In the first week of June 2014, I was travelling to USA on a Saudi Airlines flight. A long stopover was scheduled at Jeddah. Some experiences during that entire journey provided a lot of edutainment and some enlightenment.
As my wife and I got onto the bus at the Mumbai terminal on our way to the tarmac for boarding the aircraft, we saw a lot of barefooted men dressed only in a lungi-like white cloth tied around the waist and a similar cloth draped over the torso. The guys seemed to be from a well-to-do socio-economic background. As they found me looking at them with a curious expression, they greeted me and said cheerfully that they were on their way to Mecca for the pilgrimage of Umrah.
I got talking to the pilgrims and learnt quite a few details about Umrah and Hajj. I also noticed a group of pilgrims, quite obviously from the lower socio-economic lot, being herded around by a fellow from some religious tourism agency. Significantly, the excitement on their faces was no different than that of their fellow pilgrims from a higher socio-economic class! I remembered that I had made a similar observation in many temples, churches, and gurudwaras that I had visited in the past.
Religion has such magical powers of uniting human beings, across socio-economic faultlines!
In contrast, I recently read an acrimonious debate on a WhatsApp group. The subject of the debate was religion. The group members had sweated, toiled and broken bread together ever since they were youngsters, all of 17-18 years. They had continued to be friends for years thereafter. The only thing that differentiated one from another was the religions they followed since birth. Many comments echoed a vile, vituperative vendetta against a particular section of Indian population counted as 'minority' community. One of the guys, from the 'majority' community, was particularly harsh in his expression about how abominable the 'minority' community was. Another guy, who belonged to the 'minority' community, was responding in equal measure about how the 'minority' was getting an unfair dose of hatred from the 'majority' community.
Religion has such demonical powers of dividing human beings, irrespective of their thick friendship!
While following that ugly WhatsApp debate, my mind went back to the evening at the Jeddah airport on 04 June 2014. I remember the date, because it was significant. 'Modi Sarkar 1.0' had been voted to power in India, a few days ago.
At the airport cafeteria, my wife and I had just settled down for a sandwich and coffee. All other tables were occupied. A guy who was unmistakably of South Asian descent, came and requested us if he could seat himself at our table for a coffee. He had rightly guessed that a lady sporting a Bindi on her forehead had to be an Indian. As he settled down, he said to me with a pleasant smile, "और? कैसी चल रही है मोदी सरकार?" (So? How's the Modi Sarkar doing?)
In response to our quizzical expressions, he went on to introduce himself as Iftikhar Ahmed, originally a citizen of Bangladesh from Dhaka, but travelling all around the world, being an employee of Saudi Airlines. He and his wife and children had now settled in Canada.
He explained that he had keenly followed the entire Indian Parliamentary Election campaign. So much so, that he had also viewed a video grab of the stinging slap, (delivered by a miscreant during the election campaign) on the cheek of an unsuspecting and hapless Mr. Arvind Kejriwal!
We got talking and I casually asked him about the way 'minority' Hindus in Bangladesh were viewed by the 'majority'.
He looked surprised and somewhat offended. He said, almost with pride, "In Bangladesh, we are just Bengalis and we treat each other as such. This 'minority' vs. 'majority' is a line of thought peculiar to you Indians. In fact, two of my neighbours in Dhaka were Hindus. Thankfully, Hindus celebrate all sorts of festivals all round the year. I was fortunate to have been able to relish all the typical Bengali sweets at least once every month and sometimes more often!"
Iftikhar's response shook me up. I felt genuinely ashamed for having asked him a question about the 'minority' community in Bangladesh. In debunking my question, Iftikhar had actually held a mirror up to my narrowmindedness.
It was significant to note, that in Bangladesh, every person was a Bangladeshi. Just as in the USA, every guy is an American and in Germany, everyone is a German. Then why in India, a guy is first, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, a Sikh etc. and furthermore from this caste or another?
Is it not high time we realised, that we are all Indians, and we need to live and grow together, simply as Indians first, and anything else later, if at all?
This realization, if and whenever it comes, may initiate another debate about legislating a uniform civil code, and doing away with the special concessions and/or restrictions that are dictated by regions, religions, or castes.
As long as we have a healthy discussion, there shouldn't be a problem. No?
(All the experiences and views expressed above are personal and there is no intention to hurt any individual, or community.)
