Religion in Indian Politics

 

Newborns arrive as pure souls, unaware of the divisions we’ve created.

I think religious disputes have been the most catastrophic thing for India. Here are some of those events:

In the mid-19^th century, Britishers started using a divide and rule policy to rule India. In 1947 a new country (Pakistan) was created on the basis of religion. The anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, resulted in the killing of thousands of Sikhs and the assassination of Prime Minister Indra Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, so many Kashmiri pandits were brutally murdered. In 2002 there were Gujrat riots which primarily targeted the Muslim minority, the immediate trigger was a train fire in which Hindu pilgrims died. The riots had spread like wildfire and resulted in the death of over 1,000 people. There are n number of Hindu–Muslim riots.

(I think it’s a known fact that most of the BJP leaders are Hindu-oriented. One of them is Yogi Adityanath, I mean in one of his speeches, he compared those who don’t want Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and who are against Article 370 to terrorists. Here’s an article link - https://thewire.in/communalism/100-instances-of-hate-speech-religious-polarisation-hindutva-supremacy-in-adityanaths-poll-speeches.It contains a number of such speeches by Yogi Adityanath.) --> A bit controversial...

Even nowadays, most of our elders in the family judge people by religion. The most important question of elders is what is (his/her) cast? I mean come on; how can you judge someone based on their religion? If someone is of the ‘X’ cast, he must be noble but if he is of the ‘Y’ cast, he must be an antagonist.

Religious disputes have caused a number of deaths and so much hatred between different communities. So, we should stop judging people on the basis of their religion and promote religious education that emphasizes unity, we should enforce laws that prevent discrimination and promotes peace and harmony.

         

                                                                                                                       -Ojas Jain