RELIGION IN INDIA IS LIKE CRICKET, A $PECTATOR $PORT

NOT A SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH

What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination of every kind of human excellence – moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how “democracy” (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient Dictatorships?.
– SCREWTAPE (a devil in CS Lewis’s book: The Screwtape Letters)

India lost the World Cup 2015 and I don’t know who to feel sorry for - Virat Kohli and his girlfriend, actor Anushka Sharma or for the millions of Indian fans who had vowed, “We won’t Give It Back!” Perhaps if Kohli had followed the old lady’s advice in the Pepsi TV Commercial, to stick to Cricket and not get into any “ad-shad” business, he might not have made a fool of himself but made his country proud.

But Cricket and the World Cup isn’t India’s greatest heartbreak - it is the widespread absence of truth in our society. Religion in our country is not a search for the Truth, it's a spectator sport like Cricket with one difference - it's not just a team of eleven players who play for money - the whole country prays for money - Truth is an afterthought for everyone. 

That is India's biggest drawback - not our politicians, population, or poverty, it is the bankruptcy of religion that pursues treasure instead of truth. The consequences are quite obvious in our politics, priorities and progress.

And I make no exceptions when it comes to religion.

Look back in history and study certain countries in key aspects to get an idea of India’s standing. Look at America for religious diversity, China’s autocracy vs our democracy and as a tribute to Lee Kwan Yew’s amazing makeover of his country, consider Singapore for its rule of law.

Some folks will immediately point out that I am not comparing apples with apples, that a tiny country of five and half million people like Singapore cannot be evaluated alongside a billion strong populated India.

There is some merit to that argument but the rule of law is not optional for any country. Transparency International ranked India 90th (in the company of nations such as Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Russia, and Tanzania) while Singapore was ranked 5th (led by Finland, New Zealand, Demark, and Iceland) as the least corrupt countries in the world. How Lee Kwan Yew’s zero-tolerance policy on corruption transformed a mosquito-infested swamp full of poor people into a vibrant developed nation of prosperity in a brief span of 40 years is worth thinking about. Many detested him for his authoritarianism but there is no doubt that it fell far short of despotism we often still see in India.

How about India's big boast of democracy vs autocracy in China? A recent article in the New Indian Express reported on the recent Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity (FDCA), in Tamil Nadu. On March 23, 2015 FDCA convened a public meeting to discuss the issues of democracy and secularism in the present Indian context and the need to create awareness among the masses to enable them to assert a real sense of democracy.

A top bureacrat, Devasahayam, former Chief Secretary of Haryana, observed, “In a true Democracy everybody is equal, but we aren’t a true democracy, India has descended into being a kleptocracy which means we have a government of thieves, by the thieves and for the thieves.”

China may owe much of its religious philosophy to India the birthplace of Dharmic religions and Chairman Mao and Mahatma Gandhi maybe poles apart, but the stranglehold of China’s Communist Party on its people versus that of a corrupt ruling Indian polity is not dissimilar. Article 66A of India’s IT act, has just been deemed both unconstitutional and untenable by the Supreme Court but the Indian State in many ways remains a predator preying on its citizens. At least China’s growth proves that economically out of every dollar an ordinary Chinese generates he gets to keep more than an ordinary Indian – our poor can barely eke out an existence.

History is a record of great ideas that shape or demean a culture – it is our worldviews that construct our values. ‘Ideas Have Consequences’ is the brilliant title of a book by philosopher Richard Weaver.

Even a cursory glance at India’s religious landscape despite our lofty national slogan, Satyamev Jayate, (Truth Will Triumph) betrays the fact that in India religion is not a search for the Truth - it is mainly about bribing divinity to obtain prosperity, crass public spectacle, ultra-religious pride, tradition, superstition, violence, corruption, and arrogant majorityism. Exacerbating the situation today is a qasi-religious outfit behind a political party with a brute majority engaging in something called ‘Ghar Vapsi’ (forcing Muslims and Christians to reconvert back to Hinduism) as clear evidence of religious intimidation.

Roughly 80% of Indians follow Hinduism just as about 80% of Americans follow Christianity or Christianism – as far as any overall impact on society, neither religion has made a noticeable difference.

Yet in America where religious diversity is as entrenched as in India, why is there more evidence of a concern for the Truth in people and institutions?

Why is falsehood in India blatant and all pervasive?

I submit that Truth is not an ‘ism.’ And to avoid disrespect to anyone’s particular beliefs, I employ a term I coined –‘Religionism,’ which historically has proven to be of little worth.

India is hooked on religionism and it is not doing us any good.

'Religionism’ and Truth have no connection. But the Truth can abide in any individual – Hindu, Muslim, Christian etc. And only the Truth in a human heart can redeem an individual, which needs to happen first – when that's multiplied there is some evidence in a nation.

There isn't enough multiplication happening in India and 'Ghar Vapsi' type policies will make no difference.

Frank Raj is the founding editor of the 22 year old magazine The International Indian and the author of Desh Aur Diaspora.