– Renu Malhotra
Conversions are a hotly debated subject everywhere now. September 11, 2001 is going to remain in the psyche of all Americans, especially the white, European American, for a very long time. I make this reference to the European Americans in particular as they have been shaken up more by the incidents of recent terrorist acts on the soil of this country. Americans of other origins and hues borne the brunt of unjust treatment and behaviour from dominant groups. Hence, their reaction has been one of sadness and less of panic.
For the fundamentalists within the Christian faith, this is an opportunity to further enflame the fear of the fearful! Apart from being able to shred all other traditions to pieces, they can convince their flock that it is all because of the infidels, pagans, heathens and all who do not accept their religious beliefs. Hindus are the worst, though others are not excluded. Muslims are at least people of the book, and thus they are a bit more tolerable than, Hindu, Jain, Boudha, Sikh and a host of other non-Abrahamic traditions, which deserve no respect. In fact, the fundamentalists would like to see all of us blended into a creamed soup of one religion, or simply eradicated. We are called the Devil worshippers, a Godless race and people of darkness, often on evangelising television channels in this secular and powerful country. Did you know that?
Of course, with the presence of not one, but two true religions, (neither recognizes the legitimacy of the other) there is a bit of a problem as you can tell! They will not, cannot agree either in the name of God or in the name of Allah. Freedom of Religion? They do not believe in that at all! There is also a raging controversy whether the Christians should convert the Muslims who provide a one whole billion strong potential market (see Time magazine, 30 June 2003).
Sadly enough, this conversion issue is simply marketing God as a product in our consumer society. There are exact plans and figures of how the money is assigned to various people in the proselytising battalion – Asia with an emphasis on India gets top dollars, as many souls can be harvested there, as opposed to more intelligent nations who watch for there survival. There are many within the Christian fold who are also appalled by the conversion mania, but unfortunately, too few here or anywhere seem to understand the real danger of this kind of thinking. So, there is no critical mass to bring about a change. Converting by every means known to humanity has become a habit for these people over the past thousand years and more. The history of Christian crusades and Islamic jihad are well known and very well recorded throughout the literature of the world and it continues in one form or another. Even today if we look at conflicts around the world – and more are added every day – there is a strong religious component to almost all of them. These include both inter-religious and intra-religious conflicts. While non-religious disagreements can be solved with some effort, those based on religion seem well-nigh insurmountable. So what about the Hindus with the liberal idea of sarva dharma samabhava? I am reminded of Kabir’s doha, “do paatan ke beech baaki bachaa na koi”
The concept of sarva dharma samabhava is meaningless to all those who have no understanding of the Law of Dharma. It applies to only the dharma based traditions of Bharat, that too on the basis of mutual respect. I see no reason to go on accommodating those who have become a menace to all humanity. Hindu population and its Government are seen as the softest target for conversion! India allows anyone to come in and desiccate the Hindu society through nefarious means – multiple marriages for Muslims which most of the Islamic world does not allow anymore; restrictions on Hindu pilgrimage but subsidies for others; control of the media by not only unpatriotic but downright hostile forces; no understanding of Kashmir as the Sharada Peetha (home of Sarasvati) and its importance to Hindu tradition of learning; no teaching of anything Hindu in the mainstream educational curriculum while the Muslims have their madarsas and the Christians supply ‘education for all’ through the convents left behind by our white masters, which even today, hold a place of importance in the Hindu psyche. Many other countries are doing quite well without English education. However, our problems do not stem from familiarity with one more language, rather it is our tendency to forget what is ours. All our regional languages contain words for our own indigenous thought processes, which help us stay connected to each other and to our samskriti. It is well known that a foreign language creates a chasm between those seen as educated and those not knowing the language as being uneducated
Living outside India, I observe that both non-Indians and those with Indian roots are amazed that we have survived so long. No one knows the cost, the tragedy, the pain, let alone the enormous death toll of Hindus. Yet, it is the only country to which people of Indian origin run when they are thrown out from other countries. The persecuted people of this planet continue to seek Bharat just as they always have done. Whether humanity dishes out religious discrimination or political oppression – India is a sure sanctuary for all. The Jews, the Parsis (the two non-proselytising, non-aggressive communities in India who have contributed to nation building), the Buddhists, including the Dalai Lama, sought and found safety on the punya bhoomi of Bharat. As a child I used to wonder, why the Dalai Lama did not go to a Buddhist country like Japan or Myanmar or Thailand? China too was Buddhist, as someone remarked, certainly more than India! Difficult for a fourteen year to comprehend, the complex way religion and politics come together and then part at the whim of some political leader with a blurred vision. In democracies, this power should rest with the people. In reality, the only place where it may be so, is in the Panchayat Raj of Indian villages.
