Sane Majority Defamed By Lunatic Fringe
Interviews - The Times of India
Monday 15 February 1999
By C B MUTHAMMA

``LET good thoughts come to us from all sides'' is an ancient
prayer. Most Hindus live this prayer. They revere all sages and
accept wisdom from all sources. Shri Ramakrishna and Gandhiji
were only two of the most eminent followers of these tenets.

Hindu pilgrims go to Ajmer Sharif and to Velanganni. Mother
Teresa's establishments in this country are substantially sustained
by charitable Hindus. There are those amongst the non-Hindus
who go to Tirupati, and Ramana Maharshi had non-Hindu
devotees. Rahi Masoom Raza, who scripted the TV version of
Mahabharata, once said, ``I am a Hindu Muslim,'' Shehnai
Maestro Bismillah Khan saw his music as a gift from Balaji. If the
Hindus see no contradiction between being Hindus and revering
non-Hindu sources of wisdom and goodness, non-Hindus too,
have no difficulty in following their faiths while accepting the
wisdom of Hinduism.

Wisdom of Hinduism

The World Raman Catholic Conference on Communication
which was held in the Capital some years ago, not only
consciously indigenised ceremonies, but also included in the
service held on the occasion a poem by Rabindranath Tagore and
a prayer from the Upanishads. The programme included a Bharat
Natyam recital by a young Roman Catholic priest. The Roman
Catholic Cathedral, where the service was held, was decorated
with lines of clay diyas.

Non-Hindus like the late Archbishop Mar Gregorios of the
Marthoma Church was profoundly learned in Hindu thought and
philosophy, and not merely as a detached scholar but with a deep
understanding and acceptance. His understanding of Hinduism is
comparable to the understanding of it by Nani Palkhivala, a
Parsee who has, for long, been one of the leading lights of the
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. There are marriages between Hindus
and Roman Catholics without either side requiring that the other
partner be converted, or even requiring that the children of the
marriage be brought up according to this or that religion. These
are not isolated instances.

These things are possible because of the long tradition of sanity
and humanity of this country. But every country, at all times, has
had its lunatic fringe. We have a very vocal minority that seeks to
destroy our traditions and to propagate a version of Hinduism
which is as far from Hinduism as pornography is from love. We
have a political system that enables them to take state power and
to use the instruments of power to spread violence and insanity
across the country. What is worse, they use all available means of
propaganda. Power in the hands of these people has the potential
not only to destroy the solidarity and strength of our nation but to
destroy the very foundation of our civilisation.

The present spate of violence and disorder in the country has
been made possible because the perpetrators of these crimes feel
that their patrons are in power, even though these patrons
represent only a small minority of the people of this country. After
the last general election it was reported that the BJP which
emerged as the largest single party, had under 25 per cent of the
votes cast. The Shiv Sena, which took power after Maharashtra's
assembly elections was reported to have received 19 percent of
the votes cast. With these narrow support bases they have been
able to take power and to hold captive the vast majority of the
people who have rejected them.

Vandalism & Threat

The followers of the sangh parivar have mounted a campaign
against the Christians, as they had done earlier against the
Muslims. The Shiv Sena chief, with his small minority in his home
state, announces decisions for the whole of India which is backed
by vandalism and threats. The problem arises because our
political parties take power on a minority of the votes cast. It is
not an accident that politics and public life have been criminalised
and institutions are breaking down. Our politicians have a vested
interest in a system that can give them power on a minority of
votes.

Seekers of power must be made to get the support of the
absolute numerical majorities of their electorates in this country of
a very diverse population, so that they are subject to the
discipline of appealing to the whole electorate, not to a sectoral
and partisan vote-bank. It is the only way to avoid the distortions
that have held this country back. (IPA)

The author is a former diplomat and has been ambassador to
several countries.