Meat and milk both have high nutritional value. They build our body. But the combination of the two can be dangerous. Drinking milk after eating meat or combining the two can trigger several issues like gas, discomfort, stomach ache, nausea, acidity, heartburn, ulcers to name but a few. To put it simply, the combination of the two can cause several ailments in the body.
Similarly, politics and religion both have high societal value. But the combination of the two is as toxic as that of the mixture of meat and milk. The immediate outcome of such a combination is hate speeches which can be compared with vomiting acid after consuming meat and milk together.
The Supreme Court of India rightly observed that hate speeches would end the moment politicians stop using religion in politics. Justice Joseph hit the nail on the head when he observed that the country was caught in a “vicious circle of hate” and the solution lay in expunging religion from politics.
Earlier in feudalism, a king or a feudal lord used to favour his own religion over other religions. History witnessed that such a practice spelt disaster on every occasion. Just like people learned from their mistakes the need to separate milk from meat, here also they felt the need for a complete separation of religion from politics. This gave birth to secularism. All modern progressive nations have embraced secularism after learning how painful it would be to deviate from its path.
The mixture of politics and religion causes two major problems. When a particular religion is favoured in a country over other religions, it divides the citizens. This mixture does not allow the policy makers to follow the progressive ideals of equality and fraternity. Rather it attracts negative things such as discrimination, marginalisation, conflict and unrest. Some of our neighbouring countries have experienced the danger of not walking in the path of secularism.
This mixture creates the second problem when a political leader tries to usurp the role of a representative of God. This sounds the death knell for democracy. How can a voter hold a ruler accountable for his actions if he is seen as being chosen by divine power? Therefore, it completely destroys accountability as well as the lock-gate to check corruption and abuse of power.
It has been reported that the Prime Minister has recently issued an audio message saying he had begun an 11 – day “special observance” as prescribed in the scriptures, to “awaken divine consciousness” within himself in the lead-up to the January 22 consecration. He also claimed that God had chosen him as “an instrument to represent all Indians during the consecration” of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In a democracy, a ruler has to remain accountable to the voters. But it would be difficult to hold a person accountable if he proclaims that he is chosen by God.
The emergence of India as a secular, democratic country was certainly a gain of the evolution. It appears that the gains are likely to be eclipsed for a time because efforts are being made to create an impression that a religious ceremony is but a State event to exploit religion as a political instrument.
Even Sankaracharyas raised objections regarding the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya before its completion to coincide with the preparation of the ensuing 2024 Lok Sabha election. Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the sankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth in Uttarakhand has said the four sankaracharyas will not attend the January 22 inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya as “it is a bad idea to inaugurate an incomplete temple.”
Secularism separates milk of religion from political meat. It is like a doctor who advises us to consume meat and milk separately. Undoubtedly, there will be several ailments in the body politic without secularism.
