Faith, belief and worship

 Every religion is a system of faith, belief and worship in a higher power or god who is deemed to be the creator of the universe. Scriptures and commandments illuminate the teachings of the gods.

Rituals are designed by religious leaders, to put “communication systems” in place between god and the believer and to cement their position as the “enablers” between the “power” and the powerless. Religion should have been a haven for all human beings, a private relationship between an individual and the god to whom he prays, for guidance through the turmoil of everyday life.

But religion and rituals have unfortunately become one of the most contentious and divisive issues of modern times.

Yuval Noah Harari sees religion as a source of maintaining the existence of the fragile and imagined structures and ideas created by man himself to enforce organisation and cooperation throughout a society, by providing an explanation that our laws, organisations and ranking are not made by human beings alone but by a supreme authority outside us.

Differences in the precepts and practices of different religions are being exploited by politicians or religious leaders for short-term personal gain. Man turns to god in times of good fortune and misfortune. When knowledgeable persons misguide or misinform the layman on such occasions, religion which is meant to ensure social order causes tension and strife among the believers of different faiths and atheism and scepticism among youngsters. How do we restore the sanctity of any faith? What is the dharma of religion?

Moral law

The Hindu concept of dharma is a moral law governing individual conduct, designed to maintain a stable society. It is the traditional dharma of the parents to sacrifice and provide for their children, the son to look after his ageing parents, of the brother to safeguard his sisters and husband to provide for his family. A change in gender dynamics has altered this concept of dharma, but the essential tenet of “doing what you are supposed to do” continues.

What is the difference between religion and the Hindu concept of dharma? Dharma, which Atharva Veda describes as the oldest customary order, carries with it a comparatively freer, flowing concept which relates to what the individual ought to do in this birth. Dharma does not relate to a divine revelation or faith. Dharma and religion are not the same, though the word dharma is also used to refer to the religious beliefs of a person. Just as an athlete practises his routine religiously, so should any human being do his duty or dharma with religious fervour.

Religious reforms have come about due to the realisation that religious sanctity accorded to any kind of discrimination among believers destroys the very fundamentals of godliness. Vegans or vegetarians follow their preferences like a religion. Atheists are passionate about their faith in the non-existence of a superpower.

Divinity within

Swami Vivekananda believed that though religions are divergent in various aspects, they are not contradictory, and are rather supplementary to each other. He defines religion as the realisation of divinity within us and this realisation is the one universal religion. He said, “To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion.”

Arun Shourie in his book Does He know a Mother’s Heart talks of how organised religion often tends to frighten the believer into submission to a “benevolent” god, through a system of praise and penalties. Religion should, in fact, empower people with a sense of confidence that they are capable of fighting their battles independently.

The obstacles in life cannot be done away with. Religion should help us to develop the capability to counter them.

Himani Datar

Source: The Hindu, 5/12/21

Naga talks: What has caused the stalemate so far, and what impact can killings have?

 The killing of over a dozen civilians in a botched Indian Army operation in Mon district of Nagaland on Saturday is likely to have an impact on an already tottering Naga peace process. The key Naga group negotiating with the Centre, NSCN(I-M), has declared it a “black day” for all Nagas and termed the incident “unprecedented in recent history”, while the Naga National Political Group (NNPG) has blamed the continued implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 for such incidents.

What is the status of the Naga talks?

While a significant number of Naga groups say the talks have concluded and only finer details are being worked out, the NSCN(I-M) has said an accord cannot happen until the Centre accepts Naga people’s demand for a separate constitution and flag. The Centre has said it is in no position to grant these. The NSCN(I-M) has rejected all alternatives— such as cultural flag instead of a national flag and dealing with issues of a constitution after signing the agreement —suggested by the Centre’s points-person, former Intelligence Bureau Special Director Akshay Mishra.

A month ago, the NSCN(I-M) said in a statement: “Ironically, the Government of India is still pretentiously acting stubborn as the crucial rounds of talks that focused on the Naga flag and the Constitution is driven to hang in balance. The stalemate created is unfortunate.”Now the Centre, which had in 2015 announced that the talks had concluded with the signing of a Framework Agreement (FA), sources say, is uncertain when a final deal can be achieved.

How will the killings impact the talks?

