One man show - an assault on diversity

 As you enter a restaurant you request for a menu card and look into variety of food available at the restaurant to pick the tastiest or new variety of dish. You visit a nearby cloth store and search for latest variety of clothing to be in tune with the latest trend. There are variety of books to read, variety of places to visit and variety of films to watch. In short we have been gifted with fundamental right to choose the best option among many.

Now imagine a situation wherein this fundamental right is abducted by a group of people or by an organization and starts imposing its one god, one culture, one language policy. You are right, this is what happening in our country wherein one man and organization which believes in one bigoted ideology are dictating terms to lure the people right from candidates we choose till the god we pray or religion we practice in the name of unification of thoughts and uniformity of choice.In military state this is done by showcase of lethal power, but in democracy this is done by invoking sentimental aspects of herd that is love for religion, love for the nation, love for the language and make the person poke the eye using his own hands. Laws are drafted in such a way that they are bulldozed upon the people who don't have numbers to stop it striking upon root of their distinct practices.

 A one man show who does not buy ideology of fellow human beings is always a danger to pluralism. He will expect the world to follow his wishes and believe in supremacy to arrest the creativeness in the people around. Every reason will be found out / discovered / invented using a dedicated team of hidden hands to convince the mass that this uniformity is for the bright future. The person who is benefited in the uniformity of practices is the person who wishes to rule as there is no need to give special attention to special requirements within the herd. 

 

Plurality can be practiced only by the person who has a broader vision w.r.t. the happenings of the world and unify different practices in such a way that they create a sense of togetherness. India has always been a proponent of unity in diversity and treating all groups of people with an equal yardstick before the constitution conferring equal rights without any distinction based on religion and caste.

 

Limits of My Bhakti

How do I feel when my beloved leader visits the temple which I visit? Elated!!! How do I feel when my beloved leader says I visit only the temple of your faith, build grand temples for you to keep so called OUTSIDERS at a bay to give wings to hate towards fellow groups and claims vote on that factor ? A bhakt would surely get elated at the this aspect for sharing that innate feel of showing places to the other sects. But a honest citizen who doesn't carry the burden of the past would show that leader his place instead for breaking the unity amongst the PUBLIC FORCE in the name of religion.

A mass leader is not a husband or a lover to say that he is reserved for that particular religion or sect. He is the head of the family who understands the sentiments of each and every individual and finds a mid path for everyone to follow. He is not here to pit one member against other and take sides based on the convenience.

 

Coming back to the factor of bhakti, its a completely personal. The God we worship is definitely a fact introduced to us by our parents. As we grow we imbibe those bhakti moments passed on by our parents and learn to live with it. But what happens when the same god becomes point of altercation amongst its followers and non-believers. Except atheist everyone has one or the other god to depend upon in difficult times.

It becomes difficult to digest a person who from no where enters the scene and says that the god we believe in danger due to the other gods. A terror minded person asks you to kill to protect your god, a religious chauvinists asks you to hate other gods to showcase love towards your God. Only a person with wisdom would ask you to chose the path of love to identify the god present within your self who cannot be stolen or desecrated by any other individual. 

Building huge places of worship doesn't mean you are doing great service towards society but the need of the hour is great buildings of world class universities and hospitals that provide relentless service to the people without differentiating as believers and non-believers. God resides is such selfless service towards society.