At the service of godmen

The secular character of the Constitution that the people of India gave themselves with such pride is being defiled in the state of Haryana every other day. It may partly be out of ignorance — since there is a government of novices in place — but largely due to the BJP’s electorally useful and RSS-mandated dedication to the practice of Hindutva. As private citizens, ministers are entitled to bow before babas, monks, gurus and godmen of their choice. But in public they are constitutionally required to maintain a respectful distance from each religion. However, BJP leaders in Haryana, as also elsewhere, do not feel shy of making known their religious preferences. Imagine a madarasa ever getting the kind of aid given to a dera in Sirsa by a BJP minister!  

After handing over the task of ‘saffronisation’ of education to guru Dina Nath Batra, an enlightened Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, under the beneficial guidance of an equally enlightened Chief Minister Khattar, decided to invite a Jain Digambar monk, not to his house or a private place for pravachan, but right inside the Assembly. None in the august gathering perhaps realised that the very act of calling a religious leader to a legislature strikes at the secular base of the Constitution apart from setting a bad precedent.

Given the prevalence of such constitutional ignorance, it should not surprise anyone if Education Minister Anil Vij does not understand the untenability of giving Rs 50 lakh of the taxpayer’s money to a controversial dera chief for promoting rural games. The games he encourages are his own creation and not recognised. The dera chief has a large following and in the last Assembly elections he had contributed to the BJP victory; it is obviously payback time now. Justifying his act, Vij said: 50 lakh toh maine apne discretionary fund se diye hain, iska mai hi maalik tha. It is time the MLA discretionary fund misuse was given a relook. Whether sport gets a boost or not, the BJP’s patronage of gurudom is going beyond acceptable limits.