By Barnes Mawrie
“The growing persecution of Muslims and Christians in different parts of the country shows that India is heading towards a theocracy where Hinduism would be made a state religion.”
The ongoing sporadic attacks against the Muslims in different states of India and the recent attack on Christians in South Tripura and of Christian youth in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, clearly show that the Hindu right wing groups like the RSS and Bajrang Dal are at the helm of affairs in BJP-ruled states. The unwillingness of the governments in these states to take swift and decisive actions against the goons, vindicates this presumption. During this second term of the BJP-led MDA government at the centre, we have witnessed a rapidly growing religious intolerance in our beloved country. God forbid! If the same government would win again in 2024, we may witness a civil war in India or another partition pogrom.
This brings me to a reflection on the danger of linking religion to politics. Religion and politics are immiscible just like oil and water. One will only contaminate the other and just like oil can make water inflammable, so too politics turns religion into a flame of bigotry. European history has clearly demonstrated this dangerous cocktail of religion and politics. In the medieval Europe when Christianity was at its height, the Pope was the king maker and the cardinals and bishops were princes in their own terms. It was a period when the Church was deeply involved in politics. The popes as well as the cardinals and bishops were simultaneously religious leaders as well as statesmen and politicians. In fact, each bishop or cardinal would govern his own territory not merely ecclesiastically, but politically as well. This mixing of religion and politics proved to be detrimental in every way. It led to ambition, arrogance and thirst for power which often resulted in assassinations and military conflicts. Besides this, there was greed to amass wealth even by religious leaders and the craze for comfort and luxury. This deadly cocktail also facilitated the emergence of the crusades as they were sanctioned by the Church and patronized by Christian rulers. We know from history that even the crusades which were originally intended only to defend Christian pilgrims to Holy Land, became a tool of greed and ambition. Often the Church used political rulers to crush dissenting voices or the so called heretical groups. Religious intolerance was at its height. The Spanish Inquisition which lasted from 1478 to 1834 is a horrific reminder of this. It took a saintly man like St. Francis of Assisi to bring the Church to an awareness that religion is best left to itself without being corrupted by politics. Thus by the 1300s there were many protesting voices from church leaders and thinkers regarding the danger of politicizing religion. Many new religious congregations emerged as new forms of living a Christian life detached from the mundane affairs. Gradually, the Church began to segregate itself from political affairs. This was facilitated by the emergence of the philosophies of secularism, religious freedom and religious pluralism.
The French Revolution in 1789 ended the role of the Church in politics in France and state governance passed into the hands of the people’s parliament. The repercussions of the French Revolution were far reaching and gradually the delinking of religion from politics was followed suit by other countries. With the signing of the Lateran Pact in 1929, the Church in Italy was relieved of its influence in politics.
In the Middle East, the unholy marriage between religion and politics began with the Rashidun Caliphate in 632 AD. There were many caliphates The most powerful was the Ottoman Caliphate which reigned from 1517 till 1924. Religion’s involvement in politics continues in Muslim countries. Today we have countries like Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Sudan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Gulf states where Islam is intertwined with state affairs. In these states, the Sharia Law is the law of the land. Consequently what we witness in these countries is the rise of religious fundamentalism, religious intolerance, denial of basic human rights and an establishment of theocracy.
The recent events of misogyny displayed in Muslim countries like Iran and Afghanistan, are a clear proof of aberrations when religion dominates politics. Unfortunately, India under the present government is trudging the same dangerous path. We are witnessing a religious incursion into politics which is manifested in the implementation of the Hindutva agenda. Thus political campaigns these days are replete with religious themes. It is believed that the inauguration of the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya will become a vital agenda in the BJP’s election campaign in 2024 and people may fall prey to it. The growing persecution of Muslims and Christians in different parts of the country shows that India is heading towards a theocracy where Hinduism would be made a state religion. I fear that India is fast slipping into the medieval philosophy of “cuius regio eius religio” (the king’s religion is the people’s religion). If this should happen we may say that “modern India is backtracking towards medievalism.”
When will our country learn from lessons of the past? It is time to vote out any form of religious fundamentalism. India is a land of religious and cultural diversity where people of every race, creed and culture live side by side as brothers and sisters
Can we afford to give up such a beautiful legacy?