Communal relations in India

After both our daughters were married in 2010, my wife, Geetha and I travelled to many parts of India. We went to various places for sightseeing, meeting Holy men and women, visiting some of our relatives, observing silence, doing research on our charitable work and generally having a good time.
I am sixty two years old and left India to migrate to the USA in 1977. I am an NRI, whatever that means. In some quarters within India I am not qualified to talk about India. In some circles, I am considered objective. In the USA, I am looked upon as an immigrant, with all the baggage that goes with that term. Some good, and some not so good!
Our travels were between July 26th, 2011 and August 31st , 2011. This is one of my observations.
Communal Relations in India
It is quite amazing that when living or traveling in India, you will notice the fact that for the most part, people of different religions live, work and pray, together, seemingly in harmony. You will notice Hindu and Muslim children, holding hands, walking to and from school, carrying on innocent conversation. The political landscape and the workplace give you a sense of respect and tolerance for all religions. You will not miss the mosques and churches, the call of prayer from mosques on loud speakers five times a day. Roads are closed on high holy days and all Fridays for Namaz. Churches are cropping up every where. There are political leaders with Hindu sounding names who belong to Christianity, with all the outward signs of a Hindu. Case in point. The Late Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y.S Rajasekara Reddy. Unfortunately, just as in the rest of the world, there is a dark, unspoken, undercurrent.
People are reluctant to talk about religion, especially the ugly side which divides us all and is at the root of most of the conflicts for centuries. During my two months stay and travel in India, I heard or noticed a few things.
In Taj Mahal, Agra, most tourists do not look at the Taj as a “Muslim” monument. There is enough history thrown around by the tour guides, mostly muslims, which puts the mughal invasion of India in a not so good light. It hardly causes any grief. When you to go to Fathehpur Sikri, there is a Dargah, a place where muslim saints are buried and venerated. I joined many other Hindus and muslims and prayed for miracles. I suspect that many staunch Hindus, the fundamentalists, would not have prayed there.
In New Delhi, Anna Hazare, a modern day Gandhi, was on fast, demanding that the Central Government take the lead in eradicating corruption in India. The response, particularly the young, was beyond anything the Government expected. One of the leading Imams of New Delhi, told his followers not to lend support to the anti corruption crusade. His reason: The crusaders for the eradication of corruption in India start their day or rallies with ‘Vande Mataram” ( Blessings to the Mother land) and “Jai Hind” (Victory to Hindustan or India). The fact is that corruption in India touches the life of every person in India, be it a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. Even ordinary Hindus, not the fundamentalist type, notice this anomaly of the so called Muslim leaders and Imams and comment on the role of Muslims. Fortunately, some of my close friends and acquaintances are Muslims. Therefore, I concluded that the Imam or his types do not speak on behalf of all Muslims. In spite of this call for a boycott, many young Indian Muslims were supportive of this anti corruption crusade by showing up in large numbers and vociferously supporting a tough stand by politicians on the issue of corruption.
In the state of Kerala, with a one hundred percent literacy rate, the population is roughly divided equally between the three major religions of India, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. It is the State with the least amount of corruption and very rarely you will hear of communal riots or tension.
A few months ago, a high history school teacher’s hands were chopped off for having said in class something about Prophet Mohammed. The teacher was a Christian. What to make of this ? This issue raises a lot of questions and offers few answers.
Did the Muslim leaders and Imam’s condemn this ? Does the right to free speech give one the right to speak about history, even if it is not very flattering ? Should the teaching of history, leave out the British invasion of India ? Should the books not discuss the British policy of divide and rule ? Should the Mughal history be factual or sugarcoated ? The caste system and its ill effects. The Quota /Reservation system. Should the destruction of Hindu temples not be mentioned in history text books. Should teachers be afraid to teach history or encourage debate for fear of getiing killed ? Is it fair to put all Muslims in the same bucket ?. After all, one of the richest men in India and a few of the former Presidents of India were Muslims. What about the “average” muslim ?. Will there be a Fatwa against the people who chopped of the hands of the teacher ? Will the NRI’s condemn this ? Or demand a fair investigation ?

I was in Yelagiri, a hill station, in Tamilnadu, staying with Ramu Uncle. Yelagiri has a population of thirty six thousand, with many tribals inhabiting the land. Some of the best schools are run by Christian missionaries. In the local YMCA, they offer additional coaching for all grades and a good meal in the evenings. A Christian “School” or the “YMCA” are not bad words.
In this environment lives Gracie. (I don’t know her Hindu name). Gracie’s husband, a person who has a few cows and makes his living by selling fresh milk. He was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. A good Samaritan offered to help him with his medicine and also offered to pray for three hours a day. Sitting right next to his bed. Only one condition though. All pictures of Hindu Gods had to be thrown out. As a Christian nun, it would be against her religion to offer her prayers when pictures of any deity other than the picture of Jesus was in the room, nay in the house. If Gracie or her husband agree to be “converted”, given their financial and health condition, can you blame them ? How come no Hindu organization has this kind of network to help the sick and the poor ? Who, actually is behind this concerted effort to “convert”. Is Gracie really “converted”.