I am very apprehensive that the obscurantists of all religions are bent on destroying the earth in the name of religions.
I have used the word “earth” (and not the “world”) intentionally; because according to our present knowledge, our earth is the only planet in the universe known to support life. There is a theory that it is not a universe, but there are multi-verses. It amazes me when I think of the complexities and the innovative power of the human mind.
- Whoever created the universe, or the multi-verses as the case may be, must have created all human beings; but the different religious communities address the same Creator by different names.
- The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims believe that the Creator doesn’t have any form. The Hindus also believe that the Creator doesn’t have any form; however an ordinary person cannot think of the Creator without any form; so for the convenience of ordinary persons different forms of the Creator have been imagined.
- On Mahalaya Day , All Souls Day, Sab-e-Barat Day, the Hindus, the Christians and the Muslims respectively remember their ancestors. This shows the similarities among different religions. Such similarities have to be highlighted.
- The Prophets of all religions ought to be respected by all, because they are the messengers of the same Creator.
- The gist of all religions shall have to be taught in our schools, so that the students can realize that all religions talk about the same Creator.
- Many Hindus in India celebrate Christmas by lighting up their homes and feasting. All Hindus, Buddhists and the Muslims should be encouraged to light up their homes during Christmas and exchange greetings.
- The Buddhists, Christians and the Muslims should be encouraged to light up their homes during Deepavali and exchange greetings.
- The Hindus, Christians and the Muslims should be encouraged to light up their homes during Buddha-Purnima and exchange greetings.
- The Hindus, Buddhists and the Christians should be encouraged to light up their homes during Eid and exchange greetings.
- Although I have mentioned only about the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and the Muslims, the main festivals of all religions ought to be celebrated by the followers of all religions.
- As the Creator is the same, we are all brothers and sisters created by the same Creator. So, how can we kill one another in the name of the Creator?
- Inter-religious marriages should be encouraged without having to undergo religious conversions. As an example, when a Hindu person marries a Muslim, the persons may not change their religions. These marriages may be solemnized by observing both the Hindu and the Muslim customs. The children of such marriages may declare their respective religious faiths after attaining adulthood; some may declare themselves agnostic.
- If the above suggestions are followed, the differences among different religious communities will get blurred after a few generations and we will unite for the survival of mankind on our earth.
- The non-believers shall have every right to express their opinions freely.
The Big Bang theory of Creation
Scientists postulate that the whole universe was created due to a Big Bang that occurred 13-15 billion years ago. A mini Big Bang experiment was conducted by CERN deep under the ground in 2012. So, the Big Bang is an experimentally proven fact.
But the scientists also postulate that all matters were present when the Big Bang occurred. Why should all matters be present just before the Big Bang occurred and what was it like before the Big Bang? The present day scientists cannot explain this phenomenon. Maybe, the scientists will be able to explain this phenomenon more completely in the future. Till then we, those who are believers, are entitled to believe that there is a Creator.
The Cave Men and Women
It is a historical fact that initially all men and women lived in caves. They gradually learned to speak due to natural evolution; learnt cultivation and settled down in different parts of the earth. They learnt to write many centuries (maybe thousands of years) after they started speaking. The Vedic people did not know how to write; the Vedas were written many centuries after they were composed.
The Cave men could not speak in the beginning, because their brains were not properly developed. The human brain gradually developed due to natural evolution. When the Human brains developed sufficiently they started thinking about the creation of the universe. They learnt how to light up a fire; it protected them from cold weather and wild animals; so they started worshipping fire. They realized that Sun rays sustain life; so they started worshipping the Sun. This is how the human civilization developed over thousands of years. All great preachers of all religions started thinking and preaching at the ages when their brains were sufficiently developed.
These are scientific and historical facts. Can we, whatever may be our religious beliefs, deny these facts?
Discrimination Against Women
All religions discriminate against women. Why? Are the women not created by the same Creator? Why there are no women heads in different religions?
There are some women heads in some Hindu sects; but they all are heads of Hindu sects having local influences only.
