Cracker ban a project to civilise Hindus

Surprised to see that ET has published this article by Tarun Vijay 

Cracker ban a project to civilise Hindus

"Democracy allows me to raise questions on the wisdom behind such an order."
By Tarun Vijay

Like the European Christian missionaries of the 19th century, who would portray ‘Hindoos’ as heathens and pagans performing rope tricks and charming snakes, and thereby position themselves as ‘necessary harbingers of civilisation’ with the aid of the ‘gospel’, the modern day secular proselytiser is on a mission to ‘reform’ Hindus.

As practitioners of a way of life, Hindus have arguably been more reformist and non-violent than people of other faiths. Now, being mocked by neo-missionary secular reformists, they may well be pushed to the wall and react against their own grain.

It’s just not about Diwali crackers and saving a city from pollution through ‘cracker abstinence’.

A large number of us don’t burst crackers on Diwali. But if a State apparatus like the Supreme Court compels me to do something that affects my festivities, it becomes entirely a different and troublesome matter for me. And democracy allows me to raise questions on the wisdom behind such an order.

These ‘reformists’ have been on social media saying that slaughtering animals is an essential part of Muslim festivities, while crackers are ugly add-ons not part of the Hindu tradition. Really? Who decides what is an ‘add on’ and what is ‘essential’? Are ‘band baja baraats’ essential during weddings or silly supplements?

What if the court decides to decree that all Hindus must bury their dead because cremating them pollutes the air? There are Hindu sects who do bury their dead. Now, is creating an essential part of Hinduism, or an add-on?

This is an attempt to see Hindus through the lens of Abrahamic religions by those who define India through a western Christian worldview. Is the Christmas tree an essential part of Christmas, or a frill? Are loudspeakers for azaan an essential part of Islam or a permissible add-on?

The immersion of Ganapati and Durga idols?

Are the courts now the agents who will decide how much a Hindu needs to be ‘civilised’? Why can’t we have a healthy, secular and non-partisan debate on this as citizens, without offending anyone?

If a Hindu festival can be intervened by a court in a Hindu majority India, think how the Hindus in Islamic countries would be treated. This was stated by a Hindu activist in Bangladesh, where the state religion is Islam.

Hindus in India don’t realise how decisions and events in India impact their co-religionists’ lives abroad, where they try to protect their faith amid a sea of hostility. Despite a large number of Hindu expatriates in Saudi Arabia, they aren’t allowed to even have images of any Hindu deity or the Gita with them there. Since independence, India is the one non-Islamic country that sends a Muslim envoy to Saudi Arabia in keeping with an unwritten secular law.

Are Hindus blind not to understand that while they struggle to retain their faith abroad, in their own homeland they are subjected to weird experiments?

Of late, secularists, non-Hindus and atheists have been coming forward with an elaborate list of do’s and dont’s for Hindus. So don’t use colours during Holi.

Don’t burst crackers on Diwali.

Don’t celebrate Jalikattu. Don’t sacrifice animals. They also take control of our temples by appointing caretakers who make a mockery of age-old traditions and spend Hindu temple funds for secular purposes.

The de-Diwalisation of the festival of lights is just a symptom of the time. This is a consequence of the secular upbringing of a people enjoying power and prestige in an environment that thrives on the edifice built by the British colonial rulers.

The modern day secular proselytiser treats the contemporary Hindu as a new heathen in need of a ‘civilising touch’.

Just when the world thought that Orientalism was a product extinct after colonialism.

The author is a Rajya Sabha MP

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
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