2017 was scary in that there was a shocking decadence of all that was valued in popular perception. It felt like an epidemic of degeneration. It was not just the political class or the bureaucracy, even journalism plumbed new depths. Cinema lost its innocence, its make-believe terror turned real. Viral infections and cyclonic winds were allowed a free run. In such a dystopia of sorts it was only natural that principles that defined us as a civilised community were lost to bigotry. The fall of the political class we had learned to live with, but then the magnitude and sweep of their perversion in 2017 was startling.
Times are ominous, riven by communal, racist, divisive, terrorist and extremist influences. Political demagoguery rules the roost. The world, which has seen exponential growth in science and technology, is accosted by primitive beliefs and irrational practices. It's like fossils are rearing for legitimacy.
The recent row over Hadiya-Shefin marriage is a snapshot. Bigots and right-wingers had a field day as they vied to polarise society on communal lines. What has strictly been an adult choice lent itself to exploitation by elements, neither religious nor rational. But such forces are cogs in a power structure that feeds on communalism. Love marriages, which do not always enjoy parental sanction, have always exposed social fallacies.
Hadiya and Shefin Jehan, whose inter-faith marriage was annulled by the High Court, await the next hearing in the Supreme Court. (Photo: DC File)
Communalism exists with or without religion. Communalism associated with religion can be treated and cured to some extent. Communalism unattached to religious belief is more toxic and not amenable to treatment. Religion-linked communalism in a sense is naive. Faith and ideas, which are also powerful and assail one's rational thinking, form the basis of communalism based on religion. This is ingrained in one's brain in childhood.
On the other hand, communalism sans religion is rooted in power and material wealth. Its practitioners use communalism as a passage to power. A heartless minority plays on the masses' religious sentiments. The world over this is true. Leaders of both Hindu and Muslim communalism during the Partition never really practised religion in their private lives nor believed in God. But Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who stood for communal harmony, were staunch believers and practised their religion. The comparison is stark.
Religious leaders or communal chieftains are not concerned about the uplift of their communities. Their objectives included safeguarding the orthodoxy of their community, bargaining for their quota of educational institutions, government positions and ministerial berths. They want to ensure patriarchal and obscurantist views are not questioned.
People, who raise religious and caste-related sentiments for ensuring power, often forget the history that those who had created divisions and polarised people to retain power through innocent bloodshed could hold on to power for only a short period.Moreover, their power has been hollow.
However, they fragmented the cultural diversity of the people achieved over thousands of years. They pulled the world and time backwards. Instead of creating a sense of mutual love and belief among the people they sowed fear and suspicion. They also freeze the world of knowledge and aesthetics by curbing free expression.
Self-styled avatars of God and religions are essentially savages. Strangely they are of the same feather, no matter what religion they claim to represent. We are justified in holding that such apparently opposite forces have a tacit understanding among themselves. These people need a mutual enemy for all time to keep themselves in power by exploiting caste, communal and sectarian divisions in democracy.
Remember, religious scholar Chekannur Moulavi, who had been bumped off in mysterious circumstances years ago. There is no doubt that he was assassinated because he had become unacceptable to the religious orthodox. Everyone knew how the assassins were protected.
All communal forces stand united for the sake of injustice and immorality, irrespective of what brand of communalism they represent. Look at the so-called ambassadors of God, who had no qualms in denying justice in Sr Abhaya case. They had no scruples though it was an extremely cruel instance of denial of justice to a nun, whose body was found in a well on the premises of Pius X Convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The killers are yet to meet their nemesis.
The scene available in Kerala today
A large swathe of believers, who are good, innocent, educated or uneducated, are being terrorised by a motley group, which does not believe in God, fellow humans, in the course of justice, morality or the rule of law. Such elements are unfit for a civilized world but they try to restore jaded customs and beliefs. They whip up faith hysteria among all sections of religions. Places of religious worship have become centres of commerce.
Preaching is today a lucrative affair. They preach God listens to even low prayerful whispers but are not ashamed to blare deafening calls to worship. Their effort is to shame or defeat followers of other religions though faith is a private affair between you and your God. The need of the hour is to create a vast collective of believers of all religions. People should be vigilant to restore the glory of Kerala and India as a place where humans can peacefully coexist.
(The writer is poet and lyricist)
