaucracy prompted the Supreme Court of India to pass severe strictures against state government officials in the Best Bakery case and other related litigations. Secondly, the apex court ordered the reinvestigation of two riot related cases and their trial was transferred to Maharashtra. Thirdly, in a rare move, the Supreme Court ordered the reopening and reinvestigation of around 2,000 Gujarat riot cases, which the police had already closed. Fourthly, many petitions of the riot victims, such as the Naroda Patiya and Gulberg Society cases, are still before the courts.

It should be noted that there were no such instances of a loss of confidence in the state administration system expressed through litigations after the 1969 and 1984 riots in Gujarat.

Nearly 1,000 localities, from rural and urban areas, were affected by communal clashes in 2002. Survivors/victims from most of these places were forced to migrate and stay in relief camps. Nearly all those migrants lost their movable and immovable properties. Almost 1,20,000 people had to dwell in congested relief camps in subhuman conditions for over six to eight months – refugees in one’s own motherland.

The bulk of the floating population from other states, people belonging to the minority community, had left the state during the riots. There is no reliable data on them. Similarly, no clear information is forthcoming on the number of missing persons.

On June 6, 2007, The Times of India, quoting a source from the Supreme Court, reported that even today about 30,000 refugees are forced to live in despicable conditions.

The much published pictures of a “Vibrant Gujarat” and the reality of thousands of its citizens dwelling in pathetic conditions are as sickening as they are contradictory. Do these images paint pictures of stagnancy and destabilisation or that of dynamic advancement?

Citizens of Gujarat must ask themselves why the recreation of the pre-riot atmosphere, ensuring smooth intercommunity living, is being blocked in the state. Is it due to a lack of resources or, in fact, the absence of political will and commitment to cater to the basic needs of the victims?

What civil society can do

Social groups, educational institutions, religious bodies, NGOs, conscious citizens and others can easily take up the issues impeding normalisation of the situation in nearly 1,000 localities affected by communal violence. A lot needs to be done to ensure the security of victims and the restoration of their vocations and professions to achieve durable rehabilitation. Restoration of immovable property to legal owners, resuscitation of trade and business, adequate provisions for empowerment of orphans and widows, creation of educational facilities, and so on.

Secondly, the reconstruction of major shrines and monuments destroyed or damaged during the violence, such as the tomb of Wali Gujarati, is long pending.

Communalists engage in a relentless indoctrination drive. Pseudo-religious organisations inculcate exclusivism and sectarianism in the minds of their followers. The afflicted then spring into violent action against their “rival community” on any trivial issue. After all, for a communalist, “their God is our Devil”.

Special efforts to stress that humanism and meditative spiritualism constitute the core values and soul of all religions are the need of the times. Otherwise, unscrupulous politicians, bent on securing power at any cost, will continue to adopt competitive communalism as a means and vehicle to advance their political careers.

At special gatherings, in educational institutions and religious congregations, programmes need to be started to stress religious tolerance. The writings of Mahatma Gandhi, the famous study on religions by Bharat Ratna, Bhagavan Das, titled Essential Unity of All Religions, lectures by Swami Ranganathananda, etc, can all be used as source material. This project can be called Sarva Dharma Mool Adarsh Prachar (Understanding the Tenets of All Religions).

Programmes must be planned for the joint celebration of different religious festivals through participation by all in processions, congregations. These could be called Sarva Dharma Utsav (Festival of All Religions).

At the grass root level, in villages and in urban localities, visits could be arranged to familiarise people with each other’s religious shrines in the neighbourhood. For example, school students of an area could be encouraged to visit and study the significance – scriptural, spiritual, architectural – of a local shrine. This can be called Sarva Dharma Pavitra Sthan Darshan (Pilgrimage of All Religions).

Godless atheistic secularism alone cannot effectively counter the rising tide of communalism in the country.

Well-planned projects need to be designed and implemented so as to enhance intercommunity cooperation in all dimensions of human activity – economic, cultural, religious and social.

An ancient Sanskrit text, Nitisara, classifies all human beings into two categories: wise men and fools. Wise men are those who spend their leisure time in the study of science and the appreciation of arts and literature. Fools, on the other hand, utilise their free hours for pursuit of addictions, quarrels and sleep.

“Kavya sastravinodana
Kala Gacchati Dheematam
Vyasanana cha Moorkhanam
Nidraya Kalahena cha.”

(Poetic compositions and shastras do serve,
As recreations for the wise to pass their time
The foolish ones spend their time in vices diverse
In idle sleep or in quarrels.)

Ramakrishna Paramahans once compared a person engaged in communal fights to a dog trapped in a hall of mirrors. The dog will bark to death at his own image reflected in each mirror. The Vedantic principle of each person being a fragment of the same universal divinity – God – is the moral of Ramakrishna’s parable, an elucidation of the vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the entire world is a family) principle.

A short story by Krishan Chander titled A Donkey’s Autobiography (Ek Gadhe ki Sarguzasht) describes a donkey telling a group of Hindu and Muslim communalists who asked him to specify his religion that, born as a donkey, he is neither a Hindu nor a Muslim, he is just a donkey. Let us learn from this donkey.

(Text of a speech delivered by RB Sreekumar at a recent meeting of Nishan-e-Samvidhan, an Ahmedabad based citizens’ group.)

Archived from Communalism Combat, July 2007 Year 13    No.124, Genocide’s Aftermath Part II, Voices 3

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