Mumbai Jain Appeasement : A Stealth RSS Threat To The Existence of Jainism
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The recent 4 days meat ban imposed by the BMC in view of the Jain festival of fasting in Mumbai has created a ruckus in the social media space. The BMC ruled by the BJP and the Shiv Sena has come under attack from all quarters including the Saffron outfit Shiv Sena itself which has called the ban an 'appeasement' move. Still the BJP has remained determined to impose the ban and ensure that the people of Mumbai does not get any meat supply for the four days.
Apparently the move was camouflaged by the BJP as an act of showing respect to the feelings of the Jain community. However, from a critical angle we can see a very deep conspiracy of the saffron brigade playing in the backstage. It is evident that no real respect to people of any religious faith can be shown by banning something which is forbidden in their faith but practiced by people of other faith. It can only happen in the countries where the state openly advocates the following of one religion and one culture, alike the countries of Arab peninsula ruled under the atrocious Islamic Sharia, or the Zionist Israeli state.
No true respect could be shown to the people of Jain religion by forcefully banning the sale of meat on the days of their festival. As fish, egg, milk, root vegetables, etc are also not consumed by the Jain people equally as meat, however, those stuffs will be available easily in Mumbai city and people can still eat them. This will, if we go by the BMC books, offend the sentiments of the Jain people.
More than showing any respect towards the Jain philosophy of non-violence and the Jain religion, which is one of the ancient Indian philosophical manifestation of atheism like Buddhism, the ban is imposed by the BJP under the pressure from the RSS for political reasons. The RSS and its several off shoot entities are now trying to win over the minority communities like Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists into its own fold of Hindutva. Calling these minority communities part of their so-called Hindu brigade, the RSS and its affiliates are presently attempting to engulf these faiths to increase its strength and intensify its campaign for a Hindu rashtra, which is actually nothing more than a formation of Brahminist Hindu fascist state.
Jainism, alike Buddhism, was developed on the principles of ancient Indian atheism. Philosophically Jainism denied the existence of any super natural entity like god, which the Vedic Hindu religion propagated. Rather, from a rational point of view, which was limited by the historic conditions of the time, Mahavir denied the existence of any super power, creating and managing the universe. He rather believed that the universe was there existing before mankind came and it will continue to exist. Though the Jain philosophy, alike other philosophies of the time had its limitations in its metaphysical outlook, however, it gave rationality some scope at a period when the Brahminist hegemony was aggressing territories unchallenged.
Being a man who revolted against the Brahminist hegemony and their religion, Mahavira moreover taught compassion and love for living beings, mobile or stationary. The rebellion of the Jains made the Brahminist rulers persecute their community along with the Buddhists for centuries. Thousands of Jain people were killed by the Brahminist rulers following the neo Puranic religion reinvented by the Brahmins who were determined to get their supremacy over the country by coining a religion called Hinduism by integrating parts of the Sanatana dharma along with the verses of Karma and reincarnation borrowed from the Jain and Buddhist philosophies. Even up to 600 AD, the popular figures like Rama and Krishna were not considered deities, but heroic figures in folklore. The neo domination of Brahminism forced a part of the Jain and Buddhists to flee the lands of South India and other parts in search of safe haven. Thousands of old scriptures of the Buddhist philosophy were burned in Bihar, many Jain saints were killed by the Brahminist sponsored rulers of India.
Since the British colonial rule started in the country, especially after the end of the great liberation struggle of 1857, there had been a deliberate attempt made by the Brahminist ruling cliques of India to engulf the sects like Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists within the fold of Hinduism. Though since centuries the Jain philosophy slowly turned into a religion of its own, divided into different school of thoughts, got corrupted from philosophical point of view and turned into an opposite of an atheist sect; its slow melting into the Hindu religious fold started majorly after the British colonial rule. Slowly, attempts were made to bring parity between Hindu religion and Jainism and common festivals, observed in different styles by both communities, were uniformed deliberately.
The RSS follows the same agenda to swallow the minority non Abrahamic communities within their fascist saffron fold. With the rise of trading communities among the Jains to prominence, and especially with the increase in comprador elements who also controlled the closely knitted communities helm of affairs, a pro-Hindutva campaign was launched in a stealth manner to win over supporters from the Jain community by the RSS and its affiliates. Islamophobia played a crucial role since the mid 1990's to give the RSS an edge to win over the Jain communities richest part, which controls the affairs of the Jain community of difference sects, towards itself. This made the RSS strong, especially in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Karnataka, where it used the Jain community as a docile tool to advance politically.