Given the public anger against the killings, sources said it has the potential to revive the narrative of India versus the Naga people. “People in these parts quote operations of the 1950s and ’60s to articulate perceived atrocities by the Indian state. So, imagine what a fresh incident can do,” a senior Nagaland official said.

Sources said the killings could be exploited by certain insurgent groups to recruit and even strengthen the hands of the NSCN(I-M), which will likely push for its demands with greater vigour given that the government is on the back foot. Even groups seen being in favour of signing the deal quickly will have to reflect the public anger to remain relevant, sources said.

The NNPG, which comprises seven insurgent groups that have so far supported the peace talks process, rescinding many of its earlier demands such as separate flag, said in a statement that the actions of the military have “belittled the commitments made by the Indian Prime Minister and Home Minister”. It said, “The draconian laws in Nagaland and military atrocities over many decades have made Naga people very aware that they are not and will never be Indians.”

Why is there a stalemate despite the FA?

Sources say the FA itself is turning out to be the biggest roadblock before a final deal. Government officials say the wordings are so vague that both sides have interpreted them according to their own convenience.

The NSCN(I-M) has argued that the FA is clear that India and Nagaland would share “sovereign power” and coexist as “two entities”. This, it has argued, is affirmation that India accepts the desire of Naga people for sovereignty and staying within India as a separate entity. It has said this simply means India had agreed to a separate flag and constitution for Nagaland. The Centre has said there is no question of granting sovereignty to a state within India and so both the flag and the constitution are out of the question.

What does the FA say?

About the dialogues held since the 1997 ceasefire agreement between the Centre and the NSCN(I-M), it says, “The GoI-NSCN dialogue led to a better mutual understanding. While the GoI, in expression of the understanding recognised the unique history and position of the Nagas, the NSCN understood and appreciated the intricacies of the Indian system…

“Both sides… are cognizant of the universal principle that in a democracy sovereignty lies with the people. Accordingly, the government of India and the NSCN, respecting people’s wishes for sharing sovereign power as defined in the competencies, reached an agreement on the 3rd August, 2015 as an honourable solution. …It will provide for an enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities.”

What is the problem with the FA?

Sources said the FA did not clearly spell out how much political space the Centre was willing to cede or not cede for Naga self-determination. They said phrases such as “unique history and position”, “sovereignty lies with the people”, “sharing sovereign power”, and “peaceful coexistence of the two entities” were open to interpretation by both sides.

The NSCN(I-M) has argued that references to sharing sovereignty and coexistence as two entities simply mean that Nagaland would remain a sovereign within India with its own constitution and flag. While the Centre has never articulated its interpretation, former Naga talks interlocutor said last year that NSCN(I-M)’s interpretation was “preposterous lies” and that the Centre has “never ever talked, much less negotiated” on territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country with anyone.

NSCN(I-M) last year accused Ravi of “craftily” tweaking the FA by removing the word “new” from “enduring inclusive new relationship”. It made the FA public.

“The FA is so poorly drafted that it leaves the Centre with very little space to spell out what it can’t give. It reads like an agreement between two hostile nations where they keep the wordings so vague that no promise made or understanding reached appears final. Had there been no FA, probably, we would have had a deal by now,” a senior government official said.

Sources said the signing of the FA also established NSCN(I-M) as the main group negotiating with the government in letter, leaving other Naga groups — which Ravi tried to engage with later — lower in the hierarchy.

Why was such an FA drafted?

Government sources say the wording, however poor, was informed by the politics of 2015. “Flag and constitution were not such touchy issues as a state with precisely these rights (Jammu & Kashmir) existed then. It may be argued though that those drafting it should have pondered over the ruling party’s ideological position on Kashmir even then and advised the political top brass accordingly. Now, after the decisions of August 5, 2019 on Jammu and Kashmir, these issues have become non-negotiable,” another government official said.

Sources said, in fact, oral assurances of Naga flag and “unique space” in the Indian Constitution had been made to the NSCN(I-M) during negotiations before August 5, 2019.

What is the road ahead?

The Centre would have to assuage public anger arising out of the Saturday’s killings through an impartial and quick probe, followed by action on those responsible.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced in Parliament that a Special Investigation Team has been instituted by the state government.

