Will the celebration of the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore start and end with garlanding his statues, rendition of Rabindrasangeet and lip service to “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high”!
Would society pay heed to his mindset and values which get reflected through his ocean of work and gems embedded in it !
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Apart from writing songs and poems on nature, love or spirituality; Tagore’s pen used to launch tirades against religious orthodoxy and hatred. He had awarded the highest pedestal to humanity by rising above all barriers of religion, caste, colour or nationality. Rightly he warned us — “Who is obsessed by religion, He is Blind/He only kills and gets killed … He who kills as infidels/ The followers of other faiths/ Dishonours his own faith”! Even after 80 years of his death, Tagore’s warning still remains extremely relevant because the situation has hardly improved a bit. Despite boasting of “modernity”; we are still witnessing how “majority” torture the “minorities” in the name of religion in various countries of the globe ! If somewhere bloody pogrom gets launched compelling millions of minority citizens to cross international borders seeking refuge; in another place the minorities are subjected to open threats with denial of basic human rights! Fatal assaults invoking “hurt sentiments” revolving around any “holy” animal or even marriage are also enjoying a “free run”! Blasphemy laws are strictly followed in many places whereby anybody found uttering anything “objectionable” in ears of the “pious” would be taken to the task ! Even the co-religionists are also “taught lessons” by the “religious-obsessed” through bullets or machetes for their “sin” of upholding secularism or protesting against communalism!
This type of intolerance often gives rise to communal arsons resulting in Tagore’s words — “He only kills and gets killed”. Yes, no society can prosper if religious fanaticism gets the upper hand. Tagore continues — “He hoists a blood-stained flag in his temple/ In the name of God/ He worships the Devil”. Indeed what a dishonour to his own faith by dishonoring that of the “infidel”!
“Even the Atheist is Blessed/ Because he doesn’t have the vanity of any faith/ Humbly he lights up his reason/ Defies the authority of scriptures/ And seeks only the good of men” — Tagore exposes the moral bankruptcy of the “religious-obsessed” and urged all to uphold sense of reason by transcending scriptures-based religious barriers so as to appreciate the ultimate truth of humanity. Will we draw inspiration from Tagore’s call — “Your altar they have flooded with blood/ Please completely break it/ Hurl your thunder at the prison walls of faiths/ And bring to this cursed land/ The light of reason”!
Conquering of lands to build up “empire” has also reared its ugly head ! Not only Bucha, rather the whole Ukraine is being systematically butchered with millions affected, families disintegrated and precious lives lost forever ! Though some countries are offering physical and moral support to battered Ukraine, there exist another set also who have no qualms in hobnobbing with the aggressor Russia. However, to act as “neutral” or “messenger of peace”, those countries are offering unsolicited sermons of “NO WAR” as if both countries are equally responsible for the “war”! But the fact remains that Ukraine is merely defending its territory with Russia being the aggressor! What a crude way to dilute the ugly mindset of the invader Russia ! Tagore asked — “Those who are poisoning your air, those who are turning out your lights, Have you forgiven them Lord? Have you loved them”? The “neutral” brigade must respond to this question posed by Tagore by awakening their conscience.
Tagore emphasised — “He who commits wrong or condones the same/ May your contempt singe like a reed in flame”. Would we raise our voice of truth to strike falsehood down to ground as expected by Tagore whenever people torture people in the name of religion, nationality and all other demographic credentials?
