It is a great moment for many of us as, at last, the Ram Mandir is being constructed. There have been years of debates regarding it. Many people in the country celebrated its success. But this news shouldn’t create difference among us. Recently, there was news of an old Muslim man being beaten up in Sikar, Rajasthan, for not chanting “Jai Shree Ram” and “Modi Zindabad”.
How can a person be forcefully asked to do that when their practice a different culture or religion? The most important part of our Constitution is about equality and non-discrimination on the basis of caste and creed of a person. We all are allowed to believe and respect our own culture and with that, we should not forget to respect someone else’s religion and culture either. Believing in God and respecting someone is our duty, but forcing someone else to believe or worship a particular figure is not our right. Hitting an older man, pulling on his beard because he is a Muslim, this doesn’t show our respect for our own religion.
Throughout history, we have killed each other in the name of religion. But that doesn’t change the fact that India is now a coming together of all beliefs and bullying someone because of their beliefs is unacceptable. Our faith has come to play a much more significant role than humanity. Our society has gone through a lot of development and we have modernised every aspect of our life. But why do we seem to lack this progress when it comes to humanity?
I am not here to support or shame any particular religion. I respect all faiths and believe in them equally, but for how long are we going to kill people because of their religion? No religious book in any religion, be it the Geeta, the Quran or others, talks about killing people. Every person can have their own beliefs and if they don’t believe in anything, that shouldn’t let us question them either.
We need to move further from religious hate and discrimination because we as society have many more critical issues to look into. India as a country has poverty, sanitation, education and other problems that need to be solved. And it’s not just the government’s duty to make the country better. Citizens have an equal responsibility to look after the nation.
We don’t need to force a Muslim to chant Jai Shree Ram or a Hindu to take Allah’s name. We can happily respect each other and live well.
I hope my article makes a difference in every person’s mind who might be reading it for the good of our society.