By M K George
Rome, Dec 15, 2024: I have been blessed to be a teacher who had to form students of all religions.
More blessed to be a part of a system where religion did not get priority, but religious values did. An educational program where all major religious festivals were celebrated and prayer became a shared experience irrespective of which religious background one came from; where ‘Forming men and women for others’ was the dream.
Of the many lessons I have learned, I want to highlight a few which my ‘Hindu students’ have taught me. (I am not sure whether the use of Hindu Student is appropriate. All I mean to say is that these students whom I am referring to are devotees of Hindu religion).
A word about these students. They have been extremely loyal, devout and grateful for the education they received from Catholic traditions and they continue to support the good that the Christians do.
However, the dissonance comes in when I write , speak, or exchange notes about the ‘majority religion’ persecuting the ‘minority religions,’ For instance, when I wrote strongly about the anti-Muslim persecution in Kashmir, one of my students wrote back saying, why don’t you write also about the Kashmiri Pandits and their sufferings.
I must say, though I had heard about the Kashmiri pandits and their sufferings, they were not in my frame of my mind. This remark from my student made me read about the agony the Kashmiri Pandits have gone through. Her remarks challenged me to open my mind and be more universal in responding to the sufferings of people, irrespective of religion or other backgrounds.
Then in another instance, when I forwarded some news of how Christians are being persecuted in India, especially in the states of India like, U.P, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, and specifically on a case of an Instagram posting where a man was rudely confronted in a park in a major city, where a right-wing group was ‘praying with lathis and abusive words against a particular religion,’ another student of mine responded: ‘Probably I never had any direct experience, father. Whatever I saw was worth appreciating.’
Then he went on to narrate stories of two ultra-right groups , whom I usually criticize, doing commendable social service. He also warned me that I should be worried about Christians being attacked by Muslims and that issues that I quoted are regrettably happening across the world. He advised me, ‘You shall be worried about all these and shall be vocal about these issues also. Could you?’
The latter student’s appeal was ‘not to be selective in responding to issues of violence and repression.’
The lessons I learnt are primarily three. One, that as a Christian, my responses towards violence in the world should not only be about ‘my people,’ but every victim of violence. In that sense, it is a real Christian call.
Jesus’ Good Samaritan story is insightful. He chose as model, not the religious leaders or men of eminence, priest or Levite, but a Samaritan, who was not socially in the upper cadre. As a human and a Christian, I am called to care for everyone who is suffering.
Second, this kind of caring for all will require a whole lot of learning and analysis. Unfortunately, the media and the current sources of knowledge are so vitiated that most of us have problems in viewing issues from a holistic and humanistic point of view. This really calls for education and constant efforts at awareness building. Multi-cultural and inter-cultural skills are called for.
Third lesson is about the Indian right-wing media itself. Over the last century, they have succeeded in creating in the minds of Hindu believers that they are victims and that they are under threat from the minorities. Nobody now bothers to verify the veracity of claims. Demagogues are believed and followed.
The divisive tendencies in the world are frighteningly on the rise. Every leader seems to be following the path of three Ps: Populism, Polarization and Post-Truth. (Moises Naim).
Our response should be one of compassion and inclusiveness. Pope Francis reminds us, A “fundamental truth shared by all religions, is their teaching that as children of the one God, we must love and honour one another, respect diversity and differences in a spirit of fraternity and inclusion, and care for one another as well as for the Earth, our common home.”
A real challenge indeed!