Religion and Theology

Religious intolerance is not something that people havent been hearing. It has been in the past and has grown strong with time now in the present. Not one but many regions in the world experience this in the name of saving their beliefs. Which is quit sad to hear, quit ironic in fact, because these so called religious people involving in such an act hail from lives that read holy books which constantly tell them about loving one an other.

India, having its forever tag   unity in diversity by its side, is something most of them wouldnt now agree with.

 The conflict between Hindus and Muslims has a complex history which goes way back in 711 that has said to have begun with the Jihad of the Umayyad Caliphate in Sindh. Hindus were persecuted and temples had been destroyed at the time of Islamic expansion during medieval times. Due to the tension, India has committed itself to secularism since independence 1947

Secularism could not help, when some of the Hindus have burned down the mosque of the 16th century to build a temple in its place, this act has triggered the outburst of riots. Both have always have had issues but none wanted to call for peace. Instead they went out setting the trains on fire and the attack on swaminarayan temple which was recent on September 24th 2002, getting 30 people killed, by murdering them is what has happened.

These clashes which are never ending are being carried on to generations, where little minds are spoiled but filling them with vain hatred towards the other religion. Not to forget that every time these riots take place, irrespective to size, it always the innocent people who are the victims. And this in turn creates a whole new bunch of the ones who would willingly join in dissipation. The amount of trauma built in the people after watching their loved ones die in such cruel way would always be the main reason for creating such an impact. So there goes, people that were once away from the fritters will now associate and take part in riots. So there is no scope of the clashes to end but infact they are raising to the heights with time. And no boring speech or a peace act performed by the government is of help.

Cause of discrimination and Violence
The true cause may not be described appropriately. But it mainly is because of the religious differences, ethnic feuds and the economic differences. Political influence can also be to some extent. It would have been easier if the cause was known and treated. But now violence is more like an age old trend, the actual cause had been forgotten and people are busy in creating a disturbance and killing other people without any remorse in them. Media has its affect it in many ways supports what it has to support and fails to show the truth. Of course, the media having its own personal influence would always want to show the good side of its team that it is supporting. The fact is nothing is fair and right, if the world would  have taken a firm stand and what is right and stuck to it, their would have been enough security, people would have left their kids out freely to go play and not fear of them reaching home safe. Government might have tried to calm down place, since nothing was changing, it let itself get used to everything and made clear to civilians to get used to it as well. So where can a common man go, what can a common man say when everyone one knows that he is not going to be heard. Where is the security Who should one blame The manipulated, the deceased, the traumatized, the wounded, the lost and the mentally disturbed ones, all have lost their faith and feel that there is nothing that they can do. So this builds them to someone having their past going in their minds constantly and wanting to get out of it knowing there is no way. So revenge might seem the perfect path to most of the victims, hence they choose.

It doesnt end here, the anti Christian violence, incited by religious extremists, has taken the form of killing of Christians and burning of churches in the tribal regions of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. The burning of an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two children in Orissa was one in the series of incidents of religious violence that have, of late, afflicted the Indian society. Its not between two particularly religions but is against the religions and the regions that these chauvinists are going in the name of Holy war (jihad). Even now a commoner experiences these revolts showing up from nowhere without a reason.

A Religious war within the same religion is another same thing, where the Muslims opting for Christianity are killed for the conversion. When one has a freedom to follow any particular faith that they convicted to, then why is there a need for killings. Its just the way one has grow oneself into, and to expect a drastic change from it does seem quit impossible

Efforts made to create peace
Maintaining peace and order amongst the diverse communities has always been a difficult order. Yet some efforts have been made to suppress the angry between the Hindu and Muslim clash goes way back, promoting a two-nation theory and creating a partition, India and Pakistan, as it seemed virtually impossible for them both to live together in one nation. But it should be noted that in the period leading up to partition, many (if not most) religious riots were actively instigated by British authorities who bribed goon squads associated with the Muslim League to achieve that aim.  From a propaganda point of view, such riots were essential to create the impression that Hindus and Muslims simply couldnt live together. But riots were also triggered to either distract attention from the growing freedom movement.

.But the solution is here is not a partition and out casting, India proclaims to be a diverse nation and yes one can agree with such diversity, it tends to fall into the pits of turbulence amongst the communities. In the past many acts were done but nothing has swept away the hatred towards one and another. And outburst appears pretty often.

And now the government cannot be blamed for its ignorance, since one cannot expect when these revolts can start. It tries its best to stop when come out in open. But it does make an effort. A little more precautionary measures can be taken, now that it is quite evident that the riots can take place at anytime

The solution is to promote awareness positive peace building and reconciliation role religion has played in many conflict situations. Interfaith dialogue would be beneficial at all levels of religious hierarchies and across all segments of religious communities. Where silence and misunderstanding are all too common, learning about other religions would be a powerful step forward. Being educated about other religions does not mean conversion but may facilitate understanding and respect for other faiths. Communicating in a spirit of humility and engaging in self-criticism would also be helpful.