In his letter “Saffronised system” appearing in Herald(Sep 30), Tabrez Mohamad seemingly takes offence to the words “Ram Rajya”, used by Digamber Kamat in his speech, without understanding the proper context in which the Chief Minister chose to use this term.
I once got into serious trouble when I told a friend at a Party that “she was dressed to kill” and she took it literally, not understanding the context and the proper meaning of the expression. Whenever terms with religious connotations are invoked, we need to understand the context instead of judging these with prejudiced eyes. With Religion being a way of life, many terms whose origins may lie there have found their way in the modern secular diction. Like “Ram Rajya”, other apt illustrations would be “Inshallah” and “For Christ’s sake”. “Ram Rajya” was first invoked by none other than Mahatma Gandhi in the pre-Independence days; to outline his vision of a free modern India. Since then “Ram Rajya” has become common parlance in Indian political circles. Political leaders have often used the expression to signify a truly democratic form of governance on the basis of equality and justice for all, or in brief an ideal administration! In recent times, Congress President Sonia Gandhi used this term in an election speech in Uttar Pradesh. “Ram Rajya”, she said “doesn't differentiate between people... it doesn't have hatred... there are no communal riots in Ram Rajya... it's such a system which provides justice for all”. When similar religious concerns were expressed in those days, Gandhi, in his clarification that appeared in the news-daily “The Hindu”, explained that politically translated, “Ram Rajya” is his idea of the perfect democracy in which, “inequalities based on possession and non-possession, colour, race or creed or sex vanish; in it, land and State belong to the people, justice is prompt, perfect and cheap and, therefore, there is freedom of worship, speech and the Press”. How beautiful! Would anybody in their true sense refer to such views as unreasonable or tag the Father of our Nation as unsecular? If the Chief Minister wishes to transform Goa into Gandhi’s “Ram Rajya”, then such an act will indeed be a step in the right direction; and a model democracy based on such lines will truly be an ideal democracy: for, of and by the people! Where we can all live with rights, freedom and dignity, where we are not threatened or intimidated by non state actors, where we are not discriminated against on the basis of our caste, creed or religion, where the State shall rule justly and wisely and where we get to enjoy full freedom, equality and justice in every respect. Now whether the Chief Minister will put his words to action is the scope for another debate. Cheers, Sandeep Heble ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saffronised system by Tabrez Mahamad, Davorlim With reference to the news “ CM calls upon people to make Goa a ‘Ram Rajya’ (Herald Sep 29, 2009), I am happy and delighted that the present government is having a good vision about Goa and I hope it would work hard to march towards the vision. However, is it really necessary to use terms related to the Hindu religion such as ‘Ram Rajya’? Why can’t we tell people directly about our vision rather than using examples from the Hindu religion alone? A Chief Minister is a person representing the entire state. Just because he is a Hindu, it does not mean we need to know and follow Hindu teachings. I am in total agreement with our respected CM’s views that we should make Goa just like ‘Ram Rajya’ in which peace existed and crime and evil were non-existent. I am sure Muslims as well as Catholics respect and adore Lord Ram. However, that does not mean that the CM should tell us that we should “not make Lord Ram a hero of only one particular community”. Such behaviour by the elected representatives in a secular state sends out a clear message that the system is being saffronised. Source: http://oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=27995&cid=13
