Building the future vs remaking the past
Hindustan Times Patna|December 22, 2024
Learn from history for sure, but one of the lessons to be learnt is that campaigns to rearrange the past could injure the present
Rajmohan Gandhi

When Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan resume hearing petitions involving the Places of Worship Act of 1991, the media will once more call the petitioners "Hindu" or "Muslim". After the CJI and his fellow justices give their judgment, the media are likely to headline the "victory" of one side. In fact, the judgment will be far more consequential. It will have a bearing on the contest between two clashing visions, one wanting democracy with equality in India, the other promising the majority's supremacy. The judgment will also influence the world's perception of Hinduism.

Hinduism's global image was aided by Swami Vivekananda's famous words before the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893: "I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true." Fully aware that reality on the Indian ground did not always match this picture of harmony, Vivekananda said something equally important three years later: "I strongly believe," he said in London in 1896, "that Indians will embrace democracy (and that) unity and equality will descend upon us." (quoted in D. Dabholkar, Unraveling the Real Swami Vivekananda)

The democracy that Vivekananda hoped India would embrace, and the plants of unity and equality that he wanted India's soil to raise, were visible from 1949, when India's Constitution was adopted. Its Preamble pledged "justice, social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and of opportunity; and... fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation".

Bu hikaye Hindustan Times Patna dergisinin December 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Hindustan Times Patna dergisinin December 22, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

HINDUSTAN TIMES PATNA DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Hindustan Times Patna

Prince-Yuvika's separate posts for daughter intensify split rumours

Amid ongoing rumours of marital discord, model-actor Prince Narula and his wife, actor Yuvika Chaudhary, recently celebrated a special milestone – the two-month birthday of their daughter Ikleen.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Sip away your dairy worries with Amul Lactose-Free Milk

Milk is full of nutritious goodness, but for some, it can also bring tummy troubles.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

INDIA AWARDED HOSTING RIGHTS FOR ISSF JUNIOR WORLD CUP 2025

India has been awarded the hosting rights for next year's Junior World Cup involving competitions in rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) said on Saturday.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Australia make their move, will India also follow suit?

Three Tests down, two to go. And that is the score that the team management from both sides will be key to tracking.

time-read
2 dak  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Hero worship gone wrong

Pushpa 2: The Rule, the most successful film of 2024, is built around a man who ravages nature, and appears to care only for himself

time-read
2 dak  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

US Congress passes bill to avert govt shutdown

Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early on Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year.

time-read
2 dak  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

13 PEOPLE DEAD AS BUS AND TRUCK COLLIDE IN BOLIVIA

At least 13 people were killed and three injured on Friday, when a truck and a bus collided on a highway in the Bolivian Andes, police said.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Rocket fired from Yemen strikes central Tel Aviv, hurts 16 people

A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass from nearby windows, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Pakistan Taliban claim raid killing 16 soldiers

The Pakistani Taliban claimed a brazen overnight raid on an army outpost near the border with Afghanistan, on Saturday, which intelligence officials said killed 16 soldiers and critically wounded five more.

time-read
1 min  |
December 22, 2024
Hindustan Times Patna

Germany's Christmas market attack death toll rises to 5, over 200 injured

Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticizing the religion

time-read
3 dak  |
December 22, 2024