The issue is not about Diwali and Eid. The issue is not about Holi and Muharram. masala durga puja, Not of Ganeshotsav and Ramzan. The point is that Christmas, good friday, easter, festival of lights, crutches, Buddha Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti, Paryushan, Navroz, Onam, Pongal, Ugadi, Bihu, Moatsumong, Are these to expand our social spectrum or to narrow it?
Diwali came. Diwali is gone. Diwali will come again. Diwali will go away again. We did not care about the Supreme Court order banning firecrackers. We will not care about any such order on any Diwali. Because as proud Hindus, it is our right to celebrate Diwali with pomp and show. We do not know whether there were firecrackers or not when Lord Shri Ram returned to Ayodhya with Mother Sita after completing his exile, but since they are there now, it is our birthright to burst them. Who is the Supreme Court to guard such fundamental rights of ours? In this matter we will not even listen to Ramlala.
If we celebrate Diwali without creating new records by increasing the number of lamps lit every year on the banks of Saryu in Ayodhya, then shame on us for being Hindus. Seven years ago in 2017, we had lit 1 lakh 71 thousand lamps in Ayodhya. 3 lakh 1 thousand in the next year. In 2019, their number increased to 4 lakh 4 thousand and the next year to 6 lakh 6 thousand. 9 lakh 41 thousand lamps were lit in 2021 and 15 lakh 76 thousand in the next year. Last year, 22 lakh 23 thousand lamps were lit on the banks of Saryu and this year 25 lakh.
Earlier, the government of Uttar Pradesh used to spend crores of rupees on organizing Deepotsav in Ayodhya, but from this year onwards, the government itself has taken the responsibility of this directly from the State Tourism Development Corporation. Since Ram Lalla was celebrating Diwali for the first time after 500 years, albeit without the urn, in his newly constructed grand divine palace, Rs 1 billion 33 crores were spent on the celebration. Moved by the scenes that were seen on newspaper pages and small screens the next morning of the Deepotsav event held in the last few years, this time Yogi Adityanath made such arrangements that we should not shed tears. Therefore, this year, instead of seeing the poor children, women and old people collecting the drops of oil left from the extinguished lamps in their respective vessels, we saw the sight of them throwing them in bulk in Saryu while sweeping the lamps.
These days, I see that the changing face of our religious festivals and events over the past eight-ten years has made many of my most sensible acquaintances so frustrated that they do not participate in festivals like Diwali-Dussehra-Holi. They have started making noise about ‘buying from co-religionists’. They have started glorifying evil deeds like heckling and throwing out people of other religions, who are identified on the basis of their clothes, among the beggars waiting in the queue for a loaf of bread. They have started completely justifying the singing of harsh abusive songs outside Muslim places of worship. They do not tolerate any disagreement with these misdeeds and raise questions on the Hinduness of those who disagree.
Our religious festivals are part of our eternal traditions. They are religious-cultural festivals. We kept grumbling after seeing the commercialization of these festivals, but ultimately surrendered ourselves to this market. Now seeing our Teej-festivals dipping into the political and communal puddle, will we just keep on pining and ultimately surrender ourselves to the ruffians or will we shake our conscience a little? Why is the increasingly aggressive nature of our religious festivals not worrying us? Why is his increasingly ugly face not troubling us? If the festivals that come in life, instead of increasing our gentleness, simplicity and rareness, are becoming a means of sharpening the barbarity within us, then is it not necessary to find the root causes of this? And, what is there to find in this? What is there, which is not in front of us? What is it that we don’t know? We all know. But we no longer have the chessboard to face the truth.
It is difficult to accept the truth because then the responsibility of changing the circumstances falls on the head. Who should bear this trouble? The most pleasant situation for governments is to sit facing the other side. But when the society also starts taking pleasure in stealing faces, then understand that it is moving towards destruction. The issue is not about Diwali and Eid. The issue is not about Holi and Muharram. The issue is not about Durga Puja, Ganeshotsav and Ramzan. The issue is whether Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Prakash Utsav, Baisakhi, Buddha Purnima, Mahavir Jayanti, Paryushan, Navroz, Onam, Pongal, Ugadi, Bihu, Moatsumong, etc. are meant to expand our social spectrum or to narrow it. To make?
It may also be interesting for social scientists to find the answer to this question: Does the percentage of Muslim population in Hindu-majority states of India have anything to do with the communal turmoil there? Muslims constitute 18.5 percent of the population of Uttar Pradesh. There are 17 percent Muslims in Bihar, 6 and a half percent in Madhya Pradesh, 9 percent in Rajasthan, 10 percent in Gujarat, 13 percent in Delhi and 7 percent in Haryana. There are 9 and a half percent Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, 13 percent in Telangana, 13 percent in Karnataka, 26 and a half percent in Kerala and 6 percent in Tamil Nadu. 29 percent of the population in West Bengal, 40 percent in Assam and 9 percent in Tripura is Muslim. Do you see any correlation between the number of Hindu-Muslim communal incidents state-wise and the share of the two communities in the population in each state? Or is this the scenario only in the Hindi speaking regions of North India?
The figures for 2024 will also come after three-four months, but last year’s figures show that 668 very harsh statements and speeches spreading hatred against Muslims, directly targeting them, came out from across the country. Of these, 255 were given in the first six months of 2023 and 413 in the second half. This means that in the last six months of 2023, hate statements increased by 43 percent. Of the total such statements, 498, or 75 per cent, originated from states where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. The three states where the most provocative speeches were given are – Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal account for 216 of the hate speeches given across the country. 77 statements were given by International Hindu Council and Rashtriya Bajrang Dal. The credit for 50 such speeches goes to the Bharatiya Janata Party. 40 such statements were given by people of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and 38 by Sakal Hindu Samaj. Hindu Rashtra Sena and Cow Protection Dal gave 13 statements each. Hindu Jagran Manch gave 9 hate statements and Hindu Mahasabha and Shri Ram Sena gave 6 hate statements each. What will you call this?
So come, like me, you too wait for the next Diwali with these questions.