I Am Not Among That 130 Crores
‘Hey Believers!’, Let Us Always Imbibe The Real Spirit of Secularism
‘A Piteous Mockery’ that is the term coined by my rational part when I saw the Facebook Live of Prime Minister who flew over to the infamous Ram Janmabhoomi to lay the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir. I believe as the ‘Flagbearer of Democracy’, Prime Minister of India must have taken a secular standpoint by refraining to attend an event that has the potential to ignite mixed religious feelings among the citizens.
Next doubt is regarding the priority set for an event like this midst the COVID-19 pandemic situation. When major functions are being procrastinated and rescheduled due to the current scenario, this ‘holy function’ is nothing but a sanctimonious act. If there are any supernatural justification to that, then I have no comments other than absolute pity in response to that. I strongly feel this set a wrong example for the entire nation.
At a time when the nation is facing a huge economic crisis powered by the governmental incompetence in association with Miss Corona, a plan to construct a temple with an estimated cost of ‘Holy Cow Knows How Many Hundreds of Crores’ is a symbolic irony.
In the address to the devotees, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted,
“I would like to thank everyone on behalf of 130 crore Indians for their efforts in Ram Mandir. August 15 symbolises the commitment, the struggle, the endless sacrifices as well as the indefatigable spirit for freedom. Just like that, today’s date symbolises the commitment, sacrifice and resolve of several generations who through centuries struggled relentlessly for Ram Mandir with single-minded resolve. Millions will find it hard to believe that they are actually witnessing the realisation of their dream.”
An outcry in social media with a tag of #IAmNotAmongThat130Crores triggered as a result. That collective voice of secularism sounded rather optimistic. There are ‘believers’, ‘atheists’ and ‘agnostic’ people like me who expressed their solidarity. But I hope the believers among the mass who show their allegiance to the campaign have developed a genuine and secular stance. It will be dangerous to have a pseudo or shaky stance when it comes to causes like these. Because in future these believers should be ready to take the same secular stance against the hegemonic and communal practices steered by their respective religions. Those activities may not attain wide popularity like the Ayodhya dispute, still, a believer should have the guts to take a non-hypocritical approach and criticise the atrocities done by their fellow believers in the name of god.
I long for a world free from dark differences. So, I sincerely hope by imbibing the real spirit of secularism and eliminating even the passive religious glorification one hold onto, this campaign against communal pandemic will not turn out to be a one-off thing. Events like these are always a ‘litmus paper test’ to know the real views of a person. So, let the time tell us who turns red and who turns blue!
