By Babet Sten
On the 12th of December 2015, I was invited by my sister and her family to attend a Christmas Carol shindig held in the afternoon at the Polo Ground. Much to my own surprise, I agreed to go and bear witness to the “joyful” occasion. I thought it would be interesting to see these things happening every once in a while. Much like Durga Pujo, Deepavali, Eid it does the mind some good (though not too much!). So I went and sat and listened. The whole thing was note-worthy if one is interested in seeing and/or seeking out progressive elements within the Presbyterian Church set-up (which organised the function). The list of attendees included non-Christian organisations like the Seng Khasi Seng Kmie, Sein Raij Shillong and the Central Puja Committee (CPC).
I agreed with Naba Bhattacharya, of the CPC, who stated that this was an important beginning and that many more such events needed to be encouraged in a concerted effort to erase “anti-social activities”. Basically, the whole thing was an event aimed at encouraging communal harmony and highlighting how people from different faiths make Shillong the great and wonderful city that it is. It sounds damn good. However, I noticed the conspicuous absence of the Catholic Church and the All Shillong Muslim Union immediately. On hindsight I also have to ask, where were the representatives from the Sikh community and Brahmo Samaj? What about the Unitarians and others? I write so that these might be set right, not to castigate. Maybe the PCI did reach out to everyone I mentioned above, but if they were unavailable, why was there no announcement made, telling us all that? I feel that we must be earnest about these sorts of things because they mean a lot to a lot of people. They create a precedent for the way people are to interact and grow together.
However, one thing must be made manifest here. “Celebrating” together does not, necessarily, mean we can “live” together. I noticed that day that a few representatives from other faiths left almost immediately after the Governor departed (they know who they are). Come on, guys, don’t come just to show face. Religion in general is a pretty boring affair, so spare some patience and a little time for such things. If the end result of such events is just to smile and act civil then what is the point of such a charade? Let us take off our masks for once.
In the delirium and festivity of celebrations we really can, somehow, “come” together. We are too busy laughing and enjoying ourselves to care about differences and grudges. But sadly, when the music, the fireworks and the dancing dies down, we resume our feuds and fights, our stereotypes and distrust. This is the area that urgently needs attention and I hope that the PCI shall address this is, in the long run. It is all well and good to sing songs and sway in the wind of happy godliness but people have to go back to their own communities. And communities that are withdrawn from each other will never be rid of hate because hate grows out of our ignorance of the other. Can the Church and others not foster real people-to-people ties over time? They can be as small as a locality sports club. Can it not bring people closer by hosting inter-cultural forums more often?
More important than all the rest would surely be debates and discussions. Let people thrash it out, let them shout with tears in their eyes but, importantly, let them speak. Let them complain about each other to each other, no-holds-barred. Let them be ‘real’ and not pretend that everything is a-okay.
Christians here seem to forget that there are Bengalis, Nepalis, Assamese etc within the folds of their churches. Please note: Christianity is not reserved for the tribals only. The key here is understanding and eventually appreciating each other. Maybe these religions should start ushering in something new in line with this.