Recently, a ban imposed by the Rajasthan High Court on the practice of Sallekhna and Santhara, a Jain practice of asceticism, which leads to rejection of food and water by the devotee for achieving salvation from human life; received militant thump down by the trading and comprador elements of the Jain community. On 24th August a religious strike was announced by the Jain community, and several RSS outfits supported such strikes in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Though the senior clerics of the Jain religion considered the ban as a move by the fascist Hindu state imposing its view on the minorities, the RSS outfits tried to win over support from the community members by performing a stint of support.
Soon after the strike last month, we are observing an uncalled for attention drawn by the BJP to the meat ban issue. Despite such practices were started by the Mughal emperors since their rule in India to show respect for the multi cultured India with diverse faiths, the media attention is drawn to this particular case to portray the BJP, the political mass organisation of the RSS, as a saviour of the Jain religion.
But is the BJP a real saviour for the Jain community, or for any community for that matter? It does not seems so. The BJP is existing to advance the cause of the RSS, implement the latter's principles and ideologies. The RSS wanted to always have the support of the Jain community, which has a multitude of prosperous traders and comprador capitalists, for its cause of Hindu state under Brahminist domination. The RSS agenda got well with the forerunners of the Jain community's top echelon, mostly the capitalists and rich traders who joined the fray of the communal Hindutva politics, whilst a majority of the Jain people, the downtrodden and the lower middle classes stayed away from this move. Late Girilal Jain, the sacked journalist of Times of India, was an official representative of the RSS bandwagon who tried to win over his communities support for the cause of the Ram Temple instead of a Mosque in Ayodhya during the late 80's. Many more prominent rich and super rich Jain community members joined the ultra nationalist BJP by subscribing to the RSS ideology and started influencing the community at large to consider itself a part of the larger Hindu family.
The risk of the RSS aggression lies here, it is determined to destroy the multi cultural, multi ethnic and diverse society of India into an uniform system across the nation. Its Hindutva is not the Hindu religion of the whole country, but the Brahminist reactionary view of the North and West Indian upper caste Hindus. The Jain community has survived many turmoils since ages and has remained a vibrant part of India with its unique philosophical and religious values. The aggression on this religion is a challenge which the community members and the people of the country must have to resist to ensure that the diversity of the nation remains, the unity of the people on common causes is not destroyed by the communally flared schemes engineered by the fascist forces.
It is very imperative that the progressive and democratic majority of the Jain community raise their voice against the policies of the comprador capitalists and rich traders who are calling shots over their community. The Jain community must struggle to preserve their separate entity, without succumbing to the aggression of the saffron brigade. They must shun the BJP and its 'appeasement' measures to ensure that the fascist forces does not gains any political mileage by using the community and its beliefs for its own nefarious aims.
Apparently the move was camouflaged by the BJP as an act of showing respect to the feelings of the Jain community. However, from a critical angle we can see a very deep conspiracy of the saffron brigade playing in the backstage. It is evident that no real respect to people of any religious faith can be shown by banning something which is forbidden in their faith but practiced by people of other faith. It can only happen in the countries where the state openly advocates the following of one religion and one culture, alike the countries of Arab peninsula ruled under the atrocious Islamic Sharia, or the Zionist Israeli state.
No true respect could be shown to the people of Jain religion by forcefully banning the sale of meat on the days of their festival. As fish, egg, milk, root vegetables, etc are also not consumed by the Jain people equally as meat, however, those stuffs will be available easily in Mumbai city and people can still eat them. This will, if we go by the BMC books, offend the sentiments of the Jain people.
More than showing any respect towards the Jain philosophy of non-violence and the Jain religion, which is one of the ancient Indian philosophical manifestation of atheism like Buddhism, the ban is imposed by the BJP under the pressure from the RSS for political reasons. The RSS and its several off shoot entities are now trying to win over the minority communities like Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists into its own fold of Hindutva. Calling these minority communities part of their so-called Hindu brigade, the RSS and its affiliates are presently attempting to engulf these faiths to increase its strength and intensify its campaign for a Hindu rashtra, which is actually nothing more than a formation of Brahminist Hindu fascist state.
Jainism, alike Buddhism, was developed on the principles of ancient Indian atheism. Philosophically Jainism denied the existence of any super natural entity like god, which the Vedic Hindu religion propagated. Rather, from a rational point of view, which was limited by the historic conditions of the time, Mahavir denied the existence of any super power, creating and managing the universe. He rather believed that the universe was there existing before mankind came and it will continue to exist. Though the Jain philosophy, alike other philosophies of the time had its limitations in its metaphysical outlook, however, it gave rationality some scope at a period when the Brahminist hegemony was aggressing territories unchallenged.
Being a man who revolted against the Brahminist hegemony and their religion, Mahavira moreover taught compassion and love for living beings, mobile or stationary. The rebellion of the Jains made the Brahminist rulers persecute their community along with the Buddhists for centuries. Thousands of Jain people were killed by the Brahminist rulers following the neo Puranic religion reinvented by the Brahmins who were determined to get their supremacy over the country by coining a religion called Hinduism by integrating parts of the Sanatana dharma along with the verses of Karma and reincarnation borrowed from the Jain and Buddhist philosophies. Even up to 600 AD, the popular figures like Rama and Krishna were not considered deities, but heroic figures in folklore. The neo domination of Brahminism forced a part of the Jain and Buddhists to flee the lands of South India and other parts in search of safe haven. Thousands of old scriptures of the Buddhist philosophy were burned in Bihar, many Jain saints were killed by the Brahminist sponsored rulers of India.
Since the British colonial rule started in the country, especially after the end of the great liberation struggle of 1857, there had been a deliberate attempt made by the Brahminist ruling cliques of India to engulf the sects like Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists within the fold of Hinduism. Though since centuries the Jain philosophy slowly turned into a religion of its own, divided into different school of thoughts, got corrupted from philosophical point of view and turned into an opposite of an atheist sect; its slow melting into the Hindu religious fold started majorly after the British colonial rule. Slowly, attempts were made to bring parity between Hindu religion and Jainism and common festivals, observed in different styles by both communities, were uniformed deliberately.
The RSS follows the same agenda to swallow the minority non Abrahamic communities within their fascist saffron fold. With the rise of trading communities among the Jains to prominence, and especially with the increase in comprador elements who also controlled the closely knitted communities helm of affairs, a pro-Hindutva campaign was launched in a stealth manner to win over supporters from the Jain community by the RSS and its affiliates. Islamophobia played a crucial role since the mid 1990's to give the RSS an edge to win over the Jain communities richest part, which controls the affairs of the Jain community of difference sects, towards itself. This made the RSS strong, especially in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Karnataka, where it used the Jain community as a docile tool to advance politically.
Recently, a ban imposed by the Rajasthan High Court on the practice of Sallekhna and Santhara, a Jain practice of asceticism, which leads to rejection of food and water by the devotee for achieving salvation from human life; received militant thump down by the trading and comprador elements of the Jain community. On 24th August a religious strike was announced by the Jain community, and several RSS outfits supported such strikes in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Though the senior clerics of the Jain religion considered the ban as a move by the fascist Hindu state imposing its view on the minorities, the RSS outfits tried to win over support from the community members by performing a stint of support.
Soon after the strike last month, we are observing an uncalled for attention drawn by the BJP to the meat ban issue. Despite such practices were started by the Mughal emperors since their rule in India to show respect for the multi cultured India with diverse faiths, the media attention is drawn to this particular case to portray the BJP, the political mass organisation of the RSS, as a saviour of the Jain religion.
But is the BJP a real saviour for the Jain community, or for any community for that matter? It does not seems so. The BJP is existing to advance the cause of the RSS, implement the latter's principles and ideologies. The RSS wanted to always have the support of the Jain community, which has a multitude of prosperous traders and comprador capitalists, for its cause of Hindu state under Brahminist domination. The RSS agenda got well with the forerunners of the Jain community's top echelon, mostly the capitalists and rich traders who joined the fray of the communal Hindutva politics, whilst a majority of the Jain people, the downtrodden and the lower middle classes stayed away from this move. Late Girilal Jain, the sacked journalist of Times of India, was an official representative of the RSS bandwagon who tried to win over his communities support for the cause of the Ram Temple instead of a Mosque in Ayodhya during the late 80's. Many more prominent rich and super rich Jain community members joined the ultra nationalist BJP by subscribing to the RSS ideology and started influencing the community at large to consider itself a part of the larger Hindu family.
The risk of the RSS aggression lies here, it is determined to destroy the multi cultural, multi ethnic and diverse society of India into an uniform system across the nation. Its Hindutva is not the Hindu religion of the whole country, but the Brahminist reactionary view of the North and West Indian upper caste Hindus. The Jain community has survived many turmoils since ages and has remained a vibrant part of India with its unique philosophical and religious values. The aggression on this religion is a challenge which the community members and the people of the country must have to resist to ensure that the diversity of the nation remains, the unity of the people on common causes is not destroyed by the communally flared schemes engineered by the fascist forces.
It is very imperative that the progressive and democratic majority of the Jain community raise their voice against the policies of the comprador capitalists and rich traders who are calling shots over their community. The Jain community must struggle to preserve their separate entity, without succumbing to the aggression of the saffron brigade. They must shun the BJP and its 'appeasement' measures to ensure that the fascist forces does not gains any political mileage by using the community and its beliefs for its own nefarious aims.
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