Source: Tehelka
Ram Puniyani on how syncretism can lead to peace and progress like in pre-British days
IT WAS heartening to note the observance of ‘Peace and Harmony Day on the anniversary of Vasant-Rajab on 1 July in Ahmedabad. Vasant Rao Hegiste and Rajab Ali Lakhani were two friends who were working for amity in the society. In the communal conflagration which broke out in Ahmedabad after Partition, the duo went into the city to restore peace and amity. The crowd, maddened by the feeling of hate, killed them. The day of their martyrdom is being celebrated in Gujarat by various groups.
One recalls there have been many outstanding individuals, thinkers, social activists who have sacrificed their lives on the altar of communal peace. The name of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi comes to one’s mind for his selfless work in the Kanpur violence of 1931. For Gandhi, father of the nation, Hindu-Muslim amity was top of agenda. When the whole nation was celebrating release from the clutches of colonial powers, he was doing his best in riotravaged Noakhali and other places. His efforts were superhuman, as he did not care for his safety: What was paramount for him was as to how to restore sanity amongst the violent mobs. It is because of this that Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of the British Empire and first Governor-General of independent India, called him a ‘one-man army’.
There must be various glorious examples of Indian citizens who deserve to be remembered with respect. One needs to learn a lot from their values while celebrating their anniversaries.
The root cause of communal violence is the politics in the name of religion. In this the political, social, economic agenda of vested interests are presented in the language of religion. In India, unfortunately, this phenomenon is running parallel to the process of global aims of imperial powers which, in pursuit of their control over oil wells, have promoted fundamentalism and terrorism in the name of religion. The imperial power has also demonised one of the major religious communities of the world. This present era has been one where the deeper process of ‘alliance of civilisations’ has been undermined and the flagship of the vested interests has been the thesis of’ ‘clash of civilisations’, which is a falsification of the reality of human history.
One knows that human society has progressed due to alliance of diverse civilisations and cultures. While the rulers and the affluent have been fighting for increasing their power and wealth, the average people of the world have been allying, intermixing with each other, leading to high degree of synthesis in all aspects of human culture, be it food habits, clothing, language, literature, architecture, or be it even the religious traditions followed by people. Social interaction is the moving engine of human progress.