Dear fellow Indians,
India is an ancient land, which has been enriched by the waters of perennial rivers flowing from all directions, carrying with them seeds of a great civilisation. Over thousands of years, India has welcomed all people, from around the world, and made them feel at home.
This home of ours has always stood for inclusiveness, and has aimed for an exalted spirituality, which makes people live their every day with an overwhelming sense of peace.
This co-existence is what our very social fabric is made up of. Great saints have written many a great tale, inspiring us for millenia. Different beliefs, thought systems, rituals and ways of life have simultaneously lived next to each other, in perfect harmony.
Therefore on a day like today, when one religion has been given centre place by making one temple an axis cutting across political, social, legal lines – we need to pause and reconsider, both our grandeur past and our unknown future.
Will our children grow up in an India where religion subsumes all our identities, conversations, rules of life – relegating others to a sub-human, sub-standard existence? While it may seem that this promise of tomorrow serves a majority, do not let yourself be fooled because religion when turned into an instrument of power will always serve only a handful.
Also read: A Time of Contempt
When India emerged as a nation-state, our forefather and foremothers chose ‘secularism’ amongst a spectrum of idea that contested for supremacy and dominance over Indian life. The RSS was still there, with its advocates calling for a Hindu rashtra without recognising an equal vote for all women and members of all castes. But eventually it was the idea of a secular, liberal, inclusive India that won the day.
Today, while we celebrate the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, we need to ask – are we betraying our glorious past, settling for comfortable lives at the cost of murderous lies, for allowing hatred and ‘othering of Muslims’ so that we can save ourselves from the crackling music of the whip, by those who wield the power. If that is why we choose to stay blind, remember the source of power belongs to ‘we, the people’. And it is we, the people who will choose the destiny of this ancient great nation. Neither Ram nor Allah nor Christ can save us if we choose to ignore our actions and do not take full responsibility for them.
Religion is a private affair – to each their own. This is what has defined our national character. If we choose to give that up now, we will behave like sheep, whom different Masters, in different get-ups, can lure, for their own limited, nasty, brutish ends. The State has to treat all religions equally. A politics based on dividing people is of the worst kind. We need a politics that prioritises education, health and governance in their affairs. A nation where no one sleeps hungry, homeless and having anxiety – that has to be the motto towards which politicians have to work.
Co-existence is the only key, and love the only thread that can weave it. May we choose sanity over madness, and love for all as our anthem. Those who do, history will absolve you, even if you feel like a minority in your homes today. All great things spring from hope and that is one thing we cannot give up. Not today, not any day.
Avani Bansal is a lawyer in the Supreme Court and a member of the Congress party.
