Shiban Khaibri
What has poverty got to do with taking a dip in the Holy Ganga river , is beyond comprehension , likewise if “Mazdooron ko mazdoori nahin milti hai” which in itself is completely far from the truth , how come an extremely auspicious occasion completely related to the faith and devotion of Hindus for thousands of years , be mocked and questioned, is again beyond understanding. Whether taking a dip in the sacred river “filled your stomach” , being tantamount to daring questioning faith , again is beyond grasp . If Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have “committed many sins” , making both not eligible ” to go to heaven even in a hundred lives” , though such soothsaying being totally irrelevant and uncalled for in respect of the auspicious dip , seems again beyond one’s discernment. The charge that “the poor are being exploited in the name of religion”, knowingly made in respect of the Mahakumbh, again cannot be commiserated as being totally unrelated to the Kumbh. The remarks that ” when a child is dying of hunger, is not going to school etc etc these people are spending thousands of Rupees and competing….” what relevance has this assertion got to do with Mahakumbh , a highly revered religious gathering of millions of people? And what is puzzling and astonishing is that why should the importance of Maha Kumbh dawning after 144 years , coming once in a lifetime, be dragged and cheaply so, in political discourse and that too with impunity ? Why attacking, ridiculing, questioning, disputing , criticising and negating religious matters, rituals and practices of Hindus have become a routine in this partitioned country with some political leaders – a habitual wont no less than an ordained duty – and, perhaps, a unique but aberrant way of expression of belief in particular brand of secularism , must be explained .
While criticising and mocking religious feelings, a tag that “not questioning anyone’s faith ” and extending, therefore, ”apology if anyone is hurt with such comments” seems wholly confusing and looking like firing salvos under the cover of “apology if hurt” . What a joke is this or in fact, what a travesty ? However, it can be seen that the inner self or the sub conscious is in total disapproval of what is said , and why not, hence the tag of conditional “apology” while at the same time , the instincts of hate , anger and prejudice take the upper hand and appear to be holding sway hence disparaging the auspicious ritual of taking a bath in the Holy Ganga and raising unsolicited and un-called for questions . Millions like this writer are and must be feeling hurt over unnecessarily dragging the celebration of an extremely sensitive religious and devotional occasion that this country has been witnessing for tens of thousands of years and hence not feeling inclined to accept the apology. Sorry for that.
This Kumbh is close to the hearts , to the souls, to the psyche , to the minds , to the beliefs and to the identity of hundreds of millions of followers of ancient, eternal , immutable , immortal and everlasting Sanatan Dharma. Expectations of around 40 crores of people going to be blessed with taking the Holy dip, till the writing of these lines, a whooping number of over 37 crores has already visited the Sangam for taking the dip. A tragedy of some precious lives, very unfortunately, lost due to reasons being ascertained including spot mismanagement, if any, and even from the angle of suspecting sabotage or a mischief, has not dampened the spirits of the devotees. That amply speaks about the inherent and intrinsic strength of what is known as faith and belief. The belief that the ”Gangasanan” purifies the soul , washes away sins and helps in achieving salvation by cleansing negative actions and a way to get connected with the divine to receive blessings – could not be eroded or broken all the ages this country has lived through . Hundreds of millions of people cannot be considered unwise in not seeing the element of inseparable ghost of “poverty” haunting some politicians who knowingly want to keep it alive for remaining relevant in politics.
Rural poverty in India as on 2011-12 was 26% which has fallen down to 4.5% in 2023. Likewise, urban poverty in 2013 was 14% which has fallen down to 4% . Absolute poverty in both the sectors has been recorded as on date to be less than 1% . Increased focus on rural sector has resulted in faster decline in poverty. Hence this “poverty” needs not to be used only as a political slogan , but action on ground taken as figures post 2012-13 show. No one in India sleeps hungry hence not “filling stomach ” as a result of the dip like narrative is redundant. Take pride in projecting this country as — developing very fast — and NOT as being poor, weak, hungry, destitute, less developed or undone .
A sea of humanity , rather an ocean of devotion , irrespective of and with no considerations of any caste, language, region, rich, poor, gender, big, small and whatever is being seen in this Mahakumbh and those, who, with political considerations , keep investing divisive policies and considerations and want the followers of Sanatan Dharma perpetually to be divided in castes , groups, regions etc to suit their electoral fortunes , must be getting goose bumps on seeing the unity in devotees with ONE aim, one vision, and one purpose all under the ages old religious cum cultural imperishable traditions of Sanatan Dharma.
No pollution, no felling of trees, no animal sacrifices, no intake of any type of non- veg items of food , not even onions, garlic etc by the devotees signify the unique characteristics of this massive congregation of human beings on this earth . All devotees in hundreds of thousands are getting freshly cooked food round the clock and its management speaks about the distinctiveness of its own kind . Such an event , unparalleled in history in its massiveness on the surface of the earth, should make every Bharti proud especially seeing thousands of foreigners too taking the devotional dip and feeling proudly blessed . It is an irony that some political leaders should choose Maha Kumbh and its rituals to undermine and diminish its significance of all time relevance with spirituality and beliefs of millions of devotees and also try to settle political scores in the process. That is totally unacceptable.
Gandhi Ji with reverence visited the Kumbh in 1918 and was highly impressed by the unity of devotees who comprised freedom fighters, revolutionaries, social activists, journalists, writers, farmers, labourers, students etc. from all regions and corners of the country. Yes, he admitted that he saw “Mini India” there . He visualised, there and then, a great potential to inspire Indians from all regions to unite to achieve freedom from the British. Was he, therefore, less wiser than those of some present Congress leaders who mock and trivialise the sanctity of the Kumbh ? When the first PM Jawahar Lal Nehru took the dip in the “Kumbh” of 1938 , did he put any vague and irrelevant questions to himself ? When, he, again in 1954, took a dip along with the then President Rajindra Prasad , did both of them bring in the element of ”poverty” into the ages old ritual of this country? It is another thing that as many as 1000 devotees were reportedly killed in the Kumbh in 1954 though it was not as auspicious , never as massive , as the present one having turned nearly after a century and a half ? In fact, Nehru became personally involved in the Kumbh arrangements of 1954 and visited the site himself even though technically, it was the jurisdiction of the then UP government. On another occasion , not exactly the Kumbh but in an event on Paush Purnima , he again visited the Sangam or the confluence and paused to dip his hands in the sacred waters in a symbolic manner. He did not ostensibly think and naturally should have not thought whether such devotional acts of his could ”remove poverty ” and ”fill stomach” or ” pay mazdoori to mazdoors” .
Indira Ji visited Kumbh in 1977 and she devotionally took the dip in the Holy river, also immersed the ashes of Lal Bhadur Shastri in the Sangam. That all shows that how Bharti traditions , religious practices, beliefs and rituals dating back to tens of thousands of years have survived despite innumerable invasions , attacks , pressures and ruthless evangelical pursuits depicting inherent strength and resilience of Sanatan Dharma and its followers.
You have to attack and pin down your political opponents , do it with all force , by all reasonable means on political issues but do not bring in sensitive issues like beliefs , faiths , spiritual moorings , devotional traditions, customs , reverential symbols and Holy figures of Hindus . Such a flawed policy needs to be bidden adieu , sooner than any later , lest it boomerangs in many ways , chiefly in massive electoral losses.
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