Divisive Religiosity: How The Country Has Changed in A Decade
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
6 January 2024
"We never knew that the
student standing next to us was a Muslim, Christian, Hindu etc. etc..... We
just knew this one had a great lunch box; this one could kick the ball real
far, this one was a bookworm, I've a crush on this one etc. etc. Where did this
nonsense begin?"
I received this WhatsApp post from a professor friend of
mine which got me thinking. This nonsense began a decade ago. Today, every
individual is acutely aware of his/her religion and caste and is very well
conscious of his/her friends and acquaintances' faiths and their castes.
In just a decade, the
psyche of a whole nation has undergone a sea-change. We're now Ram Bhakts,
Sita Bhakts, Krishna Bhakts, this Bhakt and that Bhakt.
The handful of sane people among us never envisaged this to happen. This
extreme polarisation and sickening segmentation have divided the people of this
country. Now kids are chanting Jay Sri Ram.
An acquaintance of mine told me that the class teacher of
her daughter told all the students to chant Jay Sri Ram regardless of
their faiths. That this is happening at an elite school in Poona is all the
more sinister and worrisome. Why are children being sucked into the vortex of
divisive religiosity?
Pew survey on religiosity in India has found that youngsters
are now more into religiosity. This is alarming. Twenty nine percent of people
in the age group of 20 to 30 are extremely devout to the point of being
fanatic. These young people are from all faiths, not just from Hinduism. When
this kind of militant religious thinking becomes overwhelming, how can such
(young) people like and love others when they grow 'old’?
The 'otherness' has already become obvious. The innocence of
childhood has been replaced with the hardness of religion and sect. Youngsters
are attending Satsang, watching religious channels, chanting mantras and
following a bucketful of spurious Babas and Gurus. Well,
ostensibly it seems encouraging that instead of watching porn on their laptops
and smartphones, these youths are getting drawn to ' spirituality.' I'm afraid
they're getting drawn to toxic religiosity which is as bad as porn addiction.
Just the way, young Muslim men are sporting beards and
saying the most disgusting Allah Hafiz instead of age-old euphonic Khuda
Hafiz, Hindus are also displaying their tilak and chanting Jay Sri Ram.
A Punjab-based Sikh journalist friend with a Punjabi daily told me that he went
to a religious meeting of young Sikh guys who were in their early 20s. The
topic of discussion was why Sikhs should eat jhatka meat and never consume Halal
meat as Halal meat is prohibited in Guru Granth Sahib.
Just imagine, 20-something youths are wasting their time on
jhatka and Halal! This is shameful. But religious behaviour is always
contagious. What started ten years ago has spread all over and affected the
people of all faiths. Say, Jay Sri Ram! Wahe Guru! Allah hu Akbar! Jay
Jinendra....
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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/spiritual-meditations/divisive-religiosity-country-decade/d/131462
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