Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Is there a cure?

Tell me, is there a cure for this obsession? If it is not obsession what could it be?

Yea.. it is me and religion again! But this one was a shocker and I am yet to come to terms with it. In Kerala one is used to chopped off hands, feet, head and hence one may ask .. so what is new? Well, the Keralites take politics very seriously and would be the only species that is ready to die and to kill another ever so ardently in the name of a political party. And since this lawlessness was so ridiculously  let off in many instances, we dulled our conscience and now it is showing it's ugly head in the name of religion. Sadly communism couldn’t cure us from our religious idiocy and whatever good it ever did for Kerala is now being slowly wiped off by the same party.

Now, why should I be blaming the Communists alone when the Congress itself is no better? But the difference is that the Communists used stay away from religion in the yesteryears while now we see them woo every religious leader ardently for votes. We now see all the parties lift and then lower these leaders as and when it suits them. And in turn these religious leaders think themselves to be greater than what they really are. We see them dictate to the faithful from their thrones; asking them to chose the party of their choice.

Kerala is still in shock after the news that the hands of a teacher was chopped off since he offended a certain section of the society. The incident happened some time back and caused much protests and furor. The said teacher was then arrested and continues to be under suspension from the college. But this punishment seemed not enough for a few and hence the unthinkable happened. And the family was threatened earlier too. Now, I am not supporting this teacher if he thought that his religion is above any criticism so as to throw mud on another. But from the facts that I gathered over the net, I read that the play from which he copied the offending part was written by a Muslim himself. It seems the original author himself witnessed a mad man speak thus to God and this was turned into a play. Somehow the name got changed to Mohamed which as you know is the most common name for a Muslim. Honestly speaking, I am not sure if this teacher intentionally changed it but our Education Minister called him a stupid teacher. Well, he could be stupid, but when did one start measuring levels of stupidity only for religious matters? One can point out much sillier, stupider species in his own ministry and not to mention in other political parties too. Can we say “off with their heads/hands/legs/tongue”?

And when did we start behaving like the ancient world or the ones not so far from our country's border?

And if there are sinister elements behind this to disrupt the communal harmony in Kerala then it is time to act.  But I do see a lull among the political parties. Are they scheming to turn this around for their own political gains?

Let me hope that the law of the land rises to the occasion and punishes the culprits.

12 comments:

  1. I try to convince myself every single day that Islamophobia is a creation of western Media.

    No, Muslims themselves are responsible for this. I am sorry to say but this brand of Islam is spreading like a cancer through the society.
    Even I am surprised by my intolerance.

    Islamic leaders made the pope apologise publicly for the comments he made on a byzantine ruler.
    Not a single muslim leader has commented against this incident. Only few small fries did it yesterday.
    And these guys were hailing Dan Brown as tthe greatest writer. They turn very liberal when comments are made against other religions!! Funny

    And we can't blame any political parties for playing communal card. Even educated mallus vote nly for their relegion!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy K, you sound unhappy indeed. With reason.
    Only I am not very sure about the "we start behaving" bit.
    Don't think the average Malayalee would dream of doing something like this.
    This is most definitely an instigation.
    I pray though, that not many get instigated.
    Every time I drive into Kerala, am struck at how different Kerala is from the image of Kerala I treasure and carry with me.
    I know it never was heaven. But it wasn't hell either.
    Sometimes I also think that in the days of one's youth, it must have been tough to understand the undercurrents behind the placid, green waters that is my visual image of Kerala.
    Was I a stupid kid? Maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Jon,
    I understand how you feel. Because I feel like that too.
    But I must say that the Mallu being educated or not has nothing to do with sensitivity or tolerance.
    I am very close to a very well educated Muslim couple (in fact, both of them are educated abroad). But when we pop across for dinner, neither my friend nor her mom-in-law will serve me or sit at the table with me.
    Contrast that with another friend's mother, uneducated. But will sit at the table and twist my ears if I do not finish the 14 kilos of meats that she has scooped into my plate.
    Now, do both vote by religion? I honestly don't know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jon: Think this was done by a few who are out to create strife in Kerala... nd I would also like to blv that this boldness is the result of low rate of apt punishments for crimes in Kerala. and now that it is religious we fear the worst.
    as for voting for religion, is it not time one got out of it? and I dont blv that every mallu educated or not vote for their religion.. I wouldnt :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. PT:Let me continue to blv that the average Malayalee is still as sane as ever, irrespective of their religion..
    but as u said it could be a naive thought too.... there are dark forces which were left unnoticed for too long...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shame on all of us.Besides, has anyone condemned this act?

    ReplyDelete
  7. If this was isolated to Kerala....i would have agreed that this was handiwork of a few muslims

    Ask a Muslim of his stand in murder of Chenganoor Maulvi... I bet no one is going to condemn that

    The deep Islamic intolerance is a result of the fundamentalist Wahabbi version that has uprooted every other versions of Islam.

    Secularism is not just remaining silent.

    Its all about identifying with others

    ReplyDelete
  8. Even to this day there is no relation between education and vote

    In ernakulam constituency everyone try to field a catholic. The winner is decided by the church and I believe none of the voters r uneducated!

    ReplyDelete
  9. BKC: The usual debates etc goes on in the visual media. The act has been condemned by all political parties as well as most religious leaders.. but then they have also discovered a terror link and hence one fears the worst.

    Jon: Couldnt find more on this Maulvi.. any link that you can share?
    The Church needs to distance itself from politics. Let them take care of the spiritual health of the believers. Is this not the job that they have been entrusted with? Why should they meddle with politics?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chengannur Moulvi ....i believe thats what his name was...

    He preached a set of new teachings based on Quran....things like its not mandatory to pray 5 times a day.
    He was killed by some ppl. But no case has been registered as body was not found.
    Till date Muslims are proud of the fact tht he was killed

    ReplyDelete
  11. sorry it was chekanur moulvi...
    Here is the article

    http://www.hvk.org/articles/1200/130.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jon: Sure I have heard of him and did follow the case too... you cannot say that no Muslims condemned his death. He had his own set of followers but yet again the law of the land did not rise up to the situation. The murderers continue to evade the law.

    ReplyDelete

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