MRINAL PANDE - What Lies Behind the Hairsplitting Over Dharma, Panth and Secularism
It is no surprise that a state whose law and order
machinery is headed by a minister with such semantic predilections will tend to
look the other way when various members of his ‘panth nirpeksha’ government
justify the use of violence in defence of their ‘dharma’
For authorities fearful of free and open debates, semantic impoverishment... weakens the autonomy of individuals. As the political lexicon shrinks, so does the space for free debate.
As the authorities start providing all acceptable definitions, citizens gradually cease to be aware of the fact that there are moral values beyond the platitudes of ‘development’ and ‘India first’ that uphold real democracy and which they must fight for...
In the days to come, the struggle for the future of India as a free and truly inclusive democracy is going to take place more and more in the realm of language. And it will be made even more intense by the mass media and social media.As the authorities start providing all acceptable definitions, citizens gradually cease to be aware of the fact that there are moral values beyond the platitudes of ‘development’ and ‘India first’ that uphold real democracy and which they must fight for...
The word ‘secular’ in the preamble of the
Indian Constitution – signifying tolerance, equality under the law and
safety for all citizens – has suddenly begun to be reviled as a pejorative,
mostly by quarters supportive of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA
government of Narendra Modi.
On the first day of the winter session of parliament,
November 26, now proclaimed as ‘Constitution Day’, the Union home minister
chose to voice his deep resentment over the charge of religious
intolerance against his party, parivar and government . It is time, he said,
that ‘secular’ – which he described as the constitution’s “most misused
word” – and its Hindi synonym ‘dharma nirpeksh‘, were replaced
in daily political discourse by the term ‘panth nirpeksh’ (non-sectarian),
as is written in the official Hindi translation of the preamble of
the constitution.
In Hindi or Sanskrit, the word dharma (as
in raj dharma) basically means duty, not just religion, says constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap. To him as to
the home minister, the term panth means a denomination and so
the term panth nirpeksha is infinitely preferable to the
present term dharma nirpeksha to denote a truly sect-neutral
state not wedded to any denomination, which could also be religion.
Semantic legal sabre rattling of this kind brings to
mind the astringent poetry of Kabir. How shall your heart and mine be one, he
asks, you who talk of what is written on paper whereas I describe what is happening
before my own eyes. You wish to keep the threads I disentangle, entangled
forever:
मेरा तेरा मनवा
कैसे एक होई
रे,
तू कहता कागज़ की लेखी, मैं कहता आँखिन की देखी
तू कहता उरझावनहारी मैं राखूं सुरझाई रे ||
तू कहता कागज़ की लेखी, मैं कहता आँखिन की देखी
तू कहता उरझावनहारी मैं राखूं सुरझाई रे ||
It is worth noting that virtually all dictionaries continue
to describe panth as sampraday, or an ideological
group inclusive of religious sects that are major deviations from mainstream
Hinduism such as Nath panth, Siddha panth, Gorakh panth, Sikh panth and so on.
In the lexicography of those who are pathologically averse
to and dismissive of dissent, the word ‘secular’ is seen as an affront
to the majority’s dharma. It is not a coincidence that in
the same speech, the home minister also spoke of Lord Ram as an exemplary Hindu
ruler who proved his democratic credentials by exiling his pregnant wife to the
forest at the mere lifting of a finger by ‘sabse nichli seedhi ka aadmi’ –
read, a ‘low caste’ man – against her. Never mind if Ram was
copping out of his own dharma as a husband. Or that he
also put to death the tapasvi Shambuk for
engaging in a ritual that was above his status as a shudra.
It is no surprise that a state whose law and order
machinery is headed by a minister with such semantic predilections will
tend to look the other way when various members of his ‘panth nirpeksha‘
government, party and parivar tell Hindus they must fight for their dharma by
attacking cow traders and beef eaters and the supporters of secularism.
At the same time, what’s with this Talmudic
hairsplitting over terms such as ‘secular’? There is a method in this
madness. For authorities fearful of free and open debates, semantic
impoverishment – the evisceration of a people’s political vocabulary by
stripping terms that describe the human condition of their essence
– weakens the autonomy of individuals. As the political lexicon shrinks,
so does the space for free debate. As the authorities start
providing all acceptable definitions, citizens gradually cease
to be aware of the fact that there are moral values beyond the platitudes
of ‘development’ and ‘India first’ that uphold real
democracy and which they must fight for.
The home minister’s speech also reveals how in the India of
2015, the authorities have suddenly begun to read every text, including our
constitution, as allusive, a double text as it were. And each wave of dissent,
instead of bringing them to public platforms for a free discussion with the
disenchanted groups, makes them more cagey and cross. As a result, all the
agencies of the state are constantly sniffing for duplicity. Under such
circumstances, any open confrontation with the authorities and the propaganda
machines of the state, such as the one mounted by writers, artists and film
makers, will be seen and treated if not as outright treason, then as a paid
revolt instigated by the opposition for settling political scores.
It is appropriate, therefore, that a debate on the subject
of dharma versus panth, secular versus
non-sectarian, has been flagged off, inadvertently or otherwise. As foreseen
and foretold by the dissenting writers and artists, arming oneself with as many
languages as one can will be very important for all those who wish to keep
up the healthy tradition – the parampara, if you will – of the
argumentative Indian. In the days to come, the struggle for the future of India
as a free and truly inclusive democracy is going to take place more and more in
the realm of language. And it will be made even more intense by the mass media
and social media. Watch this space.
see also
On Jeremy Corbyn and Islamism: You can’t be progressive some of the time
The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1945-2010)/ Interview: My life fighting intolerance/ Mahmoud Mohammed Taha & the Second Message of Islam
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Legacy (Library of writings)
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd's Legacy (Library of writings)
Mahmoud Mohammed Taha was a Sudanese religious thinker and leader executed for apostasy at the age of 76 by the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry. (See his Court statement)