The survival of Bharat is critical for Hindus and important for humanity. India alone offers another way of looking at life and sees this manifestation called the jagat or universe as inter linked. In the world of science, quantum physics has come to the same conclusion, but the knowledge sits in the academic world. Our samskriti on the other hand, disseminated complex ideas much like the discoveries of quantum physics, in an easy way and language to most of the people. In fact, the job was done so thoroughly that even now a common Indian is a very intelligent person, who can think independently in new situations. This is the secret behind the success of the Indian Diaspora as well as the citizens of the country – this ability to interpret, while retaining the core strength of the original Vedic rishi culture.
A certain group simply wants to see us gone; while the other wants to claim our ideas as theirs. The second group is doing just that in various ways. They have immense money power and often invite people of Indian origin who are willing to speak against us to major Universities. This shows us in a bad light and also makes our own youth want to move away from our This has been successfully done among people of the Native American groups as well as many other indigenous groups.
However, I see a ray of hope among the very intelligent youth of the world, this ray must be made dominant again. The task of making this possible is the real duty of the Hindus. It must be seen as something that is our destiny, the purpose of our still being here, while so many ancient traditions have been destroyed or nearly destroyed by the aggressive religions.
“him apa shabdam dushyati khandayati – iti Hindu”
This is my favourite definition of a Hindu, for the present kaala (time period). It describes Hindus, as people who stand up against unrighteousness or adharma. Each individual is born with a certain svabhava or temperament which is her/his core guna (quality). I believe this to be true also of nations, societies and groups as well. This struggle for the sake of establishing dharma is our natural svabhava. In this we find our greatest strength, our highest joy. Once we are able to bring the understanding of what is dharma and how it relates to karma into the larger world community, a change will begin to take place, the signs are already visible. I believe the youth of this world are quite tired of the conflicts imposed on them – the ancestral burden of slavery, colonization, manipulations of history and now outright lies in the media and financial markets as well as the deceit of the multi-national corporations. So the youth in India and to a certain extent outside, I think, are ready for things to change and they will usher in a new era – a yuga parivartan.
The present world focus on religious terrorism which is a huge cost to society, both in terms of security of life and financial instability of world markets is an ideal time for the peaceful dharmas of Bharat to focus the attention of the world on the solutions that can be offered through the wisdom of the Vedic dharma based societies.
Even within these fundamentalist religions there is a lot of discord, a fundamentalist is one who will not change her/his stand in the face of reason. So, disharmony is the rule not the exception. Conversion is an idea based on control of the weaker parts of society. Peace and religious conversion are mutually exclusive, we cannot have both.
Interrelatedness and interconnectedness of the universe are facts to be learnt. That is why Vedanta is a teaching tradition, not a preaching system! The mathematician and the quantum physicist loves the ideas of the Upanishads but so far Kali Yuga is continuing because no free flow of information is allowed by powerful people within the aggressive religions! For a better future of the human race, the intelligent minority, the elite must come together and resolve these issues or face the prospect of living in a world torn by religious conflict.
