Right to celebrate? Always.

As I woke up and reached for the newspaper today, it being so special and editorials are treasure on such days.It indeed was filled by the name of Shri Ram but not all spoke praises which I had expected but the extreme agitation was out of bounds, those words felt like little needles and profanities to my happiness, respect and devotion. It felt as if being Hindu is the worst thing to happen to me and we are guilty of a cause which is so large. Why? Because how can we celebrate the bhoomi pujan for the land so sacred to us, if not that, a land which was proved to be sacred to us by the Supreme Court itself. Banal, nasty, brute majoritarianism, blood on hands etc are the words used in one of the article named “ Ram, I will not find you there.” by Pratap Bhanu Mehta.  Once I wrote that there is no sense of hate in me for any of the people from different backgrounds, instead I share a great camaraderie with them, there is still no reason for me to step back from the statement.

The ones who are on the other hand called bhakts, those represent the dissent have been taken as the faces of the whole community. I am a Bhakt too. There is no difference between me and them. The ways are different, the suffering has been different, the analysis must be different. Whenever a community is studied , a whole set of research goes in the background about why they behave , the way they behave. But, I don’t see anything more than a prejudiced thinking towards me belonging to the majority community in such brute articles.

The majority must always feel guilty, hence us showcasing our happiness or celebrating our faith is seen as nothing less than our great act of depriving other sections. It’s not always about you! It’s about an individual faith and individual devotion .In this context, Lokmanya Tilak’s description of Shivaji’s attack on Afzal Khan is educative. “Shivaji  killed Afzal Khan because he was impeding his path towards Swarajya. He did’nt kill him simply beacuse he was Muslim. Had that been the case , Shivaji wouldn’t have sent Afzal Khan’s Wife safely and honourably back to Vijapur after presenting her some ornaments. All have to work for the nation, disregarding caste or religion” . As when they are both respected there remains no question of dissent. 

Multiculturalism survives not because it allows people of all religious and cultural shades to enjoy the fruits of freedom but because all people genuinely believe in diversity and cultural historical legacies beyond religious limitations.The western notion of secularism cannot resolve the challenges the Indian Civil Society faces.

So,trust and  let us be today, let the people of the country celebrate if they want to, the energy of devotion of all our elders and fellow citizens is much larger than this pity allegation of depreving sections, which is not even true for that matter.