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Is it that Hindu activist are hitting back at the 'secularity' that has been showcased as downgrading Hinduism for 'secular' good?SILENCE IS NOT ALWAYS GOLDEN
KG Suresh
The long-held perception that Hindu spiritual organisations are not socially conscious and they do not have deep impulse for public service, has greatly affected India's image as a whole, as it implies that the majority faith groups of India are somewhat wayward
In a high-profile television debate recently, following RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement on Mother Teresa, a well-known spokesman of the Catholic Church and a leading light of inter-faith circuit, shocked many of his admirers when he lambasted the Hindu community for keeping in poverty and hunger, a majority of its people under what he called the 'obnoxious' theory of karma.
The utterances evoked sharp reaction, not only from the Hindu panellists but also from the anchor, who outrightly condemned the Christian priest's remarks which virtually implied that Hindus did not engage in social work. Interestingly, a diplomat-turned politician of the Janata Dal (United) who proclaimed himself to be a 'proud Hindu' pontificated that Hindus need to learn social service from the Christian community.
Opinion is sharply divided in the country over the role of Mother Teresa, with her supporters equating her with Mahatma Gandhi and even comparing the criticism against her with the outrage in the majority community against Wendy Doniger's book which denigrated Hindu deities; and her critics quoting eloquent testimonies including documentaries by Western scholars, and journalists such as Christopher Hitchens questioning various aspects of the late missionary nun's life and times.
But the larger issue here is the perpetuation of the myth, deliberately or due to ignorance, that Hindus are a materialistic lot and Hindu organisations indulge only in spiritual pursuits and are least concerned about the society at large, which is contrary to the facts.
This long-held perception that Hindu spiritual organisations are not socially conscious and they do not have deep impulse for public service, has greatly affected India's image as a nation and of the Indian people as a whole, as it implies that a majority faith groups of India are not socially conscious. In a world of rising religious and civilisational consciousness, this adverse image is also affecting the image of the Indian civilisation and its contributory capacity as a whole.
Apart from deliberate attempts by vested interests to highlight this distorted picture, this impression has also gained ground largely due to the intrinsic Hindu trait not to tom-tom their philanthropic activities and silently keep working for the good of the society. In this age of information warfare and aggressive evangelism, there cannot be anything more suicidal for the community.
Moreover, since the Hindu spiritual institutions are a commonwealth of faiths with spiritual, but not temporal, unity, they do not have a church like organisational infrastructure to bring them under one roof, nor has been there any ecumenical effort to bring about a networking of the Hindu institutions.
In this regard, it is pertinent to mention here that in 2009, the Global Foundation for Civilizational Harmony (India) took a historic initiative to bring under one umbrella, different Hindu organisations engaged in multifarious social activities at the first Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair in Chennai.
The organisation, an eastern initiative for conflict avoidance launched by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and former President APJ Abdul Kalam in the presence of spiritual leaders from all communities including the archbishop of Mumbai and the chief of Darul Uloom, Deoband, felt that it was necessary to bring together different Hindu spiritual and service organisations to showcase their public service activities for proper imaging of the Indian civilisation in the global discourse.
The objective of the event was not only to showcase before the community, the service activities of Hindu religious and spiritual organisations which have avoided media glare and publicity and silently worked for decades among women, children, youth, villagers, tribals and other deprived sections of the society as also natural disaster affected persons but also to enable other communities to understand the service aspect of the majority community, which is critical to inter-faith harmony.
Since then, the event has become an annual feature in Chennai and has attracted hundreds of organisations from across the country, to highlight their service activities in areas ranging from teacher schools (Ekal Vidyalaya) in the far-flung regions of the North-East to running of orphanages, hospitals, schools, cow shelters, centres for the physically and mentally challenged etc.
Often, visitors at the fair are surprised to know that the RSS, portrayed more as a remote control of the BJP in the media, alone runs over 1,40,000 service projects. The Arya Samaj, known more for its temples, runs some 24,000 educational institutions. The Sathya Sai organisation, delivers free ration to the poor and needy in many remote villages while Mata Amritanandamayi Math provides free housing for the natural disaster affected from Tamil Nadu to Uttarakhand, to cite a few instances.
Similarly, thanks to the negative media coverage, the mere mention of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, reminds many of the Ram temple movement, Bajrang Dal volunteers sporting bandana on their foreheads and battle cries of 'Jai Sri Ram'.
But the organisation labeled as extreme Right-wing alone runs 826 projects in the education sector including balwadis, secondary schools, hostels, libraries, coaching centres; over 800 medical service projects such as hospitals, mobile dispensaries, ambulances etc; 345 self-reliance projects including women self-help centres, sewing centres, animal husbandry centres besides orphanages, legal aid centres, working women hostels, women rescue centres. It also organises medical and health camps, tree plantation drives, drinking water and other rural development projects.
In the wake of the Nirbhaya incident, the Women's Wing of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, launched an all India campaign on "Woman Safety — Our Safety" and "Save Women Save Nation" aimed to create public awareness and sensitisation against atrocities, injustice, deprivation, discrimination, ill-treatment and violence in all forms perpetrated on women at all levels of society — whether at home, workplace, community or during socio-cultural and religious rites and rituals.
Much before the launch of the Swachch Bharat campaign, Mata Amritanandamayi, launched the Amala Bharatam Campaign. Her impact can be gauged from the fact, that within three days of her taking up the task to clean the surrounding of Sabarimala, the abode of Lord Ayyappa and the largest pilgrimage centre in Kerala, 5,097 volunteers participated in the initiative and collected 50,000 bags of waste in 72 hours and turned the area spotless clean.
As the current debate on conversion rages on, it would be most appropriate to remember, Mahatma Gandhi had stated, "(If) instead of confining themselves purely to humanitarian work such as education, medical services to the poor and the like, they would use these activities of theirs for the purpose of proselytising, I would certainly like to withdraw.
Every nation considers its own faith to be as good as that of any other. Certainly, the great faiths held by the people of India are adequate for her people. India stands in no need of conversion from one faith to another."
In fact, addressing a distinguished gathering in Delhi some months back, the Dalai Lama had said, "While some of our Christian brothers and sisters totally devoted to God are rendering a great service, perhaps the greatest service to education, sometimes they also carry conversion activity. That is unhealthy. They should not change as faith, philosophy and culture are nurtured in different environment." It's time for some real objective reflection.
(The writer is Senior Fellow and Editor, Vivekananda International Foundation)
Silence is not always golden
If so, why?
Why this sudden backlash?
