Years back, Nelson Mandela said, “to deny people their basic human right is to challenge their very humanity”. This is becoming increasingly true in the country these days. The political leaders belonging to different religions have tightened up their belts to challenge the basic human right, “the right to freedom of religion” granted to every citizen of India by the constitution with the sole objective of sustaining the principle of secularism in India.
On one hand, where the constitution of India treats all religions equal, there are few citizens of this country, despite being given the responsibility of safeguarding the constitution, who have decided to be at loggerheads with the supreme law. Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS supremo, during his controversial campaign of so-called “Ghar wapsi”, gave a statement saying,
“Every child who takes birth in Hindustan is a Hindu”,
in response to which, AIMIM leader Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi said,
“Islam is the real home of all religions. Every child is a born Muslim and his parents and society convert him to other religions.”
In between all these stands the Government of India, as a mere spectator.
With mass conversions going around along with such statements that make no sense, a common logical Indian has few questions to ask. Do we ask doctors their religion before getting treatment? Or do we ask teachers their religion before getting admission to a school? The newborns who are often found in garbage dumps after being abandoned by their parents, what religion do they belong to? Since nobody knows about their religion, do they lose their right to live?
The population of more than 1.21 billion people that represents India is a mix of all religions. The fundamental rights granted to every citizen are equal irrespective of which God you worship. Every child that takes birth in this country is a human and an Indian first and that is how you are called “an Indian” when you are out of your motherland. It is society that adds our religion to us, which every one must respect along with all other religions. No holy book teaches disrespect to other religions. Freedom fighters like Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ashfaqulla Khan and Sardar Bhagat Singh, fought together to get India free, to provide us a better future and not to further divide the country on the name of religion.
The Logical Indian believes in what Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” You are born as a human and you will die as a human and in between lies what you do and how you treat others. Let love and peace prevail!
– Neha Rathi, Columnist
