The Constitution of India allows Right to Freedom of Religion which means that adherents of any religion are free to practise and propagate their faiths. The main religions in India are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Every state also has its share of followers of the indigenous faith. These are people who have not converted to any of the above religions. To equate the indigenous faith with Hinduism is to mislead, since these faiths did not believe in idol worship or in gods and goddesses but in one creator – god. While Hinduism is the dominant religion, India has the third largest Muslim population. In a country with such diverse faiths, for one single religion to claim superiority over all others is inherently wrong and divisive. But this has been happening and it has led to religious rivalries and killings over faith and belief. When speaking about peace, people look to religious leaders to bring peace and understanding which can be achieved by a mutual respect for all faiths. But this is easier said than done.
Recently the leader of a pressure group while supporting the movement for disallowing non-tribals from contesting and voting for the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council election, at a public space, was heard saying, “We will not allow slogans of Allahu Akbar to be chanted in Meghalaya.” Allahu Akbar is an Arabic phrase which means, “God is the greatest.” In Meghalaya there is a sizable Muslim population and not all of them can be painted as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, until proven so. It is but natural that someone got offended by the slogan and filed an FIR. Now the accused says he never raised any offensive slogan against any religion. The Christians use phrases like, “God is great,” “To God Be the Glory” etc.. Hindus too have their own slogans. So why target only the Muslims as if all of them are Bangladeshis? Tomorrow if Christians are barred from praising their god would they sit silent?
These are dangerous fault lines. The sloganeering at Motphran which can be translated to populism might have won the pressure group leader many adherents as he prepares for the next election (he had lost the last election), but can the state allow such misdemeanours from any individual or group? Is this not a direct violation of the tenets of the Constitution? Also, are such slogans not provocative and could they not lead to unrest in the city of Shillong and spread across the state. In recent times religion has been used as a political weapon more overtly than in the past. Earlier there were whispering campaigns to vote for a co-religionist. Now after 2014, there is an open call by the BJP and its foot soldiers in the RSS to vote out anyone other than a Hindu because “India is under threat” (Bharat khatre mein hain). History is witness to the religious wars fought across the world between believers of the Abrahamic faiths. While those wars were fought on religious grounds the reasons included claim over land and resources and also of superiority and dominance. Does Meghalaya want to start a religious war by trivialising such sloganeering? Today it is no to “Allahu Akbar,” tomorrow it could be no to “Jai Shri Ram” and then no to “Alleluia, God is Great All the Time.” What next?