Only after the government can convince people that it means well, despite the killings, can the Centre can resume discussions, sources said. “The pitch has been queered. Now the only solution is for the government to clearly declare what it cannot give and then ask NSCN(I-M) to negotiate on other issues,” a senior official from Nagaland said.

Written by Deeptiman Tiwary

Source: Indian Express, 7/12/21

How farmers’ movement embodies a politics of hope

 

Indrajit Roy writes: The farmers’ protests remind us that hope is not delusional. It is attentive to the difficulties of the present moment, but appreciates the possibility that something unexpected could arise

The triumph of the farmers’ movements against the unpopular farm laws holds important lessons for those hoping to politically defeat the BJP. After all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s climbdown on the farm laws represents the most significant political retreat by his government in its two terms, despite its crushing dominance in Parliament. The success of the farmers’ movement is testimony to the audacity of hope.

Hope is, first and foremost, about not giving up. When the farmers’ unions first called for a Bharat bandh back in September 2020, few had expected the government to listen, much less repeal the farm laws at any point soon. But the farmers did not give up. Through the chilly north Indian winter, they persisted in their protests. Despite unfavourable media coverage and hostile state governments in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, they continued their agitation. Harbouring hope is no easy task. It involves struggle. Living in hope means taking the next step despite being confronted by oppression.

The farmers’ protests remind us that hope is not delusional. It is attentive to the difficulties of the present moment, but appreciates the possibility that something unexpected could arise from the wreckage of the present. When sections of the protesting farmers turned violent in Delhi on the eve of Republic Day earlier this year, the movement recognised the danger in which it was. They recognised that the government, supported by a pliant media, would use this opportunity to paint them all as anti-national, seditious and traitorous. Rakesh Tikait, the farmers’ leader, broke down on national television in anticipation of their forceful eviction from the protest sites by the central government. His tears taught us yet another lesson about hope: It accepts the reality of grief, loss and uncertainty.

As we now know, Tikait’s tears turned the tide. The farmers did not give up their agitation, but expanded their footprint to small towns and villages across the country. For example, September saw a massive mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar, Tikait’s home ground, in which almost 5,00,000 people participated.

The uncertainty that farmers faced did not prevent them from thinking through and taking action. As the feminist bell hooks reminds us, living in hope is linked with a basic trust in life that motivates the “next step”. It is about believing that our families, cultures and societies are important, and for whom it is worth living and dying. Far from being a hindrance to action, as the philosopher Hannah Arendt feared, hope is about confronting oppression and believing that there’s a way out. The farmers dispersed their protests across towns and villages, often at great peril to their own lives, as the ghastly incidents in Lakhimpur Kheri showed.

Living in hope demands that we carefully and sensitively craft novel alliances that could open new possibilities. Building and sustaining social coalitions was another lesson the farmers’ movement taught us. Without a doubt, the protests originated in the anxieties of the big Hindu and Sikh farmers of the Jat community, dominant castes in their respective villages. These narrow social origins have since diffused to include support from such diverse social groups as the Dalit Army, the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Samiti and the Khet Mazdoor Unions. Furthermore, the Hindu Jat farmers appear to be seeking reconciliation with their Muslim neighbours in western Uttar Pradesh, almost a decade after communal violence ripped the social fabric of that region.

The alliances demanded by the political practice of hope broadens people’s horizons. Writing in the shadows of Nazism, the historian Ernst Bloch makes exactly this point in his epic three-volume study The Principle of Hope. “The emotion of hope goes out of itself,” he writes, “makes people broad instead of confining them”. Like the protests against the CAA-NRC, the farmers’ movement teaches us the crucial importance of building solidarities across social divides to the politics of hope.

Our world is plagued by crisis, uncertainty and prospects of a catastrophe. Under such circumstances, it is tempting to fixate on collapse rather than focus on repair. A politics of hope is indispensable to confronting the social, economic and political troubles of our time. The farmers’ movement reminds us how we might practice it in trying times.

