শেৱালী-হাচনাহানা

গোট মাৰি যোৱা  নিষিদ্ধ পল্লীৰ কাষতে পৰি আছে –

শেৱালী ফুলবোৰ..  

চিন্ময়ীৰ দেখা-দেখি নাই;

এইবাৰ শৰৎ নিস্তব্ধ, এইবাৰ উকা পদূলি।

নেথাকে  আবেলিৰ আৰতি,

নজ্বলিব এশ- এযুত বন্তি।

বতাহতো নাই পূজা-পূজা গোন্ধ…

কিন্তু শেৱালী -হাচনাহানায়ে আশা এৰা নাই।

শাৰদীয়ে আকৌ হাঁহিব,

তৰাৰ বুটা-বচা আঁচলৰ চাদৰ লৈ শেৱালী-হাচনাহানাই মিচিকিয়াব……

 

 

 

Some repressed feelings

 

Birds of the same feathers seem to have spread their wings to spread hatred and intolerance…

I am wary of voicing my views in public, lest I should be jailed or branded a ‘traitor’, or maybe charged with sedition and get labeled as an ‘anti-nationalist’. All throughout my life, I have taken immense pride in being an Indian and needless to say, I have been very very vocal about my love for my motherland. I also confess that I have been partial towards my own religion (I believe that except the atheists, everyone believes in their own religion) and have tried to follow the rituals and ceremonies associated with it. But that does not mean that I am a connoisseur of Hinduism. I have read about my religion, and I have a decent knowledge about the epics and the religious books associated with the religion I was born into. Also, I never harboured any repulsion or hatred for my friends, acquaintances and peers who were of other faiths.

Hindutva, or Hinduism if you prefer to use the term, seems to have imbibed a sense of urgency these days. The religion which I have been following since my birth, replete with the soul- stirring ‘rupang dehi’ of Durga Puja, or the ‘lakhi pasani’  recited by our mothers and aunts during the quiet yet profound Lakhi Puja of the yore, seem to have faded into oblivion. What I see around me now really astonishes me. The loudspeakers belting out noisy ‘devotional songs’ with melodramatics lyrics and with tunes of popular Hindi-film songs, the exorbitantly lavish Puja pandals , and above all, the slow but sure change in the thought-process of the people in my life,  make me wonder if I am a ‘bad Hindu’.

The tolerance associated with my religion seems to have disappeared. I can no longer associate Hinduism with the all-encompassing ethos which made it a profound faith (as I say this, I wonder what my family/friends would say. I can almost hear them saying, “All Brahmin girls are somehow unnaturally attracted to Muslim boys. They run off with Muslim boys and settle down, and thus the Muslims successfully convert many girls.”). I remember Mr L.K Advani of decades back, a strong, opinionated and popular leader, doing Rath Yatras; and when I think of Advani, another image pops up in my mind’s window – that of a gentle, patient, yet firm Atal Behari Vajpayee. There was an element of balance between these two – if one was fire, the other one was water – if one was loud, the other one was serene. Isn’t this is how a balance is maintained? I do not know anymore, I do not know what I have always felt about this aspect anymore.

‘Secularism’ is now just a chapter in the Civics textbook of my kids. I find it hard to explain the concept to my sons who are entering the threshold of teenage-world. I do not know what to teach them about the ‘equality of religion’ and ‘to harbor a feeling of respect for all faiths and beliefs’. Yes, I feel I have failed them. I feel we all, the parents of these times, have been mute spectators to things which we do not believe in, yet we keep dumb, we pretend that this is the right way.

Imagine this. We are living in the year 2020 A.D. And what the national obsession is right now? Picking up and dissecting historical wrongs and reacting like absolute fools! Babri Masjid, an issue that took place 28 years ago, still remains fresh. Not only fresh, we deliberately scrap the wound periodically so that it bleeds and we react. Forget this three decade old issue. There are incidents of the 15th century, 17th century, which we like to dig out, and debates lasting hours at prime time on national television ‘analyse’ and opine on these mummified incidents/issues. Such is the situation that a girl getting raped and killed might not get justice, but a cow getting slaughtered will cause national pandemonium. The icing on the cake is to rope in a couple of fanatics from different religions, and make them spew venom on cacophonic news channels.

And now I feel, this situation is here to stay. Unfortunately, our country’s oldest political party, with its obsession for dynasty-dominance, is incapable of providing a strong, robust opposition.  With the passage of time, there is increasing re-affirmation of the hyper-nationalist rhetoric with Muslims as the thinly-veiled other. We are currently a nation where people sit with their evening drinks cursing Mahatma Gandhi/ Jawaharlal Nehru for the partition, or have highly polarized discussions about how the Muslim youths of today are increasingly becoming radicalized.

I do agree that in the past few decades, Islam has acquired a very sinister face. The brutal videos released by ISIS and Al Qaida send shivers up the spine. Till date, I cannot get over the gruesome video of Daniel Pearl. But deep within, I had a feeling that my country would be different. Alas, that is no longer the case now. The transformation currently under way in Hinduism is among the most significant in our country’s history. It has much in common with similar changes taking place in Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and other religions. Buddhist monks sworn to nonviolence lead massacres in Myanmar and Sri Lanka; most radical Islamists are poorly versed in the Quran; many evangelical Christians care so much about issues never mentioned by Jesus, such as abortion and homosexuality.. Is it increasing intolerance to beliefs which are not in tune with our own?  Or is it that religion is no longer a matter of what we believe or do, but rather it is something that we are required to portray before others? People from all faiths are radicalized. There is no space for any liberal thinking. At times, I wonder if I am besmirching my religion by having these thoughts. I am sure that I will be called a ‘leftist’, ‘urban naxalite’, ‘anti-Indian’, etc if I voice my opinions.

But I cannot lie to myself. I cannot harbor so much hatred for everyone who is not a Hindu.

Is this the true, unalloyed form of my religion? My religion is at its glorious best now. There are temples being constructed with billions of tax-payers money. There are festivals being celebrated with unparalleled fervor. History textbooks are being rewritten. Cities and states and streets are being renamed. I guess my religion never had it so good, but ironically, national harmony never had it so bad….