FINDING FAULT WITH OUR SECULARISM FOR ALL WRONG REASONS

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a US Congress mandated body reporting to the US President, Secretary of State and the Congress, has found fault with India’s secular credentials for all the wrong reasons and placed the country on its “Watch List”. What do they want to “watch” in an open society like India is anybody’s guess and it could possibly be an euphemism for unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign democratic republic.

For once, India behaved with a sense of diplomatic and political maturity when it denied entry to the USCIRF and the minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, atypical of his cringing boss, expressed his annoyance over the report and said that India need not learn from others about secularism which is inalienable part of Indian traditional and civilizational ethos. Thank God, Dr Manmohan Singh did not enter the scene. He would have said “let us have a composite dialogue over the issue”.

Do you know which are all the countries in this “Watch list”? They are Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Laos, the Russian Federation, Somalia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Venezuela. Demographic profiling of these countries would reveal a pattern in the mindset of USCIRF. Barring Cuba and Venezuela which are anyway hostile to the US, rest are all countries where Islam is the predominant religion with the exception of Laos.

Interestingly, Pakistan does not find a place in this warped list. The minority population in Pakistan has come down to less than 2% from 18% or so at the time of partition. The minority community has the status of second class citizens and they cannot, as decreed by the Constitution, hold high offices. Ahamadiyas are already outlawed in Pakistan. But, if we go by the list of USCIRF, Pakistan must be a secular country giving equal status to its minorities.

Well, where are countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran? Are they secular countries? Do the minorities have a semblance of freedom in those countries? Can the US President carry a copy of the Bible with him when he enters the Saudi territory? Does France permit its minorities to follow their religious practices? President Sarkozy has a plan up his sleeves to impose a ban on Muslim women wearing veil in public places.

Egypt’s inclusion in the list merits attention. It is from this land President Barack Obama wanted to improve relations with the Islamic world, ruled by Sheikhs, kings and dictators, repudiating the theory of “Clash of Civilizations”. But it appears that the US commission is working at cross purposes and it does not seem to care if America’s relationship with peaceful, democratic and secular nations like India is jeopardised.

It is possible that the USCIRF was peeved because it was refused entry into India though it was allowed on previous occasions thanks to the pressure brought up by the so-called secular elements in the country who, in fact, damaged the image of the country with their pathological hatred and prejudice towards the majority community. In 2002, the USCIRF recommended to the state department that India be designated a “country of particular concern” following events in Gujarat.

India is the largest functioning democracy in the world with an independent judiciary, statutorily constituted human rights body, an independent press. Why should it allow another country to meddle with its internal affairs?

The question is who gave the US the right to monitor religious freedom in the rest of the world? According to its own President, racism is alive and kicking in the States despite having elected a Black President. As recently as a week or ten days ago, a highly respected Harvard Professor Gates was put behind the bars for no reason just because of his racial background. We have seen the acrimonious debate over race during the run up to the Presidential Polls last year. So, it does not lie in the mouth of US bodies to talk about the treatment meted out to the minorities in other countries.

Now, let’s come to the facts. USCIRF placed India on its “watch list” because of largely inadequate response in protecting its religious minorities and disturbing increase in communal violence – specifically against Christians in 2008 and Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. The US commission seems to be selective in applying “cause and effect” theory. What caused the unrest in tribal areas of Orissa? Did it ponder over that? It was simply carried away by the propaganda unleashed by the “secular” media and the pseudo-secularists of the country. Did the Commission find out about the diversion of funds , in billions of dollars, from its soil for the cultural molestation of the poor tribals and dalits in the remote areas with the misdirected objective of harvesting of souls.

What sort of freedom it wants when the Western countries trample upon the religious freedom of people in other countries exploiting their social exclusion, poverty and illiteracy. Not only India, but all the Buddhist countries like Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Korea etc are facing similar problems and wherever the missionaries land, there is friction. In fact, Sri Lanka banned religious conversion. First, you create friction among different sections of the society in a country where you have no business to operate and then blame one community for the consequences. If the West, particularly the US, wants communal harmony, let the US commission tell its government that they should stop sending funds and evangelists to other countries for conversion. This will greatly reduce the tension between communities and resultant violence.

As far as Gujarat is concerned, the commission has conveniently forgotten the death of 58 innocent pilgrims which resulted in communal violence.

As I said in the beginning, India is blamed for all wrong reasons. It is not that India does not follow secular principles. It definitely does and overdoes. But, it does to the detriment of the majority community. That is the problem. How do you accept Indian brand of secularism when the government allocate funds for Haj pilgrimage and not for Hindu pilgrimage? It meddles with Hindu temples and their funds, but it is coy when it comes to other religions. Take the field of education. Minority institutions are misusing the privileges. How does the country have different sets of personal law? A secular nation should have uniform personal law and it does have the sanction of our Constitution. But do we have one? So, the US commission, misguided by the indigenous seculars and their shameless propaganda, seems to be barking at the wrong tree.