India's Syncretic Culture Is Being Damaged By Communal Politics
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
9 January
2024
Ancient
India Respected Religious Diversity
Main
Points:
1. Baba Budan
Giri Dargah in Karnatak is revered by both Hindus and Muslims.
2. Haji Malang
Dargah in Maharashtra is visited by both Hindus and Muslims.
3. Krishna
Janambhumi and Shahi Idgah exist together in Mathura for centuries.
4. Hindu and
Buddhist holy places also existed together in ancient India.
5. After
Independence, religious places were presented in the light of divisive
politics.
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Illustration:
Pariplab Chakraborty
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Mr Ram Puniyani
has presented the case of India's syncretic culture with the examples of
temples, mosques and Dargahs standing side by side in many places across India.
Dargahs were and are still revered by both Hindus and Muslims.
Baba Budan
Giri Dargah in Karnataka, Haji Malang Dargah in Maharashtra and many other
shrines of Sufis are revered and visited by Hindus as well as Muslims. Dargah
of Khwaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer is also a place that is held in reverence by
followers of all the religious communities. The Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple and
Shahi Idgah exist together in Mathura. But after the Independence, communal
politics started to damage this syncretic culture for political dividends.
Not only
temples and Dargahs but also Hindu and Buddhist religious structures stood
together in the middle ages. Last year, an idol of Nag Devi was found in Patna
by archaeologists. The idol is 1300 year old and belonged to the Pala period
when Buddhism was the dominant religion in India.The idol was found in the pond
adjacent to the Nalanda University which was a seat of learning of Buddhist
religion from the fifth century to the 12th century. The archaeologists believe
that there was a temple of Nag Devi adjacent to the Nalanda Mahavihar. This is
one of the many examples of religious diversity and religious tolerance in
India during the middle ages. But after Independence, this spirit of diversity
and tolerance was interpreted in a communal way. Such communal interpretations
of religious history of India has paid dividends to some political parties
encouraging them to search for more such religious places in India.
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By
Ram Puniyani
9 January
2024
On December
6, 1992, the biggest organised attack on a heritage structure, the Babri
Masjid, took place in the presence of state forces. The Ram Lalla idols were
taken out and housed in a makeshift temple. Now, Ram temple is being
inaugurated with a different idol of Lord Ram.
Hysteria is
being generated nationwide and around the world in nearly 50 countries due to
the upcoming inauguration of the Ram Temple by Narendra Modi, the Prime
Minister of a secular state. Simultaneously, all wings of the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are mobilising people across the nation to observe the
day as Diwali, encouraging visits to local temples and organising programmes in
celebration.
The whole
trajectory, from the demolition to the planned inauguration, has yielded rich
electoral dividends for the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party, wedded to the
agenda of the Hindu Rashtra. In a way, this whole event tells us as to how the
act of demolition, marked by violence, and the subsequent inauguration of the
temple, has been a journey that intensifies polarisation along religious lines.
Other
experiments have also been undertaken on similar lines.
In
Karnataka, the issue of Baba Budan Giri Dargah arose. This syncretic place,
like many Sufi shrines, had been visited by both Hindus and Muslims. In the
1990s, the communal forces raised a campaign that this Dargah is a Hindu shrine
and Muslims have occupied it.
The site is
mentioned as Sri Guru Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Darga in the government
records… The place is also called Baba Budangiri and Dattatreya Peetha. Before
1964, the shrine was revered by both Hindus and Muslims. It symbolised Sufi
culture and unity of Hindu and Islam cultures. What was a pilgrimage spot for
the two faiths has become a disputed site between Hindus and Muslims.
Now the
dispute is in the court, but through this journey, the BJP has succeeded in
consolidating its base for the first time in a southern state, and this matter
has become a constant source for polarisation.
In
Hyderabad, the Bhagyalaxmi temple, situated adjacent to the Charminar wall, has
been gradually expanding to sow the seeds of discord.
In
Maharashtra, near Mumbai, the Haji Malang Dargah has been brought into dispute
and chief minister Eknath Rane is reviving the campaign to claim the dargah as
the Hindu place of worship. The agitation was begun by Shinde’s mentor Anand
Dighe in 1982.
“The first
communal tensions over the structure, which signifies the syncretic culture of
Maharashtra, occurred in the 1980s when Shiv Sena leader Dighe started a
protest, claiming it was located at the site of an old Hindu shrine belonging
to Nath Panth, an order of yogis. He claimed the shrine belonged to Hindus as
it was the site of a 700-year-old Machindranath temple,” according to the
Indian Express.
The Shiv
Sena leaders started visiting the place on the day of the Urs. And that was the
beginning of the tension. The matter is also in court.
The Centre
for Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai sponsored a fact-finding team,
which also interviewed the trustee of the dargah Trust, Kashinath Gopal Ketkar,
as per whom, “They don’t have any sort of proof, either documentary or
whatsoever” that it was a temple of the Nath sect.
He said
that “the presence of Muslims is declining during Urs because of this
controversy, but people come later on all the year round.”
On being
asked what he thought of the renaming, he said: “I don’t like it and I am
rather pained to feel such things are being fomented. It is beyond doubt that
the shrine belongs to Muslim Sufis, but his devotees cut across all the
countries.” He further said: “People of 40 villages around the hill will
continue to say Haji Malang because they have deep-rooted devotion towards the
shrine, but those who have the mischievous intention will say whatever it suits
them.” The Hereditary Trustee also said: “Our aim is to provide good services
to his devotee without any discomfort”
Another
research scholar, Rama Shyam, who did her doctoral research on the syncretic
traditions of India, with a focus on this Dargah, in an interview to the Indian
Express, on January 8, in Mumbai, said that the Ketkar family has the records
which show their association with the Dargah for over 360 years. Regarding the
history of the place of Haji Malang baba and various shrines that line the
entire path from foothills to the top, there are stories in oral tradition
which pass through the generations. It is said that Baba Malang came here all
the way from Medina.
The oldest
reference to Malang Gad Hills dates back to 1774 during the Anglo-Maratha war.
The Thane Gazetteer of 1882 does mention the Bawa Malang fair held in these
hills, a fact also confirmed by the CSSS report cited above.
The
deliberate attempts to create a dispute around the heritage structures, either
to claim that they were Hindu places appropriated by Muslims and need to be
reclaimed, is a time-tested method by sectarian forces.
India is
replete with these sacred spaces visited by people of all religions. The
interesting story about the pilgrims of Sabarimala temple, who first visit St.
Sebastian Church and then go to the mosque of Wavar, showcase a longstanding
point of syncretism in India that has endured for centuries. However, due to
the menacing form taken by sectarian nationalism, even the Sunehri Bagh Mosque
is now being targeted, ostensibly in the name of traffic issues.
The major
strength of India’s religious traditions are these spaces where people from
different religions intermix. With the ascendance of communal politics, most of
the Dargahs are either being targeted and Sufis are being demonised. Sadly the
very traditions of intermixing are being looked down upon.
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Ram
Puniyani is president of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/india-syncretic-culture-communal-politics/d/131485
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