Secular Nationalism

[Guest guest]

>Title: Secular nationalism >Author:

>Publication: The Pioneer >June 5, 2002 >

>http://www.dailypioneer.com/secon3.asp?cat=\opd1&d;=OPED > >Nationalism is

characterised principally by a feeling of community among a people, based upon

common descent, language, and religion," says the Funk and Wagnalls

Encyclopedia. The essence of nationalism is a sense of shared community, a

sense of being one people with a common heritage. Implicit is a sense of

respect for each other as equals or fellow travellers. > >We think and feel of

India as a nation because we have that feeling of common descent. Our languages

have mostly evolved from Sanskrit and are similar. All our people share a common

history from the Indus civilisation to Mauryan Empire to Mughal and British

rule. It is this historical continuity - this shared common experience - that

makes us all Indian. Our religions have become different in the last thousand

years but that does not obviate the sense of oneness that our people feel due

to shared common history. > > > > > >This common history includes that of Rama,

Buddha, Sufi saints of Ajmer, St Thomas, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and other

national figures. It matters little whether Lord Rama actually lived in flesh

or blood or was a mere figment of the imagination. It also is of little

relevance whether Lord Rama was actually born at the place where the Babri

Mosque stood. The relevance of Lord Rama lies in his giving us a sense of

common heritage. This applies to the Christian and Muslim people of the country

as well. Ninety five per cent of them have been converted from Hinduism. Even if

they follow a different religion, their identity as Indians is predicated upon

their acceptance of Rama, Buddha, Sufi Saints and St Thomas as national

ancestors. > >People of countries like Saudi Arabia and India, who have been

home to great religions, face a peculiar difficulty. Their cultural and

religious histories are inseparable. Prophet Muhammad was as much a national

leader of the Saudi People as he is a Prophet of the Islamic people. A Saudi

citizen may or may not believe in the sayings of the Prophet but he has to

acknowledge the Prophet as his historical ancestor. > >So also with Lord Rama.

Every citizen of India has to honour and own Lord Rama as his common heritage.

Here the Christians and Muslims face a peculiar difficulty. The national leader

Rama doubles up as a Hindu deity. The Quranic injunction that salvation is

possible only through Prophet Muhammad, and that Islam must prevail over all

other religions (Ayat 61.9), creates a sense of alienation from Lord Rama and,

therefore, from "India". Jesus Christ said much the same thing: "He who is not

with Me is against Me" (Matthew 12.30). The Christians and Muslims are,

therefore, unable to honour Lord Rama as their god and that leads to the

negation of their common heritage or of their sense of nationalism as well. >

>Secularism and nationalism cannot go together in Saudi Arabia because Prophet

Muhammad is simultaneously the epitome of Saudi nationalism as well as Islamic

religion. So also in India. Lord Rama in India is Hinduism. So secularism and

nationalism cannot go together. To honour Rama becomes tantamount to

dishonouring the Holy Quran and Bible. The situation is different in countries

like the United States where all the religious founders are foreign. It is

possible for them to separate religion from national identity because they have

no indigenous religious leaders who are at the head of both the streams. An

American's national identity flows from Lincoln and Jefferson, not from Rama or

Moses or Christ or Muhammad. > >In fact, these injunctions of the Holy Bible and

Holy Quran may run contrary to our Constitution. Article 51A(e) requires all

citizens "to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all

the people of India transcending religious... diversities." But Holy Bible says

that if you are not with Jesus then you are against Him. The Holy Quran says

that Islam must prevail over other non-Semitic religions like Hinduism. These

religious statements run contrary to the spirit of common brotherhood enshrined

in our Constitution. > >The Hindus have faced similar difficulties with their

religion. Lord Krishna, for example, says in the Bhagwad Gita that the four

varnas have been created by Him and that He has allotted different duties to

each. But the Constitution says that no discrimination will be done on the

basis of one's caste. The Hindus have ignored this religious injunction. They

have changed their religion with the spirit of the times. > >The Christians and

Muslims will have to similarly scrutinise and sanitise their religious texts to

make them consistent with the Constitution or the spirit of India. A nation, as

was quoted earlier, arises from a "feeling of community among a people". This

feeling is disrupted when one religion says that it alone holds the path to

salvation and that the others are meant to be overcome. That is a negation of

the feeling of community and mutual self-respect. Religious exclusivity and

nationalism are incompatible. So there can be no secular nationalism in India.

Indian nationalism is necessarily rooted in India's history, in Lord Rama. >

>The only solution is for the Christians and Muslims to either ignore or

substantially reinterpret those sayings so as to make the people's psyche

compatible with spirit of the Constitution. They would have to accept Lord Rama

as their historical heritage, if not God. > >The Hindus also fall into the same

trap when they attack Muslims in the name of God. Indian philosophy is replete

with the saying that God is only one. His forms are many. If the Vedas are

divine - apaurusheya - then so is the Holy Quran. The Hindus are the majority

in India. We have a historical challenge before us. Our forefathers failed to

make a successful dialogue with the Muslims and Christians. The result was the

creation of many dharma in the country. Let us not forget that the

Shankaracharya solved the Hindu-Buddhist schism through dialogue. He sought out

the Buddhist scholars and even forced them into a discussion. >

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