Editor
The current upheaval in Bangladesh has unleashed the possibility of an influx of desperate refugees entering India illegally. They remind us of other desperate people, in other parts of the world — from those put into leaky boats to Europe, by people smugglers — to those risking their lives to reach America. They all share in common a tragic homelessness. They also share in common great resilience.
What should be the attitude of the receiving nations? Unfortunately, we are seeing growing cruelty and callousness, even in a prosperous nation of immigrants, like the USA. Mr. Trump gathers potential votes by spreading lies about illegal immigrants. Let us not forget that the legal is not the same as the moral, as Dr Martin Luther King pointed out in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Despair and homelessness make people heedless of the law. This is hardly the same as criminal lawlessness. Law-abiding conduct is a luxury few can afford when they are that desperate. To the refugee, the main goal is to survive — somehow. Nobody leaves their homes willingly. If they are leaving their homes to embark on a dangerous journey to a foreign land where they may be denied entry — it is evident that their homes are in turmoil.
It saddens me to see the attitudes of Meghalaya groups, like KSU and JNC towards the possibility of illegal influx from Bangladesh — as if those fleeing violence are termites. This is inhumane. Granted one cannot help another, at the cost of one’s own existence. But the fear of demographic extinction should take a backseat before an emergency involving the survival of desperate people fleeing murder and mayhem. It is sheer paranoia, extreme selfishness (the hallmark of identity politics), and unrelenting xenophobia, to think that granting refuge to desperate people will wipe out a community. Such attitudes are all the more reprehensible in a Christian state. Let us not forget these words of Christ, often quoted by Mother Teresa, “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.” Today, Christ comes to us in the guise of the refugee!
If there is an influx from Bangladesh, those fleeing to India can be given temporary papers, and the basics of refuge, which is a fundamental human right that every human being is entitled to. At least in America, there is enough individuality to prevent xenophobic groupthink. In this same country, where Trump spews hatred towards illegal immigrants on a daily basis, humanitarian groups go to the same southern border to shelter and comfort those fleeing impossible home situations.
What, after all, is the need of the hour — granting refuge to a frail and frightened human being, or preserving an identity, which, the footfall of history can wipe out in the blink of an eye? To prioritize identities over refuge, it seems to me is selfish beyond belief. Those who engage in such thinking (including Trumpsters in America) have never known what it is to lose a child during a dangerous journey to a new land, to no longer have a country or homeland, or to undergo hunger, thirst, illness, and danger of death, for days. Above all, those who are xenophobic to those in dire need have never known what it is to suddenly become homeless, in limbo, and impoverished.
Yours etc.,
Deepa Majumdar,
Via email
Providing shelter to Sheikh Hasina amidst violence in Bangladesh
Editor,
The increasing violence in Bangladesh in the wake of the abrupt resignation and exile of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has spelled a nightmare for the minority communities. India’s decision to offer shelter to Hasina is highly praiseworthy, underscoring the deep-rooted ties between the two nations. The fact that Hasina chose India as her refuge, despite many Muslim-majority nations, speaks volumes.
However, the situation on the ground in Bangladesh presents a grim picture. The brutal violence and killings, which are specifically targeting minority communities, stem from entrenched ideological divisions and much more. The radical forces that view Sheikh Hasina as an arch-enemy are growing increasingly furious, expressing their anger through barbaric atrocities against these vulnerable groups.
In this volatile atmosphere, India must act cautiously. The country should carefully weigh the pros and cons before continuing to provide humanitarian shelter to Sheikh Hasina. Even Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government, considers Sheikh Hasina his enemy number one. The safety and security of millions of minorities are more important than anything else at this critical juncture.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Sri Aurobindo’s humanism
Editor,
Our Independence Day coincides with Sri Aurobindo’s birthday. Sri Aurobindo was born in Kolkata on 15 August 1872. He evolved a new method, which he called Integral Yoga, during his forty years in Pondicherry from 1910 to 1950. Some people wrongly tag it as a religion. But neither did Sri Aurobindo propagate a new religion, nor was he a practising Hindu, nor any other religion. He, himself, categorically debunked such notions in his two letters, dated 23 February 1932 and 17 November 1932, respectively (“Letters on Himself and the Ashram” by Sri Aurobindo, pages – 697 to 701). He clearly said, “I may say that it is far from my purpose to propagate any religion new or old for humanity in the future.”
Sri Aurobindo was against orthodoxy in religion. He wrote, “There is no place for rigid orthodoxy, whether Hindu, Mahomedan or Christian in the future. Those who cling to it, lose hold on life and go under — as has been shown by the fate of the Hindus in India and of the orthodox Mahomedan countries all over the world. It is only where there has been an opening to new light and inevitable change that strength is returning as in Turkey and Persia.”
He was totally in favour of religious pluralism in India as he wrote, “I have written clearly that the coming of so many religions to India was part of her spiritual destiny and a great advantage for the work to be done.”
His path does not follow any particular religion. He wrote, “As for giving up one’s past, if that means giving up the outer forms of the old religions, it is done as much by the Hindus here as by the Mahomedans. Every Hindu here — even those who were once orthodox Brahmins and have grown old in it, — give up all observance of caste, take food from Pariahs and are served by them, associate and eat with Mahomedans, Christians, Europeans, cease to practise temple worship or Sandhya (daily prayer and mantras), accept a non-Hindu from Europe as their spiritual director.”
He further wrote, “These are things people who have Hinduism as their aim and object would not do — they do it because they are obliged here to look to a higher ideal in which these things have no value. What is kept of Hinduism is Vedanta and Yoga, in which Hinduism is one with Sufism of Islam and with the Christian mystics. But even here it is not Vedanta and Yoga in their traditional limits (their past), but widened and rid of many ideas that are peculiar to the Hindus.”
He did not show any interest in the future of Hindu religion. Rather he said, “I have not the slightest objection to anyone here drawing inspiration from Islamic sources if they agree with the Truth as Sufism agrees with it. On the other hand I have not the slightest objection to Hinduism being broken to pieces and disappearing from the face of the earth, if that is the Divine Will. I have no attachment to past forms; what is Truth will always remain; the Truth alone matters.”
The Ashram dining room is a living example of fraternity. People of different nationalities, race, religions, caste, creed, and colour sit together and take food.
All the people, be they in Bangladesh, Pakistan, or India, must remember that hate sets off a chain reaction and hinders a country’s progress. No country can progress without fraternity. Let us listen to what Sri Aurobindo said, “If they (Hindus and Muslims) fight, neither are likely to gain but both to lose, even perhaps giving an opening to a third party as has happened before in their history.”
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata