Strikes and Hartals -3

Blooming Stars - Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti

After having looked at hartals and strikes in the context of the politics of violence, murder, paralyzing fear, and deteriorating law and order, that practically strike at the root of hard-fought freedom, it is important to reflect on what we, in our turn, need to do to preserve this freedom from tyrannical politicians and autocratic, blind, and hypocritical religious leaders.  These self-centered, narcissistic leaders sap our vital energy and stealthily tighten their noose around our necks. The great irony is that this precious freedom that was won from the colonizing oppressors and imperialists at incalculable cost to lives, limbs, and livelihood is trampled upon by our own religious and political confreres who claim to know what is good for us, and who are trying to save us from ourselves because they think we do not know what is good for us. I say: “May God protect us from such arrogant, misguided, corrupt, rotten leaders who are sheer charlatans”! Psychologically it is not uncommon for the abused and the oppressed to become abusers and oppressors in their turn, and that too with great vengeance. For humanity to survive and to evolve to its full potentials, this cycle of vicious violence needs to be broken. 

The framers of the Indian Constitution, chastened by their untold  suffering they underwent in order to free themselves and the future generations, that is us, from the weighty shackles of oppressive British colonialism and native bigotries of religiously sanctioned caste system and discriminations, were wise men who, seeing the dangers of unbridled capitalism of the West and the totalitarian communism of the Soviet Union, settled for a socialistic pattern of egalitarian, democratic society in India where everyone as well as his or her contribution is accepted, valued, appreciated, honored, and celebrated. It may be important to note that India had to be liberated from the vicious stranglehold of three evils: 1. enslaving foreign occupation and oppression, 2. enslaving religious bigotry and the evil caste system, and 3. The six hundred odd unscrupulous, native Hindu and Muslim kings indulging in unparalleled, mocking luxuries in the midst of their people dying of starvation and diseases. Which was the worst of the three evils? It is very difficult to say; because all of them were debilitating and fatal cancers. The framers of the constitution, that contained the unique Indian genius, drew their inspiration to a large degree from Mahatma Gandhi who refused to divorce politics from his belief system (religion purified) and spirituality. 

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