Violence Is Not Preached In Religion

Few days ago a politician wrote an article trying to analyse and finding a solution for Islamic Terrorism and it was published by a reputed newspaper which now I feel has lost that reputation at least in my eyes for the simple reason that even though people get angry at various situations and don't know what to do except just blame others but they engage in self-control and self-censorship for the fear that what they do might have repercussions in the future, for their country, for their kids or for people in general and that is what is humane. However neither this 'reputed' newspaper and nor this politician seem to be on the same page of the dictionary.

      It’s been happening ever since the twin tower attacks. Since then people have been linking a particular religion as a synonym of terrorism. This way of thinking is not at all rational. Recently Norway had its share of terrorism when a fundamentalist Christian bombed a building and massacred people with his gun in cold blood. I would like to know what this esteemed politician would want to say to that or what would he say when he is asked about the nuns in Odisha who were raped by people who supported their 'saffron' leaders. What would he say about those Sikhs who were killed by the mob just after Indira Gandhi was assassinated? There are no limits to the number of examples that I can give of barbarism that has been committed by people of nearly all religions. 

      Even Ashoka the king attacked and killed people but then he learnt of his folly. He looked in the eyes of the mothers whose sons he had killed, he looked at small children who played unaware that their father was being taken for cremation and how would a wife feel when she is to know that the man she loved for years has been killed in this fight for land. These question are relevant even today, it is only the reason behind this new 'war' that has changed everything else remains the same. Even now kids would be made orphaned; even now parents would just look on as the child who played on their laps is laid to rest before them. Earlier people fought over land and today they fight over god.

      It is strange how people think that only their religion is right and that it their birth right to ensure that others bow down to their way of thinking and follow their religion. Not many thankfully think like that. However there are elements whose ultimate objective is to simply kill of the opposition or ensure that they convert to their form of thinking. That is exactly what that article of this politician hinted at. 

      The sad part of this form of democracy in India is that, even thought people may fight for their rights and talk about more freedom and protest if the state as much as tries to clamp down on even a single right of theirs, the people in India are simply not ready for this form of multi-party democracy. And they won't be until and unless they stop voting on the basis of religion, caste, gender, region etc. This has to stop. How is a country to progress if the people themselves are divided on the basis of these small thing which at the end of the day won't even play a minor role in shaping my future?

      Everybody talks of progress and growth but when will the people themselves grow up and look at each other as humans and not as individuals from a different religion. Humans are supposed to evolve into intelligent life-forms. They are meant to make miracles happen. And miracles do not happen unless one does not think beyond himself/herself. They only happen when an entire community is to be benefited; for even if there is a god, he won't want only one of his kids to have his wish full-filled. He would want the wishes of the entire community's be full-filled. That child who was about to die of a disease survive thanks to a transplant. As the sun is about to set on his life when he is in his seventies, that same kid in him would ignite and he would look around him and ask, how has my existence helped those around me? And as he says this his eyes will first go to the picture of a dog whom he saved from coming under a car. He would look at his family and see that they are crying and he would know that in his life, he has done thing, good thing, for the grave of a bad man does not get any visitors, as Mr. Scrooge had dreamed.

      Thus similarly it is true that whatever religion you may follow you want to end up in heaven. And the gates to heaven do not open for people who have done bad things in their life.  A mother in a movie explains to her son when the son unknowingly talks about killing people of another religion, she says "There are two kinds of people in this world. One who do bad things and the other who do good things. It is up to you who you want to be." This line is absolutely true in life. I for one can never ever even think of killing another human let alone do it for ethnic cleansing. Its the way I have been brought up. My mother used to tell me the same thing that they said in the movie. I have decided who I want to be life. Now it is your chance to decide.

The Time After The Blast

A couple of days ago, a tragedy struck us. Three blasts rocked Mumbai and with it also the country. Nothing could be done about it. News channels aired their favourite 'Are you safe?' programs while papers came up with ridiculous headlines which instead of showing sympathy and support to the victims commercialised their agony. Ministers claimed that it wasn't a failure of intelligence, some questioned that claim while the others simple said that during their rule the number of such incidences were limited and advocated a zero tolerance policy for Terrorism. It didn't bother me what people had to say about the incident. What bothered me was what they did about it and how they helped the people in need.

