Hathras Tragedy
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The fanaticism manifested in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras which touched around 121 people killed in the stampede is indeed distressing. According to available figures at least 2000 people are reported to have died in stampedes over the past two decades at religious sites and celebrations across India. The superstition inherent in the Indian society is the result of such tragic incidents, but successive governments, and specially the current one, are reluctant to take a strong action in the matter.
Though many enquiries have been ordered in the past, it is a fact that the law enforcing agencies are not quite serious in bringing the ‘godmen’ to book. In Hathras over 2.5 lakh people assembled while arrangements were for just around 80,000. Such massive overcrowding and insufficient exits were worsened by rain that turned the paddy fields into sludges. These incidents repeat as the sadhus are above law and the government is reluctant not to go against people’s superstitious and unscientific attitude towards their power.
In this case also, Bhole Baba the godman, has surprisingly not been named in the FIR. It is understood that he faced several criminal cases, including charges of fraud, land grab and sexual assault in the past. It is also known that he professed to be a reincarnation of various Hindu gods and boasted his capability to heal diseases. It is pertinent here to mention that though the Baba is a Dalit, and his appeal is largely among the socially and economically marginalised, his share of wealthy followers is no less who are lavish with donations. According to media reports, his assets, including luxurious ashrams, amount to Rs 100 crore!
Such godmen, though from humble backgrounds, are patronised by politicians, businessmen, film stars and other celebrities. They are thriving in the country due to the reluctance of the establishment to act against their false claims. It is ludicrous to believe that they are living gods and have magical powers. Obviously, they do not speak to our rational and educated minds. Uneducated people, specially belonging to the opposite sex, though believe them. Festivals and ceremonies are organised to propagate their powers and take money from the uneducated and illiterate sections. In recent times, even astrologers are following this path with assurances of ameliorating the problems faced by an individual.
The women feel confident and are believers in his godly powers. Thus, they continue to allure illiterate women and the establishment is afraid to take strict action as the political class does not want to upset its vote bank. Sociologists are of the opinion that unless adult education is spread in a sustained manner in the villages, such exploitation by sadhus, professing to be descendants of the almighty, would continue unabated. It can very well be said that this is more pronounced in Hindu religion and among Hindu fundamentalists.
While it is a well-known fact that lack of education and high levels of superstition among Hindu women are also responsible, one may also question what the government is doing to bring these godmen to book.The officers who gave permission for the congregation without verifying the number of devotees expected to attend and other necessary details, need to be acted upon. What happened there may also be attributed to be a form of violence of Hindu fundamentalists that Rahul Gandhi recently referred to in Parliament. Hindu nationalism has touched a low ebb and communal harmony is no longer relevant today. But it is surprising that this outspoken Congress leader has yet to question why Bhole Baba has not been named in the FIR, not to speak of conservative BJP leaders.
The fanaticism that has been manifest, if allowed to continue around godmen, who pose as emissaries of God, is dangerous for Indian society, which is aspiring to be a technologically advanced and developed nation. But while education must spread to all corners of the country, civil society organisations should also generate awareness in this regard to the opposite sex. But is the government serious enough in this regard?
Delving deep into the matter of how religion has become exploitative, it can be easily reiterated that Hindutva in its current form involves insensitivity, intolerance, hatred, arrogance and desecration. Those who have embraced this line of thinking, show disrespect for the opposite sex and lynch and crush innocent persons and yet, remain unrepentant. They spread nails and barbed wires on roads to stop protesters from proceeding towards the capital. They enter the places of worship of other religions and desecrate them.
Hindutva epistemology rests on the rejection of available knowledge and sciences. It does not accept the theory of biological evolution and believes that modern Western knowledge has polluted the clear streams of Indian reason and science. There is even not much liking for the IITs and national laboratories to conduct research in basic sciences that are being done the world over.
The school of Hindutva is obsessed with the idea that all knowledge flowed out from India to the rest of the world and is of the opinion that no good knowledge came from outside. Moreover, in its view, no other language, before or after Sanskrit, has contributed to knowledge as much as Sanskrit. Even civilizations like the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Latin are derivative. All this may be propagated in India with great gusto, but these are termed ridiculous by scholars the world over. The current thinking of Hindutva is also not accepted by learned scholars of our country as the disdain for evidence and scientific history is a fact of life and cannot be ignored at any cost.
The attitude of the present government in trying to propagate Hindu nationalism has given a lot more leeway to godmen, who take advantage and exploit superstitious and innocent rural women. It is not known when this will stop or whether at all such fanatic incidents would cease but any rational government should try to control such incidents with an iron hand. Only ordering an enquiry may just be an eyewash, as it is equally important to know the political patronage behind this godman. From rags to riches is normally not possible without direct or indirect support of the political class.—INFA