FIFTH COLUMN

Emotions

-By C K Lal

Engineering education starts with the lesson that one must learn to control one’s emotions. Nothing but reasoning and logic should direct decision making. It is repeated over and over again and grilled into a student through innumerable problem-solving exercises.

Ashok Singhal, the firebrand president of the World Hindu Council, is an engineer by training. He used his academic accomplishments and professional skills with deadly effect in Ayodhya. The demolition of a historical mosque was so well planned and coordinated that it bore the unmistakable stamp of an engineer orchestrating it.

His new mischief appears to be the so-called Fourth International Conference of the Great Religions of Asia scheduled to take place between November 19-21 at Lumbini. Had there been someone else behind the conference, it would have been considered innocent, even noble. With Singhal’s name associated with it, one is bound to be a bit skeptical.

First of all, the organisers’ claim that it’s an attempt to consolidate the solidarity between Buddhism and Hinduism is in itself questionable. Buddhist groups see a conspiracy behind it and that suspicion can’t be dismissed out of hand. What kind of ‘solidarity’ exists between Hindus and Buddhists that needs to be ‘consolidated’? Similarities between these two faiths are only as much as between any two great religions of the world. However, differences are conspicuous.

Buddhism is an egalitarian religion, Hinduism is hierarchical. Idol worship is an aberration in Buddhism, for Hindus the same is synonymous with being religious. If Buddhists of Nepal suspect that the conference is an attempt to dominate their religion, then that’s a justified concern, for Singhal has quite a reputation of humiliating Buddhists in his own country.

Even Singhal’s visit to Bhairahawa during the preparatory stage was an outrage. He had arrived in a huge motorcade followed by gun-totting outraders from his Hindu militia outfit. It’s amazing how the local administration tolerated or allowed his antics. Nepal is the only Hindu Kingdom of the world, and for that reason alone, there is no reason for the Hindus of Nepal to be obstinate. We are confident enough to display magnanimity towards the concerns of an important religious minority. The venue of the proposed conference should forthwith be shifted to a more appropriate place.

A likely locale could be the town of Gorkha where Master Gorakhnath blessed King Prithvi Narayan Shah in person. Janakpur is the second most important Hindu pilgrimage site in the kingdom and there is no reason why it should not be considered as an appropriate alternative venue for the proposed conference.

Reasons alone are never enough. Feelings of Nepali Buddhists are no less important. The proposed conference can be even brought to Kathmandu as a last resort, but it should not be held at Lumbini if local Buddhists object to it. Hindus and Buddhists of Nepal have lived together without major conflicts for thousands of years. We do not need Ashok Singhal to consolidate our solidarity.