Editor,
I couldn’t agree more with the views of Salil Gewali in his letter, “Religion the recipe for disaster” (ST Aug 20, 2017), as we are witnessing increasing intolerance and hatred around the world and in our own country on account of religion. Even today Palestine and Israel which are considered holy lands still remain in turmoil, poisoned by religion to prove the superiority of one over the other while innocent lives are lost. In our day to day lives, religion always serves as a driving factor and guides our judgment. Often marriages fail due to differences in religion, no matter how compatible, righteous and morally sound the persons are. Favoritism in matters of employment, school enrolment on the basis of religious background etc. and more importantly religion becoming a political weapon are definite recipes to break the social and cultural cohesion that our ancestors had bestowed on us.
In my personal belief, religion does play a vital role in our belief system but it can’t overtake humanism. A person who preaches and practices humanism has completed 80-90 % of what any religious book teaches. I might not be an expert in theology but to a certain extent I can comprehend the spirit of any holy book which often focuses on humanity. The Bible says ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Now the question arises as to who is my neighbour. Did Jesus define the term ‘neighbour’ to allow us to filter Christians from those of other faiths, so that we can love only our Christian friends? In fact we are even confused about judging who really is a Christian, considering the large number of denominations of Christianity.
Mother Teresa is an example of a Christian who preached and practiced humanism in sync with her religiosity. “Faith in action is LOVE and love in action is SERVICE.” This was what she believed and the unconditional and selfless service she devoted all her life to is the manifestation of pure spirituality. Swami Vivekananda is another strong figure who understood the depth of humanity, ‘Service to mankind is service to divinity.’ This quote reflects his true love and compassion for every person irrespective of faith.
As the world turns into a boiling pot fuelled by religious fanaticism, humanity bears the brunt and time might come when the human race itself is exterminated in the process of trying to prove our religious superiority. It’s high time for introspection so as to understand the true spirit of any religious teaching and here comes the pivotal role of religious leaders, parents, elders, teachers to instill and persuade a faith flavoured with love and compassion. Since religiosity cannot guarantee spirituality, hence we should strive towards spirituality which is deeply ingrained with humanism. Only then can our faith in God not go wrong. The more we get carried away with religiosity the more we drown in the pool of ritualism, which by itself serves as a potent factor for creating differences. What God wants from us is a pure heart conditioned with love not hatred, care and compassion in universal form. As Mother Teresa say, “If you spend time in judging people, you will not have time to love them!
Yours etc.,
Sonie Kharduit
Shillong
Why this religious rigidity?
Editor,
This has a reference to article “No Place To Live And No Place To Die – The Khasi Niam Tynrai In Their Own Motherland” by Mankular Gashnga (ST dated 19 August 2017). The writer has dealt on the issues of discrimination of the Khasi Niamtynrai by the Khasi Christian. One of the issues he raised was marital conversion. In this regard, the writer has placed the point in the right perspective. As our experiences would attest, the Khasi & Jaintia never had any problem in sharing life with members following different faiths. For instance, a family with traditional background would have a son-in-law or daughter-in-law who is Christian. They adjusted beautifully with one another and live a happy prosperous life. However, it is a recent phenomenon that the Church is putting pressure on the family of the boy or girl from the indigenous faith to convert before their marriage is solemnized. We have noticed the growing incidence of such conversions. Every family following the indigenous faith is facing this crisis. If this continues the Khasi & Jaintia community are going to lose their historic tradition within a few decade and the State cannot claim its uniqueness before the world.
We do not understand why it is happening! Is it because the Church wants to increase the number of their followers? If it is so, what a dangerous scheme to destroy the traditional faiths in Meghalaya! Or is it part of the larger international conspiracy? But if this trend continues then we are afraid that the people belonging to the indigenous faith may prefer exogamy to escape this kind of mental and cultural torture. No wonder the Church even prohibits marriages between different sects of Christianity. A religion that is pluralistic in nature cannot have such conversion-based ideology.
This propaganda for proselytisation must be put to an end because such activities have already reduced the people and families following indigenous faiths to a minority in their own land (8.7 %). They are denied the various scholarships under the Central Sector Scheme for their children in spite of the verdict of the Supreme Court in a Christian majority State. It is time for us to realize that traditional values systems have not yet lost their relevance in today’s world. Moreover, we should not forget that the balance in family life is important for social and political stability. This should be the philosophy of a multicultural society.
Yours etc.,
Marbianglang Rymbai
Shillong-2
Right to privacy!
Editor,
Apropos your editorial, “SC strikes” (ST, August 26, 2017), the Supreme Court of India has again come up with another landmark judgment after their historic verdict on triple talaq, this time declaring privacy a fundamental right. Indeed, it is our system and administration that need to be absolutely transparent to check corruption. But to make people’s refrigerators and mobile phones transparent is not only unnecessary but also dangerous especially in a country that wants to remain democratic. In this context, we can recall what the head of the Chamar tribe told the king in Tagore’s poem ~ “Juta abiskar” (Discovery of shoes) ~ “If you cover your feet then you don’t have to cover the earth.” This simple truth carries a great message. Without becoming a Peeping Tom in the name of cleaning the dirt in our society, any administration needs to be well covered all along so that it itself can remain free from all sorts of corruption thus enabling it to effectively govern without any prejudice and bias.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata