Looking outside and looking behind
This entry was originally at http://kingsley.blog-city.com/read/57358.htm
Vikas Kamat blogs about the Kilafat Movement saying ” Indian Muslims (as far as I know that is) care more for the events outside of India than the role of Muslims in the Indian Republic “. Maybe some Muslims owe allegiance to their religious heads outside of India, and the same might well be said of Christians as well. What I do not understand is how this is worse than people who owe allegiance to a religious head within India.
As a citizen of this country, I defer to it’s constitution. If someone’s supreme allegiance is to anything or anyone other than the constitution of India, then they atleast have no right to point fingers at others. The thousands of people in this country who owe allegiance to guru’s, swamiji’s, pontiffs, film stars, sundry godmen etc is mind boggling. It’s patently unfair to single out Muslims in this regard. How many Hindus do you know who respect the Sankarachariya more than the the Indian State? If he said “kill Indian Muslims”, would they? Just because someone resides in India doesn’t mean their interests are in line with the nation’s. The conflict of interests exists, and it’s as prevalent among Hindus as among any other religionists. As long as formal religion exists, it needs to be subservient to the state. Any state which allows allegiance to a power higher than it’s own, creates conflicts of interest.
The other problem is that of looking outside (eg, to Rome, to teachers in Mecca) as opposed to looking backward (eg, the Vedic civilization). One is as bad as the other. Both are impractical and dangerous longings for something that is not here and now. While some Muslims and Christians look outside for directions on how to live their lives, some Hindus look backwards at their past. It’s just as ridiculous and needs to be condemned as strongly.
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