Tolerance & acceptance count in polarised times
At the conclusion of his much-publicised meditation at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Swami Vivekananda, a leader of spiritual renaissance, has been my ideal, my energy and the source of my spirituality.” Modi is only one of the countless Hindus to be inspired by Swamiji since he entered the nation’s consciousness in the 1890s, primarily through his impactful speech on the Hindu faith at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. His message to the Hindus, and the youth in particular, to be strong but also compassionate, is of everlasting significance. The question is whether Modi’s spirituality is on all fours with the ideals that Vivekananda firmly believed in, lived by and espoused.
Vivekananda and his companions established the Ramakrishna Mission to spread the ideas and ideals of their masters, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and Sarada Maa. The mission has carried forward their spiritual teachings. It is good that the Prime Minister has rejuvenated himself with this spiritualism as he will begin his third term but, for the first time, leading a full-fledged coalition government.
The core of Vivekananda’s understanding of the Hindu way of life was expressed by him in his address at the inauguration of the Parliament of Religions. Calling Hinduism the “mother of religions”, he said: “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth… I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is everyday repeated by millions of human beings: ‘As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee’.” He went on to add: “Sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendent, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.” He concluded with the fervent hope that fanaticism and persecution would end.
I have extensively quoted from Swamiji’s address because his message on central Hindu beliefs is particularly relevant to our polarised times. If ‘tolerance’ and “accepting all religions as true” are the essence of the Hindu faith, it logically follows that all Hindus should accept these propositions and live by them without linking them to the beliefs of the adherents of other faiths. And, political leaders who have been inspired by them should demonstrate their commitment to these ideals through the correct implementation of their policies instead of just mouthing slogans. This obviously can never mean that Hindus should meekly accept deliberate contempt or distortion of their great faith.
The election campaign of the BJP, in particular, drifted away, in part, from the path of tolerance and acceptance. The political class should carefully consider how to preserve the values of tolerance and acceptance even during an election campaign. A model/moral code of conduct can only be upheld if these values are not abandoned during campaigning. Yes, the cut and thrust of arguments and forcefully putting forth views which support a party’s thinking and programmes are part of politics and electioneering. Yes, campaigns can generate heat through criticism and even sarcasm, but should they go beyond all that? Certainly, Swamiji would have been appalled at the utterances of some of the leaders during the campaign.
In a recent article, Modi wrote that as he continued with his meditation at the rock memorial, “the heated political debates, the attacks and counter-attacks, the voices and words of accusations, they all vanished into a void”. The point is that all people are not as spiritually evolved as he is. They cannot forget unkind words. The words remain in memory, gnawing away at their emotions and their sense of self-worth. It can even be asserted that historical wrongs cannot be corrected by causing anguish among large sections of people. Other ways to address them have to be found.
Swamiji denounced sectarianism, bigotry and fanaticism. These characteristics are not the monopoly of any faith. The Constitution, too, mandates that all Indians will be treated equally. It obliges political leaders to make equality the foundational principle of governance. It is insufficient that all sections of the people be given equal access to the advantages of economic schemes for they need the assurance of living their lives without fear and with dignity. They should also have a sense of participation in governance. Some of the political utterances during the campaign sailed close to the characteristics that Vivekananda had denounced.
There is little doubt that ideological battles will continue in India. The past decade has witnessed Modi and the Sangh Parivar’s attempts at putting their stamp on the country. In his speech to the party’s faithful after the election results, Modi asserted that his campaign to make India great would go on. The Parivar wishes to make India great in keeping with its lore of India’s ancient glory. There has been a concerted attempt to change the public culture of India. Naturally, public culture evolves. The Indo-Persianate culture gave way to one infused with British practices. Now, the Parivar derides all that which emerged during Nehru’s India. These changes really do not matter so long as India’s public culture contains the values which Swami Vivekananda mentioned in his Chicago address. This can only mean that tolerance and acceptance be extended to all faiths and their adherents in India. That was lamentably absent in some of Modi’s campaign speeches.
