Resolving religious differences in India

A simple sign found in the northern parts of India, it speaks volumes on what religion should be like in India.

Reading news that comes out of India must be a nightmare for those people who want all the world religions to just get along and be happy with each other.   There is a complex relationship of informal alliances that Indian society runs by.  Generally speaking Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs like to stick together; and Christians and Muslims will also stick together.  Let’s add the political side to this web, Congress has historically been all about appeasing the minorities so they support Christians and Muslims.  In fact, the Kerala state government recently passed a law that guarantees that any debts owed to banks will be forgiven, if you convert to Christianity.  In the midst of all this, how is it possible for the various religious parties to settle their differences?

The first thing that would have to happen is for the political parties to stop their policies of vote bank politics.  Vote bank politics is when parties rely on vast majorities of any given group to vote together on any given issue.  The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Congress has thrived on vote banks, and it is in its second term in power.  This is not to say that parties like the BJP don’t try to use the same tactics, it’s just that those tactics don’t work because Hindus don’t vote as a block.  While Hindus will vote a number of different ways (eg. 10% for candidate A, 5% for B, 15% for C, etc) Muslims and Christians will vote for one party (eg. 20% for candidate X).  Thus the minority population’s votes result in the winner of the elections.  Political parties must stop this misuse of their constituents, because vote-bank politics only upsets the majority population and spoils the minority.  If the majority population isn’t getting what it wants/needs, then there is bound to be strife.

The second issue that must be addressed is similar to the problem of vote bank politics, it is that of minority appeasement.  We’ll use Kerala as an example.  If the present Kerala government (which is the LDF) were to pass bills such as the one mentioned above, then they would get the favor of those who are already Christian and also of those who were spared the payment of their debts.  Thus, there is an increased likelihood that Christians would cast their votes for the same party during the next election.  Whereas the state government should be looking out for the welfare of all its constituents, it’s catering policies to favor the minority population (in this case, Christians).  In a state where Hindus are over 56% of the population, instead Christians (who are 19% of the population) are favored by the Communist government.  Minority appeasement is an issue nationwide, the UPA II must resort to it to keep it’s vote banks loyal, and to stay in power.

The third thing that must be done is to stop media censorship.  As this blog post discusses (in an article originally written by Anand-Vilas), Indian media is often anti-Hindu.  In many instances, the media has reported a one sided story.  Case in point: the Gujarat Riots.  The news will tell all about the Muslims who were killed in the riots, but no one will report on the Godhra incident that triggered the riots in the first place.  The tall tales that were told of the cruelty inflicted on Muslims will not be reported either, nor will the fact that Muslims in Gujarat are better off under the Gujarati BJP government headed by Narendra Modi ever be reported.  Not only were the influence of the riots exaggerated, but the improvement of Gujarat under Modi is conveniently ignored.  It’s not just the media, but also Bollywood that has an anti-Hindu stance.  It’s an open secret that Bollywood in trapped in a self perpetuated cycle with the Indian mafia, because many Bollywood directors took loans from the underworld to fund their projects.  These mobsters in turn got their money from the usual sources, but also from sources in the oil rich Arabian peninsula.  As such, many Bollywood movies have anti-Hindu elements sprinkled in so that anyone not looking for them wouldn’t notice it.

The last thing that must stop is the evangelism and conversions that are regular occurrences in India.  The first three issues feed this last one.  Vote bank politics works for the minority; but if the minority populations become larger then those political parties wouldn’t have to worry about the margins of victory.  A large minority population would ensure even larger victories for parties like Congress.  Media (which Congress uses vigorously) plays a big part in conversions because if Hindus are shown to be the evildoers of the nation, then there is no incentive to remain Hindu.  Then there’s the government policies that encourage conversion; policies such as the one mentioned above, the grants that are given to only Muslims who go on Haj, reservations made specifically for Muslims and Christians, all push Hindus into making two choices.  The first is conversion, after which they face many more issues.  The second is to protest, something which hardly makes an impact on the government or the international community due to the lack of coverage.  Issues like the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits are ignored not only by Indian Hindus, but even international organizations like the UN, multiple human rights organizations, and Hindus living abroad.

I’m convinced that if these four issues are resolved, then all other problems will correct themselves.  Only then will India truly become a diverse society.  Today it is pluralistic, it only tolerates diversity.  For the diversity of Indian culture to return, the diversity that Hindu dharma is known for must be allowed to resurface once again.

Thanks to a certain someone for suggesting this topic, I don’t think I did it justice but I tried.