It is vivid in my mind. It had a great impact on me since my childhood. I remember my father, a bureaucrat in revenue department of Odisha Govt., used to take me through the crowded by-lanes of Muslim dominated areas of my town, Kendrapara, Odisha. It was a scooter ride and father used to tell me while passing through the by-lane, that we must not make them feel isolated.
He was a SICKULAR and I am his SON, a proud son.
Lately, a new change I have marked in my father. Last several years, he has developed a slight dislike for Muslims and spends a lot of his retired life watching several serials; one of them at the top of his priority list is Rana Pratap. Yes, that serial where Muslim invaders are ICONISED with a prominent deep cut on their cheek/nose with an indelible mark of intimidating mole. My 5/6 year old Bhanja can identify these medieval characters on the road without these cut and mole; they just need to have a trademark Beard.
Welcome to new India!
The serials which I grew with up were Ramayana, Mahabharata, Param Veer Chakra, The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Bharat Ek Khoj. I can still remember running to home on the bank of a meandering Canal after the Sunday morning study at a relative's home, so that I do not miss the title song of Param veer Chakra. I can faintly remember the episode how Abdul Hamid earned his Param veer Chakra. I can vividly remember, that I was crying like a child (I was a child then) when Tipu was killed.
Do you think I was SICKULAR from my child hood? Do you think, I was Muslim loving Left Liberal at the age of 8/9? Do you think, I grew up in the middle of a Muslim ghetto?
No. I grew up in a village right among the Brahmin community that I belong to. I remember grand mother forcing me to take a purifying bathe for accidentally touching the washer woman who used to come regularly to collect dirty clothes for washing.
With such a childhood, now, I consider those as my Indianess. I consider them as my tribute to the forefathers who saw an India where we are Indians always and religious at home or religious places. That is what I believe is secularism and that is not a disease.
The article which forced me to write this, depicted as if no political leader till Narendra Modi's aarati at the Ganga, had the audacity to practice religion in the glare of camera.
Was that a correct assessment? Or these are the sounds of convenience in tune to the changed political wind of the season?
I think this is nothing but a counter narrative to demolish Nehru. The last political leader who had a scientific temper was Pt. Nehru; the subsequent ones have shamelessly displayed their religious nature by falling before the Dhongi Babas, carrying chaddars to mosques, doing aarati/havan at temples.
With such overwhelming evidence of too much religion in politics, intellectuals to bash Secularism as the reason to piss the middle class off is a blatant lie. This propaganda of these intellectuals are only to discredit secularism and the proponents of the same.
Secularism is in our blood, it exhorts us to respect another religion. As a majority community, it adds another responsibility towards the minorities who we live with; the responsibility of their well-being. If that has pissed off the middle-class, then we have to be worried about as a nation' not about the relevance of secularism.
Secularism is being targeted in the name of appeasement for minorities. If there was appeasement, then Sachar committee report would not have been a reality today.
The reality is society is getting more and more selfish. The rich, after denying level playing field to the poor for years, can not digest that resources are slowly being directed towards them for their upliftment.
Propaganda against secularism is just an extension of that selfishness. The majority thinks, nation can be realized based on a religion and sharing resource with religious minorities is unnecessary.
The victorious commmunalism is trying to give the last push to Indian sensibilities. If we do not withstand that and shade secularism in response, we will be the partner in crime of changing the DNA of India once and for all.
He was a SICKULAR and I am his SON, a proud son.
I am writing it after reading through few paragraphs of an article on The Hindu, "How Modi Defeated Liberals Like me?"
Lately, a new change I have marked in my father. Last several years, he has developed a slight dislike for Muslims and spends a lot of his retired life watching several serials; one of them at the top of his priority list is Rana Pratap. Yes, that serial where Muslim invaders are ICONISED with a prominent deep cut on their cheek/nose with an indelible mark of intimidating mole. My 5/6 year old Bhanja can identify these medieval characters on the road without these cut and mole; they just need to have a trademark Beard.
Welcome to new India!
The serials which I grew with up were Ramayana, Mahabharata, Param Veer Chakra, The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Bharat Ek Khoj. I can still remember running to home on the bank of a meandering Canal after the Sunday morning study at a relative's home, so that I do not miss the title song of Param veer Chakra. I can faintly remember the episode how Abdul Hamid earned his Param veer Chakra. I can vividly remember, that I was crying like a child (I was a child then) when Tipu was killed.
Do you think I was SICKULAR from my child hood? Do you think, I was Muslim loving Left Liberal at the age of 8/9? Do you think, I grew up in the middle of a Muslim ghetto?
No. I grew up in a village right among the Brahmin community that I belong to. I remember grand mother forcing me to take a purifying bathe for accidentally touching the washer woman who used to come regularly to collect dirty clothes for washing.
With such a childhood, now, I consider those as my Indianess. I consider them as my tribute to the forefathers who saw an India where we are Indians always and religious at home or religious places. That is what I believe is secularism and that is not a disease.
The article which forced me to write this, depicted as if no political leader till Narendra Modi's aarati at the Ganga, had the audacity to practice religion in the glare of camera.
Was that a correct assessment? Or these are the sounds of convenience in tune to the changed political wind of the season?
I think this is nothing but a counter narrative to demolish Nehru. The last political leader who had a scientific temper was Pt. Nehru; the subsequent ones have shamelessly displayed their religious nature by falling before the Dhongi Babas, carrying chaddars to mosques, doing aarati/havan at temples.
With such overwhelming evidence of too much religion in politics, intellectuals to bash Secularism as the reason to piss the middle class off is a blatant lie. This propaganda of these intellectuals are only to discredit secularism and the proponents of the same.
Secularism is in our blood, it exhorts us to respect another religion. As a majority community, it adds another responsibility towards the minorities who we live with; the responsibility of their well-being. If that has pissed off the middle-class, then we have to be worried about as a nation' not about the relevance of secularism.
Secularism is being targeted in the name of appeasement for minorities. If there was appeasement, then Sachar committee report would not have been a reality today.
The reality is society is getting more and more selfish. The rich, after denying level playing field to the poor for years, can not digest that resources are slowly being directed towards them for their upliftment.
Propaganda against secularism is just an extension of that selfishness. The majority thinks, nation can be realized based on a religion and sharing resource with religious minorities is unnecessary.
The victorious commmunalism is trying to give the last push to Indian sensibilities. If we do not withstand that and shade secularism in response, we will be the partner in crime of changing the DNA of India once and for all.