      I am very happy to say that I wasn't disappointed as the human spirit awoke as the news about the blast spread and people offered their help to the stranded. Social networking sites were full of offers to people to give them a ride home, offering a place to stay and people even from the overseas tweeted to the stranded telling them that they would call the folks of the stranded due to the mobile network being down and all. Nothing more could have been done to show how united the people were. The terrorists only succeeded in revoking those sentiments of unity and sympathy which were not seen on the faces of news anchors as they went into commercial break after having had a chat with their correspondents on the death toll.

      The topic #mumbaiblasts became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter for a couple of hours while tags such as #offer2help came up as people tagged their offers of help and sent around a message to the masses. Some of the stranded responded to the tweets and they were taken care of. People took out their cars and drove up long distances only to help a person stranded at a temple reach home. This simple act of kindness gave me an absolutely strange feeling as I looked on in delight as offers to help flowed.

      The common Indian politics started soon after with many a people blaming certain communities for the tragedy that struck us all. This one thing infuriated me the most and I lashed out at those who were trying to incite communal hatred. Of course they had their own reasons which they childishly tried to prove right in front of us as me and a couple of my friends questioned the very logic behind each of them and proved them wrong. Many a friends of mine on Twitter asked me to not respond to them but then I couldn't help it and gave the irritants a piece of my mind. However trolling continued.

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      Even as the twitterati offered help, news channels went from celebrity to celebrity asking for their opinion on the blast. That according to me was very immature as no person with a rational mind set would support blasts aimed at civilians and true to rationality all condemned the blasts and offered their condolences and sympathy. One thing that did strike me was that the very next day, the city came to a halt quite to the delight of the terrorists whose aim of bringing the city to a stop had been fulfilled. Roads remained empty and offices, schools and colleges recorded the lowest attendance ever. However I did go to college.

      Even as I entered the college there was an eerie feeling. Two souls looked at me as I showed the watchmen my ID and entered the campus. The basketball court was deserted quite unlike normal days when it has people playing and at times talking to each other in groups. Rain poured down as I traced my steps to my lecture room. It seemed like silence had indeed invaded the place. A teacher replied, when asked why the college hadn't declared a holiday stating that the Principal thought that by declaring a holiday they would only be ensuring that the terrorists get what they want i.e. the ability to bring fear into our minds. I sat in my class and talked to five students out of a class of hundred who were present. Only one lecture took place that day.

      What my principle said was indeed true. These acts of bombings had always been meant to bring fear into the minds of the people. Even as leaders visited the victims and talked policy, the roads remained empty. The crows circled the sky as cops wearing raincoats stood at various points eyeing each and everyone who passed them. The terrorists would be caught shortly but what would happen? They would be given a 'free and fair' trial and then they would stay in prison courtesy the Government of India. Next day the city returned to normal as cars honked at each other and students responded with a 'present' to the attendance call. Nothing should ever break this spirit of our again like the way it was broken on that day for till we are here we must refuse to bow our heads to terrorism.

Taxing Religious Institutions in India

For long the government of India has followed a policy of providing subsidies for religious events be it the Haj or be it the Kumbh Mela. For the Kumbh Mela it is more about providing the infrastructure but its the same thing. Recently while reading a blog, I read that every year the govt of India spends more then Rs 600 crore as Haj subsidies. That is so not good. Its vote bank politics at play, a very common thing in India but not a good thing. And if we take a look at the Kumbh Mela then it is a lot more considering the amount of infrastructure the government builds for the event. So all in all is this an unnecessary waste of our hard earned tax money?

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      There is no clear majority on this as some people say that it is a waste while the others support these subsidies and in fact have even urged the government to increase them. I for one am against them. What I believe is that in case of the Haj, the Muslim law states that each person must complete this journey to Haj on his own and using his own resources. Thus to many Muslims this subsidy that the government provides is insulting as it is against that law and I support them if they feel so. Because if such a journey has to be made, then to keep it pure, the individual must exclusively use his own resources and not depend on others. 


