Nerve Endings Firing Away

America is still undecided on ways to separate the church and the state. Even the otherwise erudite Supreme Court is confused. I refused to believe that religion and state can be kept inalienably separate after witnessing the start to Georgia’s Legislative session by a Christian prayer. In India, would it be the Temple and the State because we have seen the exact opposite of that in India while not being totally aware of it. Our Indian state dabbles in religion a lot more than Bush does; and he is given hell for even praying at his cabinet meetings (not that he cares). I am not even talking about the Babri Masjid and the Ram Temple; that is just a whole blog server by itself. But rather I am talking about the gradual diffusion of religion or faith in our daily lives. The topmost priority on any non-BJP Education Minister’s mind is de-saffronization of the curriculum unmindful of the fact that scores of schools lack basic amenities like power, water and mid-day meals whereas the BJP minister would do the opposite while still not working on the infrastructure. The previous education minister (MM Joshi) in spite of being a respected academic himself did not devote enough time and newsprint to improving education infrastructure and rather concentrated on rewriting history. Make History — should have been the motto but rather he was satisfied with Fake History. Although the changes were debatable, the priorities were not.

Uma Bharati deviated from her election promises of bijli, sadak aur paani (power, roads and water) and concentrated on making random changes in non-administrative matters and crying hoarse on Sonia’s origins (she was relieved of her duties for other reasons though) Don’t you think our politicians let their religion or faith rule them more often than not? Examples of auspicious dates for inaugurations, consulting astrologers to expand their cabinet or simply doing bhoomi pujan before beginning a government-sponsored project abound all around us. But is making the comparison between America’s separation of the church and the state and India’s affinity for religious symbolism fair?

We are a Hindu-dominated society in spite of all the rhetoric about our secular constitution and diverse body of our population. Our beliefs regards religion might differ. Hinduism gives you that leeway of not conforming to any rituals and yet letting you be a practicing Hindu. Instead of conducting extensive yagnas or rituals, we practice simple way-of-life practices like breaking a coconut and sprinkling its water all over, or simply applying vermillion and dangling a garland on the new car. Similarly, we perform perfunctory rituals like paying respects to our tools or wealth on certain auspicious days. Although the jury is out on the science part, almost every politician right from the Prime Minister to the Nagar Sevak looks up for an auspicious date to begin campaigning. Such practices are not restricted to Hindus only. Muslim leaders will organize big Iftaar parties during Ramzaan, which will be attended by all political leaders irrespective of their religious association. Letting Muslims pray five times a week during the same period also is a liberty we don’t give much thought to.

Can we really separate religion from politics in India, as they try to do in America? I guess not. We still are a society that is ruled by faith and we do not shy away from practices that a normal Hindu or Muslim would do anyways. Would rising atheism prove to be far more acceptable instead?

PS. I wrote this sometime back but have tried to make it more relevant for recent times.