Secularism in India, as defined by the left,
primarily boils down to minority appeasement and majority bashing. This is
dictated not just by our electoral system but also by our complex social
structure. It is made worse by artificially reduced access to quality
education, distortion of history, teaching self-hatred, accentuated caste
differences and a serious lack of understanding of the cultural ethos (even by
the so called guardians of culture).
The alternative, we are often told, is a theocracy.
The first reaction to that idea is, understandably, of horror: we don't want to
become another Pakistan or Bangladesh. We are given examples of how separation
of Church and State, as was done in the west, is a great idea. If we are viewing
theocracy from the prism of "obey or die" kind of doctrine that we see in many
Islamic states or as was witnessed by middle age Europe, then theocracy is
definitely a terrible idea. However, Hinduism and Abrahamic religions are not
the same. The alternative is not a "Hindu Theocracy" but embracing our rich,
proud spiritual heritage where every single device was calibrated towards
spiritual growth.
The problem is that we have lost many of our core
values to the new world order and there are very less people who truly
understand what our heritage is all about. Corrupted and influenced by harsh,
uncultured and misogynistic invaders, we have lost our own sensitivity as well.
Coupled with the current consumerist outlook, it makes a heady cocktail for
disaster. All is not lost yet, and our Gurus and Rishis are working tirelessly
to revive this ancient knowledge (special mention to HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev, Swami Ramdev, Amma and others). With a nationalist prime
minister and increasing awareness about the power of the yogic way globally, the time for complete revival of this knowledge is not far. India can
choose to either lead from the front or play catch up later as US tries to take over and commercialise this ancient knowledge (turmeric latte anyone?) or when China joins the fray as well: the change is
not far.
