My Experience with Dharam Sansad
By V.K.Tripathi
6 May, 2003
On February 22, 2003, I went to the meeting of Dharam Sansad, an RSS affiliated body of Sadhus, at Ramlila Ground, Delhi. When I entered the venue, Mr.Praveen Bhai Togadia was speaking to a gathering of about 4000 sadhus. He was saying that the Hindu pilgrims going to Amarnath are not provided any subsidy, while the Muslims are given Rs.23,000 subsidy to go to Haj. Pakistan, Iran or Iraq do not provide any subsidy then why India is doing that? It is a crime against Hindus. Miya Musharraf says that Madarsas are breeding grounds for terrorists, then why does not our government close down them here. We are facing widespread terrorism. If we do not act Hindus will be unsafe and we will create ten Pakistans in India, one in Meerut, one in North Bihar, one in Assam, one in Rajasthan, one in Kerela. The
only solution to all these problems is to declare India a Hindu
Rashtra. We will have to fight a mahabharata (battle) by organizing Hindus in every village. On one side will be the Hindus, while on the other will be the beggars of Muslim votes, secularists, communists etc.Similar was the tone of other speakers. I felt shaken. I was carrying with me our flyers "Sachchai aur Shanti par Tikein" (hold on to truth and Peace). I wrote a brief note to Mr. Togadia on top of a flyer, "You have talked of a Mahabharata. This will not be based on soul force but brute force and will make criminals the hero. May we see the agony of the masses and not get agitated by their labels of religion. I went to the dais and gave it to a volunteer, who promised to pass it to Mr. Togadia through another volunteer.
Then I talked to about fifty sadhus individually. I said that the
mahabharata advocated by Togadia ji would bring out the shaitan
(devil) out of us, not the sanity. Dardmandi (sensitivity) is missing
in these talks. Some sadhus listened to my arguments without
adversely reacting. They took my flyer and a few of them even read it. Others would say, " your concerns are rooted in gross ignorance", "Hindus are being oppressed and exploited by the Muslims, why should they not fight back". When I tried to tell them that exploitation is incurred by the rich and the powerful, 90% of whom are Hindus, they would ask me to move ahead. Some underprivileged sadhus showed some appreciation of my argument.As I was leaving after two and half hours, I talked to policemen and gave them my flyer. To my big surprise they liked it. Some even said that the issues raised by the Dharam Sansad are election gimmicks, they vitiate the atmosphere. They expressed their willingness to read my book, "People-Centric Nationalism". I gave them three copies.
I realized that the proximity to power has made these people so
arrogant. Any further consolidation in their favor will bring ruthless suppression of every sane voice and dissent. Liberals among
the Muslims are already under fear as they may be booked under POTA without any reason. Liberal Hindus too feel a pressure.In USA, for instance, two decades ago non-political liberal Indians would feel no inhibition in expressing their objective views, among the NRIs, on political and social issues in India. Now they prefer to keep quiet for fear of getting branded as anti-Hindu or anti-nation. It is not that most Hindus are communal but the communalists are well knit and aggressive. In India many adcademic institutions and bodies are being headed by people with affiliation to sectarian organizations. This has emboldened the communal elements from faculty, staff and students to assert their authority. Political affiliation is becoming the overriding criterion for new appointments and promotions, over and above merit and honesty. As a consequence not many voices were heard from academic circles last year against massive Gujarat violence, and
NCERT drive on rewriting of text books. In trade and business, the liberals are in a minority and may get out of favor if they do not
fall in line. Religious institutions are already in control of the sectarian organizations. Thus the space for open minded people is fast shrinking which is a very serious danger.Before closing let me make a comment on subsidy for Haj pilgrimage. The subsidy is like an incentive for business or for keeping the community mum. Each Haj pilgrim spends above eighty thousand rupees of which govt share is effectively twelve or fifteen thousand due to the mode of payment. Secondly, a vast majority of Muslims are economically poor despite hard work and skills as they are not the masters of their economic activity. Their share in ownership, business, administration and political power is less than 3%. The surplus value of their labor adds to the treasury from which subsidy is paid. However, the beneficiaries of subsidy are not the Muslim masses but the better off among them. Hence in place of subsidy, it would be much better if the exploitation of the working classes is stopped and they are helped to start their own enterprises by providing them technical training, initial investment and avenues for marketing their goods.
Madarsas in India are catering to the education of poor Muslims. They have not shown any connection to terrorism. Nevertheless, Madarsa education needs revision because children need to learn mathematics, science and skills to survive in the world. Let regular schools provide good education and reduce the drop out rate from primary and junior high schools from an alarming high of 70%, Muslims children will automatically join them.
Liberal people have a major responsibility of spreading the culture of self enquiry to win over fears and to cut down political life line of cummunal forces.