Why there are no women priests in any religion? I understand that some organizations in West Bengal are training women to perform Durga Puja. Some women may have already started performing Durga Puja as well; but these are only taking place locally.
All religious men strive to do good things believing that these will help them to enjoy good things in the heaven and may even help them to have company of beautiful women there. Can good things not be done without expecting any returns?
If religious men can aspire to enjoy the company of beautiful women in the heaven, then can religious women aspire to enjoy the company of handsome men in the heaven?
All religions believe that the Creator is a man. Why can’t the Creator be a woman?
To My Dear Muslim Friends
Our dear Muslim friends and co-citizens are the second largest majority community in India. In fact the Muslims are the second largest majority community in the world after the Christians. So, they are not a minority community in India at all.
Our dear Parsi friends are indeed a minority community in India. I understand that there are only about 70 thousand Parsis in India. Those who migrated to Europe from Persia have lost their identities. But those who came to India are able to maintain their identities. It amazes me when I think of their enormous contributions to industry, higher education and research and health services in India. I have never heard of any movement by Parsis fighting for their rights; because most of them are highly educated. So, lack of proper education is the real cause of the backwardness of a community and not their numbers. All communities in India, including our Muslim friends, shall have to try to emulate our wonderful Parsi friends.
I understand that their numbers are gradually dwindling while the numbers of other communities are alarmingly burgeoning. I feel very apprehensive about the very survival of our Parsi co-citizens. The Central government and our Parsi friends shall have to take some immediate corrective steps.
Within a century of the demise of the Last Prophet, the Arabs went right up to the south of France. They established the first university in Europe in Spain at Cordova in the tenth century when Haroon-al-Rasheed was the Khalifa, the Muslim civilization was at its zenith. During the golden period of Muslim civilization Omar Khayyam composed his Rubaiyyat. Ilm (i.e. knowledge) is the most repeated word after the all Merciful Allah in the Holy Quran. All my educated Muslim friends know it. Then, why are infernos raging in the Middle East, Pakistan and also in some parts of India? Does not this burning question cross your minds? With due respect to you, I dare to suggest that these infernos are due to lack of Ilm.
Lack of Ilm is causing intolerances among different religious communities all over the world and may ultimately destroy the mankind. So, let all of us try to learn Ilm. All holy books of all religions shall have to be interpreted in the true spirit of the word with Ilm. This will help the development of the human civilization further.
Madrasa Education
I don’t know the syllabus of the Madrasa system. In each Madrasa, facilities must be present to teach English to all students and facilities must also be there to teach Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Accountancy, Economics etc. to those students who want to learn these subjects, so that the students passing out of Madrasas can pursue higher studies in these subjects to enable them to be gainfully employed. If the futures of these children, they are all my grandchildren, are bleak, then the future of the nation will be very bleak indeed.
Teachings of Classical Languages
All classical languages are very rich in literature. So, all classical languages ought to be studied for the proper understanding of civilization. Let Hindu and Christian scholars teach Arabic and the Holy Quran in Muslim institutions. Similarly, the Christian and Muslim scholars ought to teach Sanskrit and the Vedas and Upanishads in the Hindu institutions. The Hindu and Muslim scholars ought to teach Hebrew, Greek, Latin and the Bible in Jewish and Christian institutions. This will help to integrate different religious communities.
Can the same religious affinity unite all followers of that particular religion?
Hindu religion
It is mainly confined to India and its neighboring countries only. Few lakhs are present in some South East Asian countries although many centuries ago they were the majority community in these places. Recently a few millions have migrated to Australia, New Zealand and some Western countries. Even the Hindus confined in India are divided into many castes, sub-castes, Dalits, Maha-dalits etc. Sometimes, the upper and lower castes resort to killing one another. Honour killings are also sometimes taking place. Dowry deaths are reported as well. These are heinous crimes against humanity. These are many other bad things that the Hindus practise even today.
