3 November 2015

Secularism – Adarsh Liberal Style

       Come Hindu festivals and suddenly, Adarsh Liberals (henceforth referred to in a cool manner as ALs!) of all kind creep out urging people on why it is so 'patriarchal, regressive and oh so-uncool' to be observing them. It does not really matter what the festival is. It does not even matter which region it is celebrated in. All it matters for these ALs is, that the festival should be linked in some manner, to Hinduism. That is the only criterion for it to automatically conform to any or all of those above definitions. Of course, the reasons quoted could vary depending on exact nature of the festival, but protests? They definitely would feature. A reading of the various festivals below and reasons quoted by ALs on why they are so uncool therefore makes interesting read, revealing the very anti-Hindu mindset adopted while portraying themselves as 'liberals' when they actually behave in the exact opposite manner.

 Sabarimala and the ban on ladies

      January celebrates Makara Sankranti (മകര സംക്രാന്തി, मकर संक्रांति) culminating in a very holy and much venerated festival of 'Makara Vilakku' (മകര വിളക്ക്) where millions trudge their way up the hills of Sabarimala in Kerala, having spent 41 days in penance along with giving up non-vegetarian food, cutting (including shaving) of hair etc. Since the festival is devoted to Lord Ayyappa, considered a 'Nitya Brahmachari' (नित्य भ्रमचारी) or perennial bachelor, ladies (of menstrual age) are not permitted in the holy hills. Till date, no one with faith in Lord Ayyappa has had any issues with this so-called discrimination. Indeed, 'Ayyappas' (as devotees are called when undertaking the required 41 day penance) are also supposed to avoid contact with females to ensure that the God is not made impure. Ayyappa, also known as Iyyappa, is not revered by just people from Kerala. In fact, these days, the majority of pilgrims are from neighboring states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana now) and the temple is one of the richest temples of the region.   

           Menstruation has always been considered impure in Hindu religion and accordingly, women are not allowed to undertake even routine tasks like cooking and generally remain segregated from rest of the family. Visit to temples during those days obviously, is a big no no. Yet ALs find fault with this “discrimination” despite even court strictures to the contrary. Their perceived slight is obvious. This discrimination and slight pinches them no end. However, when questioned on ban on entry of women (of all ages) to Haji Ali in Mumbai, it suddenly gets treated as a tradition and a custom to be respected!

Holi 
   
            Holi is yet another festival that raises hackles among all. Wastage of water is the oft repeated reason on why Holi should be controlled, if not banned all together, as per the ALs. That the festival celebrates joy of colors and thus gives enough reason for happiness amongst all is, but naturally irrelevant to them. The tweets below show how much hatred these ALs have for Hindus enjoying this very pleasant and fun filled festival. 



Of course, the same Sagarika Ghose, so concerned about wasting of water through water balloons and pichkaris, does not hesitate to use swimming pools, which obviously consume so much lesser water. Ms Ghose definitely needs to teach us communal Hindus a lot about how to conserve water in a swimming pool! 




   
       That Rajdeep was conveniently using crutch of Sri Sri Ravishankar to further his agenda definitely does not fool anyone. Forget a crutch, even if given a complete set of limbs, he would definitely not tweet anything ridiculous about any festival pertaining to minorities (read Muslims/Christians) since that would be against his very DNA. 
Diwali

          Come Diwali and suddenly there is noise and air pollution vitiating the atmosphere. PILs and FIRs are filed by all the concerned, who till yesterday were invisible as Azan prayers from mosques pierced the skies even before day break. Diwali, a festival of lights, celebrating the return of Lord Ram to Ayodhya is treated as yet another attempt by the communal Hindu to impose his will upon society and therefore, the need to suppress it by any means. Some ALs even attempted to use toddlers (between 6 and 14 months and who understandably would not even know what was being done on their behalf) to file PILs for banning crackers during Diwali on the pretext that were harmful both in terms of sound and general pollution. Who happened to be the lawyer filing the PIL? The very esteemed Kapil Sibal! Unfortunately for them, the SC refused to play ball, dismissed the PIL, and instead directed the Central government to publish pollution awareness advertisements from Oct 31 to Nov 12. Muharram and Eid, when Muslim prayers are broadcast extra loud, maybe to ensure even the most unfaithful turn faithful, of course, is not supposed to be anything but an expression of freedom of religion, and therefore goes unchallenged everywhere!



 Karvachauth
        
        The latest Hindu celebration to create offence to the ALs has been Karva Chauth, a festival where married women observe fast for one day for the long life of their beloved husbands. While routine one day (actually less than 12 hour) fast should not create so much of the problem as projected by these ALs, their opposition to the very Hindu festival was reason enough to bring out the most brutal reactions from them. From Barkha Dutt to Sagarika Ghose, everyone tried to project how 'patriarchal and repressive' this otherwise pious festival is. Tweets from them reveal the extreme hatred possessing them even while they tried to hide under the garb of secularism. When caught out, of course, they have the ready option of 'exercise of choice', especially when the argument veers to the very inconvenient burqua and hijab. Unfortunately, RW 'trolls' definitely were not taking it lying down. No wonder social media is such a leveller! 

The parody account India in emergency (@IdeaofEmergency) gets it completely right in response to the above tweet!

Garima (@gary_1980in), with her series of tweets starting with the first one below goes on to teach Barkha why Karva Chauth is important for Hindu ladies. Trust she did learn something after all!


 Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena), the beautiful and extremely outspoken Bollywood star, who has not been known to take things lying down, ensures here that Barkha not only does not have a free run but also has her running for cover! 

 Read the entire chain to see how Raveena speaks her mind! Kudos to the brave lady who dares! 

The list of festivals are huge. Hinduism, by its very nature has celebrated almost anything and everything with a festival thrown in for good measure. Immersions of idols of Ganesha (during Ganesh Chaturthi) and Durga (during Durga Pooja) have been known to create environmental issues due to indiscriminate use of chemicals and artificial non-biodegradable raw materials. Yet the growing awareness among devotees has resulted in the problem being addressed to a large scale by use of natural colors and bio-degradable materials by the manufacturers of idols. No one has protested about the correctness of such environment friendly measures exhorted. Try talking of environment to a similar festival of ROP pictured below?

Conclusion

              Every religion has its share of good and bad. Man is never known to be perfect, and religion, which is definitely man made (though many a secular would refuse to acknowledge this) is prone to errors too. Merely projecting one religion as totally communal and ridiculous no longer works. Gone are the days when main stream media (MSM) held sway and social media (SM) was a distant dream. Today, SM ensures instant rebuttal of biased and often totally incorrect reporting ensuring that MSM journalists no longer have it easy. Unfortunately, for those used to controlling opinions, this has become a bitter pill which they are trying as much as possible, to avoid ingesting! 

           Hinduism has always been and continues to be one of the most tolerant of all religions world over and has always strived to accept and assimilate other religions as well as provide the best possible environment. A true Hindu has always believed in वसुदैव कुटुंबक्कम (World is one family). No wonder India has never hesitated to accept those who fleeing from oppression elsewhere, be it Zoroastrians, Jews or Buddhists from Tibet. Not only has India accepted them, it has also allowed them sufficient space and freedom to practice and preach and often spread their religion too. 

             The Hindu accepts that God is not attained merely through one path and that multiple paths are always possible. Unfortunately, this tolerance is often treated as weakness and cruel and horrible ways were employed by those seeking to propagate their own religion as the only 'correct' one. India has continued to and definitely will withstand the onslaught, till the time Hindus remain true to themselves. The moment that is lost, India would cease to exist as a nation. Hoping that never ever happens. 

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