18 December 2001, 11:25pm IST
M P K Kutty.
If you enter the sabarmati ashram of mahatma gandhi, you will find on the wall of one of the exhibition halls, this declaration of his, inscribed in bold letters: ‘‘if blood be shed, let it be our own. let us cultivate the calm courage to die without killing". that is what the apostle of non-violence would have told the ‘martyrs’ who destroyed the world trade centre in new york, if he had lived to witness the september 11 incidents. the suicide squad members thought they were promoting the cause of islam; but it ended up as a demonstration of human hatred, far more lethal than even atomic bombs. killing and getting killed has almost become an ideal in championing all kinds of causes in modern times. ireland, sri lanka, kashmir, israel and palestine have felt the horrendous impact of highly motivated men who cast off their lives with amazing ease for achieving death and destruction. generally speaking, dying for a great cause or another person is considered the ultimate self-sacrifice. the annals of history provide numerous examples of those who laid down their lives for others. the concentration camps set up by hitler provided such instances. once an unmarried priest, maximillian koelb, took the place of another who was to be executed. the priest made the sacrifice because the other man had a family dependent on him, while he himself was unmarried. ‘‘it is the cause and not merely the death that makes the martyr", napoleon had observed. today we see many willing to lay down their lives for causes weird and ghastly. in fact there are few who lay down their life for a righteous cause. ‘‘the martyrs to vice far exceed the martyrs to virtue, both in endurance and in number", observed hannah more, an english author. it would seem as if the world had come to believe that all sorts of oppression and injustice could be remedied by killing and destruction. but violence is a remedy, that proves worse than the injustice that it seeks to remove. in the case of the massive destruction of lives and property at the world trade centre, leaders of the islamic faith have declared that such evil acts could not be seen as martyrdom in the cause of faith. if vengeance for real or imaginary wrongs becomes the moving spirit of the human race, then its very existence would be in jeopardy. that is why, non-violence is so vital for the survival of life on earth. guru tegh bahadur, the ninth guru of the sikhs laid down his life not merely in defence of the sikh faith but in expression of his solidarity with a group of kashmiri pundits who had approached him for help. they had told him that the then mughal emperor aurangzeb has given them an ultimatum: they should either embrace islam or be prepared to face torture and death. the guru pondered over the challenge and then asked the pundits to represent to the emperor as follows: ‘‘guru tegh bahadur, the ninth guru, is now seated on the throne of the great guru nanak, who is protector of faith and religion. first make him a musalman and all the people including ourselves will of our own accord adopt the faith". they obeyed the guru and went to delhi with the proposal. the emperor, after consulting muslim theologians, welcomed the idea. he summoned the guru and promised him all that ‘his heart desired’, in return for his acceptance of the islamic faith. he added that god had, in a vision, asked him to convert the whole world to islam. all persuasions, promises and threats did not move the guru who maintained all three religions, hinduism, islam and sikhism, are destined to survive in future ages. the guru’s refusal led to his beheading at the sisganj gurdwara in chandni chowk in delhi. the gurdwara is an enduring symbol of a sikh guru making the ultimate sacrifice to uphold righteousness and justice - not for the sikhs alone but for the kashmiri pandits as well. today we may not face a tyrant or despot like aurangzeb. but religious fanaticism continues to play havoc in pluralistic societies. the destruction of the babri masjid and the killing of innocent sikhs in the wake of the assassination of the late prime minister indira gandhi fall in this category. vigilance and a love that embraces the rights of all human beings to live in dignity are much needed today. the guru has left us with an inspiring precedent.
No comments:
Post a Comment