Christian religion
It is divided between the Catholics and the Protestants. There were 2 popes, all Catholics, engaged in fighting with each other for about 39 years, resulting in the loss of human lives (Inquisition was a heinous crime on humanity). The Protestants are also divided into several streams. The killings between the Catholics and the Protestants in Northern Ireland went on for more than a decade. European countries had been engaged in fighting among themselves for centuries up to the end of the Second World War, although all of them are whites and mainly Catholics.
I understand that the White and the Black churches run parallel in USA. The recent invention by the Indian Christians of the term “Dalit Christians” does not glorify Christianity at all; it is an insult to Christianity.
Islam
It is divided between the Sunnis and the Shias. They are engaged in killing one another in the Middle East and in a neigbouring country. The Sunnis are also divided into several streams. They also kill one another at any pretext. Communal infernos have engulfed almost the whole of the Middle East consuming human lives. These things are going on unabated for several years. One neighboring country of India is very much disturbed with communal killings. Sometimes, people praying inside the mosques are also being killed. Honour killings are also sometimes reported. Another neighboring country of India is simmering with fire; this simmering fire is consuming human lives quite often. If this is not checked in time, it will erupt like a volcano.
Are the Black African Muslims, the Indian and the Bangladeshi Muslims treated as honourable members of the Muslim brotherhood fraternity while working in the Middle Eastern countries? Are the Arab Muslims united? The recent invention of the term “Dalit Muslims” by the Indian Muslims does not glorify Islam; it is an insult to Islam
Situations in India
Islam had come to India several centuries before it came as a political force. Mosques were allowed to be set up and preachings started. This peaceful coexistence continued for several centuries. The conflicts started when it came as a conquering force. Akbar tried to unite the Hindus and the Muslims; but Aurangzeb increased the chasm. The 1857 revolution united the Hindus and Muslims temporarily. Our political leaders supported the Khilafat movement for a short term gain and that was the beginning of mixing of politics with religion in modern India. This led to the partition of India in 1947 and caused the genocide before and after partition.
Had the Creator of Pakistan and the first prime minister of India succeeded in their ICS examinations, India would not have been divided and the subsequent carnage would not have taken place at all.
When the Hindu code bill was introduced in the Parliament towards the end of the 1940s/beginning of 1950s, some Muslim scholars of Lucknow and Varanasi wrote to the first Prime Minister of India urging him to bring a Uniform Civil code for all Indians, irrespective of religious affiliations, as suggested by the Indian constitution. Although our first Prime Minister was one of the panel members who composed the Indian constitution, he did not pay any heed to the urgings by the Muslims scholars and this was the beginning of the practice of vote bank politics in independent India. This has led to the present very serious situations in India with religious obscurantists of all religions thriving all over India. If all political parties do not unite to stop this menace, India will start burning like Pakistan and Bangladesh and ultimately leading to the destruction of the Indian subcontinent and a very large part of the world.
Had Japan not bombed Pearl Harbour, USA might not have joined the Second World War with full might. Then Azad Hind Fauz would have been able to end the British rule in India and Netaji would have become the Prime Minister of independent India and the division of India could have been avoided; because the Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians and all other Indians used to believe, respect and love Netaji; he never indulged in politicking. This would have prevented the genocide before and after partition and prevented the creations of two countries fighting forever.
The heinous crime of killing human beings by human beings will be stopped if the points suggested by me in the beginning of this blog, are seriously considered by all human beings cutting across all religious barriers. I am fervently praying that by the grace of the Creator common sense will dawn on all human beings so that they stop killing one another to save the mankind, - by far the best of all the creations by the Creator.
Religious Conversions
All religions are different expressions of the same truth. All religions talk about the same Creator. So, where is the need for conversions?
Originally there was no caste system in the Hindu religion; the caste system gradually developed over a very long period of time. In the beginning it was very flexible; a non-Brahmin could become a Brahmin when he acquired sufficient knowledge. As the Hindu religion started decaying, all sorts of bad practices crept in. The caste system is a heinous crime on humanity. The reforms started in the eighteenth century; still a lot of horrible practices are being practised even today.
