Rameshwar Singh Jamwal
Berating Hinduism and Hindu way of life is becoming a fashionable intellectual discourse by some masquerading as liberal Hindus, but having little knowledge of the deep knowledge of the religion and for some others amongst other religions, who have no guts to speak the same language for other civilizations. It is also known to everybody that there are inimical forces, working at the behest of international powers intending to harm India or its religious thought, who are there to promote Hinduphobia, as is happening in many parts of world. We know that there are many other beliefs, having the same or even worse practices, that have crept in Hinduism, for which there is no harm in admitting and are open to take the mid course corrective measure but this façade of selective criticism, gives rise to suspicion about the motives and let me acknowledge that there are fault lines, which are widening because of such attempts and which should have been tried to be bridged by those claiming to be intellectuals from all walks of life, in their own respective religions, if they want the planet to be made a liveable place for the coming generations.
Civilizational and religious conflicts are not a modern phenomenon but with educational level rising and modern thinking overtaking the centuries held beliefs, it was expected that there would be better harmony between different races and classes of people, which alas has not happened. Rather we are seeing the religious and class conflicts on the rise, which poses threat to human civilization, nations and societies all across the globe. The social and religious preachers, modern thinkers and political class has failed to come up to the expectations of the people on this front and there is a dire need for visionaries and thinkers to evolve mechanisms in their respective societies to lead a charge on this front, if they want the future generations to survive on this planet. But for someone professing another religion, it becomes too risky and avoidable endeavour to criticise the other’s religious beliefs or practices but for someone professing the same religion and having a genuine desire to bring change in obsolete thinking or practices which have no scientific or rational justification, it is no bar to point out the shortcomings and suggest ways to make the religion more attractive and in tune with the modern thinking, otherwise people start drifting away towards atheism or other’s ways of life. I am no authority on religious practices in Hinduism but having read lot of literature and watching the innuendoes with great mental pain, it becomes one’s duty to suggest the possibly counter the onslaught with equally forceful arguments and simultaneously suggest ways to bring change in those practices and beliefs which have given ammunition to those crying hoarse about the India’s main religious thought. My religion gives me the liberty to question any belief or practice which one finds to be contrary to scientific explanation and to understand the true nature of objects by examining them through evidence, as explained in ‘Nayaya’ Philosophy and use the right way to achieve it, which is called ‘Dharma’, I am proceeding on this duty.
The greatest of modern scientists and thinkers have used our knowledge and thoughts to achieve the unthinkable but here in India, the organizations, which are working in the field have no roadmap for the next few thousand years, if they want the religion to survive. The way the old practices, religious rituals, the essence of our great philosophies and religious books are being abandoned by the modern generation, it would be quite conceivable that in the next few decades, there won’t be many in Hinduism who will have knowledge about the names of nine incarnations of Goddess Durga, or the exact number of incarnations or ‘Avtars’ of Lord Vishnu or about the importance of Lord Brahma and hundreds of other religious matters.
To keep some one bound with the religious belief merely by naming him with some highly Sankratised name, which is difficult to even pronounce will not make him or her to be a good Hindu. Nor can we make someone a more adherent to the faith by pointing out the flaws in other’s beliefs. The modern generation weighs and compares every belief and practice from scientific angle and if he or she is not satisfied, they will ask awkward questions, based on scientific knowledge and can put any religious scholar in quandary. So the religious preachers need to have knowledge of science, have some vision about the future and the communication skills to satisfy the English speaking, tech savvy generation, having laptops and mobiles in their hands from which they are getting tons and tons of knowledge about everything that has happened in the past or which may happen in the next few centuries. It was for this reason that ‘Mahakumbhs’ were held, to let the religious preachers have scholarly discussions about the religious practices and religion and the same were then passed on to the believers of faith. But in modern times, the Hindu ‘Akharas’, which used to produce religious scholars of eminence are just issuing certificates and letting the unscrupulous elements to indulge in grabbing Mandir properties for their vested interests. There is hardly any attempt to isolate or punish those bringing bad names to the religion and saffron robes, by those indulging in sexual offences, those dealing with or consuming narcotic substances, those indulging in land grabbing or selling Mandir properties or promoting obscurantism; practices of human or animal sacrifices, offerings of alcohol at religious places, and many other such vices.
There are many who would vouch for religious practices, which may have any importance for the younger generation or their future needs but will not tell anything that can enhance their thinking based on our intellectual thoughts. Based on their limited knowledge of contemporary issues confronting the present or future generation, they are hardly expected to take the country and its main religious thought to any position of strength and will end up in promoting fanaticism to let their grip more consolidated on religious institutions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many of his ilk from BJP, RSS or any other organization, who want to take the country on the path of progress and make India a developed country by 2047 must also think on these lines if they want Hinduism and Indian philosophical thought to be a contemporary of this material progress and if India really wants to sit on the high table as ‘World leader’.
(The author is practising Advocate of J&K High Court)
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