secular assault on the sacred

7/30/2019 Secular Assault on the Sacred

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Interestingly, some of the orthodox in the Matham system also opposed his approach,

believing that being exclusively in the garbha griha or Mulavar position preserves

legitimacy. Any deviation to work for this-worldly salvation of people was looked

upon with disdain and considered apostate. In a curious coincidence, the orthodoxy

attacked the Matham for the same reasons for which the secular political forces were

upset! It was, in political parlance, an alliance of the left extreme with the extremeright, to neutralize the middle.

If the State is not secular or neutral, but protective state of Hindu Dharma, this issue

would have been dealt with in a different way. The State would have reprimanded the

orthodoxy or even punished it for being obstructionist. But the secular State is

presumably neutral, but in practice against Dharmic institutions which derive their

legitimacy from thousands of years of tradition.

Invite by China

The invitation to visit China was a major turning point in the affairs of our civilization

and this Matham. The concerned NGO in China would not have invited him to visit

that country without a clearance from the top political authority, knowing how China

functions in these matters. It is fascinating that the Chinese authorities that prohibit

taking the Bible into their country for preaching and who have refused the Papal visit,

invited the head of a Hindu sampradhaya to their country.

Whatever the author could infer from interactions with scholars in India and China,

one could surmise that China welcomes the presence of a non-incursive or inclusive

religion, and that could be the Sanatana Dharma. There is an ancient Chinese beliefthat the best rebirth is in India, as it is a Dharma Bhumi. The experience of China with

Falung Gong, perceived to be sponsored by the CIA, and the problems with the Dalai

Lama, has made Beijing consider other options in terms of religion, which Chinese

society needs.

Any other Government would have jumped at this prospect and tried to arrange the

Seers trip as a geo-strategic move. But the Indian State did not encourage this historic

opportunity to foster civilisational bonds through authentic and legitimate institution

like the Kanchi Matham, but prevented the effort by not reining in the orthodoxy who

protested in the High Court about the pollution involved in crossing shores.

The Indian States neutrality is a threat to the existence of legitimate Dharmic

institutions. Incidentally, this neutrality is only with reference to Indic institutions

since the Abrahamic faiths terrorize the State to achieve their ends. At the time of

independence, the State should have taken over the land and property allocated to the

Church at free or throwaway prices by the erstwhile colonizers, but it did not do so.


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The desert traditions can intimidate the State as they have global backup and

protesters. The second child of Abraham globalizes local conflict using global

networks, while the third child localizes all global conflicts. Witness the death of five

people in Mumbai because Jeremy Falwell, a televangelist in USA, called the Prophet

a terrorist. Witness the outpouring of anger and protests - at the global church level

- to the (false) attack on nuns at Jhabua by Hindu fanatics, when actually it was thework of rowdies from the same faith.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedoms diatribes will be picked up

by our English media to castigate the Hindu majority. Witness the violence against the

arrest of suspects in a criminal /ISI related case (2004) at Hyderabad, where even the

Chief Minister had to observe why the arrests were made in a holy month of Ramzan.

But the Kanchi Acharya could be arrested on Diwali day! Remember the global hue

and cry when the UP police searched the religious school at Nadwa, and how the

Prime Minister intervened and expressed regrets?

Obviously, the State can be secular or neutral only with respect to Indian religions,

which are non-intimidating, and not with respect to the desert faiths. That is why we

encounter such absurd observations like, there has not been any large-scale violence

against the arrest of the Kanchi seer so this does not hurt the public.

We have come to a tragic situation, that unless the State is terrorized it does not care.

That is all the more reason why the Sanatana Dharma needs the protection of the State

or what one may call a Kshatriya State. That State will protect all ancient

Sampradayas and sustain the sacredness of the Indic civilization in letter and spirit.

The author is a Professor of Management; the views expressed are his own

secular assault on the sacred

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