Source: Indian Express, 7/12/21

Quote of the Day December 6, 2021

 

“Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.”
Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993)

“जीवन में खुशी का अर्थ लड़ाइयां लड़ना नहीं, बल्कि उन से बचना है। कुशलतापूर्वक पीछे हटना भी अपने आप में एक जीत है।”
नॉरमन विंसेंट पील (१८९८-१९९३)

Current Affairs-December 5 – 6, 2021

 

India

• Uttarakhand: PM inaugurates and lays foundation stone for multiple projects worth Rs 18,000 crore
• India on its way to achieve population stabilisation: MoS Health Bharati Pravin Pawar
• Navy Day celebrated on Dec 4
• Former CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh Konijeti Rosaiah of Congress dies at 88
• Veteran journalist Vinod Dua dies at 67
• President inaugurates centenary celebrations of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament
• India-Maldives joint military Exercise EKUVERIN being conducted in Maldives from Dec 6 to 19
• Indian Navy’s 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, that bombed the Karachi Port and sunk Pakistan Navy’s vessels in the 1971 war, to receive the President’s Standard on Dec 8
• ‘Public Service Ethics – A Quest for Naitik Bharat’, a book by former cabinet secretary and former Jharkhand governor Prabhat Kumar, released
• Manipur: AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates 50 Bed Integrated Ayush Hospital in Moreh
• Nagaland: 11 civilians gunned down by security forces in Mon district
• Heavy rains lash Odisha as remnants of cyclone Jawad near coast
• TRS member Banda Prakash resigns from Rajya Sabha
• Veteran Kannada actor Shivaram passes away in Bengaluru at 83
• ‘Sandhayak’, first of the four ships under Survey Vessel (Large) project for Indian Navy, launched at GRSE, Kolkata

Economy & corporate

• Defence Minister delivers inaugural address at MSME Conclave organised by Department of Defence
• Bureaucrat Alka Upadhyaya appointed Chairperson of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)
• Sanjay Bandopadhyay appointed Chairman of Inland Waterways Authority of India
• Asok Kumar appointed Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga
• Neelam Shammi Rao appointed as Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees’ Provident Fund Organization
• External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar addressed fifth Indian Ocean Conference in Abu Dhabi
• Indonesia: Eruption of Mount Semeru volcano kills 14 on Java island
• International Volunteer Day observed by UN on Dec 5; theme: ‘Volunteer now for our common future’
• World Soil Day observed on Dec 5; this year’s campaign “Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity”

World

• Indian-American mathematician Nikhil Srivastava, 2 colleagues selected for inaugural Ciprian Foias Prize
• International Day of Banks celebrated by UN on Dec 4
• UAE to buy 80 Rafale jets from France in $18-billion deal
• Afghan trucks can carry Indian aid via Pakistan

Sports

• New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel takes 10 wickets in an innings at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, 3rd in 144-yr Test history after England’s Jim Laker and India’s Anil Kumble
• AIFF bars Chennai City FC from participating in the upcoming edition of the I-League
• Argentina defeat Germany to win men’s Junior hockey World Cup at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar; India get bronze
• Malaysia beat India 2-1 to win men’s Asian team squash championships in Kuala Lumpur
• 2021 BWF World Tour Finals badminton tournament in Bali, Indonesia: Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) and An Se-young (South Korea) win men’s women’s singles titles respectively
• Russia defeat Croatia 2-0 in Madrid to win Davis Cup tennis tournament in Madrid

Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents

 

Vol. 56, Issue No. 49, 04 Dec, 2021

Book Reviews

Lighting Asia, the Colonial Way

Sundar Sarukkai

Indian Agriculture Over Time - In Search of Political Economy

Srishti Yadav

Perspectives

Lockdown and Reopening the Economy - Spatial Dynamics of COVID-19 for India

Pritam Datta, Chetana Chaudhuri

Special Articles

Development Banks and the Changing Contour of Industrial Credit in India

Shromona Ganguly, Mohua Roy

Reimagining India’s Social Science Research Policy

Sukhadeo Thorat, Samar Verma

Price Risk of Central Government Securities in India - An Analysis of Its Determinants

Ajit Dayanandan, Jai Chander, N R V V M K Rajendra Kumar

Commentary

Marketing and Procurement of Cotton - Farmers’ Experiences in Adilabad District of Telangana

Abhilasha A, Aldas Janaiah

Gendered Impact of Endosulfan Poisoning - A Study from Palakkad District of Kerala

Daisy John, Nanda Kishore Kannuri

Recognising Ambedkar - An Identity or An Idea?

