#MeraBharatKahan: Let’s Heed the Voices of our Nation

Let’s re-learn the meaning of the word secular and celebrate our diversity, says Girindra Nath Jha.

Time changes everything. I never believed in this cliche until recently.

I remember the summer afternoons in my childhood when my father and his friend (Akram Chacha) would sit for hours and indulge in long discussions on politics, religion and other burning topics. This was also the time when Akram Chacha enlightened my father on the readings of Quran and my father shared hymns from the Gita. Nothing changed their afternoon routine.

It was on one such afternoon that Akram Chacha had a questioned for my father:

“Why do you wear ‘Janeu’ (the sacred or sacrificial thread worn by Hindus)? What do you get by investing so much time in offering prayers? I understand that farming gives us food, but I don’t understand the importance of Janeu.”

My father didn’t seem disturbed nor offended by this question. But that was a different time...

Around the same time a man from our village, who had a criminal record, was arrested. When he returned to the village after finishing his jail time the entire village boycotted him.

As years passed, the man turned to politics and continued with his unlawful activities. He was yet again arrested but this time it was different. He returned as a hero, people applauded him.

See the difference? There was a time when other people’s views, opinions and questions were respected and not considered offensive. That was also a time when wrong was not right. And now... ‘Mera Bahrat Kahan’?

We chose to remain silent and accept the injustice around us. We tolerate dadagiri because if we dare to speak up, we’ll be assaulted and ostracised. The fundamental freedom of speech and expression is no longer our fundamental right.

I work with farmers and I see a great gap of haves and have nots, I see a rise in intolerance and all this depresses me.

Welcome to the vicious circle of casteism. Vote politics is a deadly disease that has now affected most of us. That was not the case earlier. Twenty years ago, a man from our village married a lady from the Musahar (Hindu outcast) community. The entire village celebrated this occasion. But last year, when a similar wedding took place the homes of both the families were burnt to ashes.

It is we who are tarnishing the image of India in the eyes of the world. We need to re-learn the meaning of the word ‘secular’ and celebrate our diversity. We are the largest democratic country in the world, it’s time we speak, listen and discuss. This is Mera Bharat and let’s work together and build a Bharat we once lived in.

Girindra Nath Jha is a known Hindi Blogger, a journalist turned farmer and has appeared in BBC Hindi and NDTV India. He has recently authored a book Ishk Main Maati Sona.