Religious Frenzy In Maharashtra - Religion Is A Curse And A Scourge Of Mankind
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
3 October
2023
The
recently concluded Ganeshotsav, a yearly 10-day nightmare for all sane people
living in Maharashtra, ended with unprecedented noise that crossed all
permissible limits. It caused uneasiness, vomiting, blood vomiting at that, haemorrhage,
dizziness and even death. Absolute ruckus overwhelmed Maharashtra, esp. Poona,
Bombay, Satara and western part of the state.
Maharashtra
CM Eknath Shinde at Lucknow airport en route to the Ayodhya Ram Temple | File
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This
Ganeshotsav was blatantly used for the promotion of Ram, the new national deity
of Hindu India. On the last day; id est, on the day of immersion, blaring songs
and Bhajans glorifying Ram were played non-stop for more than 30 hours.
Inebriated
devotees of Ganesh were dancing and singing, nay braying, like zombies. Some
extremely reprehensible political songs like, "Sri Ram Janaki Baithe
Hain Mere Seene Mein" and "Bharat Ka Baccha-Baccha Jai Sri Ram
Bolega" were played ad nauseam.
Completely
unemployable and lowly Hindu youths were indulging in all sorts of Tamasha,
prompting one to think that religion is indeed meant for the riffraff and scum
of the earth. Veteran journalist and columnist Janardan Thakur once wrote in
now-defunct Patna-based daily 'Searchlight’, "Religion provides temporary
financial sustenance to unemployed youths of India. In a way, religion,
stripped of its religiosity, divinity or godliness, is a potential source of
income for the people who're good for nothing".
Very
correct observation, one must say. In West Bengal and Maharashtra, unmitigated
wastrels and vagabonds indulge in, what they call, Pooja activities: Ganesh
Pooja, Durga Pooja, Kali Pooja and all that Pooja. These waifs and waste
products terrorise and threaten simple folks and shopkeepers and extort money
from them in the name of Pooja decoration and other things. They pocket
that money and splurge on drinking and debauching. In other words, religion is
used or abused for all dubious purposes.
This is the
reason, religion is a curse and a scourge of mankind. Now this anathema is
poised to swallow the entire world. Muslims are killing Muslims and Kafir
in the name of their draconian Allah and Islam. Hindus are also following suit.
Why should they (Hindus) lag behind in the department of fanaticism and morbid
religiosity? Alas, there seems to be no place for the sane, godless and rank
irreligious people like yours truly.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/religious-frenzy-maharashtra-curse-mankind/d/130809
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