write a speech on a comparsion of communal harmony in 1940 and communal disharmony of recent times
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Answer:
Explanation:
Fifty year on, the spectre of Communal Harmony still haunts us. We saw its macabre form during the trauma of partition. How far the British played `mischievous game in dividing Hindus and Muslims during the last phase of empire will be debated for decades to come. Separate electorate was the most pernicious practice which divided Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs. It struck a blow to the composite character of nation. To a large extent, the Hindus and Muslim divide has been the legacy of British Empire; for centuries, the two major comminutes lived together like brother in almost all the cities in North and East.
Right from the very beginning, the Indian state sought to promote total harmony among people professing different faiths, granting them freedom of worship and extending certain privileges to the members of minority community. Despite the best efforts of farsighted leaders, communalism and occasional communal rights have besmirched the fair name of the country known through ages as an oasis of tolerance and amity. The ugly eruptions have been more of an exception than the rule and they have been the handiwork of disgruntled politicians, anti-social elements and criminals. The people of India stand for a plural and multi-religions society.
A glimpse into the past would show that communal harmony and tenets of tolerance have been an integral part of the great Indian tradition; an unassailable thought flows through the Rig Veda. “Truth is one, the learned may describe it variously”, says the Atharveda “The earth which accommodates peoples of different persuasions and languages as in a peaceful harmony benefit all of us.” Echoes the Rig Veda ”All human beings are of same race.”
None could have put the broad vision of India than the great son of India Swami Vivekanand who addressed the world parliament of religions in Chicago, USA on September 11, 1893; addressing his audience as “Sisters and brothers of America” he thundered “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance, we believe not only in universal toleration but accept all religions as true. I am proud to tell you that I belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the pure remnants of Aryans who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny.”
And during Mughal period Akbar the Great with his liberal and catholic outlook said, “Truth is no monopoly of any religion or sect.”
And how on earth can we overlook the contribution of the Bhakti movement in promoting the religious harmony. Kabir, one of the protagonists of Hindu-Muslim unity described himself as the son of Ram and Allah. If you say that I am a Hindu that is not true nor I am a Mussalman. I am a body made of five elements where the unknown plays.”
Guru Nanak Devji went through Hindu places of pilgrimage like Mathura, Banaras, Gaya, Junagarh. His last long journey was his piligrimage to Macca and Madina. Guru Nanak is still respected in Punjab–the king of Holy men, the Guru of Hindus and the pir of Mussalman.
“Baba Nanak Shah Faquir/Hindu ka Guru Musalmankapir.”
One of the greatest integrating forces of our country has been the world of art and culture and here we can include music, drama, camera, TV and the like. Some our great stars in different realm of entertainment have been Dilip Kumar, MeenaKumari, Ajit, Madhubala, Mohammed Rafi, TalatMahood, Begum Akhtar, Bismillah Khan, Jesudas and these great people have been human beings first, Indians second and then only followers of their respective religions. Rafi, through his inimitable rendering of immortal Hindu songs brings tears to the eyes of ardent devotee. So is Jesudas, a Christian by birth, has sung more songs for Hindu gods than any Hindu in Kerala or elsewhere.
Without being formerly initiated into doctrines, Sri Ramakrishna realised the ideals of religion other than Hindusim. He said “I have practised all religious Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, I have found that it is the same God towards whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. But they never reflect that he who is called Krishna is also called Shiva and bears the name of Jesus. God is Allah and Allah is God. Sri Ramkrishna used a simple ex-ample which even a child can follow to drive home the point of fact “A lake has several ghats. At one, the Hindus takes water in pitchers and call it ‘jal’. The Muslims take in leather and call it Pani. At the third the Christians call it ‘water’. Can we imagine that it is not jal but only pani or water; how ridiculos! The substance is one. All are seeking the same substance…Let each man follow his path.