Sympathising With The Catholic Priest

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 9 August 2023 "Mere Haathon Ke Tarashe Hue Patthar Ke Sanam; Aaj Bhagwaan Bane Baithe Hain Butkhaanon Mein" (The idols I carved out of stones/ Are installed as gods on thrones) A Catholic priest in Goa was booked for allegedly hurting religious sentiments for his alleged remarks about the Maratha warrior king Shivaji, during a sermon, said police. A group of at least 100 “Shiv Premis” including members of Bajrang Dal, Rajput Karni Sena among others thronged the Vasco police station in South Goa on Friday night, and staged a protest outside the police station, demanding immediate arrest of the Fr Bolmax Pereira, the parish priest of St Francis Xavier Church, Chicalim in South Goa. Father Bolmax Pereira from Goa ---- Earlier this week, in a purported video, the priest had said in a sermon, “There are a few people for whom Shivaji has become a God…Yes, he is a national hero. We have to honour and respect him. What he has done, the battles he fought to protect his people…for all that he deserves respect. He is a hero, but not a god…We have to have a dialogue with our Hindu brethren and ask them ‘Is Shivaji your God? or a national hero’. If he is a national hero, let it be at that. Don’t make him a God. We need to understand their perspective. If we live in fear, we will not be able to rise again”. Did this priest say anything wrong? Did he insult Shivaji? Did he abuse him? Didn't he call the Maratha King a national hero? He justifiably refused to call Shivaji, a god. Hinduism is already overburdened with an army of gods. How many more gods do Hindus need? The religio-political atmosphere of the country is so vicious at the moment and the lumpen elements among Hindus are so brazen that sanity has lost its place and sensibility has gone for a toss. Till 2012, Shivaji was a venerable Maratha king and warrior. Even textbooks in Maharashtra mentioned him as king Shivaji or Chhatrapati Shivaji. Then Maharaj was added to his name and soon Shivaji was included in the pantheon of Hindu gods. Today, Shivaji is a cult. Now he's worshipped like a god and if you don't use the suffix Maharaj to his name, people get offended just like calling Bal Thackeray sans 'Saheb' is considered to be insulting in Maharashtra and even most of the grovelling dailies, published from Maharashtra, write Balasaheb Thackeray. Coming back to the steady 'evolution' of the Maratha king, Bombay's CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) is now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). Deification of individuals is a favourite pastime of over-sensitive, slavish and indolent Indians. Decades ago, a firebrand Bengali writer Nirad C Chaudhuri wrote in his book ' Autobiography of an unknown Indian ' that " Indians seriously lack a sense of proportion when it comes to respecting a person. They grovel and go ga-ga over a famous personality. This might be an outcome of being enslaved for centuries. Indians often behave like poor slaves without a skerrick of amour propre." This explains our proclivity to deify a person. Politics has further intensified this unworthy tendency. These are potentially bad times for all those who think sensibly and rationally. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/sympathising-catholic-priest/d/130415 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism