Justice

“Mr. A, it has been comprehensively proven that you are without a doubt guilty of non-belief in the almighty creator of this world. You are hereby responsible of spreading blasphemy and thereby this court declares you a heretic. Your specific crimes are as follows:

On the 24th of last month, in the meet of the local community, for increasing religious teachings in schools, you publicly proclaimed that there is no need for religion to prove the ancestry of man. You even went defame the Lord by calling him sadistic, if he does exist.”

“But I was merely trying to ask how could God withstand all the misery and death in our world today!”

“Silence! You shall not speak unless asked to. Then on the 17th of this month you interrupted the wedding of Mr. B to Miss C. This you did despite fully realizing that both sets of parents had given their consent. Again you went against the written word of God.

And finally three days ago, on the 25th of this month you had the audacity to hide an infidel fleeing from the police. Despite knowing his crime of preaching of a false God, despite knowing how he insults God, how he committed sacrilege violating the written word of God. How could you even for a moment shelter this enemy of God?

Therefore by the powers vested to me by the Almighty himself, and under his direct command to fight his enemies I sentence you to death,” sentenced the judge bringing down his hammer in a resounding crash.

The tall, lanky, bespectacled man was dragged off his feet towards the gallows. For one last time his black eyes scanned the room for some compassion. They met the dark green ones of the local religious leader, which had a gleam of victory in them.

“Now no one shall oppose his reign,” thought Mr. A to himself.

Then his eyes found the cloudy dying eyes of Mr. B. He too sat there exhilarated at the judgement. His arm greedily wrapped around 15 year old teen sitting beside him. She remained stony faced as ever. Her body wrapped in a fine silky satin dress cried inwardly for the moments when a tattered old dress had been all she had.

Finally the black pair met the light brown pair standing ahead in line for the gallows. The infidel smiled at him, not because A had expressed sympathy with his religion but because he had loved humanity.

“Why does religion have to be so vindictive?” A wondered looking up at the judge.

“Why does humanity have to be so foolish?” wondered God looking down at the judge.

P.S.:I have used A, B and C instead of names in order not to tie this story with any one religion.

 

 

 

Diwali in 2016

“Save the environment, spare a thought for the mute sufferers” “Ah!So your consciousness has awaken from from its seasonal hibernation, huh? What about Bakr-e-Eid?” “B…

Source: Diwali in 2016

Diwali in 2016

“Save the environment, spare a thought for the mute sufferers”

“Ah!So your consciousness has awaken from from its seasonal hibernation, huh? What about Bakr-e-Eid?”

“But what’s the fault of these innocent animals?”

“Aren’t  you the one who had taken out a beef rally in July?”

 

Welcome to India 2016. Where the most benign of actions lead to controversies. So how could this band of political mafia let go of the biggest religious stage of the year. Tired of these endless ongoing tirades I decided to let my thoughts flow through my keyboard.

Diwali is one of the most important religions in the Hindu culture, celebrated to mark the victory of light over darkness. Observed with exuberance and grandeur from the topmost to the lowest latitude, it often transcends religious barriers.It being so because of inclusive nature of this grand occasion.The religious prayers or “puja” being a minor ritual at best, especially for the kids.Throughout my childhood it had been a day when I could literally play with fire. This sense of heroism existent throughout the country gave kids a chance to show off to their friends and their friends to outshine them.It didn’t matter what religion you belonged to because the highlights of the day were firecrackers and sweets. And what kid doesn’t love them.

But no, the day of brotherhood from my childhood serves as a divide between communities today. Thank you, our esteemed leaders. You have managed to divide people living together since centuries.Some People blame this sharp rise in religious tension on the right wing.Their counterparts reply that this is just a reaction to the minority appeasing politics of the left wing. To be frank, I believe both halves are equally guilty. The right unites the majority against the minority while the left aims to divide the majority into smaller and smaller minorities. This game of power has created a wide rift between the true rulers of democracy, the citizens. Human beings are often searching for an opportunity to associate themselves with some identity larger than themselves and these opportunistic parties provide them with exactly that.

You may be wondering as to how a campaign for the environment may be a leftist agenda. Well, the problem being that the same group of people who blatantly oppose each and every decision of the right-leaning existent government are campaigning for a safe Diwali. So you see, this is not so much war of ideologies as it is a war of personal  defamation. The right is obviously at fault today, but some reason for their outrage must also be laid upon the not so old misadventures of the left(A small example:a district in West Bengal was recently prohibited from celebrating Durga Puja, another important festival because it hurt the sentiments of the minorities there. Mind you Durga Puja doesn’t involve any violence or forced participation).

What I want to say is that this simple festival of lights has evolved into a complex tangled fight which threatens to consume the message of love any festival preaches.

Spare us your political games please. Let us enjoy with our families and spread the message of love.

Do campaign for environmental protection, but I beg you, not for political mileage. People are not stupid, if they realize you are speaking for the betterment of the earth, they will understand your message and comply.

P.S.: I myself have not burst a single cracker since the past 5-6 years.