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Let the law take its course

Ekam sad, bahuda vadanti vipravaah -- there is but one truth which the learned call by many names."

That line is the very core of Hinduism. Unlike some other religions it doesn't claim that the Creator can be called by just one name. But it does more, it specifically says that even those who take different roads to approach the Almighty are "learned", not pagans or even misguided.

It is that liberality which makes me proud of being a Hindu. That is why I am so disgusted at the antics of some self-proclaimed guardians of Hindutva in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Burning chapels in the tribal areas of Gujarat does no favour to the proud name of Hinduism. Nor is digging up the pitch at Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla cricket ground or ransacking the Board of Control for Cricket in India's office in Bombay evidence of nationalism.

I am not condoning the acts of the missionaries in Gujarat leave alone the Pakistani-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. With reference to the first, I can do no better than quote Pope John Paul II; when he visited Brazil he referred to the Protestant evangelists in that predominantly Catholic nation as "wolves" who preyed upon the faithful. The Pope was referring to another branch of the same religion. Should we be surprised if an assault up to another faith altogether provokes strong reactions?

That said, India, unlike the Vatican, is a secular state. Our Constitution grants freedom of religion to all Indian citizens. Yes, there is scope for debate on whether that freedom includes the right to assault other faiths by conversion. (The point, incidentally, is now being seriously discussed even by the UNESCO.) But until Parliament or the Supreme Court says otherwise, I think we should interpret the law to state that missionary activities are permitted.

There is also an argument to be made against going ahead with the proposed Test series with Pakistan. It is nonsense to say that politics and sports don't mix. There's a long history proving the contrary. In 1974, India decided to boycott the Davis Cup finals rather than play South Africa and later chose not to participate in the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games to protest against the Thatcher administration's relations with the same apartheid regime.

Pretoria, unlike Islamabad, never deliberately planned to undermine the entirety of the Indian State. It was not responsible for nineteen thousand deaths in a single decade. Yet India forswore all relations, sporting or otherwise, with South Africa. If cricket and politics indeed don't mix, why is it that we never saw the likes of Barry Richards, Graeme and Peter Pollock, and all the rest dishing it out with Sunil Gavaskar and the great spin quartet?

Unfortunately, Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena never made the case by pointing out the facts. They did not challenge it through, say, a public litigation. Instead, they made a wanton assault on public property and, even worse, on public sentiment. Do you remember the Prudential World Cup victory in 1983, the World Championship in 1985, and that amazing win in Dhaka last year against Pakistan?

Those are amongst the most cherished moments in the lives of millions of Indians. What right did the thugs who broke into the BCCI offices have to break the mementoes of those hours?

Cricket provides us with precious hours of relief from a harried existence, uniting everybody from Kashmir to Kerala and from Kamrup to Kathiawad. It can be argued that something with such capacity to ignite such passions from so many is not the ideal vehicle to foster feelings of friendship with Pakistan. But that misses the point, which is that the Shiv Sena has broken the law.

So too have the people who set fire to churches and prayer-halls in the Dangs district of Gujarat. There are other ways of protecting Hinduism than by assaulting people. Hindus revere Adi Shankaracharya for reviving the faith when the tides of history seemed to be against it, yet the great philosopher never once raised his hand against the adherents of other religions. Are the fanatics in Gujarat greater guardians of my faith than the sage of Kaladi?

However, it is not just the handful of miscreants who are on trial; so too are the leaders of the BJP. It is commonly believed that such acts are going unpunished because they have the implicit support of the ruling party. Isn't it time for the BJP to make it clear that the reverse is true, even at the cost of snapping links with their former political allies if need be?

T V R Shenoy