Religion Played a Worst Role in India

Religions played worst role in India.
Dalip Singh Wasan, Advocate.

Originally in India there was only one religion and that was Hinduism. In due course some countries had been trying their luck to settle and they had been successful and in due course Muslims and then Christians came here and they actually settled here. It is on record that they established their rule in India and therefore, they started converting people to their own religion. They were of the opinion that their religions were better and therefore, the Hindus should convert and the people who came under their influence converted and the people who were not coming under the influence did not convert. It is on record that monarch like Aurangzeb started converting people with force and he had been successful to some extent. In due course, the Dalits who had been part of Hinduism started separating from the main stream because the mainstream was not giving them due place and due respect.
The people of India had been slaves for centuries, firstly under the Muslims and then under the Christians and when they were getting independence in the year 1947, a part of the Muslims started demanding a separate country for Muslims and therefore, they could get Pakistan and it is on record that about 8,00,000 were killed during this partition, the biggest upheaval in this sub region. We have also been told that about 11,00,00,000 people were forced to migrate to unknown places. This was the first blow to the people of Hindustan in the year 1947. Had there been one religion, this upheaval, these killings and these migrations could have been avoided. And we should note that the matter did not end here. Since 1947 India and Pakistan are at war and we have noted that all our efforts to establish peace in between the two countries have failed and it is on record that both these countries have fought some direct wars and when Pakistan could not win in direct wars, it has initiated a proxy war against India through Kashmir, part of which has already been occupied by Pakistan.
Pakistan was also holding an eastern part which has gained the status of a separate country Bangladesh and the people of Pakistan believe that this part had been separated by India. Therefore, Pakistan wants that India too should be divided. Pakistan wants that India should be divided into three parts. One part should be of Hindus, one part should be Sikhs and the third part should be of Muslims. And virtually Pakistan has tried its luck in these directions. The people of India have already suffered during Punjab episode and they lost heir Prime Minister because of this episode. In this episode thousands of our people had been killed with our own hands and we had destroyed properties worth crore of rupees. Khalistan could not be established, but it is on record that the Sikh community which had a reputation of its own has lost that prestige and now they are under the shadow of doubt. The Sikhs living out of the state of Punjab remain under a fear and if anything happens in the state of Punjab, they come under fear complex because they had suffered much during November, 1984 riots when they were killed mercilessly. Similar is the position with the Muslims. They had seen that their Babri Masjid had been demolished, then they had to carry out some bombings in Bombay and similarly when there was Godhra episode, they had to suffer in Gujrat riots.
The Indians are divided and if we go further the Dalits are not happy with India because they could not get a reasonable place in the Indian society and they are still called a separate class and people from the socalled higher classes do not allow their wards to contract marriages with these people. Even these people are allotted separate colonies and the people from the so called higher societies do not allow that their children should have any connection with the children of the dalits. The people of India remain under a fear and they expect terrorism and riots at any time in the country. Some people in India have started believing that the state itself is believing in divide and rule, the principle laid down and accepted by the British when they started ruling this country. We are allotting seats to people as per population of the area and if we find that Hindus are in majority, we allot ticket to a Hindu, if we note that Muslims are in majority, we allot the ticket to the Muslim, if Sikhs are in majority, we allot the ticket to a Sikh and similarly people known as Dalits get their own man. We still believe that a Hindu would not give vote to a non-Hindu, a Sikh would not vote to a non-sikh and similarly the Muslims shall like their own candidate. Under these situations, we cannot expect that the people of India shall join and that is the reason, we are accepting that religion here in India did not remain an individual concern, but it is now political problem and therefore, we must accept that here in India, politicians have polluted the religions and that is the reason, the same purity is not available in religions. We are noting that in religious places, when some people are talking about religion and God, they are also speaking about politics and we have seen that the politicians in India are visiting these religious places not out of regard and respect, but they are seeking blessings of the people holding discourses there.
There had been trials to unite the people. Akbar the great wanted to establish one religion, but people of his own religion did not allow him to establish that religion and become head of that religion. Then the fifth Guru of the Sikhs Shri Guru Arjan Dev ji initiated towards this path when he established Shri Guru grtanth sahib in which works of saints of all the religions was collected. But later on this Granth had been owned only by the Sikhs and people in other religions could not adopt this grant as a guiding spirit for them.
Today the people are India are trying to popularize their own religions and for that purpose they are establishing units of their own, collecting people there, are having their own religious discourses, are breeding fundamentalists and a time shall come when they shall fight and kill each other. We must be sorry to note that the Muslims are having soft corner for the state of Pakistan and the Sikhs are under doubt. The dalits are also establishing a join front and they are also separating themselves. This position and situation is not good for India and therefore, the government of India must take effective steps to unite the people of India and if they too remain believing in divide and rule policy, they shall disturb the unity of this country. Wise people of India must come forward and must see the danger ahead and they must solve this problem without any further delay. The people of Hindustan have already suffered much and they are not in a position to have further sufferings because they are already living on the heap of corps. They are fighting on the basis of religions when other countries are advancing and they are leaving us behind.