Jadumani Mahanand

Foodstuffs Market Regulation - The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and After

Manish Kumar

Alternative Standpoint

Dalits in Rural Cooperatives of Nepal

Abin Ojha, Bibhuti Bhushan Malik

Letters

Pegasus and the Law

Paarth Naithani

On Janjatiya Gaurav Divas

Sabhavat Premkumar, Srinivas Vuikay

Editorials

Revamped Poverty Estimates

Comment

India’s Progress beyond Demographic Indicators

From the Editor's Desk

Constitutional Limits to Ridicule

Gopal Guru

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: The Final Option

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Is religious conversion a criminal issue?

 The Church is against any form of incentivised conversions. Even in the case of inter-religious marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act, the non-Christian partner is counselled to practise his or her own religion. There is no compulsion to convert to Christianity as religious tolerance is a part of Indian ethos. However, if there are cases of incentivised conversion, is criminal law the solution?

In an address to the All Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights (AKUCFHR) on November 19, Peter Machado, the Archbishop of Bangalore, said it was a sin to force anyone to convert. Any conversion had to be from the heart as the Church wanted to increase the quality and not quantity of its faithful.

In a letter to the Karnataka Chief Minister, Dr. Machado says, “Thousands of schools, colleges and hospitals are run and managed by Christian community across the State. When lakhs of students are graduating from these institutions year after year and thousands of patients irrespective of caste, creed or colour receive the best medical attention from our hospitals and care centres, let the government prove that even one of them has ever been influenced, compelled or coerced to change his or her religion.”

It is noteworthy that L.K. Advani, Vasundhara Raje, Pratap Simha, S. Jaishankar, Smriti Irani, J.P. Nadda and Piyush Goyal are senior leaders of the BJP who had obtained their education from Christian institutions.

On religious conversions, the Pew Research Centre (PRC) makes a few observations: “An overall pattern of stability in the share of religious groups is accompanied by little net gain from movement into, or out of, most religious groups. Among Hindus, for instance, any conversion out of the group is matched by conversion into the group. Nationally, the vast majority of former Hindus who are now Christian belong to Scheduled Castes (48%), Scheduled Tribes (14%) or Other Backward Classes (26%). Nearly half of converts to Christianity (47%) say there is a lot of discrimination against Scheduled Castes in India, compared with 20% of the overall population who perceive this level of discrimination against Scheduled Castes. Still, relatively few converts say they, personally, have faced discrimination due to their caste in the last 12 months (12%).”

Root causes

If there are cases of incentivised conversions, the solution lies in addressing the root issues: ending discrimination, providing high quality and free education to the poor and disenfranchised, improving access and quality of free health facilities and medicines, improving nourishment and providing adequate employment opportunities to all. This would automatically address the issue of violent extremism prevalent in some parts of the country. Violence, in thought, word or deed, cannot be solved with more violence. Though the proposed anti-conversion Bill is considered oppressive and Christians are being physically attacked by fringe elements, the Christian community is firmly resolved in its service to society through love and shall continue to pray for the political leadership.

Are there other conditions that we Indians need to reflect upon? The study by the PRC with a sample of 22,975 Hindus, 3,336 Muslims, 1,782 Sikhs, 1,011 Christians, 719 Buddhists and 109 Jains, points out the following: “religious groups generally see themselves as different from each other; stopping inter-religious marriage is a high priority; substantial minorities would not accept followers of other religions as neighbours.” The study also observed that caste is a dividing factor across religions.

The late Justice Leila Seth pointed out in her TEDx talk that the early implementation of the anti-dowry laws only made the public display of dowry disappear but eradicating dowry required a change in attitudes and mindset. Addressing cases of incentivised conversion would require a holistic approach.

In a world that is growing in anger, hate, selfishness, greed, isolation and apathy, Christians do want to convert people to love, compassion, kindness, openness, empathy and selflessness, which are visible through actions. While these are human values, Christians value them as the basis of their lives. The Constitution being the guiding book of all Indians, Dr. Machado expressed complete faith in Constitutional values and the Judiciary.

Writtten by Vikram Vincent

Source: the Hindu, 5/12/21