Though 'god' has been kept out of secular affairs in most of the countries
throughout the world except those who swear by the Shariath and Allah, this
entity has been dragged into a number of matters in India. Though ours is a
secular nation and the article 51ah of the constitution of India states that it
is the duty of every citizen to develop scientific temper and the spirit of
enquiry, the behaviour of the ruling class seems to be the opposite. We have
numerous instances where in the politicians resort to the superstitions for a
variety of purposes. But, the recent one of Sri B.S.yaddiyurappa, the Chief
minister of Karnataka takes the cake-sorry the whole bakery.
While not exactly known for any propensity to think rationally, Yaddiyurappa's
recent shenanigans have made the whole country sit up and take notice. His
utterances have upset even the leaders of his own party, the Bharatiya janatha
party who have been relying on superstitions for their electoral success! It is
not that yaddiyurappa has delved into the murky world of superstitions recently,
he has been immersed them for quite a long period. He has been going from one
crisis to another each time thanking the superstitious practices he has
performed for getting him out each time. These have been things from changing
the spelling of his name to presenting baby elephants to temples and performing
bending stretches on river banks in the buff on new moon days! Now, the latest
in the series has been a challenge to the ex Chief minister of Karnataka for a
face to face confrontation at a temple in a place called Dharmasthala, about 60
kms from Mangalore with a challenge to utter the allegations in the presence of
the deity in what is called as a trial of truth. |
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It is a belief or rather a superstition that the deity of this temple is all
powerful in matters of verification of truth. A vow taken in the name of this
place is said to be the ultimate as far as those go! For many people taking an
oath in the name of this place sends shudders down the spine. In fact, if one
takes an oath in the name of this deity it cannot be revoked anywhere except by
going to this temple and then getting the same done in the presence of its
owner. For example if one says that he or she will do something or not do
something invoking the name of this place, the matter has to be settled after a
pilgrimage to that place, offering worship and of course an approppriate
donation. Like the bibical saying that one shall not utter the name of god in
vain, the name of this place can be transposed to that! The scare of the powers
of this place are so much that many dare not utter its name under the fear that
what they utter could probably be construed as an oath and of course with the
ensuing consequences! So, they do not say Dharmasthala- they just say 'that
place'! It is also said that the deity is so powerful that one could not even
take away a stone from there without facing divine retribution! However, many
years ago, a priest of the very same temple was caught spiriting away jewellery
of the temple not by the god but by a vigilant watch man, of course as one could
say, duly inspired by the deity! It is also claimed that this temple runs a
parallel system for the administration of justice and settling disputes by a
quick method with minimum expenditure and some times people unable to go in for
litigation could resort to this parallel system for settling their disputes. Of
course one could ask how the omnipresent, omnipotent god allowed the dispute to
arise in the first place, but reason does not apply always to faith or at least
to some aspects of it. The owner of the temple is also well reputed in the area
for his social service activities particularly a number of capitation fee
collecting colleges offering courses from general humanities to professional
ones like medical and engineering. He is also one of largest landowners in the
area in which this temple is situated. That he is a Jain, following a religion
which does not worship any supernatural power presiding over a temple
worshipping a Hindu deity has been raised many times but has been glossed over.
That the temple is his family property has been one of the reasons why it has
been not brought under the Mujrai department which supervises most of the Hindu
temples.
It could be a place for the weak and downtrodden, a solace for the wounded soul
and all the blurb that goes with such. But, why the Chief minister of a state
has to go in for this system of dispensation of justice is the moot point. There
has been a long running dispute between the present and past Chief ministers of
Karnataka. Allegations have been flying thick and fast with each one digging up
new scandals every second day and conducting press conferences to trade them.
With all this going on the present Chief minister who was undergoing treatment
at some place in Kerala decides to end the series of allegations and counter
allegations once for all by daring his bug bear to come to this afore mentioned
place on a particular date and time for one to one confrontation swearing before
the deity about the truth of the allegations levelled against each other. Well,
the common citizen can resort to this method for dispensation of justice by
writing a letter to this place and summons would be issued from there to the
concerned parties to attend on an appointed date. But, being the Chief minister
of the state where this deity resides confers previleges on Sri Yaddiyurappa and
being in this position he does not need the mechanism for the common citizen on
the street to redress his grievance and hence he fixes his own date, the 27th
June and his own time. To make this tour 'official' he fixes some functions at a
nearby temple at Subrmanaya which had recently hit the headlines for the
practice of dalits rolling on the leaves on which the Brahmins had partaken food
and discarded for relief from skin diseases. In his feudal style he also
releases the ads to the newspapers of Karnataka at an expense of nearly 7
million rupees to the state exchequer, challenging H.D.Kumaraswamy the immediate
past chief minister and his chief tormentor to a truly cowboy style
confrontation at the main street at high noon.
The ad according to many could amount to contempt of court as it has some digs
at the judicial processes. But, leaving that apart one wonders if the Chief
minister of a state has to resort to the so called powers of a deity to get
justice, what would be the fate of the common citizen? His opponent naturally
picked up the gauntlet and replied that he too was ready to face the trial by
god business! When there is such a high profile clash at his place, the owner of
the Dharmastala temple could not be a silent spectator. He said he would be glad
to host them and 'facilitate' the conduct of the proceedings. So, the stage was
set for a man to man Hollywood Western movie style confrontation but one
blinked- sorry both blinked. There was a furor in the state and all progressive
forces protested questioning the propriety of using state funds to settle
personal disputes. The Bharatiya janatha party, the political outfit to which
Sri yaddiyurappa belongs started becoming apologetic. The bills for the ads they
said would be paid for by the party. national level leaders advised him to call
it off. many religious heads advised him not to use god for political purposes,
though one cannot understand god who runs everything in this world can ignore
politics! Now, it seems that the one to one battle at high noon on the main
street has been called off! However, the 'good guy' has claimed tha he would
make an important announcement on the previous day. So, one has to wait and
watch for this to come.The announcement has finally come two days before the
event- it has been called off!
One could have watched this amusing drama as a disinterested spectator but for
the very serious issues at stake. They being the Chief minister of a state
reposing more faith in the powers of a deity than the due process of law,
throwing all secular norms to the winds and spending millions of public funds of
the state on a futile exercise.Any way, with such people around the people of
Karnataka never have had a dull moment. The entertainment of trading
allegations, new scams being exposed every day is providing juicy copy for the
print media and lively footage for visual media- of course the whole Roman
circus being paid for by state funds. |