"A Religiously Surcharged And Over-Sensitive Society Is Its Own Enemy"

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 August 2023 A lecturer at Poona's Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Ashok Sopan Dhole, was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Hindu gods during a lecture to Class 12 students. The incident came to light when a video of Dhole allegedly making objectionable comments about Hindu, Muslim, and Christian gods went viral on social media. Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the right-wing student organisation, expressed their anger after viewing the video, prompting the president of Pune Hindutva Organisation, Ravindra Dilip Padval, to file a police complaint. The teacher didn't say anything derogatory or objectionable about the deities of Hinduism. I saw the video clip in which he just said that the god was one, though we called him by different names. He narrated a story of a drowning man, who called many (Hindu) gods to save him. As we say in English, too many cooks spoil the broth, none came to his rescue and he drowned, whereas a Muslim and Christian were saved because they believed in Allah and god and didn't call any other deities for help. Should one be arrested for such a simple narration? Of late, Hindus have become too militant and bellicose. Now everything is umbrageous to them. Even an oblique reference to their truckload of gods can land you in prison." A religiously surcharged and over-sensitive society is its own enemy," said Dr Radhakrishnan, one of the greatest scholars of Hinduism and Eastern Religions. He was the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford. Once at Oxford, the great professor was teaching Charvaka Darshan, one of the six schools of Indian philosophy which is completely atheistic in nature. A brilliant student asked him, "Professor, do you believe in this atheistic school?" Dr Radhakrishnan said, " Yes, while teaching an atheistic faith, I also become an atheist and when I teach theistic schools, I become a believer." This is the level of classroom discussion between a world class teacher and his equally gifted students at one of the finest universities in the world. And here in a Hindu India, 17/18-yr-old useless students are making videos of their teacher, who's not indulging in anything hanky-panky, and circulating them. So many Hindu outfits and their unemployed fanatic members are ready to be offended and they look for such opportunities to steal a few moments of publicity. The poor lecturer did nothing wrong, but in these religiously surcharged times and climes, the very words god and religion have become red rags to a bull. At the moment, Indians are chloroformed by god and religion and they shall remain in this slumberous state until they're violently shaken and stirred like a soda water bottle. ---- 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/interfaith-dialogue/religiously-sensitive-society-enemy/d/130387 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