My God, Your God

The noted communist historian Hiren Mukherjee had said that in the last 200 years India has not produced a single outstanding atheist: the point being that religion was so ingrained in the Indian psyche that Indians cannot think outside its framework. As communal violence rears its ugly head around the country ranging from Orissa to Karnataka to Kashmir the truth in these words ring true.

Before we analyze the communal problem it should be noted that India/Indians should get credit for creating the most secular environment in the world which allows all the major religions in the world to co-exist peacefully. A similar experiment in Yugoslavia failed miserably even though it was fraction the size of India. But in spite of this what is the reason for the occasional communal flaring?

Communalism has to be analysed in three dimensions - religious, social and economic. Each of these dimensions act and react upon each other. Lets take a look at the religious dimension. There is a minute clique in each religion that has a perverse sense of religious superiority which give rise to proselytizing tendencies. Its almost like a 'My-God-Your-God' attitude that disturbs the prevalent peace. Such a fringe is sidelined normally by better-minded secular people of that religion. However when religious sentiments are incited this fringe takes control and acts as a self appointed guardian of the community and the masses sway in their direction. This is true of all communities.

Even social structure plays a role. If one community is aggrieved by the social imbalance that leads to another community progressing ahead of them it acts as a catalyst when religious sentiments are incited. Here the root cause of the social imbalance is the culprit but religion falls prey and becomes an excuse. Similar is the case with the economic disposition of communities where an essentially rich - poor problem gets a communal hue. In both these cases religion is hi-jacked by various socio-economic problems and misused. This causes communal disharmony in the society.

Among the three the religious dimension is the most crucial and dangerous. The religious dimension creates a schism which is broken open by the other two. In absence of this aspect the other two become powerless and get decoupled from religion. So if this is taken care then communalism can be greatly reduced. But how can it be done?

Its not easy as the noted historian's quote suggest religion is so ingrained in us that we cannot think beyond it. Hence a total 'ban' on religion will only aggravate the passions. A better but painstaking approach would be to inculcate the habit of treating all religions on par and thinking each one as a product of its time and an interpretation of how to lead a good life. The responsibility for doing this lies on each family as it does on the government of the day and the communities themselves. This is nothing new, India has been doing this for thousands of years.

When each one of us starts to see all religions in the same mirror then we will not succumb to any communal incitement. As Vivekananda told 'Each hindu should be a good hindu, each muslim should be a good muslim, each christian should be a good christian'. If this is followed rather than playing a 'My-God-Your-God' game peaceful times await us. Will it happen. Let's hope so.