SECULARISM: A TRIBUTE
“I pay my tribute to Atal ji. He was a notch above other RSS men, but you called him secular. How funny that a product of RSS is made the last flag bearer of secularism! Don.t forget, you added ‘the only’; as qualifier. You declared the last specimen to have left the stock and none is in the making.”
I had no desire to run into debate. I did not answer.
“You knew what secularism meant before using the term.”
“Even if I tell you, you are perfect idiot, you shall not agree. Is there a sense in indulging into word-war on an occasion which begs for silence.” I uttered half reluctantly.
“Silence only for two minutes yaar!” You are urging me to stitch my lips when even the mutes are vocal in his memory. I just wanted to tell you, secularism is a western concept and tyou should know that imported goods and ideas are handled with care.”
This is all you know and do, and all your problems are solved. You do nor care to know the history of the word, history of the western society, even your own history and what and how much they imbibed from the eastern founts to humanize their barbarous selves and yet are incensed to deliver your overflowing knowledge to some one more foolish than you and that in brief describes you, your bagpipers whom the entire generation of half wits has been following and flaunting as secularism, and teach the meaning to those who taught the meaning to the teachers of your teachers.”
“If one is charged the sentences become longer and complex and a bit incomprehensible. You should respect the basics of conversation yarr! I think you thought that the westerns stole the concept of secularism from our Vedas as they stole the secrets of science and technology. Am I wrong?” He taunted as per habit.
I felt bad. “The idiots have only one refrain to dismiss and deny everything of which any other nation could be proud.’ I thought in anguish.
He waited for a time and then resumed his onslaught. “O.K., agreed that it was an Indian concept, nay, not Indian, a Hindu concept, But it looks funny that they had the concept but no name. Remember how many somersaults we took to name it properly, dharmnirpekshata, oh me! what an adumbrated term, sarvadharm samabhava, practiced as sarvadharm durbhav, but failed to agree on any one. कोई नाम तो बता यार। बिना पगहे के छुट्टा सांढ़ जैसा यह विचार घूमता होगा तो लोग रात्ते से हट जाते रहे होंगे।” He deliberately changed the language in order to tease me further, summing up by “गाली देने का मजा तो मदरटंग में ही आता है।”
I did not loose my cool despite provocation. “I know it is easy to convince a snail to come out of its shell, but difficult to convince a differently oriented know-all of the benefits of listening others patiently, but even so I venture to take a risk. Listen patiently. The term used for secularism was RAJADHARM. And i did not dub Vajpeyi the only secular among the surviving ones, not as the last specimen of a stock but the ONE AND ONLY ONE in our post Independence history, including Nehru. The only one who knew the correct meaning of the word and practiced is with austerity. If you need a definition, it is treating all the citizens of the country as ones own children. This is the exact meaning of praja. Another innocuous word incomprehensible to people taught in your school.
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