The terms “Dalit Christians” and “Dalit Muslims” have recently been introduced in India. I understand that there are no caste systems in the Christian religion and in Islam; so, how can there be any “Dalit Christians” and “Dalit Muslims”.
The Dalit Hindus who were converted to Christianity and Islam are being termed and treated as well as “Dalit Christians” and “Dalit Muslims”. What a mockery of religions! Some of the Dalit Hindus might have converted themselves to other religions sincerely believing that their social statuses would go up in these religions. Most of them were lured or forced into conversions, and all of them have been deceived; otherwise how can the terms “Dalit Christians” and “Dalit Muslims” exist? The terms “Dalit Christians” and “Dalit Muslims” are slurs on true Christianity and true Islam. These terms are results of the heinous crime of vote bank politics. The practice of vote bank politics divided India and this heinous practice is going to totally disintegrate India whatever is left after partition.
The Creator created the human beings with the same religion i.e. human religion. We the human beings have interpreted the human religion differently to suit our own conveniences.
Religious conversions are total negations of all religions; so religious conversions are totally immoral. All immoral things are heinous in nature. So, how can a really religious person commit an immoral act and a heinous crime? All immoral and heinous acts shall have to be condemned and totally discouraged. I sincerely hope that all these common senses will dawn in the minds of all my dear religious preachers of all religions.
Religious conversions are the root causes of intolerances among human beings; these caused untold sufferings to the mankind in the past, destroyed the cultures and civilizations of many ethnic people all over the world and are leading to the extinction of mankind.
Every religion has many myths. Many highly educated persons of every religion believe in these myths. These very persons sneer at the myths of other religions and are engaged in converting them into their religions replete with many myths in the garb of civilizing them. What a silly and obnoxious thing to do, and this is causing chasms in society.
I was born in a Hindu family; I could have been born in a Muslim, a Christian or any other religious family and in any other country as well. Hindu religion has many myths; so how can I sneer at the myths in other religions?
Very old civilizations and ethnic communities in USA and South America have been destroyed. Many of the Adivasis in India have lost their cultural identities due to conversions. The Creator created human beings and the human beings created their own cultures depending on the parts of the earth where they grew up. So, why should one religious group destroy some other religious group’s beliefs, myths and cultures? The Creator does not want it; the Creator wants different religious groups to flourish with their beliefs and cultures; that is why the Creator created the different groups; otherwise the Creator would not have created such communities at all. I want all religious communities, including our Adivasi communities, to blossom undisturbed by others and live with mutual respect and dignity. Left to their own, the Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians, the Buddhists and all other religious communities in India, and in fact all over the world, will live peacefully with their neighbours with the dictum “love thy neighbor”.
The bigots, who are in a hurry to go to their respective heavens (swarg, behest, heaven etc.) are creating unrests and religious infernos in the Indian subcontinent and in other parts of the world destroying thousands of years old wonderful creations of civilizations. Some of the bigots are quite educated, but all of them are being controlled by power hungry politicians and clergy from behind. Without active or passive support by political parties, no religious bigots or terrorists can survive in the Indian subcontinent or anywhere in the world.
I consider myself to be a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist etc. at the same time. I have been thinking like this since my college days. I feel the Creator has always encouraged me to think like this. I do believe in the Creator, I do believe in human religion and I don’t believe in any other religion.
A non-believer has every right to live with dignity, because a non-believer has also been created by the same Creator who created a believer.
With due respect to preachers of all religions, I beg to know whether the same Creator created all human beings or different Creators created different human beings?
Human “Ilm” i.e. knowledge has always been expanding and progressing; that is why we have progressed from Cave Age to Net Age. We cannot allow bigots, intolerant, hate-mongering and imprudent preachers of all religions to destroy the diversity of human civilization. I fervently hope that the vast, sane and the silent majority all over the world will unite and save the diversity of human civilization.
Jai Jagat!