      In case of the Kumbh Mela or Amarnath Yatra for that matter. I feel that the government should not heavily invest in infrastructure for short term events like these as they happen at one place and then at another. Thus there is no productivity in it. Besides I feel that the amount of money that the government has spent on such holy pilgrimages would have been enough to develop another Bandra-Worli sea link located in Mumbai and a lot more. But that hasn't been done. The money that the tax-payers earn after having slogged in whether it is their office or in their shops or any place for that matter is being used for this. Of course, if one talks about security then yes, the state must take care of the security issues but that must be the only expenditure made by the state in this regard. The infrastructure that needs to be developed must be developed by the religious bodies which organise these events as they are after all religious institutions established to aid and help every devotee and individual to make their respective pilgrimages. They must not act like profit guzzling private sector institutions.

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      Another thing that I'd like to talk about would be the Taxation Policy of the Government of India in regards to Religion which states that all organisations set up for religious purpouses shall be exempt from taxation. I do not agree with this clause that is there in the India Tax Act, 1961. What I do not understand is why is it that common people like me and you who work hard and do some good with it are taxed and while religious institutions which hardly ever function to do what is demanded of them are not taxed. If you look at it from a numerical point of you then I can say that the religious institutions are the richest in the country. The best example is a temple which has got gold ornaments for the god that resides in that temple. Thus it is quite foolish to tax us who have limited income and not them who have an unlimited income.


      Of course some people might raise the point that religious institutions are many a times charitable in their deeds. They open up schools and hospitals but I would like to ask if whether it is certain that all do that? And if the money from their charitable endeavours if I may say so ever even reaches the needy. If they are engaging in charitable activities and if that has been verified by the government then it is good, they should be given some tax benefit. But while talking about religion and charity, I can't help but bring up the topic of a recently deceased 'saint' who was supposed to be engaged in charitable activities and how his death resulted in a major public figure being caught crying on camera but what I really mean to say over here is that even though he may have been indulging in charitable activities but then why are trucks being ceased with millions of rupees going out from the city of his residence?


      Is there something else that we are not seeing that is there in all of this tamasha, if I may label it that. I won't get into whether there was something more or not for the simple fact that there is nothing to explain. The picture is crystal clear. Something was going on if truck loads of money is being transported from one place to another. However what I would like to point out is that according to the India Tax Act, 1961, all anonymous donations can be taxed till the marginal rate of 30%. And if the income is about 5% of the total income of the institution then it may not be taxed. I think that it is a rather surprising clause.

      It is common sense that if a person wants to convert black money into white money then he will donate it to some institution specifically religious or charitable and then cut a deal with the owner and he will get his money white and part of it will go into the pocket of the chairperson or owner of the institution. And not to forget that what I mentioned above is not application to places of worship like temples, churches or mosques. Thus I think it is a loophole that can be easily exploited. Religious institutions however sacred they are must never interfere with the functioning of the state but yet at the same time they must pay their dues (taxes) like any institution located in the state. People may say that if they are being taxed then they have a right to their opinion and all but according to me religious institutions with huge followings should not make any statements regarding the administration of the state or the policies followed by the state for the simple reason that even they may have meant it in goodwill but people in trying to implement that 'goodwill' might not remain within the civil boundaries that the constitutions marks for the citizens of the country.

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      And the last point that I would like to raise is about the recent treasure worth Rs 1000 lakh crore or about $22 Billion which was found in a temple in Kerala and the ongoing debate regarding the ownership of the treasure. Many devotees have said that the treasure belongs to the temple but I would like to ask them what use is treasure to a temple? Gods have always been against materialistic desires and thus speaking from a devotee's point of view I think that it is an insult to them. And another thing is that even though the treasure was found in the temple but it belongs to the people of India and thus the government should at the most give the temple the founder's share or 10% of the total worth of the treasure which is not a small amount and the treasure should be hosted museums because it is the property of the people. Now if people start questioning ownership on the basis of religion then I will like to remind them that many Hindus like me are not in favour of a treasure being kept in a place as sacred as a temple and the treasure also belongs to us and thus it is public property and hence should be housed in a museum.

      Thus all in all, religion and money are not a good combination although they are a dominant combination for the simple reason being that religion no matter what it is was always meant to be sacred and pure and this introduction of money into the sphere of religion has spoilt that purity that it enjoyed previously while at the same time giving rise to corruption and if I may say insuring that the government losses money. Thus money and religion should be kept separate otherwise there will not be difference between them and the profit-making private institutions. In the end, I would like to just say that this article was not meant to criticise anybody and that it was only meant to shed some light on many facts that people are not aware of. Hence this article should not be taken in the wrong sense.