Ref:- Separation of state (politics) & religion a must, whether secular state or not.
Dear Sir
This refers to Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan's statement widely reported in Indian electronic and print media that in the backdrop of three Indians allegedly found involved in Glasgow terror blast, Manmohan talked to Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, where he implored Brown to not label the communities such as Indians or Muslims or Asians etc. as terrorists because as a Sikh he understands the trauma of being labelled.
Manmohan is obviously referring to the labelling of Sikhs as terrorist due to what happened in Punjab during eighties which resulted in operation Blue Star (where Indian Military had to enter Golden Temple premises / Akal Takht at Amritsar to rescue it from the well entrenched terrorists) and which ultimately culminated in the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the ex- Prime Minister of India, by her two Sikh guards in 1984.
Sikhs are easily the most lovable people in India who have never been given their due credit in lieu of their immense sacrifices and hard work in the interest of keeping India and its predominantly Hindu civilisation surviving / going. At the same time Muslims are so intertwined in the national life of India that hardly any Hindu / Indian can sensibly think of lively India without Muslims.
But will Manmohan enlighten the mankind that why is it mainly Muslim and Sikh communities who use their religious places (may not be all but quite number of these places) to carry out (first their political) and then ultimately their terrorist activities and that too in the contemporary world?
Even Hindus who are alleged to be responsible for killing thousands of innocent Muslims during 2002 Gujarat pogrom never used their temples for carrying out this terrorist activity but allegedly used their cultural and political organisations for this purpose. Had Hindus used religious places also, these casualties of Muslims would have been many fold.
Even Naxalites (Marxists) who are mostly Hindus and are reportedly operative in as much as one third of Indian territory do not use their religious places / temples for carrying out their terrorist activities.
Manmohan ought to realize that religion along with politics/terrorism makes a deadly mix.
If Manmohan still requires any proof that in the contemporary world state (politics) will have to be separated from religion (whether secular state or not) then Manmohan ought to only look at what is happening in Lal Masjid of Pakistan where Muslim terrorists used their religious place and Pakistan military had to go over there to flush them out.
Therefore Manmohan's plea to Brown should not be taken seriously unless Sikh & Muslim communities take a vow and show concrete proof regarding keeping their religious places separate and free from their political and terrorist activities.
Muslims & Sikhs normally advance the argument that it is only a minuscule part of the community which so misuses their religious places hence entire community should not be labelled. But they ought to realize that they are no doubt not guilty of acts of commission but certainly guilty of their acts of omission in preserving and protecting the sanctity of their religious places.
Mankind also expects Manmohan to wait a bit before rushing to Brown for getting a general amnesty to all the religious and other communities against labelling them terrorists. Because after August, 6 when Dera chief's arrest in the episode of Sikh(Akali)-Dera controversy reaches to its logical / legal conclusion, Manmohan by that time certainly would have learnt so many lessons about the spirit & implementation of criminal / constitutional law.
In this Sikh-Dera controversy Manmohan has already committed a gross constitutional impropriety of sending large central police enforcement to Punjab on the request of its Akali Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal without first asking him that – why did he not (by that time) file a FIR and arrested Dera Chief, if in his opinion (widely telecast on electronic media) Dera chief was responsible for religious offences resulting in wide spread violent demonstrations where thousands of Sikhs all over Punjab and in other states of India were seen, on electronic media, flaunting their naked swords?
Therefore, with humility I urge Manmohan to take some time (in the interest of deeper questions of human existence which go beyond religion and Politics / matters of state) before raking up a subject at international level which is a matter of life and death to the mankind.
Yours truly
Hem Raj Jain
208, Supriya, Plot #20, Sector – 10, Dwarka,
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